




































jonal vol. 5 No. 4  new2.cdr


A CONSTRASTIVE STUDY OF IGBO AND FRENCH SPEECH SOUNDS

By
Mpamugo, Emmanuel Emenike

General Studies Unit
University of Agriculture and Environmental Studies,

Umuagwo, Imo State.
empamugo4@gmail.com

07034937398
&

Nwaukoni, Anthonia
School of General Studies (Languages),

Delta State Polytechnic, Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State.
anthonianwaukoni@yahoo.com

08035996873

Abstract
his paper is aimed at finding out the similarities and differences between the speech sounds of Tthe languages under review and predict difficulties Igbo learners of French and French 
learners of Igbo may encounter and proffer solutions to these difficulties. This study's major 

interest is on the phonemic level of the phonology of Igbo and French. Based on this, the researchers 
compared the phonemes of both languages. This research work is based on the contrastive analysis 
theory of Robert Lado (1957). The findings of this study showed that both languages share 
similarities in sixteen (16) consonants and six (6) vowels, and differences in thirteen (13) 
consonants and twelve (12) vowels. Although the /r/ and /w/ sounds exist in both languages, their 
places of articulation differ. Following the assumptions of contrastive analysis, these differences are 
presumed to constitute learning difficulties. To avert these difficulties for the L2 learners of Igbo and 
French, much emphasis need to be drawn on these stated areas of differences and properly handled 
by language teachers.
Keywords: Language, Phonology, Phoneme, Igbo, French, Contrastive study.

Introduction
Language is an integral part of humans' relations. It plays a central role in human history. Language 
has its root in sound. Anozie (1999) defined language as sounds that humans make which brings 
forth meaning when organs of speech come together to interact in organized manner. Mbah (2007) 
corroborates this as she opines that language is a systematic use of sounds and symbols to express 
one's feelings, thoughts, and for human interaction. Language learning makes room for ease of 
interaction amongst people of different cultures and languages thereby promoting language growth. 
Different languages find their way into alien cultures and environments. A situation of learning and 
adopting these languages for interaction always poses a threat due to the disparities between them in 
various levels of linguistic description. One of these levels where major differences are marked is 
the phonology level. 
Igbo language is one of the languages spoken in Nigeria. It is predominantly spoken by Igbos found 
in the South-eastern part of Nigeria. The Igbo language is of the Kwa language group in the Niger-
Congo language family and has about thirty (30) million speakers. French language which takes its 
origin from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, is a Romance language of the Indo-European 
language family. It has about seventy-seven (77) million native speakers all over the world and 
functions as an official language in twenty-nine (29) countries of the world.

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The interest of this study is to look at the similarities and differences that exits between the 
phonology of Igbo and French with emphasis on their phonemic inventories using contrastive 
analysis method. Contrastive analysis looks at the similarities and differences between a native 
language and a target language, to see where potential problems may arise. These problems could 
make it difficult for language learners to achieve success in their language learning endeavours. This 
study is intended to discuss and bring to bear the similarities and differences between the phonemes 
of Igbo and French in order to assist learners and teachers, predicting problems they could encounter 
and proffering solutions to these problems for better language learning while eliminating inter-
language development in their target language. 

Empirical review
Contrastive analysis works well in predicting and explaining the language learning process. It 
derives its hypotheses from comparison, which is done to yield similarities and differences of two 
languages especially a native and a target language, to ascertain the level of difficulty language 
learners may encounter. Fries (1945), raised an assumption which states that the most effective 
materials in language learning and language teaching are those based upon a scientific description of 
the language to be learned carefully compared and contrasted with the parallel description of the 
language of the learners. Lado (1957), opined that through contrastive analysis, it is possible to 
identify the areas of difficulty a particular foreign language will present for native speakers of 
another language by systematically comparing the two languages and cultures. From the above 
explanations, it is imperative to state that contrastive analysis x-rays a foreign and native language 
putting both side by side to ascertain the similarities and differences between the two making it 
easier for native learners to understand the concepts of the foreign language. Firbas (1992) looks at 
contrastive analysis as a method that proves to be a useful heuristic tool capable of throwing valuable 
light on the characteristic features of the languages contrasted. These characteristic features of 
languages start off from the sounds, which is the phonology level. 

