Question

@Vincent-Lyon.Fr How exactly would you pronounce the French word "un"? I found in wiktionary that it's pronounced /œ̃/ but I feel weird if I pronounce /œ/ then add a nasal there, I just don't feel like that it's the correct pronunciation.

Answer 1

/œ̃/ is the right transcription, and is probably correct for the linguists, but I agree it is not easy to add the nasal to /œ/ to produce the sound.
The idea conveyed by the /œ/ is that you have to keep your lips rounded (forward) to produce the sound.

The difficult thing is to produce different sounds for "brun" /brœ̃/ and "brin" /br\(\tilde \epsilon\)/ or "emprunte" and "empreinte". This difference is fading in modern French and some people, specifically in the north, do not distinguish these pronunciations anymore.

Answer 2

Thank you!

Answer 3

But I would transcribe it as /ʌ̃/, though

Answer 4

Or even /ɐ̃/

Answer 5

/ʌ̃/, /ʌ/, /ɐ̃/ and /ɐ/ might be better but are not used in the restricted version of the IPA used for French language.

(same as /ɛ/ for "bed" is not used in the English IPA)

Answer 6

But the "u" in "un" and the "œ" in "cœur" are two totally different things aren't they

Answer 7

I think it has nothing to do with the spelling, but with the position of mouth/lips/tongue/soft palate when you produce the vowel sound.
Each one is coded in IPA according to the sounds these positions allow you to make.
See the "vowel triangle" in:
http://www.translationdirectory.com/images_articles/wikipedia/IPA_vowel_chart_2005.jpg

Answer 8

But the IPA for "cœur" is /kœʁ/ and the IPA for "un" is /œ̃/...

Answer 9

it is pronounced like uh only harsher

Answer 10

But the IPA for "cœur" is /kœʁ/ and the IPA for "un" is /œ̃/...

Yes, if you do a /œ/ and get nasal, then you will produce a /œ̃/.