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3. There remain some nouns in -oire which come from neither source, and require special explanation. All except ivoire are feminine (a) la gloire (gloria), la victoire (victoria), la foire (feria), l'histoire (historia), la mémoire (memoria). (b) la poire · (pirum, plural pira), l'armoire (armarium, plural armaria.) Poire has always been feminine; armoire, on the contrary, is often found masculine. In the 17th century it had either gender. It now follows the French ending. (Compare § 234).

4. l'ivoire from eboreus (ebur, eboris), was feminine according to French ending till the 17th century.

C. From various Latin masculines are derived :

l'ordre ordinem (so désordre)

le pore

le titre

porus

titulus

le caractère

character

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le nombre numerus

le tonnerre tonitrus

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les décombres, rubbish, ruins, and encombre, hindrance, are both masculine. In both the root is combre (unused), indirectly from cumulus, heap.

D. From various Latin neuters are:

un antre

un astre désastre

un augure

le beurre

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ministerium monasterium monstrum murmur

mysterium

perjurium

le monstre

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le candelabre candelabrum

le plâtre

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un emplâtre

emplastrum ‡

le poivre

piper

le cimetière

cannabum (neut.) le presbytère

or cannabis (fem.) un pupitre

coemeterium

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un régistre

le sucre

regesta

presbyterium pulpitum

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le sceptre

le sépulchre

le théâtre

le timbre

un ulcère

l'hémisphère hemisphaerium le verre §

saccharum

sceptrum sepulchrum

theatrum tympanum ulcus

vitrum

*Calandre, mangle, also from cylindrus, but is feminine.

† We find chanvre employed in feminine in older French: "Il arriva qu'au temps que la chanvre se sème."-LA FONTAINE.

Emplastre is sometimes fem nine in older French: "Une petite emplâtre.”—HAMILTON, 17th century.

Vitre also from vitrum follows French ending. It is feminine.

E. From the Greek are:

un orchestre.

It has been employed in the feminine according

to etymology : ὀρχήστρα.

le baromètre, le diamètre, etc., are all compounds with same root as un mètre: μérpov.

le cidre σίκερα le gouffre see golfe le météore μeréwpa

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un filtre and un feutre are doublets, filtrum.

un navire

navirium, from navis.*

G. From various sources:

le semestre, le trimestre, from semestris, trimestris, were adjectives till the 16th century.

le cigare

Spanish cigarro

le calibre Italian

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calibro

quadro from Latin quadrum

from the German der Pfiff.

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le leurre O. H. G. luoder

Säbel

le hâvre from the Germanic, through Low-Latin, habulum. le camphre, from Arabic kafur.

le chiffre from Arabic çifr; originally chiffre meant 'cipher.' le cimeterre, Persian chimechir

le fiacre, St. Fiacre, proper name (§ 215).

H. Are irregular:

un arbre, Latin arbor feminine.

In Old French arbre is sometimes found feminine, according to etymology and French ending. It is worth notice that almost the only feminine Latin noun in -or is masculine in French; whereas the Latin masculines are feminine. (See § 249, a.) le lierre, Latin hedera, feminine.

The older forms are edre, herre, etc.

Lierre is this older word

plus the article. The corresponding words in Italian, Spanish, etc., are feminine, according to etymology.

le store, Latin storea, feminine.

From verbal stems:

le débarcadère, l'embarcadère, le massacre, le reverbère, le sacre.

*Navire was either gender till lately. Bossuet has it feminine : "De même que l'ancre empêche que la navire soit emporte." has it masculine : ' Ces navires sont si nombreux."

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Fénelon

γυμνάσιον.

§ 265. Masculine Nouns ending in -se. (a) Le narcisse, narcissus. Le gymnase, yvμváriov. (b) Are irregular :-Le diocèse, Lat. dioecesis. Was formerly feminine, according to etymology and French ending. Lecarrosse, Italian, carozza, is found feminine, according to etymology and ending. Le malaise is from mal and aise (fem.).

§ 266. Masculine Nouns ending in -te.

(a) From Latin neuters are derived :

un arbuste

arbustum

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le pacte

pactum

le précepte praeceptum
le plébiscite plebiscitum

un gîte

gistum (L.-L.)

derived :

le geste

gestus

le culte

le faste

actus

cultus

fastus

(c) From Greek masculines or
un antidote ἀντίδοτον
un automate αὐτόματον

le site

situs tumultus

le tumulte
neuters are derived:
le labyrinthe λαβύρινθος
le squelette σκελετόν
le stigmate στίγμα

(d) From the Italian are derived : busto

le buste

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le contraste contrasto

le doute

douter

§ 267. Masculine Nouns ending in -ue.

le catalogue, le dialogue, etc., katáλoyos, diáλoyos.

un émétique, ἐμετικός

le cirque circus
le cantique canticum
le masque (see § 230 8)

le casque Italian

casco

le risque Spanish risco.
le manque manquer (§ 257 8)

§ 268. Masculine Nouns ending in -ve.

