Two accents, two jobs
The normal accent, the accent tonique, falls on the last spoken syllable of the breath group and is purely rhythmic. Alongside it there is a second one that carries feeling: the accent d'insistance. It sits at the start of the word and works by lengthening the initial consonant.
Neutral versus emphatic
C'est formidable.
[se·for·mi·dabl ↘]
That is great. (neutral statement)
C'est fformidable !
[se·ffor·mi·dabl]
That is just great! (enthusiasm)
The accent d'insistance in detail
If the word you care about begins with a consonant, that consonant is lengthened and strengthened: formidable sounds like f-formidable, catastrophe like c-catastrophe. The final accent stays: emphasis at the front and a longer last syllable at the back come together.
If the word begins with a vowel, there is no consonant to lengthen. The first vowel itself then gets more weight, often with a short, hard onset: c'est énorme ! This hard onset is a deliberate expressive device here; otherwise the transition stays smooth.
Emphasis in a sentence
Quelle ccatastrophe !
[kel·kka·tas·trof]
What a disaster!
C'est ttotalement faux !
[se·tto·tal·mã·fo]
That is completely wrong!
C'est absolument mmagnifique !
[se·tap·so·lü·mã·mma·ni·fik]
That is absolutely magnificent!
C'est énorme !
[se·e·norm]
That is huge!
Lengthening as intensifier
The vowel of the stressed last syllable can be stretched as well. This intensifies and often replaces an extra très. It is not written, except in chats (c'est trop booon).
Stretched vowels
C'était looong !
[se·te·lõːː]
That took forever!
C'est trop booon !
[se·tro·bõːː]
That is so good!
Pitch curves - questioning, insistence, irony
The same sentence can state, question or mock – depending on the path of the voice. These four curves are the ones you need most in everyday speech.
Four curves
| Curve | Movement | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement | falls at the end ↘ | Il est parti hier. | neutral information |
| Question | rises at the end ↗ | Ah bon ? | surprise, checking back |
| Insistence | starts high, falls steeply ↘ | Je te dis que si ! | contradiction, insisting |
| Irony | slow, drawn out, low fall ↘ | Ah, bravo. | mockery, reproach |
The arrow shows the movement at the end of the sentence
Four melodies
Il est parti hier.
[i·le·par·ti·jer ↘]
He left yesterday.
Ah bon ?
[a·bõ ↗]
Oh really?
Je te dis que si !
[jə·tə·di·kə·si ↘]
I'm telling you it is!
Ah, bravo.
[aː · braː·vo ↘]
Well, congratulations. (ironic)
Irony often sounds slow: the syllables are stretched, the voice sinks lower than necessary, and small pauses appear between the words. The word says bravo, the melody says the opposite.
