Help Pronouncing Middle French

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pnagami
Posts: 9031
Joined: July 15th, 2015, 6:42 am
Location: California, USA

Post by pnagami »

Hi Everyone,

I am trying to learn how to pronounce Middle French (14th to early 17th century).

Martin Geeson's beautiful reading of Charles d'Orléan's "À ce jour de
Saint Valentin" was a helpful place to begin!

I see that most of the archaic "s"s are not pronounced.

I would be most grateful for any tips anyone can give me, especially about the pronunciation of verb endings in "oi", rather than the modern "ai" as in "venoit" for the third-person singular imperfect indicative of venir.

My best,

Pam
"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

Robert Louis Stevenson
samanthawilson
Posts: 2
Joined: February 14th, 2018, 1:01 am

Post by samanthawilson »

Hi Pam,

I've been always interested in linguistics, pronunciation in particular. Currently, I'm learning French and German. :)

Here's a broad discussion of what you are looking for - https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/french-developments-of-oi.1842950/. The historical backgrounds, the pronunciation, etc. Hope that helps.

Warmly,

Samantha
Samantha Wilson
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Premium Award Winner for Poetry at WritersDigest
Linguistics Tools Section study website researcher.
pnagami
Posts: 9031
Joined: July 15th, 2015, 6:42 am
Location: California, USA

Post by pnagami »

Thank you so much Samantha!
This will be very helpful to me!

Pam
"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

Robert Louis Stevenson
samanthawilson
Posts: 2
Joined: February 14th, 2018, 1:01 am

Post by samanthawilson »

Glad to know that the info is helpful :)

Hugs,
Samantha
Samantha Wilson
My website
Premium Award Winner for Poetry at WritersDigest
Linguistics Tools Section study website researcher.
pnagami
Posts: 9031
Joined: July 15th, 2015, 6:42 am
Location: California, USA

Post by pnagami »

It was worth the wait!

Pam
"Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm."

Robert Louis Stevenson
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