From Latin masculines are :

le fleuve fluvius le glaive gladius From a verbal stem: le rêve, rêver.

§ 269. Masculine Nouns ending in -xe.

From Latin masculines are:

le luxe

luxus

le sexe

From Greek is le paradoxe, Tapádoέov.

sexus

§ 270. Masculine Nouns ending in -ze. From Latin neuter is: le trapèze, trapezium.

M

§ 271. Gender of Compound Substantives. Before the gender of a compound word can be ascertained, the word must be analysed: (§§ 152, 218.)

a. If the leading idea is found in a noun, that noun determines the gender of the compound word as :

a secret thought—une arrière-pensée (i.e., une pensée en
arrière).

an after-taste, un arrière-goût (i.e., un goût en arrière).
Compare du vinaigre = du vin aigre.

b. Otherwise the gender is masculine : as

a tomahawk, un casse-tête.

a portfolio, un porte-feuille : (see § 152 for examples.) Compare (1) un aparté

(2) un bénédicité

aside Latina and parte, ablative of pars.

blessing Latin bene and dicite

un parterre, pit, flower-bed = par and terre (on the ground)

(4) un pourboire, gratuity=pour for, boire to drink (5) un parapluie is a compound from parer to protect, à and pluie. So un paratonnerre, un paravent. Parachute has a similar origin, but is feminine according to ending.

§ 272. Gender of Proper Names.

Proper names are more or less subject to the rule of the e mute. But the following additional observations may be useful: 1. Proper names of males are masculine: proper names of females are feminine. There is no real exception to this rule. 2. La St. Michel, la St. Jean, etc., la fête de St. Michel, la fête de St. Jean, etc. Compare la mi-août, la mi-carême. In le carême, jour or dies may be understood.

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3. Noël is generally masculine, but la Noël is found. 4. Pâques or Pâque varies according to meaning:

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(a) Pâques, Easter-day, is masculine (jour understood).* (b) Pâque Passover, and in other phrases, is regularly feminine according to etymology, Pascha, and to French ending: e.g., Pâques fleuries, Palm Sunday, etc.

5. Le Dimanche, like the other days of the week, contains dies in a contracted form: Lundi, Mardi, etc.

Dimanche is derived from dies-dominica, or dies dominicus, by contraction. Dies in Latin is sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine. Hence in the other Romance languages the corresponding word is sometimes masculine, sometimes feminine. In French it follows other days, and is definitely masculine.

*This is probably the simple explanation. See, however, Bescherelle's Grammar (p. 87) for a less matter-of-fact one.

6. Names of Mountains follow mainly the Latin rule: (a) When employed in the singular, they are masculine : Le Caucase, le Vésuve, le Jura.

(b) When employed in the plural, they are feminine: Les Alpes, les Pyrénées, les Andes, les Vosges.

The word mont may be understood in the singular, the word chaîne in the plural.

7. Names of Rivers follow the rule of e mute, but bear remains of the Latin, where the masculine was usual, fluvius being understood. Hence the following masculines in e mute:

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8. Names of Countries, Provinces, follow the rule of e mute.

Exceptions:

le Bengale
le Mexique

le Péloponèse

le Maine

le Hanovre

le Finistère

9. Names of Towns are usually masculine, but sometimes la ville is understood, and the feminine is employed.

ADJECTIVES.

§ 273. Meilleur and Pire.

1. In meilleur (meliorem) we have as usual the objective. The subjective mieldre or mieudre has disappeared.

La mieldre dame qui soit de mere nee.

Et vous avez meillor envie.

(Roncevals, 12th cent.) (QUESNES, 13th cent.)

2. In pire (pejor), on the contrary, the objective has disappeared, the subjective remains :

Et fu li pires rois qui onques feust.

(Chr. de Rains, 15th cent.)

Quant le pieur (pejorem) il reçoit et le meilleur.

(T. DE MEUNG, 13th cent.)

* It has been suggested that similarly in French le fleuve may be understood for the masculine, and la rivière for the feminine. But this will not help much to the gender, for the difficulty still remains: when is fleuve to be understood, and when rivière? Why should le Rhône be styled fleuve, and la Loire, la Seine "rivières"? The latter are larger. The same kind of difficulty meets us in mountains. Why le Himalaya, le Caucase, but les Vosges, les Ardennes ?

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