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Quebec French phonology


Quebec French has more phonemes than Parisian French as it retains phonemic distinctions between /a/ and /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛː/, /ø/ and /ə/, /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ whereas the latter of each pair has disappeared in Parisian French, though the /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ distinction is upheld in Meridional French.

Quebec French replaces tense vowels (/i, y, u/) with their lax ([ɪ, ʏ, ʊ]) equivalents when the vowels are both short (e.g. except before /ʁ/, /ʒ/, /z/ and /v/, but the vowel /y/ is pronounced [ʏː] before /ʁ/) and only in closed syllables. This means that the masculine and feminine adjectives petit 'small' and petite ([p(ə)ti] and [p(ə)tit] in France) are [p(œ̈)t͡si] and [p(œ̈)t͡sɪt] in Quebec. The same goes with /y/[ʏ] and /u/[ʊ]. In some areas, notably Beauce, Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean and (to a lesser extent) Quebec City and the surrounding region, even long tense vowels may be laxed.


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