§ 185. Masculine Nouns ending in -se.

(a) Is regularly masculine :

le narcisse narcissus

(b) Are irregularly masculine:

or neuters

(c) From Greek masculines are derived :

un antidote

un automate

antidote un labyrinthe labyrinth automatum un squelette skeleton

(d) Are also regularly masculine :

§ 187. Masculine Nouns ending in -ue. (a) From Latin or Greek masculines are : le catalogue catalogue

le dialogue

dialogue

le risque

risk

le manque

§ 191. COMPARISON OF ADJECTIVES.

1. Adjectives are compared by the help of adverbs.

(a) In an ascending scale. (b) In a descending scale. 2. The comparative is formed by adding plus (more) ar moins (less) to the positive. The superlative is formed by adding the definite article or some other determinative adjective to the comparative.

grand (great), plus grand, le plus grand.

grand

moins grand, le moins grand.

3. Petit (little), mauvais (bad), have two forms, one of

4. Bon has only a comparative of Latin origin: bon, meilleur (meliorem) le meilleur

When not followed by another numeral, vingt and cent take s as a mark of the plural, like ordinary adjectives and substantives

200 deux cents, 201 deux cent un.

80 quatre-vingts, 81 quatre-vingt-un.

Million is a substantive, and can always take an s: Deux millions.

Mille (1000) does not take s at any time.

For dates after Christ, mil is used instead of mille: 1875, mil huit cent soixante-quinze.

Ordinal.

§ 193. The ordinal are in form the cardinal with -ième added trois, trois-ième. But

(a) quatre, seize, quarante, etc., lose e final: quatrième, seiz-ième, etc.

(b) cinq adds u: cinquième.

(c) neuf softens f into v: neuv-ième.

(d) premier means first.

Second and deuxième both mean

second. But in compound numbers the forms unième and deuxième alone are used: vingt et unième, vingt-deuxième.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I.

§ 196. Le, la, les.

1. The French definite article is derived from the Latin ille, illum, illa, illos, illas, etc.*

2. Till the fourteenth century, articles, like substantives, etc. (see § 209), had two cases, the Subjective and the Objective. The more common forms were

Ensi fu li assous devises. (VILLEHARDOUIN, 13th cent.)
Quant li estez et la douce saisons. (Couci, 12th cent.)
Ensi (ils) sejornerent le jor et l'endemain en cel palais.
(VILLEHARDOUIN.)

Par la Deu grace qui en la crois fu mis.

(Roncivals, 12th cent.)

Espousa rois Pepins Berte la belle et gente.

Des douze pairs, li diz en sont ocis.

(Berte, 13th cent.)

(Chanson de Roland, 11th cent.) (Id.)

Les diz mulez fait Charles establer. As usual, the subjective was gradually sacrificed, and we have in Modern French the objective forms, le, la, les, as the cases of both the subjective and objective.

3. The use of the objective as a 'genitive' (without a preposition) remains in de par le roi (de (la) part du roi), de par le monde. Compare Hôtel-Dieu, Dieu merci, bain-marie (§ 209 note).

§ 197. Du, de la, de l', des, and au, à la, à l', aux.

In Old French, prepositions were used, unless (as in the possessive genitive) the relation was sufficiently clear to prevent ambiguity. Many of these prepositions and articles were contracted.

Some of these contractions are still used in Modern French. Thus, of the old forms:

ès (en les) occurs only in bachelier ès lettres, maître ès arts, etc.

* "Il est singulier que ille ait laissé tomber la syllabe accentuée pour ne garder que celle qui ne l'était pas; peut-être cela s'explique-t-il parce que passant au rôle d'article il est toujours proclitique et non accentué dans la phrase."-LITTRÉ. See however Brachet, le.

tl into u. (See p. 128.)