t final is sounded in brut, unpolished; but, aim; dot, dowry; alert, fat, fop;-ct are sounded in tact, exact, direct, correct, abject; but the c only is sounded in aspect, suspect, circonspect, pronounced aspek, suspek, circonspek. t final is sounded in fait (substantive) and in soit, be it so. C'est un fait, it is a fact; un fait remarquable. Vous le voulez, soit, you wish it, be it so; soit, je le veux bien, be it so, I consent. x has the five following different sounds like : ks, as in Alexandre, maxime, index, excuse, extrême. gz, as in exercice, examen, examination; exorbitant, exact. s, as in Bruxelles, Auxerre, Aix-la-Chapelle, soixante, sixty; six; dix, ten. k, as in excepter, to except; excellent, excès, exception. z, as in deuxième, second; sixième, sixth. ON ACCENT OR STRESS. 22. Accent, in reading or speaking, is an inflection of the voice, which gives to each syllable of a word its due pitch in respect of height or lowness. The stress on a particular syllable of a word is called by French grammarians accent tonique, and it generally takes place, in French, on the last syllable of a word, or on the penultimate if the last syllable ends with an e mute or unaccented. Thus in rose, fierté, pride, the accent takes place on ro, and on té. The stress or accent tonique, according to modern orthoepists, takes place also on certain syllables, formed of full-sounding or sonorous vowels, which may be the penultimate of dissyllables, or the antepenultimate of polysyllables, that end with a masculine termination (i. e. any termination of a word which is not the e mute or unaccented). Thus in the words Français, élévation, the accent takes place on fran, and on va. It should be observed, however, that the accent or stress of the voice on some particular syllable of a word is not so powerfully marked in French as it is in the English language. For instance, we have no example in French of the accent indicating, with so much precision, the difference in the meaning of words of similar orthography, as is expressed in the English words gallant and gallant. In French these two words are pronounced alike-galant, according to the first general rule mentioned above, and the difference in the meaning can only be indicated by the context, or by the position of the word either before or after a substantive: thus, in the sentence un galant officier, the adjective galant has the meaning of the English word pronounced gallant, and in un officier galant, the same word means gallant'. (Further remarks on the accent, and rules on quantity, will be found in the APPENDICE, page 351.) Exercise in French Pronunciation. 23. NOTE. Most words having the following terminations* are spelt alike in the French and the English languages: al...cardinal, principal, fatal. ble ...capable†, bible, double. ace ...préface, grimace, place. ance...chance, complaisance. ence...continence, éloquence. ice ...édifice, auspices, injustice. acle ...oracle†, tabernacle, miracle. ade...esplanade, cavalcade, brigade. age...adage, bandage, âge, image. ége...collége, privilége, sacrilége. 24. NOTE. Many French words, to become English, require only change of termination* in the following manner : oire ce aire into ary...nécessaire, militaire. eur into our, or ...faveur, horreur. ory...gloire, accessoire. in cy...constance, clémence. if ty...beauté, témérité. rie ous ...dangereux, nébuleux. té eux ine ive ry ...clandestin, divin. ...attentif, expressif. ...furie, industrie. UNION OF WORDS. 25. To prevent the hiatus which would be occasioned by the meeting of two vowels, the final consonant of a word is sounded with the initial vowel of the following word, whenever the two words are so connected with each other that there can be no pause between them: Les amis, the friends. Ton amitié, thy friendship. Il est aimable, he is amiable. Cinq ans, five years. Pronounce: lè-zamis. ton-namitié. 26. At the end of a word, before a vowel, s and a have the sound of z; d has the sound of t, and g that of k: F is sounded like v in neuf, nine, before a vowel or h mute: Neuf ans, nine years. Pronounce neu-vans. neu-veures. * See the Etymological Index, page xiv. + Ble, cle, tre and similar terminations of French words, as in capable, bible, oracle, centre, are pronounced as they are written, and the pupil should be careful to avoid saying bel, kel, ter, as with the English words capable, bible, oracle and centre. 27. General Rules. The union or junction in sound takes place, With the article and following substantive or adjective: Les ouvrages, the works; un enfant, a child; un_aimable garçon, an amiable boy. With adjectives preceding their substantives: Un important avantage, an important advantage; dix heures, ten hours; vingt ans, twenty years. With pronouns preceding their substantives or verbs: Son âge, his age. Vous avez, you have. With verbs followed by, and immediately connected with, pronouns, adjectives, or participles: Mangez en, eat some. Pensezy, think of it. Nous sommes attentifs, we are attentive. Il est estimé, he is esteemed. With adverbs followed by the adjectives or participles which they modify: Fort_intéressant, very interesting. With prepositions and conjunctions: Mais il parla, but he spoke. Sans espoir, without hope. Puis il partit, then he departed. 