Markey (1998) did a contrastive analysis of French and American English. She compared the 
phonemes of both languages focusing on the differences in consonant phonemes. She observed that 
six (6) consonant phonemes present in English are not in French. These consonant phonemes are: /θ 

ẟ h ŋ ʧ ʤ/. She opined that contrastive analysis predicts that French speakers will have problem 
pronouncing English words that contain these sounds. She further noted that words like think, that, 
help, sing, witch, hitch and jog will be difficult for French speakers because they are unaccustomed 
to these sounds, regardless of where the sounds are located in the word. She recommended that 
French learners of English should be taught the distinctive features of these unfamiliar sounds. 
N'Gom (1997) through his research on the contrastive phonological analysis of French and 
Mandinka, revealed that the French vowels /y ø œ œ̃ɔ ̃ ᾶ ə/ and consonants /g v z ʒ ʃ ɥ/ are not in 
Mandinka and as such, Mandinka speakers will have difficulty pronouncing words containing these 
sounds. He proposed that for Mandinka learners of French, much emphasis should be laid on these 
unfamiliar sounds. Eme and Uba (2014) in their contrastive analysis of the phonology of Igbo and 
Yoruba presented that Igbo has all the consonants of Yoruba and additional ten (10) which are 

lacking in Yoruba. These consonants are: /p kw gw v z ŋ ŋw ɲ ɣ ʧ/. For the vowels, they observed that 
Igbo has eight oral vowels while Yoruba has seven (7) oral vowels and five (5) nasal vowels. 

They further stated that the major difference in the vowel system of both languages is that Yoruba has 
five (5) nasal vowels /ɪ ɛ a ɔ u/ which Igbo lacks. Also, the vowels /ɪ/ and /υ/ are phonemically present 
in Igbo but absent in Yoruba, while /ɛ/ is phonemically present in Yoruba but absent in Igbo. They 
predicted that with these differences, there will be pronunciation problems for Igbo learners of 

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Yoruba and Yoruba learners of Igbo. They proposed that to prevent these pronunciation errors, Igbo 
learners of Yoruba should be taught to produce and master those Yoruba sounds they are not familiar 
with and the same should be done with Yoruba learners of Igbo concerning the Igbo sounds they are 
not familiar with. Umar (2015) did a contrastive analysis of Hausa and Igbo sound inventories. He 
presented that the consonant phonemes /ɓ ɗ gy ƙ ky ƙw ƙy ts 'y/ present in Hausa are absent in Igbo 

and also the consonant phonemes /gb ɣ kp ŋ ŋw ɲ p v/ present in Igbo are absent in Hausa. He 
observed that the vocalic diphthongs /ai au ui/ in Hausa are absent in Igbo and the vowels /ɪ ɔ υ/ 
present in Igbo are absent in Hausa. He recommended that the similarities and difference found in 
both languages should be used to create a linguistic family tree with the aim of aiding Igbo learners 
of Hausa and Hausa learners of Igbo for easy language acquisition. In this study, we will 
contrastively look at the phonemes of Igbo and French, bringing out their similarities and 
differences and predicting likely problems Igbo learners of French and French learners of Igbo will 
encounter and suggest ways of preventing these problems. 

Methodology
This research work is based on the contrastive analysis method. This method is most suitable as it 
enabled the researchers to compare the speech sounds of both languages, paying special attention to 
the differences that exit in their sound pattern in line with the tenets of contrastive analysis. The 
researchers made use of already exiting and established works done separately on the phonology of 
each of the languages in review. For the speech sounds of Igbo, this research work adopted 
Ikekeọnwụ, Ezikeojiakụ, Ụbanị and Ugọjị (1999), whose work shows that there are thirty-six 
phonemes in the Igbo phonemic inventory comprising of twenty-eight consonants (28) and eight (8) 
vowels. For the speech sounds of French, this research work adopted Carduner and Hagiwara 
(1982), whose work shows that there are thirty-seven phonemes in the French phonemic inventory 
comprising of twenty-one (21) consonants and sixteen (16) vowels.

 Igbo speech sounds
The standard Igbo has thirty-six (36) phonemes, which comprises of twenty-eight (28) consonants 
and eight (8) vowels.

Igbo consonants

There are twenty-eight (28) phonemic consonants in Igbo which are: /p b t d k g kp gb kw gw m n ɲŋ

ŋw f v s z ʃɣɦʧʤ l r j w/. These consonants according to Ikekeọnwụ, Ezikeojiakụ, Ụbanị and Ugọjị 
(1999), are described using their places of articulation, manner of articulation and the state of the 
glottis. Place of articulation describes the organs of speech that come together for the articulation of 
a sound. Manner of articulation describes how the airstream used in the production of a consonant is 
manipulated during the production of the consonant. Mbah and Mbah (2010) stated that the 
manipulation of the airstream could be classified as complete closure, partial closure and open 
closure/approximation. The descriptions of these consonants and their word examples are shown 
below:

