Southeastern French Nasal Vowels: Perceptual and Acoustic Elements

Abstract

This article describes the realization of nasal vowels in the southeast of France. Southeastern French retains four nasal vowels ( õ), contrary to more innovative varieties of French. The perceptual analysis based on eight participants shows that, for most of the instances of each of the four nasal vowels, the pronunciation is different from that of Reference French. Additionally, these nasal vowels are followed by a nasal closure in about 10%of cases, especially in front of a pause or stop. The perceptual analysis is supplemented by an acoustic description, based on two speakers, one male and one female. The acoustic description gives support to the perceptual analysis, showing the existence of the nasal closure and the realization of // as [ã], // as [ẽ], and /õ/ as [].