How to pronounce dog in French? - briefly
In French, "dog" is pronounced as "dough." The stress is on the first syllable.
How to pronounce dog in French? - in detail
To pronounce the word "dog" in French, one must first understand that the French language has a different phonetic system compared to English. The English word "dog" is pronounced with a strong emphasis on the vowel sound [ɒ], which does not exist in French.
In French, the equivalent of the English word "dog" is "chien," which is pronounced differently. To correctly pronounce "chien":
-
Start with the 'sh' sound: The word begins with a 'sh' sound (/ʃ/), similar to the English word "ship." This sound is called a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative and is made by placing the tip of the tongue behind the upper teeth while forcing air between the tongue and the teeth.
-
Next, say 'yen': After the initial 'sh' sound, you pronounce "yen" (/jɛ̃/) as in "gentleman." Here, 'y' is a semivowel, and 'e' is pronounced like the French word "é" with an umlaut. The nasal vowel 'en' is produced by lowering the soft palate to allow air to escape through the nose while the tongue position for 'e' is maintained.
-
Combine the sounds: Combine these two parts smoothly, so it sounds like one word: "shyen."
To practice, you can break down the pronunciation and then combine the sounds until you achieve a fluid and natural pronunciation of "chien" (/ʃjɛ̃/).