Plosives
There are ten (10) plosives in the Igbo consonant. These speech sounds are regarded as plosives due 
to the complete closure of the airstream and the explosion that comes afterwards while articulating 
them. These plosives are: /p b t d k g kp gb kw gw/. They occur only at word initial and medial 
positions, but do not occur at word final positions.
(i) /p/ is a voiceless bilabial plosive. Examples: 

/pɪa/ (pịa) 'press', /opi/ (opi) 'whistle', /apɪpɪa/ (apịpịa) 'cane'

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(ii) /b/ is a voiced bilabial plosive. Examples:
/bɪa/ (bịa) 'come', /obe/ (obe) 'cross', /ɔbara/ (ọbara) 'blood'

(iii) /t/: is a voiceless alveolar plosive.Examples:
/ta/ (ta) 'chew', /ute/ (ute) 'mat', /υtυtυ/ (ụtụtụ) 'morning'

(iv) /d/ is a voiced alveolar plosive. Examples:
/de/ (de) 'write', /udo/ (udo) 'peace', /edide/ (edide) 'write up'

(v) /k/: is a voiceless velar plosive. Examples:
/ke/ (ke) 'tie', /oke/ (oke) 'rat', /ikike/ (ikike) 'authority'

(vi) /g/ is a voiced velar plosive. Examples:
/ga/ (ga) 'go', /oge/ (oge) 'time', /ogige/ (ogige) 'garden'

(vii) /kp/: is a voiceless labio-velar plosive. Examples:
/kpe/ (kpe) 'pray', /okpu/ (okpu) 'cap', /okpukpere/ (okpukpere) 'religion'

(viii) /gb/ is a voiced labio-velar plosive. Examples:
/gba/ (gba) 'run', /ogbe/ (ogbe) 'cluster', /ogbugbu/ (ogbugbu) 'killing'

(ix) /kw/ is a voiceless labialized velar plosive. Examples:
/kwe/ (kwe) 'agree', /okwu/ (okwu) 'speech', /okwukwe/ (okwukwe) 'faith'

(x) /gw/ is a voiced labialized velar plosive. Examples:
/gwa/ (gwa) 'tell', /igwe/ (igwe) 'iron', /ogwugwu/ (ogwugwu) 'deity'

Nasals
There are five (5) nasals in the Igbo consonant. These speech sounds are regarded as nasals due to the 
passage of air from the airstream through the nostril as there is complete closure of the velum while 

articulating them. These nasals are: /m nɲŋŋw/. They are all voiced. They occur only at word initial 
and medial positions except for /m/ which also occurs at word final position when it functions as a 
syllabic nasal.
(i) /m/ is a voiced bilabial nasal. Examples:

/mpi/ (mpi) 'horn', /omume/ (omume) 'character', /ɔdυm/ (ọdụm) 'lion'
(ii) /n/ is  a voiced alveolar nasal. Examples:

/ncha/ (ncha) 'soap', /une/ (une) 'banana', /anυnυ/ (anụnụ) 'blue'
(iii) /ɲ/ is a voiced palatal nasal. Examples:

/ɲe/ (nye) 'give', /aɲa/ (anya) 'eye', /ɪɲɪɲa/ (ịnyịnya) 'horse'

(iv) /ŋ/ is a voiced velar nasal. Examples:

/ŋυ/ (ṅụ) 'drink', /aŋυ/ (aṅụ) 'bee', /ɔŋυ/ (ọṅụ) 'joy'

(v) /ŋw/ is a voiced labialized velar nasal. Examples:

/ŋwe/ (nwe) 'own', /ɔŋwυ/ (ọnwụ) 'death', /ɔŋwυŋwa/ (ọnwụnwa) 'temptation'

Fricatives
There are seven (7) fricatives in standard Igbo consonant. These speech sounds are regarded as 
fricatives due to the partial closure of the airstream while articulating them. These fricatives are: /f v 
s z ʃ ɣ ɦ/. They occur only at word initial and medial positions except for /ʃ/ which occurs only at 
word medial position.
(i) /f / is a voiceless labio-dental fricative. Examples:

/fe/ (fe) 'fly', /ofe/ (ofe) 'soup', /ofufe/ (ofufe) 'worship'
(ii) /v/ is a voiced labio-dental fricative. Examples:

/vυ/ (vụ) 'fell', /Ivo/ (Ivo) 'name of a town', /vum/ (vum)'onomatopoeic sound'
(iii) /s/ is a voiceless alveolar fricative. Examples:

/sa/ (sa) 'wash', /ose/ (ose) 'pepper', /osisi/ (osisi) 'tree'
(iv) /z/ is a voiced alveolar fricative. Examples:

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/za/ (za) 'answer', /ozi/ (ozi) 'message', /azɪza/ (azịza) 'broom'
(v) /ʃ/ is a voiceless post-alveolar fricative. Examples:
  /aʃà/ (asha) 'weaver bird', /ɪʃa/ (ịsha) 'crayfish'
(vi) /ɣ/ is a voiced velar fricative. Examples:

