Can you please explain the southwestern accent of France and how they would speak and pronounce the words?

Answer 1

As far as pronunciation is concerned, there are a few differences with "standard French" whose reference is de facto the French you can hear in Paris. But also one must know that "southwestern" is a little bit vague, as the accent may vary depending on the place. In cities like Bordeaux and Toulouse, different accents may be heard, though they are both considered as belonging to the southwestern part of France. However, there are a few similarities that can be found, as a common "trunk" in the tree of language pronunciation.

In comparison to Parisian French, you may notice:

_Pretty much all the letters in the word are articulated and pronounced, just like in English. In syllables closed by m or n the preceding vowels are nasalized. m and n are not articulated and all the vowels with the exception of o change their timbre ==> (French word "montagne" is pronounced with the syllable "on" as a single vowel, but in the southwest, people would articulate the "n" as in "mountain")

_Mute "e"s are pronounced (imagine you would articulate the "e" of "mine", thus making it a two-syllable word)

_the presence of a "stress" which is a relative emphasis on certain syllable/letters, it is like "singing" with the words by modifying the accent on certain syllables. The rhythm of the phrase is different because there would be an acceleration on some syllables, or pauses and delays in other cases, whereas French is usually pronounced with all the syllables having the same length.

_The alternations in the use of "open/closed" vowels. "Open" vowels are pronounced with the mouth being relatively open, whereas "closed" vowels would be articulated with a narrow mouth opening. In the southwest of France, people would tend to pronounce vowels the opposite way as they do in Paris (eg: a close "o" as in "rose" would sound "open" more like an "a" as in "task"; on the contrary, "open" vowels pronounced as "hey!" in Paris would rather sound "closed" like in "cliché")

_The "r" letter is trilled, rolled and vibrated with the tongue like it would be in Italian

Those are a few points that may help you understand the basics of French southwestern accent.