<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article contains IPA phonetic symbols . Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters . For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help: IPA . </Td> </Tr> <P> 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 CE and has stayed more or less the same since then, despite enormous changes to the pronunciation of the language in the intervening years . This has resulted in a complicated relationship between spelling and sound, especially for vowels, a multitude of silent letters, and a large number of homophones (e.g., saint / sein / sain / seing / ceins / ceint (all pronounced (sɛ̃)), sang / sans / cent (all pronounced (sɑ̃))). Later attempts to respell some words in accordance with their Latin etymologies further increased the number of silent letters (e.g., temps vs. older tens--compare English "tense", which reflects the original spelling--and vingt vs. older vint). Nevertheless, there are rules governing French orthography which allow for a reasonable degree of accuracy when pronouncing French words from their written forms . The reverse operation, producing written forms from a pronunciation, is much more ambiguous . </P> <P> The French alphabet is based on the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, uppercase and lowercase, with five diacritics and two orthographic ligatures . </P> <Dl> <Dd> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Letter </Th> <Th> Name </Th> <Th> Name (IPA) </Th> <Th> Diacritics and ligatures </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> / ɑ / </Td> <Td> Àà, Ââ, Ææ </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> bé </Td> <Td> / be / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> cé </Td> <Td> / se / </Td> <Td> Çç </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> dé </Td> <Td> / de / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> </Td> <Td> / ə / </Td> <Td> Éé, Èè, Êê, Ëë </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> effe </Td> <Td> / ɛf / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> gé </Td> <Td> / ʒe / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> ache </Td> <Td> / aʃ / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> i </Td> <Td> / i / </Td> <Td> Îî, Ïï </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> ji </Td> <Td> / ʒi / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> ka </Td> <Td> / kɑ / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> elle </Td> <Td> / ɛl / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> emme </Td> <Td> / ɛm / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> enne </Td> <Td> / ɛn / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> o </Td> <Td> / o / </Td> <Td> Ôô, Œœ </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> pé </Td> <Td> / pe / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Q </Td> <Td> qu </Td> <Td> / ky / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> erre </Td> <Td> / ɛʁ / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> esse </Td> <Td> / ɛs / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> té </Td> <Td> / te / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> U </Td> <Td> u </Td> <Td> / y / </Td> <Td> Ùù, Ûû, Üü </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> V </Td> <Td> vé </Td> <Td> / ve / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> double vé </Td> <Td> / dubləve / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> X </Td> <Td> ixe </Td> <Td> / iks / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Y </Td> <Td> i grec </Td> <Td> / iɡʁɛk / </Td> <Td> Ÿÿ </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Z </Td> <Td> zède </Td> <Td> / zɛd / </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> </Table> </Dd> </Dl>

How many letters does the french alphabet have