X is sounded like ks in Alexandre, maxime, etc. 6.-LIQUIDS. g, followed by n, and 1, preceded by i, are generally pronounced so smoothly that their natural sounds are not heard; they are then called liquids. The liquid sound of gn is heard in the word mignonnette, and that of in the word brilliant. 7.-FINAL CONSONANTS. A final consonant is generally silent; but a final consonant, followed by a word that begins with a vowel or silent h, is pronounced with the next syllable, when no pause takes place between the words, as: mon ami, vous avez, un bel habit, il est (ee-lè), elle est (è-lè). Final c, before a vowel, is sounded like k: Final d, before a vowel, is sounded like t: Final f, before a vowel, is sounded like v: du blanc au noir. quand il. neuf heures. Final g, before a vowel, is sounded like k: rang élevé. Final s or x, before a vowel, is sounded like z: ils ont deux enfants. 8.-DIVISION OF WORDS INTO SYLLABLES. In dividing words into syllables, a single consonant between two vowels belongs to the vowel that follows, as: raser (raser). If this vowel is an unaccented final e, the consonant is pronounced with the preceding vowel, as : rase (ra-se) pronounced raz. The first part of a double consonant belongs to the vowel that precedes; the second, to the vowel that follows; the latter only is pronounced, as addition, pronounced a-di-cion. Two consonants in the middle of a word are separated, as: parler (par-ler), rampant (ram-pant); except the following combinations which are inseparable, and pronounced with the vowel that follows: bl, br, ch, chl, chr, cl, cr, dl, dr, fl, fr, gl, gn, gr, gu, ph, phl, pl, pr, qu, rh, th, thl, thr, tr, vr. Observe that they are principally or r preceded by another consonant, but not by m or n. 9.-USE OF CAPITAL LETTERS. The rules for the use of capital letters are the same in French as in English, with some exceptions. Adjectives derived from proper names are not written with a capital initial. The names of the months and of the days of the week are usually written with a small initial. The personal pronoun of the first person singular, je, I, is written with a small letter, unless it begins a sentence. 10.-USE OF THE ACCENTS. 1. The acute accent (') is used only over the e, in the following cases: (1.) When it forms a syllable by itself, as: épi, écu, élu. (2.) When it is followed by a vowel, as: réaction, réel, réélu, épée, fée, réunion. (3.) When at the end of a syllable, or before final s, added by inflection, it has the sound of the English ā, as: répété, vérité, vérités. 2. The grave accent (`) is used: (1.) Over e preceding any consonant followed by unaccented e, as: lève, mène, chère; also before two consonants, when both belong to the unaccented syllable, as : règle. (2.) Over the e of the termination es, when the 8 is an essential part of the word, as: après, excès, to distinguish it from the accidental termination es, as: les livres, tu chantes. (3.) To distinguish à, to, at, from a, has; là, there, from la, the, her; où, where, from ou, or; dès, from, from des, of the. (4.) Over çà, deçà, déjà, holà, voilà. 3. The circumflex accent (^) is used over a long vowel, after which a letter has been suppressed, as: âge, épître, tête, formerly written aage, épistre, teste. REM.-No dot is placed over the i that has the circumflex accent, but the diæresis takes the place of the circumflex accent, in haïmes, haïtes. 11.-EXERCISES IN PRONOUNCING. 1.-VOWEL SOUNDS. [Final consonants are silent, except those marked by an asterisk (*).] ย е = è = frère mer* fer* 1. a. A noun is the name of a person, place, or thing, as: Washington, Paris, city. b. Nouns are proper or common; a proper noun denotes a particular person or object, as: Washington, Paris; a common noun denotes one of a class, as: city, tree. c. Common nouns include collective and abstract nouns; a collective noun is the name of several individuals together, as: meeting, committee; an abstract noun denotes some quality considered apart from its substance, as: goodness, pride, frailty. 2. The article is a word placed before a noun to limit its signification, as the tree. REM.-In French there is but one article, the equivalent of the. 3. a. An adjective is a word added to a noun, to describe or limit it, as: the large tree, my tree. b. There are two kinds of adjectives, qualifying and limiting. The qualifying adjective adds a quality to the noun, as: the large tree; the limiting adjective limits its sense, as my tree. c. The limiting adjectives are either possessive, denoting possession, as my tree; demonstrative, pointing out the object, as: that tree; numeral, indicating number or order, as: one tree, the first tree; or indefinite, as: which tree. 4. a. A pronoun is a word that is used in the place of a noun, as: I have your book, you have mine. b. There are personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, rela tive, and indefinite pronouns. (1.) A personal pronoun represents a person in grammar, as: I, you, he, it. (2.) A possessive pronoun denotes possession, as: mine, yours, etc. (3.) A demonstrative pronoun points out an object, as: this one, that one. (4.) An interrogative pronoun is used to ask a question, as: who? what? (5.) A relative pronoun relates to a preceding noun, called the antecedent of the relative pronoun, as: the man who speaks; the tree that falls; the lady whom I admire. (6.) An indefinite pronoun does not represent any particular person or thing, as: every one, some one. 5. a. A verb is a word that expresses action or being, as: to write, to live. b. There are five kinds of verbs: active, passive, neuter, pronominal, impersonal. (1.) The active verb expresses an action performed by the subject and is, or may be, accompanied by a direct object; that is, a person or thing that is directly affected by the action of the verb. An active verb is transitive when it is accompanied by a direct object, as: he is writing a letter; and intransitive, when it is not, as: he is writing. (2.) The passive verb is the reverse of the active verb; the person or thing which is the object of the active verb, is the subject of the passive verb, as the letter is written by him. (3.) The neuter verb expresses a state or action performed by the subject, but cannot have a direct object, as: I am, he works, he sleeps. REM. We know that a verb is neuter when we cannot place somebody or something after it; thus, we cannot say he sleeps somebody, he sleeps something. (4.) The pronominal verb is always accompanied by a pronoun of the same person and number as the subject, as: I flatter myself. |