163 163 164 164 3. Indicatif et Subjonctif CHAPITRE VIII.-Mots invariables. 1. Place de l'Adverbe 2. Emploi de l'Adverbe. 1. Adverbes de Comparaison. 3 Emploi de NE, sans négation. § 2.-Préposition . . 1. Complément des Prépositions. 2. Répétition ou Ellipse des Prépositions 4. Observations sur quelques Prépositions FRENCH GRAMMAR. PRELIMINARY PART. I.-LETTERS: CONSONANTS, VOWELS. THE French alphabet contains twenty-five letters:-nineteen consonants and six vowels: + A E U a in far. e in fate. ee in feet. o in no. u in gude (Scotch). ee(Grec) II.-PRONUNCIATION OF CONSONANTS. Most of the consonants, initial and medial, are pronounced in French as in English, and they are generally mute at the end of the words, except c, f, l, m, n, q, r: plomb, lead; nord, north; sang, blood; camp, camp; Paris; repos, rest; rat, rat; croix, cross; nez, nose. C is sounded gue in second, and in reine-claude, green-gage. It is mute in estomac, stomach; tabac, tobacco; almanach, almanack; échecs, chess; croc, hook; escroc, B swindler; accroc, rent; blanc, white; franc, frank; jonc, reed; tronc, trunk; clerc, clerk; porc frais, fresh pork; porc gras, fat pork. ch is generally sounded sh: cheval, horse; chameau, camel, etc. It is sounded like k in many words coming from the Greek, Hebrew, etc.: archiepiscopal, archange, archéologie, catéchumène, chaos, écho, Macchabée. D final is sounded t, when joined to the vowel beginning the following word: un grand homme, a great man, pronounce gran-t-homme. But we sound d in nord-est, north-east; David était petit, David was small. F final is silent in clef, key; chef-d'œuvre, master-piece; cerf, stag; in auf frais, new-laid egg; le bœuf gras, the fat ox; and in the plural, des œufs, eggs; des bœufs, oxen; des nerfs, nerves. f sounds threefold in neuf, nine.-1. It is pronounced in le neuf du mois, the ninth of the month; ils sont neuf, they are nine; neuf et demi, nine and a half, etc.-2. It is sounded v in neuf ans, nine years; neuf hommes, nine men, etc.-3. It is silent before a consonant: neuf livres, nine books, etc. G is sounded k in the junction of words: un sang illustre, an illustrious blood; un long intervalle, a long interval, etc. gn forms generally a sound called liquid, as in compagnon, companion; campagne, country; magnanime, magnanimous; magnifique, magnificent, etc. But gn is pronounced like in English in gnome, gnomon, igné, igneous; inexpugnable, impregnable. H. In French the letter h, whether silent or aspirated, never makes the following vowel to be pronounced from the throat, as in English. Thus pronounce hache, hatchet, like ash, and not like to hash, hacher. There is no difference between the pronunciation of héros, hero, and Henri, Henry, in which h is aspirated, and that of héroïne, heroine, and Henriette, Henrietta, in which his mute. So the first syllable of hardi, bold; hétre, beech-tree; hareng, herring; in which h is aspi rated, is pronounced like the first syllable in ardent; être, to be; arranger, to arrange. The aspirated h prevents the junction of the preceding consonant and the elision of the preceding vowel. Thus pronounce, without joining the consonant placed before h with the vowel coming after it: les | hameaux, the hamlets. il est honteux, he is ashamed. il hait, he hates. and without eliding the vowel preceding h: le héros, the hero. la honte, the shame. je hasarde, I hazard. une belle harpe, a fine harp. un crime honteux, a shameful crime. h mute does not prevent the junction of the preceding consonant, as les hommes, the men; deux histoires, two histories; il est honorable, he is honourable, etc.; nor the elision of the preceding vowel, as l'homme, the man; l'histoire, the history; j'honore, I honour. Une belle hôtesse, a fine hostess, is sounded bel l'hôtesse. L preceded by i often forms a sound which is called mouillé, or liquid. AIL, détail, detail, EIL, soleil, sun. IL, babil, chat. EUIL, deuil, mourning. AILLE, bataille, battle. The sound of liquid is twofold. 1. Generally in Paris they change l into y, and they pronounce bataille as bata-ye, bouteille as boutè-ye, famille as fami-ye. 2. Many do not approve of this transformation of a consonant into a vowel; they preserve the sound of l, and they pronounce pretty nearly as if it were followed by i. This sound is something similar to the sound of brilliant, battalion, pavilion. 1 is not liquid-1. In the initials illégal, illegal ; illimité, illimited.-2. In the verbs, distiller, to distil; osciller, to oscillate; scintiller, to scintillate; vaciller, to vacillate; and their derivatives.-3. In the finals |