/ɣɔ/ (ghọ) 'pluck', /oɣe/ (oghe) 'open', /oɣiɣe/ (oghighe)'frying'
(i)  /ɦ/ is voiced glottal fricative.Examples:

/ɦa/ (ha) 'they', /aɦa/ (aha) 'name', /eɦiɦie/ (ehihie) 'afternoon'

Affricates
There are only two (2) affricates in the standard Igbo consonant. These speech sounds are regarded 
as affricates due to the complete closure of the airstream and gentle release afterwards while 
articulating them. These affricates are: /ʧ ʤ/. They occur only at word initial and medial positions.
(i) /ʧ/ is a voiceless post-alveolar affricate. Examples:

/ʧe/ (che) 'wait', /oʧe/ (oche) 'chair', /eʧiʧe/ (echiche) 'thought'
(ii) /ʤ/ is a voiced post-alveolar affricate. Examples:

/ʤe/ (je) 'go', /aʤa/ (aja) 'sand', /aʤυʤυ/ (ajụjụ) 'question'

Lateral
There is only one (1) lateral in the standard Igbo consonant. The articulation of this speech sound 
occurs when there is a closure of the nasal cavity and the opening of the oral cavity while the tip of 
the tongue makes contact with the alveolar. This lateral sound is /l/. It occurs only at word initial and 
medial positions.
(i) /l/ is a voiced alveolar lateral. Examples:

/le/ (le) 'look', /olu/ (olu) 'neck', /olilo/ (olilo) 'assimilation'

Trill
There is only one (1) trill in the standard Igbo consonant. The articulation of this speech sound 
occurs when there is a closure of the nasal cavity and the opening of the oral cavity while the tip of 
the tongue makes contact with the soft palate. This trill sound is /r/. It occurs only at word initial and 
medial positions.
(i) /r/ is a voiced alveolar trill. Examples:

/ri/ (ri) 'eat', /ara/ (ara) 'madness', /oriri/ (oriri) 'feast'

Approximant
There are two (2) approximants in the standard Igbo consonant. The articulation of these speech 
sounds occur when there is a closure of the nasal cavity and the opening of the oral cavity, while the 
front of the tongue makes contact with the hard palate. These approximant sounds are /j w/. They 
occur only at word initial and medial positions.
(i) /j/ is a voiced palatal approximant. Examples:

/ja/ (ya) 'him/her', /oji/ (oyi) 'cold', /ojiji/ (oyiyi) 'resemblance'
(ii) /w/ is a voiced labio-velar approximant. Examples:
/wa/ (wa) 'split', /iwe/ (iwe) 'anger', /were/ (were) 'take’

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Igbo Consonant Chart

MANNER OF 
ARTICULATION

 

B
il

a
b

ia
l

 

L
a
b

io
-d

en
ta

l
 

  
n

a
 e

ze
 

A
lv

eo
la

r
 

P
o
st

-a
lv

eo
la

r
 

P
a
la

ta
l

 

V
el

a
r

 

L
a
b

io
-v

el
a
r

 

L
a
b

ia
li

ze
d

-
v
el

a
r

 

G
lo

tt
a
l

 

Plosive

 

p

    

b

  

t    d

   

k      g

 

kp    gb

 

kw     gw

  

Nasal

 

m

        

n

     

ɲ

           

ŋ

 
            

ŋw

  

Fricative

  

f   v

 

s    z

 

ʃ

                 

ɣ

 
  

ɦ

 

Affricate

    

ʧ

   

ʤ

      

Lateral

         

l

       

Trill

         

r

       

Approximant

        

j

           

w

   

PLACE OF ARTICULATION

 

Fig. 1: Igbo Consonant Chart (Adapted from Ikekeọnwụ, Ezikeojiakụ, Ụbanị and Ugọjị 1999)

Igbo vowels
There are eight (8) phonemic vowels in Igbo. The vowels are /a e i ɪ o ɔ u  υ/. They are all voiced. 
According to Ikekeọnwụ, Ezikeojiakụ, Ụbanị and Ugọjị (1999), the vowels are described using 
three basic terms which are: the height of the tongue in the part, the part of the tongue used in the 
production and the shape of the lips. They explained that the height of the tongue in the mouth during 
production is of four parts which are: close, close-mid, open-mid and open. The description of these 
vowels and examples of Igbo words where they occur are shown below:
(i) /a/ is an open front unrounded vowel. Word examples: 

/aka/ (aka) 'hand', /aŋa/ (anya)'eyes', /akυ/ (akụ) 'wealth'
(ii) /e/ is an open-mid front unronded vowel. Word examples are: 

