When I was saying that the [e] is only present in English in the group [eI] (which is the sound of the word pain or play) I'm refering to the first sound of the diphthong, obviously.Thanks for clarifying. I do however think that many pronounce the [e] as a diphtong, -ay, and consequently é in French like -ay.
I know that the vowel sound in peu and jeune are not the same and the difference exist in Swedish too (using Ö for both sounds). Unfortunately I can't see the phonetical alphabet on my computer so I can't see how the English sound differs from the French. I admit that I honestly can't hear the difference between the English vowel sound in first and the French EU or the Scandinavian Ö/Ø.
I hope you don't feel like I've criticised you. I just think this is very interesting and I realise that you have more knowledge of phonetics than I have.
ETA: Forgot to ask you. You say that "These sounds are represented by EU, not only by E" but the E when saying the French alphabet is pronounced like the EU sound and in words such as regard, renard etc Is this sound phonetically different from the EU sound?
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I'm right. - Molière This message was edited 7/9/2009, 12:33 PM