A FIRST FRENCH COURSE. I. THE ALPHABET. ACCENTS AND OTHER MARKS. PARTS OF SPEECH. 1. Alphabet.-The French Alphabet consists of 26 letters, the same as the English. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, a, b, c, d, e, f, g, Q, R, S, T, q, r, s, t, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, U, V, W, X, Y, Z. u, v, w, x, y, z. W is used only in foreign words. The names of the French letters are given on p. 4. The letters are divided into Vowels and Consonants. The Vowels are a, e, i, o, u, y. The remaining letters are Consonants. 2. Accents. There are three accents, which are placed over vowels: 1. The acute ('), placed only over e: as été. 2. The grave (), placed over a, e, u: as, là, près, où. 3. The circumflex (^), placed over all the vowels except y: as, áme, rêve, île, ôter, múr. 3. Other marks. (1.) The Apostrophe ('), showing that a vowel has been dropped: as, l'or instead of le or; l'âme instead of la ame; l'histoire instead of la histoire. (2.) The Cedilla, a sign like a comma placed under c (before a, o, and u), thus ç, giving c the sound of 8, as reçu. (3.) The Diaresis, or Trema ("), placed over a vowel, showing that this vowel must be pronounced distinct from the preceding vowel: as, haïr, noël. (4.) The Hyphen, connecting two words: as, a-t-il. 4. Genders.-There are two Genders, Masculine and Feminine. |