French alphabet
The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It uses the standard 26 letters:A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - X - W - Y - Z
A special combination is almost always ligatured:
Some words differ by only 'oe' vs 'œ' ligature, but since in modern computer-based typesetting the ligature has fallen out of use, this no longer presents a comprehension problem.
Notes:
- 'W' is rarely used except in loanwords or regional words, 'Ou' is used to represent the /w/ sound;
- vowels are A, E, I, O, U, sometimes Y;
- semi-vowels are Y, rarely W (except regionally, for instance in Belgium);
- used diacritic marks are acute (´), grave (`), circumflex (^), diaeresis (¨), and the cedilla. The most frequent combinations are: à é è ù ç â ê î ô û ë ï ü. The diacritics have no impact on alphabetical order.
See also
