§ 223. The following words require special explanation :— (1) Boute in boute-feu, boute-selle, boute-en-train, is an old verb meaning to put. (2) Bot, garou, cervier, grièche, are only found in pied-bot, loup-garou, loup-cervier, pie-grièche; their origin and meaning are uncertain; they are used as adjectives. (3) Un colin-maillard, des colin-maillard (blind- man's buff). The usual explanation is that colin-maillard is a game in which "Colin" looks for "Maillard." Littré's explanation seems more probable: Colin nom d'homme pris en un sens général; et Maillard sans doute tenant à maillot.' (4) In hôtel-Dieu, bain-marie, we have still remaining the old genitive (see § 209, note). The plurals are--des hôtelsDieu, des bain-marie. (5) Un terre-plein = un plein (= plaine) de terre; plural, des terre-pleins. Plein is not from plenus, full, but from planus, flat, or planum, a flat place. Compare de plainpied; un plain-chant. A similar mistake in the orthography is made in armes pleines, écu-plein, terms of heraldry. The usual explanation "terre-plein, i.e., endroit plein de terre," is therefore wrong. = (6) Un blanc-seing seing (signature), sur papier blanc (blank). The plural is des blanc-seings. § 224. Monsieur, Madame, Monseigneur, Mademoiselle, gentilhomme, and bonhomme, seem to be the only substantives which are joined without a hyphen, and in which the component parts take nevertheless the marks of the plural. (Compare respublica in Latin.) On the contrary, a large number of nouns of similar origin now present the appearance of simple nouns, and are treated as such e.g., gendarme, vaurien, etc.* (§ 41. 2.) §225. The special difficulties presented by compound adjectives are these : 1. Both adjectives may separately and distinctly qualify the substantive, as: Des enfants sourds-muets (i.e., sourds et muets.) + 2. The first adjective may be employed substantively: * See Didot's remarks on the use and abuse of the hyphen: Observations sur l'Orthographe, pp. 408-414. Also Hetrel's Code Orthogra Compare such phrases as des rubans-paille, des robes noisette, des ceintures orange, etc. N'est-elle pas rouge la cassette? Non, grise. Hé, oui, gris-rouge.-MOLIÈRE. 3. The first adjective may be employed adverbially, as : Des champs clair-semés. Une fleur fraîche-cueillie.* § 226. Nu-tête, demi-heure, etc. When the hyphen is omitted, nu and demi agree with the Substantive. Till lately this was usual. (See SYNTAX, 'Agreement.') In demi, the agreement does not seem to have been so consistently carried out. It ceased at an earlier date than that of nu. * Fraîche-cueillie; frais construit avec un participe signifie tout nouvellement; et bien qu'il soit adverbe, l'oreille a exigé, contre la grammaire, qu'il s'accordât avec son substantif en genre et en nombre. Tout pris adverbialement offre un cas semblable: toute belle qu'elle est. Une maison toute fraîche bâtie. Des roses fraîches-cueillies.-LITTRÊ. The modern rule with tout stands thus: if the substantive is feminine, and begins with a consonant, toute is written. It has not been always observed. † Archives occurs in the singular in Amyot. It is there masculine ; from the Latin neuter archivum. (Compare § 234.) Arrhes was constantly singular before the 17th century. § Broussailles is employed exceptionally in the singular by Voltaire : "Son cheval. fuit dans la broussaille." || Environ. La Fontaine follows the custom of his time, and employs it in the singular: "On tremble à l'environ." This is analogous to the adverbial use of sous, etc., au-dessous, etc. = Pleur lamentations, is used in poetry, etc.: Un pleur éternel. (BOSSUET.) Faire un pleur éternel. (VICTOR HUGO.) GENDER. § 228. The following remark of Dr. Adams is worthy of the attention of English students, who usually employ "gender" and sex as synonymous terms : 66 "In Old English the word [gender] commonly meant a kind or class, and even in the time of Shakespeare we find, 'Supply it with one gender of herbs, or distract it with many!' (Othello.) It is important not to confound gender, a grammatical term signifying a class of nouns, with sex, the distinction between male and female. In the English language it happens that sex is adopted as the basis of classification; in most other languages this is not the case. .* In those languages masculine and feminine do not mean male and female." Substantiva Mobilia. § 229. a. The ending -esse.