The word "pronons" in most of us is associated with the French language. And this is true, since it comes from the verb prononcer, which is translated from French as “pronounce”. What is the characteristic reprimand that distinguishes the speakers of this language from the pronunciation of other inhabitants of Europe?
A quick look at history
French belongs to the group of Romance languages formed on the basis of Latin. In addition to him, this group includes Spanish, Moldavian, Portuguese, Romanian, Italian and others.
Latin spread to the territory of Gaul (modern France) in the 1st century BC after its conquest by Julius Caesar. Over time, under the influence of the Celtic language of local tribes, Latin has changed significantly. This determined a peculiar French pronons, different from the pronunciation of sounds in other Romance languages.
Phonetics Features
For learners of the French language, often the most difficult is mastering the pronunciation of a special group of half-vowel sounds, nasal, as well as the characteristic grassy “p”. Of great importance in the formulation of these sounds is given to the correct articulation of the organs of speech (lips, palate, tongue). Only in this way and through long exercises can you achieve a real French prononce.
For example, when setting a half-vowel [j], it is necessary to raise the back of the tongue so that it almost touches the sky, and the lips should take a position that corresponds to the pronunciation of the next vowel, for example, [e]: les papiers [le-pa-pje] - documents.
It often seems to foreigners that the French speak as if in a nose. This is due to the presence of four nasal vowels. In those cases, if they are followed by the final sonant m or n, the nasal vowels are nasalized: bon, maman, camp. For example, we pronounce a similar sound [n] in the word “dan”. Although, of course, the nasal shade of the vowel in Russian is less pronounced.
Another meaning
The phrase “French pronons” under consideration can often be heard outside the context of language learning. For example, here is a small excerpt from the book of Vladimir Kachan “Smile, a bird will fly out now”:
Therefore, he endlessly twists records or tape recordings of prominent Frenchmen and tries to sing along with them, synchronously repeat what they are doing. If some passage fails, he twists this place about twenty times until he reaches at least an approximate similarity. Therefore, it is not surprising that their intonations are firmly eaten into his manner of singing. When they later ask him why he sings his songs with a kind of French pronouns, our Russian chansonnier will deceitfully reply that he has a chronic runny nose and sinusitis.
The works of this author are widely known. He knows how to accurately notice the small nuances of people's lives and show this in an ironic manner. In this example, this is clearly visible. Here the phrase “French pronons” is an ironic remark. It is in this sense that this expression is used today for those who have a cold and suffer from a stuffy nose.
Seriously speaking, the phrase mentioned simply means that the pronunciation of some sounds in the French language is a peculiarity, as mentioned above.