LESSONS IN FRENCH.—II.
SECTION I.—FRENCH PRONUNCIATION (continued).
II. FRENCH ACCENTS.
17. The constant use of certain marks called accents in the French language constitutes a marked peculiarity which cannot escape the attention of the student. Rarely, except in elementary works of the English language, is the syllable of any given word which requires an emphasis marked.
18. But it is not so in the French language: here, accents of various kinds are constantly meeting the eye on every page. One thing, however, must be observed, namely:—the position of the accent does not always and infallibly mark the syllable of a word which must receive the stress of voice in common pronunciation.
19. Modern French grammarians have established the following rule, namely:—to place the stress of voice on the last pronounced syllable of every word.
20. A slight inspection only of the following examples will illustrate the above remarks.
1. Dé-vo-rer (pronounced Day-vo-ray).
The first syllable of this word is marked with an accent; must the stress of the voice, therefore, be placed upon the syllable de? No: if the rule be applied to this word, the stress of voice falls on the last syllable, rer.
It will then be asked, What is the use of this accent? We answer, It modifies the sound of the vowel over which it is placed.
2. Lé-gère-ment (pronounced Lay-zhair-mon, with the sound of the final n suspended).
Again, the word used now as an example has the same kind of an accent as the word used in the previous example had; and also, it is placed of the same vowel. But it has another different accent over the first vowel of the second syllable; and, according to the rule, the stress of voice is not placed either upon the first or second syllable, but upon the last.
The second accent (observe its form and position) only serves to modify the sound of the vowel over which it is placed. Sometimes, however, an accent is placed over a vowel of the syllable which, according to the rule, receives the stress of voice, viz.:—Cé-lé-bri-té.
3. Bâ-ti-ment (pronounced Bat-tee-mon, with the sound of the final n* stopped).
Again, in the word used here as an example, a third and still different accent is placed over the vowel a. Its presence affects the sound of that vowel only. It has nothing whatever to do with the proper accent of that word, as the term accent is understood when applied to words in the English language. As a general rule, the stress of voice is not so strong in the French as in the English language.
21. Accents, therefore, as used in the French language, are certain marks differing from each other, and placed over certain vowels only, for specific purposes.
22. There are three accents, viz.:—
´ called the Acute accent (thus, é)
` " Grave " (" è)
^ " Circumflex " (" â)
23. The acute accent is used only over the vowel e, and serves two purposes:
First, to modify its sound.
Secondly, to mark the existence of a distinct and final syllable, as:—
Dé,
Pé-tar-dé,
Trom-pé,
Cér-é-mo-nie.
24. The grave accent is used only over the vowels a, e, and u, as,
à, Père, Où,
and serves two purposes:
First, to modify the sound of the vowel e.
Secondly, to distinguish one part of speech from another; thus,
a is a verb.
à " preposition.
la is an article.
là " adverb.
ou is a conjunction.
où is an adverb.
25. The circumflex accent is the union of the acute and grave accents, and is placed over each of the vowels except y. It indicates that the letter over which it is placed has a sound twice as long as it has without it, vis.:—
Âge, Bête, Bûche, Côte, Gîte, Mê-lée, Tête.
This accent also indicates the suppression of the letter s, after the vowel over which it is placed; thus
Bête, Fête, Tête,
were formerly written
Beste, Feste, Teste.
The s was not sounded, but gave to the preceding vowel that prolonged sound now represented by the circumflex accent.
The circumflex accent also serves to distinguish parts of speech from each other; thus,
Crû is a participle from the verb croítre.
Cru is a noun and adjective.
Dû is a participle from the verb devoir.
Du is an article and noun.
Sûr is an adjective.
Sur is a preposition.
Tû is a participle from the verb taire.
Tu is a pronoun.
26. Besides the kinds of accents just enumerated, certain other marks or signs are used, called
Cedilla, Diæresis, Hyphen, and Apostrophe.
The Cedilla (ç) is a peculiar mark, somewhat resembling a figure 5 inverted, and placed only under the letter c, before the vowels a, o, and u, thus: ç.
It indicates that the letter c under which it is placed, has the soft sound of ss, as in the word lesson:—
Çà pronounced ssà.
Deçà " dus-sà.
Façade " fas-sad.
Façonner, pronounced fas-son-nay.
Maçon " mas-son.
Reçu " rus-su.
27. The Diæresis (¨) consists of two dots placed over the vowels e, i', and u. It shows that the vowel over which it is placed is pronounced separately from the preceding vowel, thus indicating, in reality, a distinct syllable, as:—
Naïveté pronounced Na-ive-té.
Ouïr " Ou-ir.
Poëte " Po-ete.
28. The Hyphen (-) is a short horizontal mark, which is used to connect words and syllables, as:—
A-t-il, Belles-lettres, Celui-ci, Demi-kilomètre, Fait-on, Suis-je, Très-rarement.
Its use in connecting syllables is precisely the same as in the English language; that is, when a word is divided, so that a part of it is at the extreme right hand of a line, and the rest at the extreme left of the line following.
29. The Apostrophe (') is like a comma placed at the upper and of letters instead of at the lower end, or at the bottom on a line with the lower end.
Its use is to show the elision, or cutting off, of a vowel before words commencing with a vowel or h mute, and is much used in the French language, as:—
L'ami, instead of le ami.
L'église " la église.
L'homme, instead of le homme.
S'il " si il.
30. The Euphonic T is thus called on account of its peculiar position between two parts of speech, vis., the verb and the pronoun.
It is used only in asking questions, and then a hyphen is placed both before and after it, thus:—
A-t-elle? A-t-il? Ira-t-on? Demande-t-on? Parle-t-il? Va-t-on? prouve-t-il?
This letter cannot be translated, because it has no meaning. It is thus used merely for the sake of euphony, or agreeable sound.
31. Parenthesis and Punctuation.—In the French language, the marks used in punctuation, etc., are the same, and used for the same purposes, as in the English language. (See Reading and Elocution.)
SECTION IV.—THE ARTICLE USED PARTITIVELY.
1. The article, preceded by or contracted with the preposition de [Sect. III. 1, 2], is placed in French before words used in a partitive sense. Such words may generally be known in English
