The Whole French Language, Comprised in Series of Lessons, in Two Vols

Second Division—Analytical and theoretical.

PRONUNCIATION:

EXAMPLES.

1. Leçon-Menuisier-Reçu-Serait-Revers-Devant-Celui

-Regarder-Venez-Feront-Venir-Sera-Souvenez.

2. Première-Obtenir-Serions-Comprenions-Seriez-Trouveriez.

In all these examples, the vowel e is followed by a single consonant, not final.

It is not surmounted by an accent in any of them.

In all of them its regular sound is that of the unaccented e in the English word father, marked 6.

In those of the first series, it generally becomes mute in rapid utterance, as if the words were written lçon, mnuisier, rçu, srait, etc.

In those of the second series, it is always pronounced, because it would be difficult and harsh, if possible at all, to pronounce prmière, obtnir, srions, etc.

751. When the vowel e, without an accent, is followed by a single consonant, not final, its regular sound is like that of e in father, marked 6, if each word is pronounced separately. But this sound is generally neglected, and the e becomes mute, in the rapid utterance of words connected in a phrase.

752. However, the e retains its sound, when it is indispensable for the clear articulation of the consonants which precede or follow it. Similar observations have been made, with respect to the final e (67, 69).

In these examples, in which the e is seen in consecutive syllables, it cannot become mute in each of them; it is pronounced in the first syllable of devenir, and quiescent in the second; it is pronounced in je and is quiescent in ne, etc.

753. The vowel e cannot be mute in two consecutive syllables. It must be sounded in one of them, either the first or the second, but more frequently the first. In this the car is the only guide.

LEXIOLOGY.

ENGAGEAIS is a form (559, 307) of the verb engager, derived from gage, pledge, which comes from the Italian gaggio, pledge.

VIT is the third person singular of the present tense, indicative mood of the irregular verb vivre, seen in the twenty ninth lesson.

GARNISON is one of the derivatives of garnir, mentioned in the nineteenth lesson. It is feminine by exception (14).

SAVANT is derived from savoir. It is an adjective, often used substantively, and must not be confounded with sachant.

SOLDAT is derived from the verb solder, to pay, which comes from the Latin solvere, to pay.

TOUTEFOIS is one of the derivatives of fois, mentioned in the first lesson.

SACHANT is the present participle of the irregular verb savoir. DÉJÀ comes from the Latin jam, now, already.

LIRE has been mentioned in the first lesson, as being the radical of leçon. It is an irregular verb.

CHANCE comes from the Latin cadentia, fall.

AVANCEMENT is derived from the verb avancer, seen in the twenty second lesson. See 167.

PARVENIR is one of the derivatives of venir, mentioned in the fifteenth lesson.

GRADE comes from the Latin gradus, step, degree. It is masculine by exception (15).

GÉNÉRAL is one of the derivatives of genre, mentioned in the first lesson.

VOIT is the third person singular of the present tense, indicative mood of voir.

FRANCE is derived from franc, mentioned in the fifth lesson.

754. Quiconque, formed of qui and the old word onque, ever, from the Latin unquam, is an indefinite pronoun, signifying whoever. It is generally masculine and always singular. It refers to persons only. SERT is the third person singular of the present tense, indicative mood of the irregular verb servir, already seen.

PATRIE is one of the derivatives of père, seen in the second lesson. PORTE is a form (22) of the verb porter, which has been mentioned in the seventh lesson, as being the radical of rapporter,

GIBERNE is a word of unknown etymology.

BATON comes from the Spanish baston.

MARECHAL comes, probably through the Spanish mariscal, from the Celtic marc, horse, and scal, servant. Both the French and the Spanish words signify marshal and farrier.

CROIX has been mentioned in the eleventh lesson, as being the radical of croiser. It is feminine by exception (14).

FAILLE is the present tense of the subjunctive mood of falloir. See 324.

BATTRE has been mentioned in the twenty sixth lesson, as being the radical of combattre. It is an irregular verb. Battre signifies to beat, and, with the pronominal form, se battre signifies to fight.

OBLIGATION, in Latin obligatio, is derived from the verb lier, mentioned in the twenty fifth lesson as being the radical of obliger. It is feminine (108).

PLAIRAIT is a form (622) of the irregular verb plaire, seen in the subjunctive mood in the tenth lesson. The irregularity of this verb does not extend to the conditional mood.

HUMEUR comes from the Latin humor, moisture. It is feminine (104). BENIGNE is the irregular feminine of the adjective bénin, which comes from the Latin benignus, kind.

PACIFIQUE is derived from paix, mentioned in the thirty eighth lesson, as being the radical of apaiser. See 221.

