Editing Old French (section)

==Phonology==
{{See also|Phonological history of French}}
Old French was constantly changing and evolving; however, the form in the late 12th century, as attested in a great deal of mostly poetic writings, can be considered standard. The writing system at this time was more phonetic than that used in most subsequent centuries. In particular, all written consonants (including final ones) were pronounced, except for ''s'' preceding non-[[stop consonant]]s and ''t'' in ''et'', and final ''e'' was pronounced {{IPAblink|ə}}. The phonological system can be summarised as follows:<ref>Rickard 1989: 47–8, Laborderie 1994: § 2.2</ref>

===Consonants===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Old French consonants
|-
! Type
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Plosive]]
|{{IPA link|p}} {{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|t}} {{IPA link|d}}
|
|{{IPA link|k}} {{IPA link|ɡ}}
|
|-
! [[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
|
|{{IPA link|t͡s}} {{IPA link|d͡z}}
|{{IPA link|t͡ʃ}} {{IPA link|d͡ʒ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
|{{IPA link|f}} {{IPA link|v}}
|{{IPA link|s}} {{IPA link|z}}
|
|
|{{IPA link|h}}
|-
! [[Lateral consonant|Lateral]]
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|{{IPA link|ʎ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|}

Notes:
* All [[obstruent]]s (plosives, fricatives and affricates) were subject to [[word-final devoicing]], which was usually indicated in the orthography.
* The [[affricate]]s {{IPA|/ts/}}, {{IPA|/dz/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, {{IPA|/dʒ/}} became [[fricative]]s ({{IPA|[s]}}, {{IPA|[z]}}, {{IPA|[ʃ]}}, {{IPA|[ʒ]}}) in [[Middle French]].
** {{IPA|/ts/}} had three spellings – ''c'' before ''e'' or ''i'', ''ç'' before other vowels, or ''z'' at the end of a word – as seen in '''''c'''ent'', ''chan'''ç'''on'', ''pri'''z''''' ("a hundred, song, price").
** {{IPA|/dz/}} was written as ''z'', as in ''do'''z'''e'' {{gloss|twelve}}, and occurred only in the middle of the word.
* {{IPA|/ʎ/}} (''l [[mouillé]]''), as in ''conse'''il''''', ''trava'''ill'''ier'' ("advice, to work"), became {{IPA|/j/}} in [[French language|Modern French]].
* {{IPA|/ɲ/}} appeared not only in the middle of a word but also at the end, as in ''poi'''ng''''' {{gloss|fist}}. At the end of a word, {{IPA|/ɲ/}} was later lost, leaving a [[nasalized vowel]].
* {{IPA|/h/}} was found only in Germanic loanwords or words influenced by Germanic (cf. ''haut, hurler''). It was later lost as a consonant, though it was [[transphonologization|transphonologized]] as the so-called [[aspirated h]] that blocks [[liaison (French)|liaison]]. In native Latin words, {{IPA|/h/}} had been lost early on, as in ''om'', ''uem'', from {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} ''homō''.
* Intervocalic {{IPA|/d/}} from both Latin {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} was [[Lenition|lenited]] to {{IPA|[ð]}} in the early period (cf. contemporary Spanish: ''amado'' {{IPA|[aˈmaðo]}}). At the end of words, it was also devoiced to {{IPA|[θ]}}. In some texts it was sometimes written as ''dh'' or ''th'' (''aiudha, cadhuna, Ludher, vithe''). By 1100 it disappeared altogether.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Berthon, H. E. |url=https://archive.org/stream/tablessynoptique00bert#page/12/mode/1up |title=Tables synoptiques de phonologie de l'ancien français |last2=Starkey, V. G. |publisher=Oxford Clarendon Press |year=1908}}</ref>

===Vowels===
In Old French, the nasal vowels were not separate phonemes but only [[allophone]]s of the oral vowels before a nasal consonant. The nasal consonant was fully pronounced; {{lang|fr|bon}} was pronounced {{IPA|[bõn]}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{IPA|[bɔ̃]}}). Nasal vowels were present even in [[open syllable]]s before nasals where Modern French has oral vowels, as in ''bone'' {{IPA|[bõnə]}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{lang|fr|bonne}} {{IPA|[bɔn]}}).

===Monophthongs===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Old French vowels
|-
!colspan=2| Type
! [[Front vowel|Front]] || [[Central vowel|Central]] || [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Close vowel|Close]]
!<small>oral</small>
| {{IPA link|i}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|y}} ||rowspan=2| &nbsp; || {{IPA link|u}}
|-
!<small>nasal</small>
| {{IPA link|ĩ}} &nbsp; {{IPA link|ỹ}} || &nbsp;
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
!<small>oral</small>
| {{IPA link|e}} ||rowspan=2| {{IPA link|ə}} || &nbsp;
|-
!<small>nasal</small>
| {{IPA link|ẽ}} ||| {{IPA link|õ}}
|-
!colspan=2| [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}} || &nbsp; ||{{IPA link|ɔ}}
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Open vowel|Open]]
!<small>oral</small>
|colspan=3|{{IPA link|a}}
|-
!<small>nasal</small>
|colspan=3|{{IPA link|ã}}
|}