28. But the final letter of the conjunction et, and, is never joined with the following vowel: Il commence et il continue, He begins and continues. Glory and immortality. Er conjunction is sounded é, and EST verb is sounded è; the articulation of the t in the former word does not take place, probably for the purpose of assisting the ear in distinguishing the difference which exists between the two words in examples like the following: Un vieil_ami est_un bon camarade, an old friend is a good companion. Un vieil ami et un bon camarade, an old friend and a good companion. NOTE. The final consonant of a word is never joined to the initial o of the words onze and onzième in examples like the following: Vers les onze heures, towards eleven o'clock. General Examples of the Junction of Words. Quand_il_en_aura davantage, Il est étourdi et inappliqué, When he has more of them. But he came without money. 29. In examples similar to the following, the junction of the final consonant with the initial vowel of the next word is more frequent in serious and elevated language than in familiar conversation: J'ai cru remarquer entre elles_et lui. Ces dames sont-elles_arrivées ? Il me vit et m'aima. Votre oncle du moins était dans la confidence. Quelle joie vous me faites._éprouver! Ils parvinrent__à me rassurer_un peu. Ce secret_est pour vous seul. In familiar conversation too the junction of the final consonant does not take place in examples like the following: Tu aimes à rire, tu chantes à merveille, tu le demandes inutilement. The euphony of the language rejects also the union of the final consonant of substantives in the singular; as, Le plomb et l'étain, un banc en pierre, un nid admirablement bien fait, une clef en or, un fusil à deux coups, le camp ennemi, un galop impétueux, un loup enragé, un sirop exquis, un berger attentif. The ear also rejects the junction of the last consonant of words having a penultimate consonant articulated; as, un babillard importun, le tiers état, à tort et à travers, l'univers entier, un discours étrange, un port excellent, un cheval fort et vigoureux, je sors aujourd'hui, il est mort hier. Except certain adjectives, prepositions and adverbs followed by the words to which they relate; as, un court_espace de temps, vers_elle, fort_habile. 30. NOTE. For the sake of euphony, as will be seen hereafter, certain consonants are sometimes introduced between words in order to prevent the hiatus or meeting of vowels. Thus we say, A-t-il? has he? Si l'on, if any one. Vas-y, go thither. This arrangement occurs when elisions cannot otherwise take place. ELISION OF E UNACCENTED. 31. In conversation and in familiar reading the e unaccented is not heard, whenever the consonant before such e can be pronounced with the assistance of a vowel which may sometimes precede that consonant, and sometimes come after it in the following word or syllable; as, Si je vous le donne, if I give it to you. Un petit garçon, a little boy. Petit à petit, little by little. Pronounce: sij voul donne. un pti garçon. Voilà le chemin de fer, there is the railway. voilal chmind fer. Grande époque, great epoch. Jeune homme, young man. Je veux bien, I am willing. Gardez-le auprès de vous, keep it near you. gran dépoque. jeu nomme. cn'est personne. gardel auprèd vous. The application of the above rule is greatly modified by the euphony and clearness required in the language spoken, the omission of the e principally depending on the nature of the articulations connected with that letter. Practice in conversation will be the best guide for the student. * "L'e muet du pronom le se prononce devant une voyelle quand ce pronom suit un verbe dont la finale fait entendre un autre son que celui de l'é fermé."-MALVIN-CAZAL. In the following examples the silent e is printed in italics: Qu'est-ce donc ?-Je ne veux rien entendre. Sachez que ce matin... Non vous Un peu de patience! Rien de plus malheureux ! What is the matter?—I will not NOTE. The first syllable of the word monsieur is generally pronounced me, and therefore it suffers the elision mentioned in the rule 31, as, Oui, monsieur, Yes, sir; Non, monsieur, No, sir; Parlez-vous français? Un peu, monsieur, Do you speak French? A little, sir; Monsieur votre père (103.), your father; Monsieur Dumas et monsieur Andrieux; which are pronounced ouim sieu, nonm sieu, un peu msieu, msieu vot père, msieu Dumas et msieu Andrieux. NOTE. The r of monsieur and of its plural messieurs is never sounded. Monsieur le président et messieurs! Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen! According to the rule 25, the final s of messieurs is pronounced before a vowel, Messieurs et dames! [The junction of words (25.) and the elision of e unaccented (31.) should receive the attention of the pupil from the commencement of his studies. In order to assist his memory, he will do well to underline or otherwise mark, in his exercise book, the joined letters and the elision of e, as he carefully observes them in the pronunciation of his tutor; thus, Je ne te le redemande pas aujourd'hui. Tu es encore bien aise de ce que je ne te le redemande pas.] 32. DIVISION OF WORDS INTO SYLLABLES. A remarkable difference exists between the English and the French languages in the syllabic division of words, as may be seen by the following examples: Meth'-od French syllabic division. Pa-tri-moi-ne In-ti-mi-der Mé-tho-de In-cog'-ni-to Mag-nif-i-cent Ma-gni-fi-que As-sig-na-tion Mag-nan'-i-mous Ma-gna-ni-me| Al-pha-bet'-i-cal Choc'-o-late Al-pha-bé-ti-que Cho-co-lat Et-y-mol'-o-gy E-ty-mo-lo-gie Ig'-no-rant I-gno-rant Et-y-mo-log-i-cal E-ty-mo-lo-gi-que Sig'-na-ture Char-ac-ter-is'-ti-cal Ca-rac-té-ris-ti-que |