is pronounced as in très, very; accès; progrès; sévère; il dégénère, he degenerates; je répète, I repeat; il révère, he reveres. NOTE. The grave accent on the è is to be found in the penultimate of most words derived from Latin words with the termination er, and which in French often end in ère; as pater, père (father); mater, mère (mother). e has the open sound, but not quite so broad as è, when the following consonant is sounded with it; as liberté; fer, iron; chercher, to seek. é with a circumflex accent (No. 3.), as in téte, head; fete, feast; tempete, tempest; honnete, honest. e has the sound of é before s silent: mes, my; tes, thy; les, the; ses, his, her or its ; ces, these or those. The annexed diagram indicates the comparative opening of the mouth required for the pronunciation of the above vowels. No. 1. e muet (e mute). Ce, de, je, le, me, ne, se, te, etc. No. 2. é fermé (e close). Dé, né, thé, lé, décédé, etc. (J'aimai, j'allai, j'aimerai, j'irai, etc. See the note, page 7.) No. 3. e, é ouvert (e open). Très, près, grès, tête, fête, rêve, etc. (J'aimais, j'allais, j'aimerais, j'irais, etc., not quite so broad as è. See page 7.) â, Pâte, plâtre, blâme, âtre, pâtre, mâle, etc. The grave sounds of the vowels & and e' require a greater opening of the mouth; they are consequently called open sounds (sons ouverts). i is sounded as in ici, here; ni, nor; timidité; divisible; imiter, to imitate. o has two sounds, the first as in pomme, apple; école, school; notre, our; votre, your: the second grave, as in rose; chose; loto; domino; and in general when it has the circumflex accent, as in cóte, rib; le nôtre, ours; le vôtre, yours. y u is sounded as in vertu, virtue; tumulte; nul, none; ultra; utile, useful; duc, duke; murmure, murmur. is sounded as in style, syllabe, mystère, physique. y between two vowels is sounded like two i's, as in moyen, means; joyeux, joyful; ayant, having; pronounced moi-ien, joi-ieux, ai-iant ;-also in pays, country; paysan, countryman; paysage, landscape ; pronounced pai-is, pai-i-san, pai-i-sage. 16. Simple emissions of the voice expressed by two or more vowels. ai is sounded like é, as in aigu, sharp; Kai, I have; je parlai, I spoke; je parlerai, I shall speak. ai aie nearly like è, (No.3.of di eai ei agram, p. 6,) [maison, house; maître, mas- ils partageaient, they were di- seigneur, lord; seize, sixteen. NOTE. ai has the sound of é (No. 2. of diagram, p. 6) in the first person singular of the preterperfect of verbs of the first conjugation; as, j'aimai, I loved; j'allai, I went. Also in the first person singular of the future of all verbs, as j'aimerai, I shall love; j'irai, I shall go. But ai, aie or eai have the sound of è (No. 3. of diagram, p. 6) in the terminations ais, ait, aient or eais, eait, eaient, of the imperfect and conditional of all verbs; as, j'avais, I had; tu avais, thou hadst; il avait, he had; ils avaient, they had. J'aurais, I should have, etc. J'aimais, I was loving, etc. J'aimerais, I should love, etc. J'allais, I was going, etc. J'irais, I should go, etc. au, eau, like o, have two sounds, the first as in aurore; laurier, laurel: the second grave, as in pause; marteau, hammer; beauté, beauty. eu, ceu, sounded either like e in je, as jeune, young; peuple, people; heure, hour; peur, fear; beurre, butter: or grave, as in peu, little; yeux bleus, blue eyes; deux œufs, two eggs; neutre, neuter; creuser, to make hollow. eu is sounded like u in gageure, wager; j'eus, I had; tu eus, thou hadst; il eut, he had; nous eûmes, we had; vous eûtes, you had; ils eurent, they had; que j'eusse, that I might have; que tu eusses, that thou mightst have; qu'il eût, that he might have; que nous eussions, that we might have; que vous eussiez, that you might have; qu'ils eussent, that they might have. ou, oue, like oo in the English word cool: as clou, nail; tout, all; toujours, always; doux, sweet; mou, soft; il loue, he praises. 17. Nasal Sounds. The nasal sounds are peculiar to the French and some other of the continental languages; they occur generally when n or m is preceded by one or more vowels. They are the following: an, am, ean, en, em, as in an, year; rampant, creeping; Jean, John; ensuite, then; membre, member. in, im, ain, aim, as in lin, flax; impossible; pain, bread; fuim, hunger. on, om, eon, as in bon, good; ombrage, shade; nous mangeons, we eat. un, um, eun, as in un, a or an; humble; à jeun, fasting. Other examples: longtemps, en entrant, en dansant, en mangeant, en descendant, en s'avançant, en commençant, du vin, du pain, combien, ce chien, c'est bien chrétien; le mien, le tien, le sien; mon, ton, son; un parfum commun; prenons en un. NOTE. In words where in is followed by n, and im by m, or whenever in and im are followed by a vowel, the pronunciation is no longer nasal. Thus in and im are not nasal in innocent, innocent. immobile, immovable. inutile, useless. In all other words in and im preserve the nasal sound; as, En is nasal in ennui, and its derivatives ennuyer, etc.; also in ennoblir, to ennoble. En is not nasal in ennemi, which is pronounced è-nemi. Solennel, hennir, are pronounced solanel, hanir.