/elu/ (elu) 'up', /efere/ (efere)'plate', /eŋwe/ (enwe) 'monkey'
(iii) /i/ is a close front unrounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/ire/ (ire)'tongue', /iko/ (iko)'cup', /ikike/ (ikike) 'authority'
(iv) /ɪ/ is a close-mid front unrounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/ɪgυ/ (ịgụ) 'to read', /ahɪa/ (ahịa)'market', /ɪgba/ (ịgba) 'drum'
(v) /o/ is an open-mid back rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/oʧe/ (oche)'chair', /oke/ (oke)'male', /oroma/ (oroma) 'orange'
(vi) /ɔ/  is an open back rounded vowel. Word examples: 

/ɔnυ/ (ọnụ)'mouth', /ɔrυ/ (ọrụ)'work', /ɔkυkɔ/ (ọkụkọ) 'chicken'
(vii) /u/ is a close back rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/ube/ (ube)'pear', /udude/ (udude) 'earthworm', /udo/ (udo) 'peace'
(viii) /υ/ is a close-mid back rounded vowel. Word examples:
  /υlɔ/ (ụlọ)'house', /υtυtυ/ (ụtụtụ)'morning', /azυ/ (azụ) 'fish'

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Igbo Vowel Chart

Fig. 2: Igbo Vowel Chart (Adapted from Ikekeọnwụ, Ezikeojiakụ, Ụbanị and Ugọjị 1999)    

French speech sounds
The standard French has thirty-seven (37) phonemes, which comprises of twenty-one (21) 
consonants and sixteen (16) vowels.

French consonants
There are twenty-one (21) phonemic consonants in French which are: /p b t d k g m n ɲ f v s z ʃ ʒ ʁ lR j 
ɥw/. These consonants according to Carduner and Hagiwara (1982), are described using the source 
of the airstream (whether from the lungs - pulmonic or from other source - non-pulmonic), the state 
of vibration of the vocal folds (whether vibrating - voiced or not vibrating - voiceless), the place of 
articulation in the vocal tract (whether bilabial, dental, labio-dental, alveolar, post-alveolar, palatal, 
velar, uvular or glottal) and the manner of articulation (whether stop/plosive, fricative, nasal or 
liquid). The descriptions of these consonants and their word examples are shown below:

Plosives
There are six (6) plosives in the French consonant. These plosives are: /p b t d k g/. They occur at 
word initial, medial and final positions.
(i) /p/ is a voiceless bilabial plosive. Examples: 

/pəti/ (petit) 'small', /aprɛ/ (après) 'after', /tip/ (type) 'kind'
(ii) /b/ is a voiced bilabial plosive. It occurs in word initial and medial positions, butdo not occur 
in word final positions. Examples:

/blã/ (blanc) 'white', /tabu/ (tabou) 'taboo', /tɔb̃ / (tombe) 'tomb'
(iii) /t/: is a voiceless alveolar plosive. It occurs in word initial and medial positions, but do not 
occur in word final position.Examples:

/tabl/ (table) 'table', /bato/ (bateau) 'ship', /ɛst/ (est) 'is'
(iv) /d/ is a voiced alveolar plosive. It occurs in word initial and medial positions, but do not 

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occur in word final position. Examples:
/dǿ/ (deux) 'two', /pedal/ (pédale) 'pedal', /gʁᾶd/ (grande) 'big'

(v) /k/: is a voiceless velar plosive. It occurs at word initial and final positions, but do not occur at 
word final positions. Examples:

/ku/ (cou) 'neck', /sak/ (sac) 'bag', /boku/ (beaucoup) 'much'
(vi) /g/ is a voiced velar plosive. Examples:

/gaRd/ (garde) 'gaurd', /bag/ (bague) 'ring', /vag/ (vague) 'wave'

Nasals
There are three (3) nasals in the French consonant. These nasals are: /m nɲ/. They are all voiced. /m/ 
and /n/ occur at word initial, medial and final positions but /ɲ/ occurs only at word medial and final 
positions.
(i) /m/ is a voiced bilabial nasal. Examples:

/mwa/ (moi) 'me', /ami/ (ami) 'friend', /mɛm/ (même) 'same'
(ii) /n/ is  a voiced alveolar nasal. Examples:

/ne/ (nez) 'neck', /pɛn/ (peine) 'sadness', /yn/ (une) 'a'
(iii) /ɲ/ is a voiced palatal nasal. Examples:

/pwaɲɛ/ (poignet) 'wrist', /aɲo/ (agneau) 'lamb', /liɲ/ (ligne) 'line'