Notes:
* {{IPA|/o/}} had formerly existed but then closed to {{IPA|/u/}}; the original Western Romance {{IPA|/u/}} having previously been fronted to {{IPA|/y/}} across most of what is now France and northern Italy.
** {{IPA|/o/}} would later appear again when {{IPA|/aw/}} [[monophthongize]]d and also when {{IPA|/ɔ/}} closed in certain positions (such as when it was followed by original {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}} but not by {{IPA|/ts/}}, which later became {{IPA|/s/}}).
** {{IPA|/õ/}} may have similarly become closed to {{IPA|/ũ/}}, in at least in some dialects, since it was borrowed into [[Middle English]] as {{IPA|/uːn/}} > {{IPA|/aʊn/}} ({{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|computāre}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} {{lang|fro|conter}} > English ''count''; {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|rotundum}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} {{lang|fro|ront}} > English ''round''; {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|bonitātem}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} {{lang|fro|bonté}} > English ''bounty''). In any case, traces of such a change were erased in later stages of French, when the close nasal vowels {{IPA|/ĩ ỹ õ~ũ/}} were opened to become {{IPA|/ɛ̃ œ̃ ɔ̃/}}.
* {{IPA|/ə̃/}} may have existed in the unstressed third-person plural verb ending ''-ent'', but it may have already passed to {{IPA|/ə/}}, which is known to have happened no later than the Middle French period.

===Diphthongs and triphthongs===
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+ Late Old French [[diphthong]]s and [[triphthong]]s
|-
! Type
! IPA || Example || Meaning
|-
!colspan=4| falling
|-
!rowspan=5| [[Oral vowel|Oral]]
|| {{IPA|/aw/}} || [[wikt:chevaus#Old French|chev'''au'''s]] || horse
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔj/}} || [[wikt:toit#Old French|t'''oi'''t]] || roof
|-
| {{IPA|/ɔw/}} || [[wikt:coup#Old French|c'''ou'''p]] || blow, hit
|-
| {{IPA|/ew/}} ~ {{IPA|/øw/}} || [[wikt:cieus#Old French|ci'''eu'''s]] || heavens
|-
| {{IPA|/iw/}} ~ {{IPA|/iɥ/}} || [[wikt:tiule#Old French|t'''iu'''le]] || tile
|-
!rowspan=2| [[Nasal vowel|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|/ẽj/}} || [[wikt:plein#Old French|pl'''ein''']] || full
|-
| {{IPA|/õj/}} || [[wikt:loing#Old French|l'''oing''']] || far
|-
!colspan=4| rising
|-
!rowspan=3| [[Oral vowel|Oral]]
| {{IPA|/je/}} || [[wikt:pié#Old French|p'''ié''']] || foot
|-
| {{IPA|/ɥi/}} || [[wikt:fruit#Old French|fr'''ui'''t]] || fruit
|-
| {{IPA|/we/}} ~ {{IPA|/wø/}} || [[wikt:cuer#Old French|c'''ue'''r]] || heart
|-
!rowspan=3| [[Nasal vowel|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|/jẽ/}} || [[wikt:bien#Old French|b'''ien''']] || well
|-
| {{IPA|/ɥĩ/}} || [[wikt:juin#Old French|j'''uin''']] || June
|-
| {{IPA|/wẽ/}} || [[wikt:cuens|c'''uen'''s]] || count {{small|({{abbr|nom. sg.|nominative singular}})}}
|-
!colspan=4| triphthongs<br /><small>stress always falls on middle vowel</small>
|-
!rowspan=3| [[Oral vowel|Oral]]
| {{IPA|/e̯aw/}} || [[wikt:beaus#Old French|b'''eau'''s]] || beautiful
|-
| {{IPA|/jew/}} || [[wikt:Dieu#Old French|D'''ieu''']] || God
|-
| {{IPA|/wew/}} ~ {{IPA|/wøw/}} || [[wikt:jueu#Old French|j'''ueu''']] || Jew
|}

Notes:
* In Early Old French (up to about the mid-12th century), the spelling {{angle bracket|ai}} represented a diphthong {{IPA|/aj/}} instead of the later [[monophthong]] {{IPA|/ɛ/}},<ref>Zink (1999), p. 132</ref> and {{angle bracket|ei}} represented the diphthong {{IPA|/ej/}}, which merged with {{IPA|/oj/}} in Late Old French (except when it was nasalized).
* In Early Old French, the diphthongs described above as "rising" may have been falling diphthongs ({{IPA|/ie̯/}}, {{IPA|/yj/}}, {{IPA|/ue̯/}}). In earlier works with vowel [[assonance]], the diphthong written {{angle bracket|ie}} did not assonate with any pure vowels, which suggests that it cannot have simply been {{IPA|/je/}}.
* The pronunciation of the vowels written {{angle bracket|ue}} and {{angle bracket|eu}} is debated. In the first records of Early Old French, they represented and were written as {{IPA|/uo/, /ou/}}, and by [[Middle French]], they had both merged as {{IPA|/ø ~ œ/}}, but the transitional pronunciations are unclear.
* Early Old French had additional triphthongs {{IPA|/iej/}} and {{IPA|/uoj/}} (equivalent to diphthongs followed by {{IPA|/j/}}); these soon merged into {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/ɥi/}} respectively.
* The diphthong {{angle bracket|iu}} was rare and had merged into {{angle bracket|ui}} by Middle French ({{abbr|OF|Old French}} {{lang|fro|tiule}} > {{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{lang|fr|tuile}} {{gloss|tile}}; {{abbr|OF|Old French}} {{lang|fro|siure}} > Late {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''suire'' > {{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{lang|fr|suivre}} {{gloss|follow}}).

