LESSONS IN 



1 





LESSONS IN FRENCH II 



md). 



II. I i 



IK oonntunt HMO of certain marks called nc.-.-n/s in thu 

 I'lvneh language o in. h cannot 



t.irv \\niL, c.f tiif I : li*h langim^" 'i.il>l<>of any given 



winch require* an emphasis umrk> <!. 



I- I'M' it i* not HO in th.> I'Y.-neli language: here, accents of 

 kinds are constantly meeting the eye ou every page. 



<nc thin;.,', however, nin~t lie nli-cr\ nl, namely: 



''(s m>t nli'- j.illil'lij ntiicL tit. ' 



,vo tho stress of voice iu common pm- 



lillliei: 



I:'. M."li'!-p lYeuch grammarians have established tin- follow- 

 ing rule, namely: to place the stress of voice on // dm! i>nmounced 

 ?ylltil>le tif ,-<< /;/ li 



\ slight inspection only of tho following examples will 

 :'o tho above remarks. 



1. DtS-vo-rer (pronounced Day-vo-ray). 



Tho first syllable of this word is marked with an accent; must 

 the stress of voice, therefore, bo placed upon tho svll. hlc (' ;' 

 No: if the ride be applied te this word, the stress of voi^c falls 

 im il'<- last syllable, rer. 



It will then bo asked, What is tho use of tliis accent ? We 

 answer. It modifies the sound of the vowel over r/nV/i il in placed. 



re-iuout d>roiiounco(l Lay-zhair-mon, with the sound of the 



final n suspoudc ".} . 



ii, the word used now as on example has the same kind 

 of an accent as tho word used in the previous example had; and 

 also, it is placed over the same vowel. But it has another dif- 

 'ccent over tho first vowel of tho second syllable; and, 

 according to the rule, the stress of voice is not placed either 

 upon tho first or second syllable, but upon the last. 



This second accent (observe its form and position) only serves 

 to modify the sound of the vowel over which it is placed. Some- 

 times, however, an accent is placed over a vowel of the syllable 

 which, according to the rule, receives the stress of voiee, viz. : 

 Ce-le-bri-te. 

 3. Ui-ti-ment (pronounced Bat-tee-mou, with the sound of the final n* 



stopped) . 



Again, in the word used here as an example, a third and still 

 dillc rent accent is placed over tho vowel a. Its presence affects 

 the sound of. tliat vowel only. It has nothing whatever to do with 

 tho proper accent of that word, as the term accent is understood 

 when applied to words in tho English language. As a general 

 rules tho stress of voice is not so strong in tho French as in tho 



ii language. 



21. Accents, therefore, as used in tho French language, are 

 certain marks differing from each other, and placed over certain 



I only, for specific purp 

 --'. There are throe accents, viz.: 



called the Acuto accent (thus, 6) 

 Grave ( i-) 



Circumflex ( a) 



Tho acute accent is used only over the vowel c, and 

 - two purposes : 

 ' . to modify its sound. 



-idly, to mark the existence of a distinct and final 

 syllable, as : 



Do", Troin-i> : . 



Pi.Ma.r-dc, LYr-e-mo-uie. 



i I. The grave accent is used only over tho vowela a, e, and 

 a, Fere, Ou, 



''rves two purposes : 



l''irst, to modify the sound of the vowel c. 

 Secondly, to distinguish one part of speech from another; 

 thus, 



a is a verb. la is an articlo. I ou is a conjunction. 



ii preposition. | Id adverb. | ou is an adverb. 



25. Tho circumflex accent is the union of the acute and 



* It is impossible to find, in tho English lau:nw[je, perfect mniivsi- 

 loiita for en, on; the former sound finds a near approach in aunt and 

 ..'.'(, and tho latter in Mon-ta-gue, Song, etc. 



grave accent*, and U plaoed over etch of the vowel* except y. 



twice OM long at it IM without \t, \ . 



Age, B.'ta, Bacbe, C.Mo. U1U, MM-*. T*. 



Thin accent a!no indicate* the suppression of the letter , 



<: vowel over which it it placedf thu 



Bete, i , Te, 



woro formerly v.-ritten 



j: -;. , I . .-, T.-.' 



Tho t was not Hounded, bnt gave to the preceding vowel tluu 

 prolonged Hound now repro*ented by the circumflex aooent 



'I'n- i-in-umflox aooent aim nerve* to difttinguinh part* of 

 Hpeech from each other ; thus, 



Crtt is a participle from the verb 



CYu is a noun and adjective. 



ld is a participle from the verb 



cUooir. 

 Du in an article and noon. 



Sur U an adjective 



m a prepoit. 

 Til is a parttcii>U from the vert 



3V is a pronoun. 



26. Besides the three kinds of accent* jiwt enumerated, cer- 

 tain other marks or signs are used, called 



Cedilla, Dueresis, Hyphen, and Apostrophe. 



The CEDILLA (c) ia a peculiar mark, nomewhat reaemblrag 

 figure 5 inverted, anil placed only under the Utter c, before tho 

 vowels a, o, and u, thu- 



It indicates that the letter c under which it is placed, ha* the , 

 soft sound of ss, as in tho word lesson: 



C'a pronounced Ma. 

 Dec a ,, dus-sa. 



Facade fas-sad. 



Faconner, pronounced fo-soD-&ajr. 

 Macon ,. mms-son. 



Eecu ,, rus-sn. 



27. The DI/ERESIS ( " ) consists of two dots plaoed otvr the 

 vovrcls e, i, and u. It shows that the vowel over which it in 

 placed is pronounced separately from the preceding vowel, thtui 

 indicating, in reality, a distinct syllable, as : 



Naivete" 



Oulr 



Fotite 



pronounced 



Ou-ir. 

 Po-ete. 



28. The HYPHEN (-) is a short horizontal mark, which U used 

 to connect words and syllables, as : 



A-t-il, Belles-lettres, Celu Demi-kflomitre, 



Foit-ou, Suis-je, Tri-s-rarement. 



Its uso in connecting syllables is precisely tho some as in the 

 English language ; that is, when a word is divided, so that a 

 part of it is at tho extreme right hand of a line, and the rest at 

 the extreme left of the line following. 



29. Tho APOSTROPHE (') is like a comma plaoed at the upper 

 end of letters instead of at the lower end, or at the bottom on 

 a lino with tho lower end. 



Its uso is to show tho elision, or cutting off, of a vowel before 

 words commencing with a vowel or h mute, and is much used in 

 tho French language, as: 



L'ami, instead of le ami. I I/homme, instead of le homine. 



L'eglise " laeglise. | S'il si U. 



30. Tho EUPHONIC T is thus called on account of its peculiar 

 position between two parts of speech, viz., the verb and the 

 pronoun. 



It is used only in asking questions, and then a hyphen U 

 placed both before and after it, thus : 



A-t-ello? A-t-il? Ira-t-on? Demantto-t-on ? 



Parle-t-il ? Va-t-on ? proure-t-il ? 



Tht* letter cannot bo trans-late 1. because it has no meaning. 

 It is thus used merely for tho sake of euphony, or agreeable 

 sound. 



31. PARENTHESIS AND PUNCTUATION. In the French lan- 

 guage, the marks used in punctuation, etc., are the same, and 

 used for the same purposes, as in the English language. (8at 

 READING AND ELOCUTION.) 



SECTION IV. THE ARTICLE USED PABTITIVELT. 

 1 . The article, preceded by or contracted with the preposition 

 de [Sect. 111. 1. - . is placed in French before words used in a 

 partitive sense. Such words may generally be known in English 



