S. S, s, at the commencement of words, has the same sound as in English, as soldat, soldier; semé, sown. When placed between two vowels, it has the sound of z, as in aise, pleased; rusé, cunning; rose, rose. Except in a few compound words, as: parasol, parasol; vraisemblable, likely; monosyllabe, monosyllable. The final s is sounded in tous used substantively, as : all have seen it, tous l'ont vu; and in the following words: T, t, has two sounds; the first as in the English word tactic; the second like c in cedar. In the words ending in tion, t has the sound of c, when the termination tion, is not immediately preceded by an s or an x; as in action, imitation, bénédiction. excepted. Verbs are T, has the sound of c, in words ending in tial, tiel, as: martial, essentiel, and in : patient, patience, patient. patience. sediteux, seditious. To which may be added a few others. It has also the sound of c, in the verb balbutier, and in names of countries, nations, or persons, as : Neither t nor s are heard in Jésus Christ, which is pronounced Jesu Cri, although both are in Christ, when used without Jésus. T, is always mute in the conjunction et, and never in dot, a dowry. In most cases not mentioned here, the t is pronounced as in English. V. V, v, has the same sound in French as in English; the w which is only found in foreign words, generally takes the sound of a v, as in: Westphalie, Weser, which are pronounced Vesphalie, Véser. X. X, x, has the five following different sounds : It may be observed, as a general rule, that a final consonant unless it be followed by a vowel, is not sounded in French, as abricot, plat, which are pronounced abrico, pla. The principal exceptions to this rule, are: 1. Most proper names, and other words derived or borrowed of dead or foreign languages, as: Anacharsis, Jupiter, Lesbos, Gil Blas, Angélus, blocus, pathos, etc. 2. The infinitives of all verbs of the second and third conjugations, as: servir, partir, voir, etc., and any other words ending in ir, oir, or eur, as: désir, plaisir, rasoir, comptoir, douceur, grandeur, etc. FRENCH A GRAMMAR. CHAPTER I. Grammarians, in order to facilitate the acquisition of language, have divided its elements into classes, called parts of speech; these are: The article is a word prefixed to substantives to shew the extent of their signification. There are, in French, three articles, which are rendered into English by the, a, or by some. These are called definite, indefinite, and partitive. The article the is called definite because it shows the particular person or thing mentioned. The article a is called indefinite because it does not determine what particular person or thing is meant. The article some is called partitive because it implies a part or portion of a whole. с OBSERVE.-L' is used for le, la, before nouns beginning with a vowel or h mute. EXAMPLES: la reine Le roi l'état les princes or les princesses. the state the princes or the princesses. The French for of or from is DE. Of or from the before a noun masc. sing. would, accordingly be de le, and de les for the plural. Instead of which, du is used before a substantive masc. singular, beginning with a consonant, and des before all nouns plural: This is called contraction. EXAMPLES. Du roi de la reine de l'état* des princes or des princesses. The French for to or at is à with the grave accent over it. Here again the contraction takes place, and instead of à le or à les for to or at the, the French say au before a noun masc. sing. beginning with a consonant, and aux before all nouns plural. Au roi à la reine EXAMPLES. à l'état aux princes or aux princesses. Observe that no contraction ever takes place before substantives singular beginning with a vowel or h mute. |