Fricatives
There are seven (7) fricatives in the French consonant. These fricatives are: /f v s z ʃ ʒ ʁ/. They occur 
at word initial, medial and final positions.
(i) /f / is a voiceless labio-dental fricative. Examples:

/fij/ (fille) 'girl', /ᾶfɛ/̃  (enfin) 'finally', /nœf/ (neuf) 'nine'
(ii) /v/ is a voiced labio-dental fricative. Examples:

/vwatyʁ/ (voiture) 'car', /avɛk/ (avec) 'with', /aʁiv/ (arrive) 'arrived'
(iii) /s/ is a voiceless alveolar fricative. Examples:

/stilo/ (stylo) 'pen', /klas/ (classe) 'class', /plas/ (place) 'square'
(iv) /z/ is a voiced alveolar fricative. Examples:

/zebʁ/ (zèbre) 'zebra', /ɛz/ '(aise) 'easy', /kɛz̃ / (quinze) 'fifteen'
(v) /ʃ/ is a voiceless post-alveolar fricative. Examples:

 /ʃəmiz/ (chemise) 'shirt', /ʁəʃɛʁʃ/ (recherche) 'research', /ʃɛf/ (chef) 'chief'
(vi) /ʒ/ is a voiced velar fricative. Examples:

/ʒãʁ/ (genre) 'gender', /aʒ/  (age) 'age', /deʒa/ (déjà) 'already'
(vii) /ʁ/ is a voiceless velar fricative. Examples:

/tʁɛ/ (très) 'very', /mɛtʁ/ (mettre) ' to put', /seʁa/ (sera) 'will be'

Lateral
There is only one (1) lateral in the French consonant. This lateral sound is /l/. It occurs at word initial, 
medial and final positions.
(i) /l/ is a voiced alveolar lateral. Examples:

/livʁ/ (livre) 'book', /bɛl/ (belle) 'beautiful', /səlɥi/ (celui) 'the one'

Trill
There is only one (1) trill in the French consonant. This trill sound is /R/. It occurs at word initial, 
medial and final positions.
(i) /R/ is a voiced uvular trill. Examples:

/Ri/ (rit) 'laugh', /paRi/ (Paris) 'Paris', /vᾶdR/ (vendre) 'sale'
Approximant

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There are three (3) approximants in the French consonant. These approximant sounds are /j ɥ w/. /j/ 
occurs at word initial, medial and final positions, while /w/ and /ɥ/ occur only at word initial and 
medial positions.
(i) /j/ is a voiced palatal-spread approximant. Examples:

/jo/ (yeux) 'eyes', /djo/ (dieu) 'god', /fij/ (fille) 'daughter'
(ii) /w/ is a voiced labio-velar approximant. Examples:

/wi/ (oui) 'yes', /wɛst/ (ouest) 'west', /netwaje/ (nettoyer) 'to clean'
(iii) /ɥ/ is a voiced palatal-rounded approximant. Examples:

/ɥil/ (huile) 'oil', /nɥi/ (nuit) 'night', /lɥi/ (lui) 'him’

Fig. 3: French Consonant Chart (Adapted from Carduner and Hagiwara 1982)

French vowels

There are sixteen (16) phonemic vowels in French. These vowels are /i e ɛ ɛ ̃ a y ø œ œ ̃ u o ɔ ɔɑ̃ ᾶ ə/. 
They are all voiced. Carduner and Hagiwara (1982), described French vowels with reference to four 
criteria which are: the part of the tongue that is raised (front, center or back), the extent to which the 
tongue rises in the direction of the soft palate (high, high-mid, low-mid and low), the position of the 
velum (raised for oral vowels and lowered for nasal vowels) and the kind of opening made at the lips 
(rounded or spread). The description of these vowels and their examples in French words where they 
occur are shown below:
(i) /i/ is a front high oral spread vowel. Word examples: 

/il/ (il) 'he', /li/ (lit)'bed', /fij/ (fille) 'daughter'
(ii) /e/ is a front high-mid oral spread vowel. Word examples are: 

/ete/ (été) 'summer', /le/ (les)'the', /ekɔl/ (école) 'school'
(iii) /ɛ/ is a front low-mid oral spread vowel. Word examples are: 

/bɛl/ (belle) 'beautiful', /mɛtʁ/ (mettre) 'to put', /tɛt/ (tête) 'head'
(iv) /ɛ/̃  is a front low-mid nasal spread vowel. Word examples are: 

/pɛs̃ / (pince) 'clamp', /vɛ/̃  (vin) '', /vɛ/̃  (vingt) 'twenty'
(v) /a/ is a front low oral spread vowel. Word examples are: 

