Page:Grammar of the French language - De Vere - 1867.djvu/17

 ON LETTERS AND SYLLABLES.

I.—PRONUNCIATION.

pronunciation of a foreign language cannot be satisfactorily learned by comparing it with that of our own. Such comparisons lead invariably to incorrectness. The teacher ought, therefore, in all cases to begin by pronouncing himself, clearly and distinctly, the sound of each letter and combination of letters, and then make his pupils repeat them one by one. The latter cannot be expected to be able to pronounce well, until their ear has, by practice, been accustomed to the sound; only when they are perfectly familiar with it, will they succeed in repeating it correctly by themselves. When the sound is once acquired, then the teacher may suggest the resemblance to some similar sound in the pupils' native tongue, in order to assist their memory.

The French Alphabet contains the following letters:

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, X, Y, Z.

The majority of these letters are taken from the Roman Alphabet. K is only found in foreign words. Q is always accompanied by u, and has the same sound as hard c and k. W is not used in French except in writing foreign words, like whig, and then pronounced like v. X is a compound letter, consisting of c and s, or g and s. Y is called i grec, because it was taken from the Greek.