755. Non plus is opposed to aussi, also, likewise. It is used in the negative, when aussi is employed in the corresponding affirmative sentences, as: Cette obligation me plairait; j'aimerais aussi les corvées, etc.

CORVÉE is supposed to come from the Latin curvare, to bend, to bow, MARCHE is derived from the verb marcher, to walk, to tread and to march, which comes from the Italian marciare, to march.

FORCÉES is a form (55, 56) of the verb forcer, seen in the seventh lesson.

DÉSAGRÉMENT is one of the derivatives of gré, mentioned in the sixteenth lesson. See 613, § 2 and 167.

ACCOMPAGNENT is a form (260) of the verb accompagner, one of the derivatives of compagnon, seen in the twelfth lesson.

TANTÔT is formed of tant (389) and tôt, mentioned in the eighth lesson, as being the radical of bientôt. This adverb generally denotes an indefinite time, either past or future, and corresponds to In the course of the day, By and by, Soon, Sometimes, and Now.

756. § 1. When tôt is joined to the adverbs aussi, bien, si, it forms a single word with them, thus: aussitôt, as soon, immediately; bientôt, soon; sitôt, so soon.

§ 2. It forms a similar combination with tant and plus, in suppressing the final consonant of these adverbs, thus: tantôt, plutôt. But plutôt is only employed in the sense of rather, denoting preference, and must not be confounded with plus tôt, sooner, earlier.

GRELOTTEZ is a form (473) of the verb grelotter, derived from grelot,

small bell or rattle, which is supposed to come from the Latin crotalum, rattle.

DEGRÉ is derived from grade, seen in this lesson.

757. Dessous, already seen in the eleventh lesson, is either an adverb signifying Under or below, or a substantive signifying Under part. It is seldom used as a preposition. Au-dessous, under, beneath, below, is always an adverb unless it be followed by de, in which case it becomes a preposition and requires a regimen.-The same observations are applicable to Dessus, au-dessus, and au-dessus de, seen in the twenty sixth lesson.

ZÉRO comes from the Arabic.

ÉCRASE is a form (55) of the verb écraser, the etymology of which is unknown.

ÉQUIPEMENT is derived from the verb équiper (167) to equip, to fit out, which comes from the Spanish equipar, to equip.

TRAÎNEZ is a form (473) of the verb traîner, to drag, to draw along, which comes from the Latin trahere, to draw. With the pronominal form, se traîner signifies to crawl, to trudge, to proceed with difficulty.

SAC comes from the Latin saccus, sack or bag.

Dos comes from the Latin dorsum, back. It undergoes no change of termination in the plural (17).

FUSIL comes from the Italian fucile, steel (to strike a flint), and musket. It has the two significations of the Italian word. The final is mute by exception (535).

ÉPAULE comes through the Spanish espalda or the Italian spalla, shoulder, from the Latin spatula, shoulder-blade.

CHALEUR is derived from chaud, hot or warm, which comes from the Latin calidus, hot. It is feminine (104).

ÉTOUFFANT is derived from the verb étouffer, to stifle, to smother, to suffocate, which comes from the Spanish estufa, stove, sweating-room. ENFONCEZ is a form (473) of the verb enfoncer, derived from fond, seen in the thirtieth lesson.

758. Mi, mentioned in the seventeenth lesson, as being the radical of demi, is an inseparable syllable denoting the division of a thing into two equal parts. It is joined to the principal word by a hyphen, except in midi, noon or mid-day, and minuit, midnight.

JAMBE comes from the Italian gamba, leg.

MARAIS is derived from mare, pool, which comes from the Latin mare, sea. It takes no additional termination in the plural (17).

FANGEUX is derived from fange, mire, dirt, which is supposed to come from the Latin fimus, dung. This adjective takes no additional termination in the plural (172).

SYNTAX.

Cela se voit.

That is seen.

759. The passive form is less frequently used in French than in English, and verbs, which should be passive according to the sense, often take the reflective or pronominal form in French, as in the above example. This idiomatic construction will not surprise an English student, if he considers that in his own language an equivalent impropriety exists, when we say, The door opens, for, The door is opened; The books never sold, for, The books were never sold. These phrases would be rendered by, La porte s'ouvre; Les livres ne se vendirent jamais.

Il porte dans sa giberne le bâton de maréchal.

760. When a verb has two substantives for regimens, the one direct and the other indirect, it is usually followed by both, and if they are of the same length, the direct one is placed first; if not, the shorter precedes the longer.

Le sac sur le dos.-Le fusil sur l'épaule.

761. The preposition AVEC, with, is here understood, and its ellipsis is common in all similar phrases.

Third Division-Exercises.