-The ending -esse is peculiar to substantives. The adjectives enchanteresse, pécheresse, vengeresse, chasseresse, and traitresse, have indeed this ending, but they were first substantives, and even now may be used as such. A few genuine adjectives assume -esse, when taken substantively, but usually with a bad or comic meaning: un pauvre, a poor man; une pauvresse, a beggar-woman, etc. (Comp. § 230. a.) The ending -ess is in English the only living mode of forming the feminine. It was borrowed in the 13th century from the Norman-French, and ejected the Saxon feminine suffix -ster, which now only appears in spinster: -ess is itself dying out in earlier English it was much more common than now. (See TRENCH, "English Past and Present," p. 116.) b. The ending -trice. The ending -trice, like -esse, is peculiar to substantives. The words débitrice, inventrice, inspectrice, persécutrice, have this ending, but they are really substantives employed adjectively. It is only in learned words from the Latin -tricem, that -trice has stood its ground against the substantival ending -esse and the adjectival ending -euse. Ambassadrice is anomalous. Empereur is popular, impératrice, learned. c. Gouverneur, Serviteur. gouverneur gouvernant Gouverneur from gubernatorem, and serviteur from servitorem, have for usual feminine gouvernante and servante from servir, gouverner. Gouvernant governor is rare. Gouverneuresse is found in Froissart. Servant mostly occurs in the sense of 'gunner.' 'Servant de gauche.'-ERCKMANN-CHATRIAN. d. Masculine form derived from feminine. Canard is derived from cane (Germ. Kahn.) Cane in Old French a boat. Dindon is derived from dinde d'Inde = oiseau 'Inde. (Compare Guinea-pig, cochon d'Inde, etc.) * 'Partly the case' is more correct. $230. Generic Names of Human Beings. a. Most appellatives which for any reason are not often used except in reference to the male sex, retain the masculine gender and masculine form, when accidentally employed in connection with the female sex. Such are peintre, auteur, poète, professeur, orateur, sculpteur, architecte, apothicaire, athlète, artiste, apôtre, autocrate, athée, subalterne, soldat, employé, etc., etc. Elle fut sa nourrice, elle devient son guide. LEGOUVÉ. Hypathie enseignait elle-même la doctrine d'Aristote et de Platon; on l'appelait le philosophe. CHATEAUBRIAND. With a comic or bad meaning the feminine is sometimes found (compare § 229. a): Je crois que la peintresse ne vous a pas flatté: mais je vous vois déjà de la main d'un autre peintre, duquel je n'oserais dire J. J. ROUSSEAU. autant. B. Most substantives, on assuming the idea of sex, retain the gender of the substantive of like meaning without sex, from which they are derived; thus, from la vigie, look-out (naval) la sentinelle, sentry la vedette, mounted sentry la recrue, recruiting la basse, bass (part) la pratique, custom une dupe (=bird easily cheated) la vigie, look-out man la sentinelle, sentinel la vedette, mounted sentinel la basse, bass (man) y. Some change the gender;* thus we have from une enseigne, ensign la trompette, trumpet la garde, watch la critique, criticism la statuaire, statuary (art) une aide, help un enseigne, ensign le trompette, trumpeter le garde, watchman le foudre, thunderbolt (fig.) un aide, assistant To this list may be added paillasse: paillasse, from root paille (straw), means a mattress stuffed with straw. Hence the covering itself, or 'ticking.' From this we have un paillasse, a clown, a man dressed out in toile à paillasse. * Analogous to this change of gender is that seen in such words as personne, chose, gens, couple. (See § 237.) d. In a few words the derivation is reversed, but the gender changes as before. The name of the living object has given us the name of the thing; thus, from une masque, ugly woman, we have un masque, mask un cravate. Croatian, un pantomime, actor, une cravate, a cravat e. Some words of like form have a different origin. nouns are perfectly regular. follows the sex; the gender sometimes the French ending, la page, page or leaf la mousse, moss la barde, bard (armour)† la coche, sow Both le barbe, Barbary horse § 231. Generic or Class Names of Animals. a. A large number of quadrupeds and birds (mostly those not domesticated), of fishes, reptiles, and insects, have only a generic name in which the idea of sex is ignored. Such nouns, with but few exceptions, consistently follow, like names of inanimate objects, the rule of e mute (§ 232). *It is usual to give all the above nouns of two genders in the same list with such words as le crêpe and la crêpe, etc., with which they have no affinity whatever. For these, see § 233. † Whence la barde, a thin piece of bacon. The Epicana of the Latin Grammars. |