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  2.2.1.5 Nasal ae

The following graphemes indicate a nasal ae: un, in, aim, yn, ein

in
vin = wine
vingt = twenty  
im
simple = simple
ym  
symphonie = symphony
ai
main = hand
aimer = to love
ein
peindre = to paint

This does not apply (as said before) when after un, in, aim, yn follows a vowel or another m or n . Then the vowels are spoken in its original sound.

Examples
unité = unit  
semaine = week  
téléfone = telephone  
immigrer = to immigrate  
immobile = immobile  

We also suggest to form the nasal a by first forming a normal, open a and then changing it to a nasal one by using the nose as a resonance chamber.

Try to repeat:

                   

The differentiation of ae and nasal ae is most important with adjectives, because the masculine form often ends with a nasal ae, the feminine form has an added consonant to the ae.

  Gegenüberstellung
 
italienne = Italien (feminine) italien = Italian (masculine) both together

We now have seen the three most important nasal vowels. We are sure you can now hear the difference. It is important that you repeat them several times so that creating them becomes easy and natural to you. Listen and repeat the following lines:

nasal ae nasal a nasal o

nasal o nasal ae nasal a
  

nasal a nasal o nasal ae
  





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