French Consonant Chart  

MANNER OF 
ARTICULATION  

B
il

a
b

ia
l  

L
a
b

io
-d

en
ta

l  
 n

a
 e

ze
 

 A
lv

eo
la

r  

P
o
st

-a
lv

eo
la

r  

P
a
la

ta
l  

P
a
la

ta
l 

ro
u

n
d

ed
 

V
el

a
r  

U
v
u

la
r  

Plosive  pb   t    d     k      g   

Nasal m    n   ɲ     
Fricative   f   v  s    z  ʃ      ʒ    ʁ   
Lateral     l       
Trill                   R  
Approximant        j  ɥ  w   

PLACE OF ARTICULATION  

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/ma/ (ma)'my', /ami/ (ami)'friend', /ale/ (aller) 'to go'
(vi) /y/ is a front high oral rounded vowel. Word examples: 

/yn/ (une)'a', /sykʁ/ (sucre)'sugar', /vy/ (vu) 'seen'
(vii) /ø/ is a front high-mid oral rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/nø/ (nœud) 'node', /pø/ (peu) 'little', /vø/ (veux) 'want'
(viii) /œ/ is a front low-mid oral rounded vowel. Word examples:

 /nœf/ (neuf) 'nine', /sœl/ (seul) 'only', /œj/ (œil) 'eye'
(ix) /œ/̃  is a front low-mid nasal rounded vowel. Word examples: 

/œ/̃  (un) 'a', /brœ/̃  (brun)'brown', /ʃakœ/̃  (chacun) 'each'
(x) /u/ is a back high oral rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/tu/ (tout) 'everything', /du/ (doux)'soft', /u/ (où) 'where'
(xi) /o/ is a back high-mid oral rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/bo/ (beau)'handsome', /fo/ (faux)'fake', /rato/ (rateau) 'rake'
(xii) /ɔ/ is a back low-mid oral rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/sɔl/ (sol)'floor', /vɔg/ (vogue)'vogue', /ɔm/ (homme) 'man'
(xiii) /ɔ/̃  is a back low-mid nasal rounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/bɔ/̃  (bon)'good', /fɔ/̃  (fond)'bottom', /mɔd̃ / (monde) 'world'

(xiv) /ɑ/ is a back low oral unrounded vowel. Word examples: 

/pɑ/ (pɑs) 'not', /lɑ/ (lɑs) 'tired', /tɑ/ (tɑs) 'heap'
(xv) /ᾶ/ is a back low-mid nasal unrounded vowel. Word examples are: 

/bᾶ/ (banc)'bench', /gʁᾶd/ (grande) 'big', /dᾶ/ (dans) 'in'
(xvi) /ə/ is a central vowel known as schwa. It is neither low nor high, neither front nor back, 
neither rounded nor spread. It is generally described as weak neutral sound in French and also 
regarded as 'e-muet' or 'muted e'. It is uttered in a position requiring minimum articulatory effort. 
Word examples:
  /ʒə/ (je) 'I', /pəti/ (petit) 'little', /samədi/ (samedi) 'Saturday' 

French Vowel Chart (Adapted from Carduner and Hagiwara 1982)

Discussion
The main focus of this study is to ascertain the similarities and differences between the speech 
sounds of Igbo and French. As earlier defined, contrastive analysis (CA) looks at studying two 
different languages, which in this case, a native and a foreign language, to see where potential 

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problems may arise. Having looked at the data presented above, the researchers observed that the 
similarities and differences between the speech sounds of the languages under review. 

The Igbo phonemic inventory has thirty six (36) phonemes of which twenty eight (28) are 
consonants, while eight (8) are vowels. The French phonemic inventory has thirty seven phonemes 
of which twenty one (21) are consonants, while sixteen (16) are vowels. The Igbo and French 
phonemic inventories have sixteen (16) consonants and six (6) vowels in common. The consonants 
Igbo and French have in common are: the voiceless and voiced bilabial plosives /p b/, the voiceless 
and voiced alveolar plosives /t d/, the voiceless and voiced velar plosives /k g/, the voiced bilabial 
nasal /m/, the voiced alveolar nasal /n/, the voiced palatal nasal /ɲ/, the voiceless and voiced labio-
dental fricatives /f v/, the voiceless and voiced alveolar fricatives /s z/, the voiceless post-alveolar 
fricative /ʃ/, the voiced alveolar lateral /l/ and the voiced palatal approximant /j/. The consonants /r/ 
and /w/ exist in both languages but with a difference in place of articulation. In Igbo, /r/ is realised as 
a voiced alveolar trill, whereas in French it is realised as a voiced uvular trill, having an allophone /ʁ/ 
which is realised as a voiceless velar fricative. In Igbo, /w/ is realised as a voiced labio-velar 
approximant, whereas in French, it is realised as a voiced velar approximant. The vowels Igbo and 
French have in common are: the high close/high vowel front /i/, the close-mid/high-mid front vowel 
/e/, the open/low front vowel /a/, the close-mid/high-mid back vowel /o/ and the close/high back 
vowel /u/. The back vowel /ɔ/ exists in both languages but it is realised differently. While in Igbo, it is 
realised as an open back vowel, in French, it is realised as a low-mid back vowel. These phonemes 
which both languages have in common are likely not to pose a threat to learners of each of the 
languages as they will easily transfer the pronunciation they have from their mother tongue to the 
target language.

