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What is considered old French?
Old French (franceis, françois, romanz; Modern French: ancien français) was the language spoken in Northern France from the 8th century to the 14th century. Rather than a unified language, Old French was really a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligible yet diverse, spoken in the northern half of France.
How was old French pronounced?
Where modern French uses n after a vowel to indicate a nasal vowel, with the n entirely silent, Old French still pronounced it. Thus, you had a nasal vowel followed by /n/. The same applies to ng, which was pronounced as a palatal nasal, like Italian gn.
Does French Sound harsh?
French has quite a few of the same guttural sounds that German does, and yet you’d be hard pressed to find anyone who would claim French is a harsh tongue. Our perception of each culture is what colors how we hear the languages and why we often claim German has a much harsher tone.
What is the feminine form of old in French?
The French translation for “old (feminine)” is vieille.
Why does French sound so soft?
Apparently, the ancestors of the French, the Gauls, applied a lot of lenition and assimilation. In lenition, consonants become silent, such as the dropped t in bon vivant. In assimilation, the consonants blend in with neighboring vowels, so seconde is pronounced seu go(n)d rather than seu ko(n)d.
What does the French slurp sound like?
What it sounds like: This is one of the noises French people make that is really hard to describe and is SO common. It’s a transitional sound or a dead space filler that sounds like a slurp almost. As if you add some breathiness to your inhale.
Is French a language of strange sounds that leave you scratching?
Oh, and it’s the language of strange sounds that will leave you scratching your head. If you’ve spent any time in France or around French people, you might have noticed some of these strange noises that French people make that aren’t commonplace in the English language. And no, I’m not talking about the French “R”!
What is the French farting noise?
Way an American uses this noise: When we are being immature and want to make farting noises. What it sounds like: This is one of the noises French people make that is really hard to describe and is SO common. It’s a transitional sound or a dead space filler that sounds like a slurp almost.
Do French noises translate to English?
While some might be regional, there are some characteristic noises that French people make across the board while speaking that don’t translate to English in the same way. And, yikes, I may even incorporate them into my conversations when speaking French!