The ɥ glide becomes w
ɥ → wHow: A plain English w — lips rounded, tongue back, not front.
The rounded front glide of Paris does not exist. 'Huit' rhymes with English 'wit'.
| Word | Reference | Accent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| huit | |||
| lui | |||
| nuit |
Belgian
Closer to older French than Paris in several ways: the four nasal vowels are all kept, the ɥ glide of 'huit' is a plain w, and final consonants tend to devoice, a habit borrowed from Dutch next door. Vowel length still distinguishes words that Paris merged — 'bout' and 'boue' are not the same here. And the numbers are different: septante, nonante.
Where: Brussels and Wallonia
Try a word
Anything the spelling engine can transcribe, the accent can move. Slow it down to hear the shape.
Reference
Belgian
Which rules fired
Melody and rhythm
Slower and more even than Paris, with the schwa often kept and the long vowels held. The rise on a question is gentler.
What moves, one rule at a time
In the order the mouth applies them. Every before-and-after is playable — click the IPA. The pattern is the rule as the engine runs it, for the curious.
Consonants
A final z devoices
z$ → sHow: Let the voice stop before the consonant ends.
Final devoicing, the Dutch and German habit, leaking across the language border.
| Word | Reference | Accent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| rose | |||
| chose |
A final j devoices
ʒ$ → ʃ| Word | Reference | Accent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| rouge | |||
| neige |
A final v devoices
v$ → f| Word | Reference | Accent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| cave | |||
| brave |
w at the start of a word is a real w
(^| )v(?=[aɛ]) → $1wWhen: in the handful of words spelled with w
Paris says 'vagon'; Belgium keeps the w it was borrowed with.
| Word | Reference | Accent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| wagon | |||
| wallon |
Other accents of French: Parisian · Québécois · Marseille / Midi · all accents