The â sound is one of the most distinctive features of the québécois accent.
You can always identify a French speaker from Québec by listening for the â sound!
The sound made by â in Québec sounds something like “aww” to an English speaker.
To hear â pronounced, listen to Ricardo pronounce carré, or hear Martin Matte pronounce câline and passait. All three of these words use the â sound.
The â sound occurs in words written with the accented â (like âge and fâché), but it can occur in certain words written with an unaccented letter a too (like tasse and case).
When the word is written with the accented â, there’s little doubt — say aww! But when it’s written with an unaccented letter a, it isn’t as obvious if it takes the â sound. That said, you may begin to notice some patterns.
To help you out a bit, below are 50 words taking the â sound in Québec but all written with an unaccented letter a. I’ve underlined the letter a in each word that makes the â sound.
This list isn’t exhaustive, it’s just a list of 50 words that I felt were useful.
- amasser
- barrage
- barreau
- barrer
- barrière
- bas
- base
- baser
- basse
- brassage
- brasser
- brasserie
- carré
- carreau
- carrément
- cas
- case
- casier
- casse-croûte
- casser
- chat
- classe
- classement
- classer
- classeur
- dépasser
- entasser
- espace
- gars
- gaz
- gazer
- gazeux
- jaser
- jasette
- matelas
- paille
- pas
- passage
- passager
- passe
- passeport
- passer
- ramassage
- ramasser
- rasage
- raser
- surpasser
- tas
- tasse
- tasser
Remember, the letters rs in gars aren’t pronounced. This word sounds like gâ. The final s in bas, cas, matelas, pas, tas is silent. These words sound like bâ, câ, matlâ, pâ, tâ.
hi felix,i need your input about a discussion i had with my ontarien cousin from windsor.. he seems to think that because many francophones from southern ont. use or choose to use many english words is because french spoken in south ont. is derived from acadia.i told him he was wrong saying that it comes from working class MTL.especially informal pronounciations of moi,toi.soir etc. as well as vocabulary.i have had NO trouble understanding a quebecois and visa versa but i do with acadiens.could you settle this? thanks.
The francophones of Ontario are descendants of migrants from Québec. The French spoken in Ontario is Québécois, or an Ontarian variety of Québécois. It’s not Acadian. The English borrowings are a result of close contact with surrounding anglophones.
Thanks for this!
I’ve been looking for patterns beyond “you just start to know” for a while, but with this list now I think I see. Most of the above have “s”es (or s or z sounds) after the â sound (a few have “r”s). Is it fair to say that the “s” and “r” after the “a” are acting on the “a” somehow, and is this close to a “rule” for how to spot the hidden â sound? Or is it just a coincidence among the most common ones?
That’s the pattern, you spotted it.
The â sound is often followed by an s, z, r or aille sound.
That said, let’s not call it a rule because there would be many exceptions. Let’s just call it a tendency.
You’ll probably have to learn the words individually when in doubt. Listen to a lot of French and this will take care of itself with time.
When in doubt during a conversation, just pronounce it as a (not â), and you’ll be understood.
Learn the phonetic symbol for â used in dictionaries: ɑ. That way you can check the pronunciation when in doubt. Usito.com is a good online dictionary from Québec. You can sign up for 30-day trials for free.
For example, matelas in the phonetic alphabet is written as matlɑ.