B. Are mainly derived from Latin masculines or neuters: 1. Nouns in -ége; they are all masculine. 2. Nouns in -ige; they are all masculine. La tige (Latin tibia) is feminine. Even this word is found masculine in the 16th century, "Un tige rond, verd." (RABELAIS.) The gender, according to older usage and to etymology, has been restored. It is feminine. 3. Nouns in -oge; they are all masculine, except la loge, from loger, which is feminine. 4. Nouns in -uge; they are all masculine. 7. Are variously derived : 1. le cierge is from Latin masculine, cereus. 2. le linge le songe neuter, linteum. 8. Are irregular : 1. le mensonge. Le mensonge was feminine till the 15th century: "Une plus belle mensonge" (COMMINES); then either gender; now it is always masculine. No doubt it followed songe, with which it has nothing to do. 2. le change, one of those nouns which have been derived from the stem of a corresponding French verb. In the majority of such words the 'rule of the e mute' is maintained: le cri (crier) la nage (nager) The rule is broken in the following words. The reason is not always apparent. They are given again in their proper place: L'échange, from change, is masculine also. Till the 17th century it is sometimes feminine. 3. Le mélange is from mêler, with suffix -ange. Other words with this ending are feminine, according to French rule. 4. Losange is now usually masculine. § 258. Masculine nouns ending in -he. (phe, see § 256.) un panache is from Italian masculine pennacchio. un mythe is from Greek masculine μῦθος. un reproche and une approche seem to be verbal stems from reprocher and approcher. Reproche was formerly feminine. un hémistiche, hemistichium. Compare un acrostiche and un stigmate. § 259. Masculine nouns ending in -ie (Latin ia). The few masculine words with this ending are le génie un incendie from Latin masculine genius (jecur) ficatum * le foie le parapluie see § 271. § 260. Masculine Nouns ending in -le. (a) From diminutives, mostly Latin, have been derived a number of French substantives ending in -le, which break the rule of 'e mute.' Some retain a diminutive force. In French, as in Latin, etc., the diminutive does not always possess a corresponding primitive. And when it does, the two meanings may not seem at first to correspond. But generally the connection is clear enough. Hence the Latin rule, that the diminutive follows the gender of the primitive, may be conveniently applied: 1. Are masculine in Latin and masculine in French : un fasicule un libelle un livre libellus codicem liber modus ver un grain un œuvre corpus granum opus+ 3. Are masculine in Italian and masculine in French : vermicelle vermo * Du Latin ficatum, proprement jecur ficatum foie d'oie engraissée avec des figues, le mot qui était chez les Latins un terme de cuisine est devenu dans toutes les langues romanes le nom du foie et a fait disparaître complétement le mot propre jecur. On remarquera que le mot nouveau a, dans les langues romanes, l'accent sur la première syllabe, tandis que le Latin l'a, sur la seconde ficatum, c'est qu'en effet il ne vient pas de ficatum (fica tum) mais de ficătum (ficatum).—LITTRÉ. † See p. 124, note. See § 234. corpusculum granulum opusculum vermicello § 260. artus follis tuber violoncello (It. violone = bass-viol). 5. Have no Latin diminutive : un ovule 6. Has no Latin primitive : un couvercle animal ovum cooperculum un scrupule scrupulum le temple templum (c) From various Latin masculines and neuters are derived : un pinacle pinaculum+ un miracle miraculum le sable un scandale sabulum scandalum un siècle seculum * Possibly some of these had diminutive power in Latin. Only the nouns in which we find the rule of 'e mute' contradicted have been given above, but it may not be useless to further illustrate the fact that the diminutives in -ule follow the gender of their primitives both in French and Latin, by giving some of the feminine nouns : la vessie, la vescicule, la peau, la pellicule, la forme, la formule, etc. Of course there are many other diminutive endings in French, but these do not concern us here, for they offer no difficulties in gender. They all follow the rule of 'e mute,' whatever may be their primitive. + La débâcle is regularly feminine from débâcler. + See §. 41. § 261. Masculine Nouns ending in -me. (a) A very large number of masculine nouns in -me have come from the Greek, sometimes directly, but more often through the Latin. Of this origin are: Most words in -ème, ême, ome, ôme, aume, asme, isme. Also: (d) le costume is from Italian masculine costume. (e) Are irregular: le blâme le calme l'estime blâmer calma (I †.) estimer le vacarme (Flemish), wacharme (woe to the poor, see however § 271). § 262. Masculine nouns ending in -ne. (a) From Latin masculines : le peigne le cône pectinem conus le trône le pène (b) From Latin neuters are derived : dominium jejunium organum (com. le règne thronus pessulus le domaine le patrimoine patrimonium le jeûne le prône praeconium un organe regnum La croupe comes directly from the Germanic, but le groupe is from the Italian groppo. Is from the Greek: le télescope. Are formed by analogy: le microscope, etc. § 264. Masculine Nouns ending in -re. A. -aire. i. The ending -aire is derived from the Latin -arius, -aria, -arium. It is usually employed in French, as in Latin, as a simple adjectival form implying character, quality, class, etc.; necessarius, nécessaire, necessary; volontarius, volontaire, voluntary. Hence are obtained substantives: (1) Implying sex, mostly masculine in both languages: libraire, librarius. (2) Not implying sex, mostly masculine or neuter in Latin, but always masculine in French: le vocabulaire, vocabularium; necessarius, le nécessaire. ii. The feminine nouns in -aire can be variously explained: 1. La chaire is from Latin cathedra. 2. La grammaire is Low-Latin grammaria. 3. La paire is feminine form of pair, employed absolutely. 4. La perpendiculaire = la ligne perpendiculaire, compare la circulaire. 5. Une affaire is from a and faire. In Old French affaire was masculine, according to rule that infinitives, etc., used substantively are masculine. (See § 158.) The etymology has given way to the French ending. 6. la glaire=clara pars ovi. B. -oire. 1. From verbal adjectives in -orius, -oria, -orium,* were formed in Latin neuter substantives in -orium: auditorium, dormitorium. These have passed into French as masculine nouns in oir and oire, of the same or kindred meaning: un auditoire, un dortoir,† etc., etc. 2. In French times a large number of nouns have been formed by appending these endings -oir and -oire to Present Participle stems. Such nouns follow the French rules for gender: those in -oir are masculine, and those in -oire are feminine. Compare une baignoire baignant abattant arrosant boudant foulant un décrottoir décrottant un abattoir un arrosoir. un boudoir un fouloir mâchant nageant passant polissant un rasoir Especially in Late and Low Latin. † Une écritoire, from scriptorium, alone is feminine. masculine in Old French: Un bon écritoire.-RABELAIS. It was often |