THE POPULAK EDUCATOn. 



LESSONS IN FRENCH. I. 



IN commencing these Lessons in French, instead of beginning 

 with a long chapter exclusively devoted to the pronunciation of 

 words, and the variations which are caused in the sounds of 

 vowels and consonants by changes in their relative position, we 

 have thoxight it best to enter at once into the construction 

 of the language, and endeavour, without unnecessary delay, in 

 as plain a manner as possible, to make our readers familiar with 

 its various idioms and peculiarities. The Section on French 

 pronunciation will be divided into several portions, one of 

 wlu'ch will be given at the commencement of each lesson in 

 French, until the subject is exhausted. 



SECTION I. FRENCH PRONUNCIATION. 

 I. THE FRENCH ALPHABET. 



1. A tolerable pronunciation of any spoken language may be 

 acquired by imitating the sounds of that language, as uttered by 

 a living teacher. But the reading and ivritvng of any language 

 cannot thus be learnt. The pupil must bring into requisi- 

 tion something else besides his imitative powers, if he would 

 thoroughly comprehend any language. The alphabet of the 

 language to be learnt must be exhibited and examined, and 

 then mastered. 



2. An alphabet is a collection of different characters called 

 letters, each of which represents its own peculiar sound. These 

 letters differ from each other in nanw, form, si.re, and sound. 

 Used as vehicles of thought, they must not only be familiar 

 to the eye, but their use, both singly and combined, must be 

 understood. 



3. Two objects are to be before the student whilst perusing 

 these preliminary lessons on French pronunciation, namely : 



First. The acquisition of the correct pronunciation of the 

 various sounds of the letters of the French alphabet. 



Second. To learn how to combine and use these sounds, 

 in order to read the French language easily, intelligibly, and 

 profitably. 



4. The first object will be accomplished by the aid of analogous 

 English sounds ; that is, every sound represented by a letter or 

 combination of letters of the French alphabet, will be unfolded, 

 analysed, and defined, as far as possible, by means of analogous 

 sounds of a letter or combination of letters of the English 

 alphabet. 



5. The second object will be accomplished by learning a few 

 Irief and simple rules, illustrated and enforced by appropriate 

 examples. 



G. Diligent attention, patient labour, and a determination to 

 succeed, will enable the learner to overcome every obstacle, and 

 thus make him master of a language, not only exceedingly 

 difficult for foreigners to acquire, but beautiful in itself, and 

 co-existent with the triumphs of civilisation. 



7. The student's attention is next directed to the French 

 alphabet. While the English alphabet contains twenty-six 

 letters, in the French alphabet there are only twenty-five. It 

 lias no letter which corresponds to the English iv, though it is 

 occasionally found in French books. It is used only in foreign 

 words, and then pronounced like the English v. 



8. The French alphabet is divided into vowels and consonants. 



9. THE VOWELS. The vowels are six in number, namely: 



10. THE CONSONANTS. The remaining letters of the alpha- 

 bet, nineteen in number, are called consonants, namely : - 



b c d f g li j k 1 in 

 npqrstvxz. 



11. THE COMPOUND VOWELS. There are seven compound 

 vowels, namely : 



They are thus called because, being united together, each 

 vowel loses its own simple sound, and helps to form another 

 new sound. They form but one syllable, and are consequently 

 pronounced by one emission of the voice. 



12. THE DIPHTHONGS. There are six diphthongs, namely: 

 ia ie io ua ue ui. 



They are thus called because, though pronounced as one 

 syllable, the sound of both vowels is distinctly heard. 



The following ten combinations of three successive vowels are 

 also called diphthongs, namely : 



uoi 



These diphthongs are thus divided into syllables : 



i-ai 



i-au i-ea 

 u-ei 



on- a 

 u-io 



ou-e oii-i 

 u-eu. 



They must, however, be pronounced quickly, and as one syllable. 

 Sometimes, also, we find four successive vowels in the samo 

 word, namely: 



ouai in the word jou-ai, 



oueu 

 ouee 



jou-eur, 

 bou-ee. 



The first example ouai, is composed of two compound vowels, 

 viz. : ou and ai. 



The second example oueu, is also composed of two compound 

 vowels, viz. : ou and eu. 



In the last example ouee, the final e is silent, and the three 

 vowels are thus divided, viz. : ou and e. 



13. THE VOWEL Y. The vowel y is frequently found com- 

 bined with other vowels, but in such combinations it is never 

 used as a diphthong. Its use in combination is peculiar, and 

 will be fully explained hereafter. 



14. THE NASAL VOWEL SOUNDS. There are certain sounds 

 called nasal vowel sounds, produced by the combination of the 

 vowels with the consonants TO and n, namely : 



am 

 an 



nil 

 in 



oin 

 oil 



urn 



1,11 



ym 



yn. 



These sounds will be explained hereafter. 



15. THE NASAL DIPHTHONGAL SOUNDS.- There an' nl D 

 certain sounds called nasal diphthongal sounds, produced by 

 the combination of nasal vowel sounds with a vowel, not nasal, 

 before them, namely: 



inn 



uin 



These sounds will also be explained hereafter. 



16. THE LIQUIDS. The following combinations of the con- 

 sonants are called liquids, namely: 



11 gn. 



The sounds of the&o liquids are very common in the French 

 language, and will be explained hereafter. 



SECTION II. THE ARTICLE. 



1. In French the article [ 13 (2)]* has, in the singular, a 

 distinct form for each gender, as : 



Le fils, the son. La fille, the daughter, the girl. 



Le frore, the brother. La sceur, the sister. 



2. Before a word commencing with a vowel or an h mute, the 

 final e or a of the article le or la is cut off, and replaced by an 

 apostrophe, leaving the article apparently the same for both 

 gonder.4 [ le! (7)], as : 



L'a'ieul [l(e) aleul], the grandfather. 

 L'a'ieule [l(a) aieule], th grandmother. 

 L'hote [l(e) hoto], the landlord. 

 L'hotesse P(a) hotesse], the landlady. 



3. There are in French only two genders, the masculine and 

 the feminine [ 4]. Every noun, whether denoting an animate 

 or inanimate object, belongs to one of these two genders. 



MASC. L'homme, the man, FEM. La femme, the woman. 

 Le livre, the book. La table, the table. 



L'arbre, the tree. La plume, the pun. 



Le lion, the lion. La lionne, the lioness. 



4. AVOIK, TO HAVE, IN THE PRESENT OF THE INDICATIVE. 



SING. J'ai, I have. 



Tu as [ 33 (1) (2)]Thcm host. 

 II a, He has. 



Elle a, She has. 



Affirmatively. 



PLUB. Nous avoiis, 

 Vous avez, 

 Us ont, m., 

 Elles ont, f., 



We have. 

 You have. 

 They have. 

 They have. 



* References thus [ 13 (2)] refer to Sections in Part II. of these 

 Lessons, but by references in Roman numerals, thus, [Sect. I. 30] the 

 Isarncr is directed to Sections iu Part I., the portion of our " Lessons 

 in French " which we are now commencing. 



