Pronunciation

Question

I am unsire about the pronunciation of several forms of "avoir". Sometimes [a] dominates and sometimes [e], for example "que j'aie" is [kəʒe] but "avoir" is [avwaʁ]. How is "que nous ayons" pronounced?

Answer

Bonjour Johannes !

In "aie", you have the phoneme "ai" which is pronounced [e] in French :)

The word "ayons" is a bit trickier indeed:
In French, when a "y" is used between two vowels, it's going to be *counted twice*:
- first as a vowel, similar to an "i", after the "a", creating the sound "ai" [e]
- then as a consonant before "ons", producing the sound [j] (ye)

So "ayons" is pronounced [ejɔ̃]  :)

I hope that's helpful!
À bientôt !

Answer

Dear Aurélie
Very much appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Johannes