oi in loi, pronounced lou-ah.

oue in ouest, pronounced oo-ayst.

ui in fruit, pronounced fru-ee. (See vowel-sounds for u.) ien in bien, pronounced bee-an (angry).

ion in lion, pronounced lee-on (long).

oin in loin, pronounced lou-an (angry).

uin in juin, pronounced ju-in (angry). (See vowel-sounds for u.)

5.-CONSONANTS.

Consonants, when combined with vowels, have generally the same value in French as in English. The following are the principal exceptions:

c before e, i, y has the hissing sound of 8, as: ceci. Befor a, o, u, and before a consonant, it has the sound of k, as: cabas, colon, cure, crin. But ç (cedilla) before a, o, u, retains the sound of s, as: façade, façon, reçu.

ch has generally the sound of sh, as: charme; but followed by a consonant, it has the sound of k, as: Christ. ch has the sound of k in words from the Greek and Hebrew, as: écho, Cham. g before e, i, y has the sound of s in pleasure, as: germe, gilet; before a, o, u it has the sound of the English g in grate, as: gant, gobelet.

h is silent when a vowel may be elided before it, as: l'homme for le homme. It is called aspirate, when the vowel is not elided before it, although the h is not heard in pronouncing, as: le héros (le-ay-roh).

s has the hissing sound of c at the beginning of a word, as: sa (ça); between two vowels, it has the sound of 2, as: voisin (vouah-zain). ss between two vowels, has the hissing sound of 8, as: poisson (pouah-çon).

sch is sounded like sh, as: schisme.

t is sounded like c in a few words ending in tie, as: minutie, and in those ending in atie, as: diplomatie; also before ial, iel, ion, as: nation; except when it is preceded by 8, as: question. th is sounded like t, as: thé.

X, initial, is sounded like ge, as: Xavier; also, ex, initial, when followed by a vowel, as; examen.

x is sounded like ks in Alexandre, maxime, etc.
X is sounded like ss in soixante, six, dix, etc.
x is sounded like z in deuxième, sixième, 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 l in the word brilliant.

7.-FINAL CONSONANTS.

A final consonant is generally silent; but a final consonant, for. lowed 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: du blanc au noir, Final d, before a vowel, is sounded like t:

Final f, before a vowel, is sounded like v:

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 pro nounced, 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 inflec. tion, 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 s 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 (*)]

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.