Jeannielle :
> To my ears, the sound "uile" and "ouille" are very
> different.
They are so different actually that in IPA notation
they have no element in common: one is [µil] and the
other is [uj], where (lest unusual coding gets lost)
I wrote [µ] the semi-consonant from the vowel [y].
> But as none of them exist in English, I believe that
> this difference may not be obvious to foreign ears.
The combinations of elements don't exist, but most of
the sound components do, so that I would be surprised
that foreign ears wouldn't hear the difference.
Now the most difficult element is the one I noted [µ].
But it has got difficult even for many French-speaking
people, who often tend to replace it by [w] (like in
"well") and so to pronounce "juin" like "joint".
if English-speaking people want to pronounce [y], I
would suggest that they try to "slide" progressively
from the [i] in "deed" to the [u] in "do", then stop
somewhere in between, when the sound is audibly
neither [i] nor [u].
Once you get [y], you might try [µ] which is to [y]
what [w] is to [u].
Pierre Hallet, Brussels.
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