===Hiatus===
In addition to diphthongs, Old French had many instances of [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] between adjacent vowels because of the loss of an intervening consonant. Manuscripts generally do not distinguish hiatus from true diphthongs, but modern scholarly transcription indicates it with a [[diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]], as in Modern French:
* {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|audīre}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|oïr}}'' {{IPA|/uˈir/}} {{gloss|hear}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{lang|fr|ouïr}})
* {{abbr|VL|Vulgar Latin}} *''vidūta'' > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|veüe}}'' {{IPA|/vəˈy.ə/}} {{gloss|seen}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''vue'')
* {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|rēgīnam}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|reïne}}'', {{IPA|/rəˈinə/}} {{gloss|queen}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''reine'')
* {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|pāgēnsem}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|païs}}'' {{IPA|/paˈis/}} {{gloss|country}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''pays'')
* {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|augustum}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|aoust}}'' {{IPA|/aˈu(s)t/}} {{gloss|August}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''août'')
* {{abbr|Lat|Latin}} {{lang|la|patellam}} > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|paelle}}'' {{IPA|/paˈɛlə/}} {{gloss|pan}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''poêle'')
* {{abbr|LL|Late Latin}}  ''quaternum'' > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|quaïer}}'' {{IPA|/kwaˈjer/}} {{gloss|booklet, quire}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} ''cahier'')
* {{abbr|LL|Late Latin}} ''aetāticum'' > {{abbr|OF|Old French}} ''{{wt|fro|aage}}'', ''{{wt|fro|eage}}'' {{IPA|/aˈad͡ʒə/ ~ /əˈad͡ʒə/}} {{gloss|age}} ({{abbr|ModF|Modern French}} {{lang|fr|âge}})

=== Sample text ===
Presented below is the first [[laisse]] of ''The Song of Roland'' along with a [[broad transcription]] reflecting reconstructed pronunciation {{circa|1050}}.<ref>Per Hall (1946), converted from Americanist notation to IPA and with corrected word order at the beginning of line four.</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Text
!Transcription
!Translation
|-
|<poem>
Charles li reis, nostre emperedre magnes,
Set anz toz pleins at estét en Espaigne.
Tres qu'en la mer conquist la tere altaigne,
Chastel n'i at ki devant lui remaignet.
Murs ne citét n'i est remés a fraindre,
Fors Sarragoce qu'est en une montaigne;
Li reis Marsilies la tient, ki Deu nen aimet,
Mahomet sert ed Apolin reclaimet:
Ne·s poet guarder que mals ne l'i ataignet!<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hall |first=Robert A. |date=1946 |title=Old French Phonemes and Orthography |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4172774 |journal=Studies in Philology |volume=43 |issue=4 |pages=575–585 |issn=0039-3738 |jstor=4172774}}</ref>
</poem>
|<poem>
{{IPA|ˈt͡ʃarləs li ˈre͜is, ˈnɔstr‿empəˈræðrə ˈmaɲəs}}
{{IPA|ˈsɛt ˈant͡s ˈtot͡s ˈple͜ins ˈað esˈtæθ en esˈpaɲə}}
{{IPA|ˈtræs k‿en la ˈmɛr konˈkist la ˈtɛr alˈta͜iɲə}}
{{IPA|t͡ʃasˈtɛl ni ˈaθ ki dəˈvant ˈly͜i rəˈma͜iɲəθ}}
{{IPA|ˈmyrs nə t͡siˈtæθ n‿i ˈɛst rəˈmæs a ˈfra͜indrə}}
{{IPA|ˈfɔrs saraˈgot͡sə k‿ˈɛst en ˈynə monˈtaɲə}}
{{IPA|li ˈre͜is marˈsiʎəs la ˈti͜ɛnt, ki ˈdɛ͜u nən ˈa͜iməθ}}
{{IPA|mahoˈmɛt ˈsɛrt eð apoˈlin rəˈkla͜iməθ}}
{{IPA|nə‿s ˈpu͜ɛt gwarˈdær kə ˈmals nə l‿i aˈta͜iɲəθ}}
</poem>
|<poem>Charles the king, our great emperor,
Has been in Spain for seven full years.
He has conquered the lofty land up to the sea,
No castle remains standing before him.
No wall or city is left to destroy,
Other than Saragossa, which lies atop a mountain;
King Marsilie is its master, he who loves not God,
He serves Mohammed and worships Apollo:
[Still] he cannot prevent harm from reaching him!
</poem>
|}