JD

[tame depot]

Please be patient

Our volunteers look into many questions every day; sometimes it takes them a little while to answer.

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Make it descriptive, including relevant context, but also to the point. This way you improve your chances of getting a more relevant and specific answer.

[tender drift]

Ouais isn't a real word, it's an informal spelling of "oui" that reflects how people in some regions pronounce it

.tr spelling of ouais

So the spelling of the slangy version can change a bit too

Even in that version it's a silent s and as to why it's there I don't actually know

[woeful pier]

Uuuuuh, just because?
There isn't always logic in spelling so just don't think too much into it.

[pseudo pivot]

I would be very hesitant to say it's "not a real word". It's used frequently and widely by native speakers; it's as real as "yeah"

As to why it's spelled with an S, I don't know if you'll arrive at a satisfactory answer; why is any word spelled with the letters it has?

[tender drift]

Yeah I mean linguistically it's totally a word but you might not learn it in formal French lessons

And who knows how the Académie feels

[pseudo pivot]

who cares how the académie feels

[brave prairie]

I definitely learned it in school. Such a common word that it would be bad not to learn it be the time you’re A2

[stray phoenix]

perhaps because -ai is traditionally /e/ and -ais is traditionally /ɛ/? and its sposed to be pronounced [wɛ]?

[pseudo pivot]

that's actually a reasonably plausible explanation

[lament wagon]

it's also spelled as ouai or oué

[stray phoenix]

awh

well so long as i maintain the e ɛ distinction that will be a minimal pair for me

[tender drift]

I think this was what I meant when I said it wasn't a word, it has a really flexible spelling. Obv it is a word tho

[lament wagon]

yeah, just stick some ending that sounds like e and you're done with it

[stray phoenix]

interjections are really variable

[pseudo pivot]

It is a damn poor mind indeed which can't think of at least two ways to spell any word.

[rocky niche]

Does anyone actually pronoune it as "oué" with an "é" ?
Even speakers for whom final -ɛ becomes -e seem to make an exception for "ouais" and pronounce it as /wɛ/

[lament wagon]

i have seen it written, rarely

but as far as pronunciation goes i couldn't tell

[hexed cliff]

ive seen it written oué (or oue), maybe because é is more intuitive to write at the end, but still pronounced ouè

but it's like how "yeah" is a word, but can be written "yea" or "ya" more informally

[brave prairie]

my in-laws in the south pronounce all word final /ɛ/ as [e]

[hexed cliff]

i think the base spelling (ouais) is meant to mimic the pronunciation, but the others are just exaggerations or simplifications of the spelling (kinda like how we were talking about pô the other day when people dont actually pronounce it that way, it's just an exaggeration)
may also be people who pronounce it that way and it just propagated or people who arent actively conscious of the difference the spelling makes

[rocky niche]

how do they say "ouais" ?

[brave prairie]

[wé]

although it's probably more of a vowel in between [ɛ] and [e] tbh

in any case, they don't have a phonemic distinction

[ebon quail]

Même oué ?

[ebon quail]

C'est quoi pô xd