In French, liaison () is the pronunciation of a linking consonant between two words in an appropriate phonetic and syntactic context. For example, the word () is pronounced , the word () is pronounced , but the combination is pronounced , with a linking .
Liaison only happens when the following word starts with a vowel or semivowel, and is restricted to word sequences whose components are linked in sense, e.g., article + noun, adjective + noun, personal pronoun + verb, and so forth. This indicates that liaison is primarily active in high-frequency word associations (collocations).
Most frequently, liaison arises from a mute word-final consonant that used to be pronounced, but in some cases it is inserted from scratch, as in (), which is the inverted form of (). In certain syntactic environments, liaison is impossible; in others, it is mandatory; in others still, it is possible but not mandatory and its realization is subject to wide stylistic variation.
Realization of liaison Silent final consonants may be pronounced, in some syntactic contexts, when the following word begins with a vowel or non-aspirated h. Many words with silent final consonants have utterly lost them, e.g. neither the 'n' in million nor the 't' in art is ever pronounced. A liaison should not be made just because a word ends in a silent consonant and the next one starts with a vowel.
The following list describes liaison from an orthographic point of view. Since the latent sound is an ancient one, spellings that are based on the etymology of the word may use a different consonant. Liaison consonants are pronounced as follows (the transcription uses IPA; in IPA, liaison is indicated by placing an undertie between the consonant and the vowel):
There is also a type of liaison where an adjective changes its form before a vowel-initial noun: adjectives ending on -ain, -ein, -en, -in or -on denasalize their vowels. The word bon is but bon ami is . Similarly, certain ami , divin enfant and Moyen Âge . This makes the adjectives sound like their feminine forms, so bon ami is pronounced the same as bonne amie. In some cases, this alternation is reflected in the orthography: un beau cygne but un bel oiseau (both masculine singular).
As indicated in the phonetic representations above, liaison consonants are typically realized with enchainement – that is, the originally word-final consonant is pronounced as the onset of the following syllable. Enchainement is also observed for pronounced (in contrast to the silent ones of this section) word-final consonants when followed by a vowel-initial word in connected speech, as in cher ami ("dear friend"). In both cases, enchainement can be seen as a strategy for avoiding syllables without onsets in French.
Liaison on French numerals Some numbers pattern in complex ways, allowing up to three different pronunciations depending on context. For brevity, from now on "vowel-initial" means "phonologically vowel-initial, excluding aspirated h", while "consonant-initial" means "phonologically consonant-initial, including aspirated h". Also note that these rules may slightly vary depending on dialect.
("five"): It is always pronounced as . However, an oral stop in French may assimilate to a nasal one when it appears after a nasal vowel and before another consonant, so "cinq minutes" is frequently pronounced . ("six"): It is pronounced before a vowel-initial noun, adjective or month name, e.g. , . However, it is pronounced before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, e.g. , , . Elsewhere, it is pronounced , e.g. . ("seven"): It is consistently pronounced the same: , as a homophone of . ("eight"): It is when before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, e.g. . Elsewhere, it is , e.g. . ("nine"): It is pronounced , with the exception of in , and, rarely, . Traditionally is also pronounced before a consonant-initial noun, adjective or month name, like its homophone meaning "new" (see Neuf-Brisach). ("ten"): With respect to liaison, it behaves like . However, the common combinations ("seventeen"), ("eighteen") and ("nineteen") are respectively pronounced , and . ("twenty"): It is pronounced before a vowel-initial noun, adjective or digit from one to nine, e.g. , . Elsewhere, it is pronounced . However, in Belgium, Switzerland, and most of eastern and northern France, is generally pronounced regardless of the context. ("eighty"): The t is never pronounced: (99) is , (81) is and (91) is . However, makes a liaison before vowel-initial nouns or adjectives.
Constraints on liaison Although the actual realization of liaison is subject to interacting syntactic, prosodic, and stylistic constraints, the primary requirement for liaison at a given word boundary is the phonological and lexical identity of the words involved. The preceding word must supply a potential liaison consonant and the following word must be vowel-initial (and not exceptionally marked as disallowing liaison). If the two words are separated by a prosodic break, a liaison non enchaînée may happen, as in ('ils ont... entendu'), where the liaison consonant is pronounced at the onset of the word after the hesitation pause.
Grammatical descriptions of French identify three kinds of liaison contexts: Those where liaison is mandatory, those where it is impossible, and those where it is optional. Pedagogical grammars naturally emphasize what is mandatory or forbidden, and these two categories tend to be artificially inflated by traditional prescriptive rules. Speakers' natural behavior in spontaneous speech shows that in fact relatively few contexts can be said to systematically give rise to, or fail to give rise to, liaison. Any discussion of liaison must take both descriptive and prescriptive perspectives into account, because this is an area of French grammar where speakers can consciously control their linguistic behavior out of an awareness of how their speech diverges from what is considered "correct".
