FRENCH GRAMMAR.

FRENCH GRAMMAR is the art of speaking and writing the French language with propriety.

It is divided into four parts, Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, and Prosody.

PART THE FIRST.

ORTHOGRAPHY.

Orthography teaches the nature and power of letters, the manner of pronouncing them, and the just method of spelling words.

The letters of the French alphabet are twenty-five in number, namely:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M
N O P Q R S T U V X Y Z;

which, according to their alphabetical name, are called:

five in number, namely—A, E, I, O, U; all the other letters are

consonants.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE SOUNDS OF THE LETTERS.

ARTICLE I.

Of the Vowels.

Among the different gradations of sound which vowels produce in different words, and which can only be learnt by practice, we shall distinguish two general ones: a slender sound such as we have given in the Alphabet, and a longer one, which, though generally marked with the circumflex accent, is in several words not so distinguished, and must consequently be acquired by practice.

Examples of the Sounds of the Vowels.

A short. ....as in......ămăteur; ..and long....as in....age.
I short....
...as in......titre; ....and long...
...as in....sire.
O short....as in......ŏracle; ..and long..
....as in....ōter.
U short....as in......ütile; ....and long....as in....flute.

The letter e has three sensibly different sounds the open or long, the acute, and the mute.

The open or long is in some words marked with the grave, and in others with the circumflex accent, but in many it has no such characteristic, as in-succès, même, chef; the cases, therefore, in which e is so pronounced can only be known by use and observation.

The acute sound is marked with the acute accent, as in vérité, prémédité, &c.

The mute, as the term implies, having no sound, or rather being but faintly heard when employed, has consequently no mark or accent, as in homme, je redemande, &c.

§. 1.

Of the Nasal Sounds.

When the Vowels a, e, i, o, u, come before the Consonants m and n, they form what are called nasal sounds; this, however, only occurs when m and n are at the end of words, or when, being in the body of a word, they are followed by any other Consonant than m or n, for two m's or two n's, in several instances, destroy the nasal sound, though in some others they retain it, as in ennui, ennuyer, emmener, &c. in which m and n, though followed by another m or n, preserve their nasal sound.

At the end of foreign words, terminating with m and n, these letters have not any nasal sound, though preceded by a Vowel, as Jerusalem, Amen, which are pronounced with the natural sound of m and n.

The termination ENT in the Third Person Plural of Verbs has not any nasal sound, thus-ils aiment, ils parlèrent, &c. are pronounced -il or i zaime, il parlère, and not il zaiman, il parlèran, &c.

A, e, i, o, u, admitting various combinations before m and n, form several different nasal sounds, of which the following are the principal, which are pronounced as follows:

A Dipthong is the union of two or more Vowels in the same Syllable, which, when pronounced, convey to the ear a double sound,

though they are pronounced with a single emission of the voice, as in the word Dieu, in which we distinctly hear the sound of i and cu. The principal ones are as follows:

Observe.-A Dipthong must not be confounded with a coalition of two or more Vowels in the same Syllable, producing a single sound, as-ai, ae, aie, au, eai, ei, ey, ao, eau, eo, ie, eu, œu, and ue, in the following words:

1. Ai, which in j'ai, je chantai, je lirai, and in the Preterite, or Future, of other Verbs, is pronounced like é acute, thus-jé, je chanté, je liré, &c.

It is also sounded like è open in the termination of the Imperfect and Conditional of all Verbs; as-j'avais, j'aimais, je dirais, and in the words Anglais, Ecossais, Français, Groenlandais, Hollandais, Irlandais, Lyonnais, Polonais, and some others; also in the middle of words, as-maître, maison, &c. which are, pronounced as if they were spelled j'avès, j'aimès, je dirès, Anglès, Écossès, Françès, Groënlandès, Hollandès, Irlandès, Lyonnès, Polonès, mètre, mèson, &c.

In faisant and the first syllables of faisais, faisait, faisions, faisiez, faisaient, ai takes the sound of e mute, whilst it is pronounced like a in douairière, as if these words were spelled-fesant, fesais, &c. and douarière.

2. Aie, eai, ei, ey, in either the middle or at the end of words, are sounded like e open, as in haie, démangeaison, seigneur, bey, &c. 3. Ae in Caën (ville) is pronounced as if Caën were spelled without e, thus-Can.

4. Ao in paon, paonne, faon, Laon, (ville,) is pronounced as if there were no o, thus-pan, pane, fan, Lan; whilst in Août, Aoriste, Saône, taon, (poisson); o alone is sounded, the a being mute, thus-ou, oriste,

sône, ton; but in aoûté, Participle of the Verb aoûter, to ripen, both a and o are each sounded.

5. Au and eau at the end of words are sounded like o long, as inaloyau, bateau, which are pronounced aloyô, bató.

6. le is sounded like i, and ue like u, in the different Tenses and Persons of the Verbs which end in ier and uer in the Present of the Infinitive, as-je prie, je prierai, je prierais, &c. which are pronounced-je pri, je prirai, je prirais, and je remue, je remuerai, je remuerais, &c. which are pronounced je remu, je remurai, je remurais, &c.

7. Eu is sounded like u in j'eus, tu eus, il eut, nous eûmes, vous eûtes, ils eurent, que j'eusse, &c. but it retains its natural sound, eu, in Europe, Euridice, Eucharistie, heureux, heureuse, St. Eustache, &c. 8. Eu takes the sound of eu in sœur, mœurs, œuf.

9. Gea, geo, geure, without any accent over the e after g, are sounded ja, jo, jure; therefore, il jugea, Georges, geolier, gageure, &c. are pronounced as if they were written, il juja, jorges, jólier, gajure, &c.

ARTICLE II.

Of Consonants.

As Consonants are not always sounded the same as in the Alphabet, we shall point out the cases in which they deviate from their natural pronunciation.

§. 1.
B.

B always preserves its natural sound, be, except at the end of the words plomb and à plomb, in which it is mute; if it is doubled in a word, only one is pronounced, as in—abbé, sabbat, which are pronounced abé, saba.

§. 2.
C.

C, besides its natural sound, ke, has also the accidental sound se, when coming in the beginning or middle of words before e and i, as in ceci, cela, which are pronounced sesi, sela. It is likewise sounded se before a, o, u, when having a cedilla placed under it, as in-façade, garçon, reçu, which are pronounced fasade, garson, resu.

It is sounded gue in second, and its derivatives secondement, seconder, which are pronounced segon, segondeman, segonder.