Pronunciation of Canadian French and European French

The pronunciation of Canadian French varies significantly from that of European French. Canadian French has a more complex phonology. As in European French, Canadian French also has regional varieties.

Canadian French has lax vowels. In words such as huit (eight) and jupe (skirt), Canadian French uses lax vowels. Lax vowels are not used in European French.

In certain words, Canadian French uses a low back vowel. Examples include chat (cat) and cela (that). In these cases the vowel is word-final. In European French the vowel is low central.

Before high front vowels, the consonants /d/ and /t/ are affricated in Canadian French. Examples include petit (small), tu (you), directeur (director) and dur (hard).

Canadian French also has diphthongs in many words. For example, the words haut (high) and four (oven) have diphthongs. In European French, they have monophthongs.

Consonant cluster simplification is common in Canadian French, especially with the liquids. For example, in the words table (table) and quatre (four) the /l/ and /r/ are often deleted.

Unlike European French, which has three nasal vowels, Canadian French has four. In words such as un (one) and brun (brown), European French has a mid front lax unrounded nasal vowel. In Canadian French, the vowel is mid front lax rounded.

Another difference can be found in words such as je chanterai (I will sing) and je chanterais (I would sing). In European French the final vowel of both words is pronounced the same. In Canadian French, however, the final vowel of je chanterais is longer than the final vowel of je chanterai.

Canadian French has a very different pronunciation from that of European French. The differences include the use of lax vowels, diphthongs and affricates. In addition, Canadian French has one more nasal vowel, which no longer exists in European French.