C. Disappearance of the Subjective. By the end of the fourteenth century the Subjective case had been gradually absorbed,* and the Objective, which was more common and striking, was employed both as Subjective and Objective; but (a) In a few instances it is the Objective that has disappeared; the Subjective remains, (1) fils (filius), gueux (coquus), lacs (laqueus), lis (lilius), puits (puteus), Charles (Carolus), Louis (Ludovicus), etc.; (2) sœur (soror), peintre (pictor), ancêtre (antecessor), traître (traditor), prêtre (presbyter), pire (pejor). (b) Sometimes both remain, but with different meanings. fonds (fundus) sire (senior) + messire pâtre (pastor) moindre (Adj. minor) Use of s in fond (fundum) seigneur and sieur (seniorem) mineur (Adj. and Sub. minorem) Modern French. Of the five Latin declensions of six cases, and of the intermediate two or three French declensions of two cases, we only have left the s of the plural accusative as a mark, no longer of case, but of number. § 210. X as a mark of the Plural. 1. Till about the middle of the twelfth century the subjective singular and objective plural are formed by the simple addition of s, as already explained. *To prevent confusion between the masculine and neuter nouns of the second declension, the former are usually referred to in the nominative, and not the accusative. This more especially has been done on pp. 140-163. (Appendix B.) For mes in messire, see Pronouns. occasionally. Messire is still employed J'ai dit à notre abbé: "Messire priez bien pour nos soldats."-V. HUGO. It is found in La Fontaine, etc. "Messire Jean" is the name of a pear. Has the modern anomalous pronunciation of Monsieur arisen from a confusion between Messire and Monsieur? Have we the pronunciation of Messire (slightly altered no doubt) in Monsieur ? 2. But in the thirteenth century the following variation in the rule seems established: c, f, d, t, p final are dropped when s is added.* Cascuns des auditeurs pot avoir son clerc. d'Ignaures, 13th cent.) 3. This rule remains in tous, plural of uncommon plurals enfans, mouvemens, etc. gens, plural of gent. 4. L was subject to the same rules, with these variations : (a) L was dropped, and then x was added, instead of s; that is, als, els, ils, became ax, ex, ix. SUBJ. chevax OBJ. cheval cheval chevax Il doit deus deniers pour chacun cheval. (Lir. des Métiers, 13th cent.) Et chacuns chevaus donra quatre mars. (VILLEHARDOUIN, 13th cent.) 5. Toward the end of the thirteenth century these rules seem to have been forgotten or misunderstood. (a) We find I changed into u, and x added.+ La ou li chevaux chiet (choit falls). (Du Guesclin, 14th cent.) (b) We find x employed where no l has been dropped, but where u was a distinct part of the root: * This omission of the consonant symbolizes the pronunciation of Old French, which avoided all accumulation of consonant sounds at the end of a word. Sept, corps, plomb, doigt, etc., remain as instances. Even now in many words the addition of s destroys the sound of the preceding consonant: bœuf, bœufs; œuf, œufs. The plural reacted apparently upon the singular, and caused the general dropping in pronunciation of the final consonant. It even affected roots: clef and clé, etc. † Instead of s. It must be remembered that x was first added to show the omission of l. Diex (Dieu) commanda que on amast son proisme (prochain) comme soimesme. (BEAUMANOIR, 13th cent.) (c) We find side by side with u, and x added: (E. DESCHAMP, 15th cent.) Il est ravy trop plus hault qu'aux tiers cieulx. (A. CHARTIER, 15th cent.) Out of such confusion naturally have come modern rules in which the confusion is still felt.* Words in 1. al in the singular have aux generally, sometimes als § 211. Z final in Substantives and Adjectives. As, unlike s or x, the letter Z.is no longer added as a distinctive mark of the plural, it will be sufficient to say (1) that it is the Burgundian and Norman equivalent for the Picardian s, and (2) that what has been said of s applies to z. In Old French it seems to have arisen from a greater softness of pronunciation in the former dialects. § 212. The "rule of s" in Adjectives and Participles. 