Talk:dès

Pronunciation

Not speaking French, I thought the “`” above the letter “e” was supposed to influence the pronunciation of the “e”, in this case making it sound more open, like in the word “fait” (represented by the sign “ɛ” in the pronunciation transcription, if I understand it correctly). But the recording has exactly the closed e sound like in the recording provided at des. So is the accent above the e just a farce, or am I missing something? Schamschi (talk) 21:52, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

I am not a native speaker of French either, but I think you are confusing é (as in café) with è. Equinox ◑ 21:54, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

Yes, but orthography (especially French orthography) is not always a good indicator of pronunciation. In this case, I often pronounce [de] myself. --Fsojic (talk) 22:04, 30 April 2014 (UTC)

French orthography is actually not such a bad indicator (much better than English anyway). Final -ès is always equivalent to /ɛ/. The pronunciation [e] does occur insofar as many speakers no longer distinguish between /ɛ/ and /e/ (pronouncing always [ɛ] in closed syllables, always [e] in open syllables). 84.63.31.91 23:27, 27 May 2024 (UTC)