Mandatory liaison There are a small number of contexts where speakers consistently produce liaison in all speech styles, and where the absence of liaison is immediately perceived as an error of pronunciation. These are the contexts where liaison is truly mandatory: between a determiner and a following adjective or noun: les enfants ("the children"), ton ancien prof ("your former teacher"), tout homme ("every man") between a subject or object pronoun and the verb, or vice versa, or between two pronouns: nous avons ("we have"), prenez-en ("take some"), elles en achètent ("they buy some") in some lexicalized expressions and compound words: États-Unis ("USA"), porc-épic ("porcupine") Note that the first two contexts also require mandatory vowel elision for the relevant determiners and pronouns (le, la, je, me, se, etc.)
The following contexts are often listed as mandatory liaison contexts, but they are more accurately characterized as contexts where liaison is frequent: between an adjective and a noun that follows it: important effort ("important effort"), certaines études ("some studies") between an adverb and the word it modifies: assez intéressant ("quite interesting"), trop amusé ("amused too much") after a (monosyllabic) preposition: chez un ami ("at a friend's house") Specific instances of these combinations reveal varying tendencies. For certain lexical items (e.g. petit, très), speakers may have a preference for liaison approaching that of the mandatory liaison contexts.
Liaison on inverted verbs The consonant is obligatorily realized between the finite verb and a vowel-initial subject pronoun (il(s), elle(s) or on) in inversion constructions. Orthographically, the two words are joined by a hyphen, or by -t- if the verb does not end in -t or -d: uninverted forminverted formtranslation elle dort dort-elle she sleeps il vend vend-il he sells ils parlent parlent-ils they speak on parle parle-t-on one speaks The written linking consonant -t- is necessary for 3rd person singular verbs whose orthographic form ends in a letter other than -t or -d. This situation arises in the following cases: ending in -e: present tense indicative of all regular -er verbs, and some -ir verbs, such as ouvrir (ouvre "opens") ending in -a: va "goes", a "has", simple past tense of -er verbs, future tense of all verbs ending in a consonant: vainc "conquers", convainc "convinces" The appearance of this consonant in modern French can be described as a restoration of the Latin 3rd person singular ending -t, under the influence of other French verbs that have always maintained final -t.
The earliest examples of this analogical t in writing date to the mid-15th century, although this practice (and the corresponding pronunciation) was not fully accepted by grammarians until the 17th century.
When the first-person singular present tense form of the indicative or subjunctive is found in inversion, the writer must change the final e to either é (traditional usage) or è (rectified modern usage), in order to link the two words : Parlè-je ?, , "Am I speaking?" (This is a very rare construction, however.) uninverted forminverted formtranslation je parle parlè-je?, parlé-je I speak je parlasse parlassè-je?, parlassé-je I might speak j'ouvre ouvrè-je?, ouvré-je I open j'ouvrisse ouvrissè-je?, ouvrissé-je I might open
Liaison on imperative verbs Imperative verbs followed by en and y always acquire liaison, and respectively. conjugationtranslation parles-en talk about it! dors-y sleep there/here!
The imperative suffixes moi + en and moi + y give as a result m’en and m’y, and analogically toi + en and toi + y become t’en and t’y. However, in colloquial speech the expressions moi-z-en, toi-z-en; moi-z-y and toi-z-y have become widespread (also registered as -z’en and -z’y). The possible reason for this phonological trend is because it follows the same logic, in which all verbs ending on en and y always use the liaison , like in parles-en (talk [about it]!), vas-y (go [here/there]!). standard formunstandard formtranslation donnes-en - give some of it! donnez-en - give some of it! donnons-en - let's give some of it! donne-m’en donne-moi-z-en , donnes-en-moi give me some of it! donne-lui-en donne-lui-z-en , donnes-en-lui give to him/her some of it!
Impossible liaison There are other contexts where speakers produce liaison only erratically (e.g. due to interference from orthography while reading aloud), and perceive liaison to be ungrammatical. between a non-pronominal noun phrase (e.g. a non-pronominal subject) and the verb: Mes amis arrivent ("My friends are arriving.") between two complements of a ditransitive verb: donner des cadeaux à Jean ("give presents to Jean") between two complete clauses: "Ils parlent et j'écoute." ("They talk and I listen.") after certain words, for example et ("and"), and all singular nouns. This can help disambiguate between word uses: pronounced without liaison and for précieux as a noun, un précieux insolent can mean "an insolent member of the précieuses literary movement", but with liaison on the adjective précieux as in un précieux insolent , it can only refer to a preciously insolent person (to be clear, the French insolent here is a substantive adjective).
In fixed expressions, singular nouns can allow liaison (accentaigu, faitaccompli, caséchéant, motà mot, de partet d'autre). before "aspirated h" words: These are phonetically vowel-initial words that are exceptionally marked as not allowing liaison. Most of these words are written with a leading h (haricot, héros, haleter) which is not pronounced itself, but a few begin with a vowel or glide (onze, oui, yaourt). Note that some words beginning in h do experience liaison (e.g. homme in tout homme). Such words are said to begin with a mute h or h muet.
Grammars mention other contexts where liaison is "forbidden", despite (or precisely because) speakers sometimes do produce them spontaneously.