French orthography

Spelling and punctuation of the French language Part of a series on theFrench language Langues d'oïl Dialects Creoles Francophonie History Phonological history Oaths of Strasbourg Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts Anglo-Norman Grammar Adverbs Articles and determiners Pronouns (personal) Verbs (conjugationmorphologypassé composépassé simple) Orthography Alphabet Reforms Circumflex Braille Phonology Elision Liaison Aspirated h Help:IPA/French vte , / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. French orthography encompasses the spelling and punctuation of the French language. It is based on a combination of phonemic and historical principles. The spelling of words is largely based on the pronunciation of Old French c. 1100–1200 AD, and has stayed more or less the same since then, despite enormous changes to the pronunciation of the language in the intervening years. Even in the late 17th century, with the publication of the first French dictionary by the Académie française, there were attempts to reform French orthography. This has resulted in a complicated relationship between spelling and sound, especially for vowels; a multitude of silent letters; and ma