Velar variation in French | John Benjamins

It is commonly noted that French velar plosives tend to take a fronted realization when followed by a front vowel. These observations are generally not accompanied by representative data, and consequently, little is known about the actual characteristics and spread of the phenomenon. This study provides a corpus analysis of velar palatalization in contemporary French, and addresses the potential linguistic and sociolinguistic factors involved. Moreover, the synchronic results are considered in the light of the palatalization processes that took place in the history of French.