French

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Glides

Although sounds such as j and w are very common, French is nontheless unusual for having three contrasting central approximants.
The two rounded ones, ɥ and w, can be seen as a form of double articulation (labial-palatal and labial-svelar).
All three can be related to a corresponding high vowel: j, ɥ, w correspond to i, y, u, respectively.


sjɛ̃
("his/hers")
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sɥɛ̃
("grease on sheep's wool")
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swɛ̃
("care")
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(See SoWL for similar examples.)

VOT in initial stops in French

Clear voicing lead for the voiced stops. The voiceless stops are traditionally considered to be unaspirated or weakly aspirated (i.e overall pattern like Catalan), but for this speaker there is actually quite extensive aspiration.



pu
("louse")
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tu
("all")
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ku
("neck")
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bu
("mud")
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du
("sweet")
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gu
("taste")
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Audio Source:
Illustrations of the IPA.

References:
Ladefoged, P. / Maddieson, I. (2008): The Sounds of the World's Languages. Malden, MA: Blackwell.