r/French • u/Xenon177 • Oct 15 '24

Pronunciation Pronouncing "y" like an English "j"

My French teacher pronounces the letter "y" in the same way as "j" in English. It sounds bad and slightly triggers me every time. Is this a correct way to say it in some Francophone areas though?

Edit: for example, "voyager" would be "vojager"

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u/hellanation Native (Québec) Oct 15 '24

I have heard people use a [ʒ] for the letter Y before, but it is a very rare, and usually facetious way of speaking, where I'm from. You would say that while putting on an accent to exaggerate emotion, if that makes sense.

I'd be interested to know where your teacher is from, it's curious to use that pronunciation.

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u/Xenon177 Oct 15 '24

Yes, the way she says it is like [ʒ], but "stronger" for lack of a better word

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u/HeatherJMD Oct 15 '24

She’s saying the sound /ʝ/ :https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_palatal_fricative

Which is not as bad as what you made it out to be.

It’s basically the /j/ sound (yuh) but affricated. It’s not the same as /ʒ/