French Nasals: A Lesson from the Past

The notion of an ongoing counterclockwise shift affecting French nasal vowels in Northern Metropolitan French (NMF), confirmed by an overwhelming amount of research, was validated in the last issue of this column. Along with the notion of a vowel shift, scholars assumed the development of new articulatory strategies by the younger generations of NMF speakers over time. Thanks to historical recordings, it is possible to evaluate to which extent the pronunciation of French nasal vowels has indeed evolved since the earlier part of the 20th century. It is also possible to assess if there is any disparity with the IPA transcription.