-ACADÉMIE. En has the nasal sound of ain in agenda, a memorandum-book; appendice; Benjamin; Le Bengale; examen, examination; Mentor; and pensum, a school-task. 18. Diphthongs. A diphthong [from the Greek dis (dis) twice, double, and 40oyyos (phthongos) a sound] is the coalition of two vowel sounds in the same syllable; as, ia in fiacre, hackney-coach; piano. iè iai .. je criais, I cried out; niais, simpleton. oi, eoi, oie, (like oua,) in crois-moi, believe me; loi, law; villageois, villager; bourgeois, citizen; soie, silk ; joie, joy. ien in bien, well; entretien, discourse: ien is sounded i-an in science, patience, Orient, expédient, émollient, inconvénient. ieu in Dieu, God; mieux, better. io fiole, vial; pioche, pickaxe. ion oe oin occasion, motion, caution. • poëme, poésie, poëte; poéle, stove. ouan, ouen, in jouant, playing; Rouen. oue oui (like we).. oui, yes; Louis. ouin ue ui uin .. baragouin, jargon; marsouin, porpess. .. nuit, night; biscuit. ..juin, June; suinter, to leak. Several of the above diphthongs form two syllables in verse and in elevated style, as ni-ais, po-ë-me, oc-ca-si-on, jouant, etc. 19. NOTE.-a is not sounded in août, aoriste, Saône, taon. ai has the sound of e feeble in faisant, faisons, faisais. e is not sounded in Jean, Caen. i is not sounded in poignard, poignée, poignet. o is not sounded in faon, Laon, paon. u has the sound of o in album, opium, minimum, and indeed in all words in um derived from the Latin, as triumvir. 20. NOTE.-The termination ent of the third person plural of French verbs has the sound of e feeble, as ils aiment, ils aimèrent, ils unirent. The following list of homonymous* expressions is intended to remove the difficulty attending several words which are written exactly like the third person plural of some verbs, but the last syllable of which is differently pronounced. ent has the nasal sound in adhérent, adherent. un couvent, a convent. il convient, he agrees. ent has the sound of e feeble in ils adhèrent, they adhere. ils coïncident, they coincide. ils content, they relate. * Homonymous, from the Greek oμòs (homos) similar, and övoμa (onoma) name. CONSONANTS. 21. The consonants, with some few exceptions, are pronounced as in English. Their peculiar articulations are explained in the following remarks. The consonants, with the exception of c, f, l, r, are almost always silent at the end of words, unless joined to a final e mute, as petit, petite, little; grand, grande, great; Louis, Louise. c is sounded like k before a, o, u, as in cave, cellar; colonie; cuve, tub. c is sounded like s before e, i, y: as ceci, this; Cicéron, Cyclope. c is also sounded like s when accompanied by a cedilla (12.), as in façade, front; garçon, boy; je reçus, I received. c final is silent in almanach; blanc; broc, jug; clerc, clerk; croc, hook; accroc, rent; échecs, chess; tabac; estomac; flanc; instinct; jonc, reed; tronc, trunk; je vaincs, I conquer; tu vaincs, il vainc. c is sounded like g in second, secondement, seconder. ch is generally sounded like the English sh, as in chat, cat; cheval, horse; chirurgie, surgery; architecte; archipel, archipelago; chimie, chemistry; archevéque, archbishop; chose, thing; Michel, Michael Achéron. ch is sounded like k in chaos, écho, eucharistie, chœur, choir; orchestre, archange, anachorète, archonte, Chanaan, Achab. f is not sounded in bœufs, oxen; nerfs, nerves; œufs, eggs; but the fis pronounced in the singular: un bœuf, un nerf (except nerf de bœuf), un œuf. Cerf, stag; clef, key; are pronounced cer, clé. g is sounded hard before a, o, u, as in gáter, to spoil; gobelet; guttural; bague, ring; guide. Gui is sounded gu-i in aiguille, needle; and in all words. formed with the adjective aigu, such as aiguillon, sting; aiguiser, to whet. Gui is also pronounced gu-i in Guise; inextinguible. (Ciguë, hemlock, is pronounced cigū.) g is soft, and is sounded likej, before e, i, y, as in Georges; agir, to act; gymnase. |