The consonants in the Igbo phonemic inventory that are not in French are: the voiceless and voiced 
labio-velar plosives /kp gb/, the voiceless and the voiced labialized-velar plosives /kw gw/, the 

voiced palatal and labialized-velar nasals /ɲ ŋw/, the voiced velar and voiceless glottal fricatives /ɣ 
ɦ/ and the voiceless and voiced post-alveolar affricates /ʧ ʤ/. Also, the consonants in the French 
phonemic inventory that are not in Igbo are: the voiced post-alveolar and voiceless velar fricatives /ʒ 
ʁ/ and the voiced palatal rounded approximant /ɥ/. The vowels that exist in Igbo phonemic inventory 
but are not in French are: the front close down spread vowel /ɪ/ and the back close down rounded 
vowel /υ/. The vowels that exist in French that are not in Igbo are: the front low-mid oral spread 
vowel /ɛ/,  the front high oral rounded vowel /y/, the front high-mid oral rounded vowel /ø/, the front 

low-mid oral rounded vowel /œ/, the central vowel /ə/, the back low oral unrounded vowel /ɑ/, the 
front low-mid nasal spread vowel /ɛ/̃ , the front low-mid nasal rounded vowel /œ/̃ , the back low-mid 
nasal unrounded vowel /ᾶ/ and the back low-mid nasal rounded vowel /ɔ/̃ . It is imperative to note 
that nasal vowels are phonemic in French whereas in Igbo, there is no such thing as nasal vowels. 
Also, French front vowels are both spread and rounded whereas in Igbo, all front vowels are spread.

Summary of findings
Having looked at the differences stated above, it is worthy to note that;
1. There is every tendency that Igbo learners of French would have difficulty in the learning 

and pronunciation of words containing these phonemes that are lacking in their 
phonemic inventory,  which will lead them to substituting these phonemes that they lack 
with the ones they have which are closely related in terms of articulation to the ones they lack 
and in the long run, learners will keep producing inaccurate words and stick to them.

2.  French learners of Igbo will also find it difficult learning and pronouncing words containing 
the phonemes which are not in their phonemic inventory. This difficulty may lead to lack of 

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interest in in the learning of the language as words containing these unfamiliar phonemes 
will always pose a threat to the learners.

3. Teachers of both languages who are not familiar with the phonemic inventories of both  
languages and their sounding will equally have difficulty teaching these languages as they 
will give off inaccurate pronunciations. 

Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made:
1. Teachers of foreign languages should as a matter importance acquire and start language 

teaching from the sound level, maintaining focus on their positions of occurrence in words 
 while adopting repetition and articulatory phonetic transcription exercises while 
teaching to help  learners master both familiar and unfamiliar sounds, by so doing, 
pronunciation errors will be  prevented.

2. Second language learners should lay more emphasis on learning of sounds and their correct 
articulations rather than words. The sound level is the foundation of language learning. The 
sounds which are not familiar, that is, sounds that are not existent in a learner's mother tongue 
should be given more attention. Learners should expose and involve themselves in the 
articulatory processes  involved in the production of these sounds till they are familiar with 
them.

3. The second language teaching and learning style which starts from conjugation of verbs as is 
the case of French and pronunciation of words as is the case of Igbo, should be done away 
with as this style has overtime proven not to be productive.

Conclusion
This research work has contrastively looked at the speech sounds of Igbo and French with emphasis 
on their similarities and differences. As Corder (1967) clearly stated, contrastive analysis is 
indispensable for the learner as a way to test his hypotheses about the nature of the language he is 
learning, for telling the teacher how far towards the goal the learner has progressed and what remains 
for him to learn, and for providing the researcher with evidence as to how language is learned and 
acquired as well as what strategies or procedures the learner is using. Contrastive analysis has helped 
us in predicting and explaining difficulties Igbo learners of French and French learners of Igbo 
would encounter in learning their target language and what learners and teachers should do in order 
to overcome these difficulties. We are of the view that if our recommendations are adopted and used 
in language teaching and learning, difficulties encountered in second language learning will be 
eradicated. 

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