1. Ordinary adjectives and participles were subject to the "rule of s: On doit croire que chascuns est bons, dusqu'a tant que li contraires est proves. (BEAUMANOIR, 13th cent.) 2. The modern forms, beau, bel, beaux; nouveau, nouvel, nouveaux; fou, fol, fous; mol, mous; vieux, vieil, etc., retain fragmentary traces of the conflicting orthography shewn in § 210. The use to which they are now put is explained elsewhere (§ 147). Biaus tres dous fils fait elle. (Berte, 13th cent.) Par un jour si tres bel qu'il ne plent et ne vente. * See § 148. Id. † It is to this irregular use of x that we must refer the forms croix, noix, etc. Even in verbs we have traces of it: je peux, je veux. Articles, Possessive, Demonstrative Pronouns, etc., are spoken of in their place. Si vit ung songe en mon dormant, qui moult fut biax et moult me plot. (Rose, 13th cent.) Li noviaus empereres seroit couronnes. Il est noviax nes. (VILLEHARDOUIN, 13th cent.) Dont parleroit et li fol et li sage. (Ronc., 12th cent.) As fous et as feluns. (Rois, 12th cent.) (Thomas le Martyr, 12th cent.) (Renard, 12th cent.) (Dui) vilain . . . qui tant me donerent de cous que tous les costez (j') en ai mous. Et ainsi il croient le vieil de la montagne. Et li viaux hom li dist. (JOINVILLE, 13th cent.) (Merlin, 13th cent.) § 213. Infinitives, etc., used as Substantives. From long usage some infinitives have become common substantives: les diners, les soupers, les êtres, etc. La Fontaine has employed le dormir, le manger, and le boire. He has on his side the example of Old French, where we find dormir, jeûner, penser, plaindre, etc., etc., with the usual two cases: Ses ieux, son vis (visage), qui de joie sautele, son aler, son venir, son beau parler et son gent maintenir. (Coucy, 13th cent.) Icis venirs, icis alers, icis veilliers, icis parlers, font ces amans. (La Rose, 13th cent.) Car bel parler souvent refraint un cœur felon. (Guescl., 14th cent.) § 214. Irregularities in the formation of the Plural arising from the vocalisation of 1. The of many Latin words has been changed into u in its passage into Modern French. This vocalisation began in the twelfth century. It has been only partial, and in most cases we have from a common root some forms in side by side with the forms in u. Au, à l'; du, de l'; ils, eux; cheveu, chevelure; vieux, vieil; cieux, ciels; cheval, chevaux; résoudre, résolvant, etc., etc. In addition to the variations in the particles, substantives, adjectives, verbs, which have been already given, the following irregularities have their origin in the vocalisation or non-vocalisation of 1. A. Substantives and Adjectives with Plural in -als. The following substantives take als; many of them are rare: several are not of Latin origin :— Aval, bal, cal, cantal, caracal, carnaval, cérémonial, chacal, festival, galgal, narval, nopal, pal, régal, serval, val. The greatest difficulty arising from the partial adoption of u for occurs in the plural of adjectives in al, of which there are between two or three hundred. Most of these change al into aux, but the plural of many of the remainder is very doubtful. The following certainly form their plural in als :— Amical, bancal, fatal, final, frugal, filial, glacial, initial, labial, matinal, médial, naval, pascal, pénal, théâtral.* * The list given above is Bescherelle's. It has one great merit, it is short. The Academy, and after it Poitevin, Chapsal, etc., give much longer lists. Jullien declares that many even of the above cannot have a plural. Littré recommends the form aux in almost every case. The persistence in Modern French of the form als may perhaps be thus explained: (a) Many adjectives, from their meaning, have not been employed except by writers who, aware of their Latin origin, have preferred the spelling which best recalled the etymology, the form in als. They have preferred a 'learned' form to a 'popular' one (§ 37). (b) Again, there are certain adjectives which are mostly used (1) with nouns that, from their meaning, scarcely admit of plural; (2) with feminine nouns. If perchance an author wishes to use the masculine plural of such an adjective, he would prefer the form in als as having the sound to which his ear is most accustomed, viz., the sound now represented by al, als, ales. But these motives would not influence all. It is amusing to see the constant dispute about these unfortunate adjectives in al. It is a dispute of old standing, and has been even thought worthy of the ridicule of the stage. See Le Mercure Galant, BOURSAULT. Lemare gives a lively sketch of the quarrel :-" Grand tumulte parmi les grammairiens à cette occasion; l'Académie elle-même ne peut se faire entendre. Buffon a dit: des habitants brutaux, des mouvements machinaux; Jean-Jacques: des compliments triviaux; Regnard: des liens conjugaux; l'Académie des offices vénaux, tandis qu'elle rejette tous les mots précédents. M. Chapsal qui cite et adopte les examples ci-dessus se glisse dans la mêlée et augmentant le désordre il veut qu'on dise: les sons nasals, les soins filials, les ciseaux fatals. Le Tellier s'accourt, s'escrime à droite et à gauche, s'attaque aux habitants brutaux de Buffon, arrête ses mouvements machinaux, rit des compliments triviaux de JeanJacques, foule aux pieds les liens conjugaux de Regnard, étouffe les sons nasals de M. Chapsal, et sans respect pour l'autorité qui tient notre langue en tutelle, proscrit ses offices vénaux. Quel parti prendre dans une aussi grande affaire. Celui de l'analogie ou s'abstenir lorsqu'on craint de choquer l'oreille par un son tout à fait inusité."-Few authors have courage to act otherwise. |