§ 240. Reason of double gender not apparent. Givre. le givre, hoar-frost. Doubtful origin. la givre, snake, serpent (heraldry). Vipère and givre, or guivre, are derived from Lat. vipera. un réclame, advertisement, catch-word, etc. une réclame, call (term in falconry). Both from verb réclamer, to demand. la remise remittance, etc. Both from the past participle of remettre. Souris. un souris, un sourire, smile (Lat., subrisus). une souris, a mouse (Lat., soricem).* le quadrille = Quadrille. dance, is now always masculine. la quadrille troupe de cavaliers pour un carrousel ou pour un tournois, etc. (LITTRÉ.) "Un carrousel composé de quatre quadrilles monstrueuses, * In some dialects souris (mouse) is masculine as in Latin. The reason of the feminine gender is not evident. It is old. (See § 38, note.) Souris = smile, seems to date from the sixteenth century, and could not have influenced the exceptional gender of the other. Nouns which are feminine, although they do not end in e mute. § 241. Feminine Nouns ending in -a. 6 La polka, danse' understood. So la mazurka. Latin, villa. La sépia, Latin, sepia. La véranda. § 242. Feminine Nouns ending in -e. La villa, a. -té, tié. Feminine substantives in -té, -tié, have their origin for the most part in Latin substantives in -tatem of the same gender: verité, veritatem; santé, sanitatem. Those coined from French sources follow the same gender: ancienneté, from ancien. b. The masculine words in té admit of various explanations: (1) Un arrêté is the perfect participle of the verb arrêter, employed absolutely. Compare un reçu, un fait, etc. Un traité, from tractatus, and un côté, from Low Latin costatus, have a similar origin. Un pâté is formed after the model of arrêté and traité, from an imaginary verb pâter, faire cuire de la pâte. (2) Un bénédicité is a naturalized compound: bene dicite bénissez bless ye. = Un aparté, like bénédicité, is a naturalized compound from Latin a and parte, the ablative of pars. (3) Un comté is derived from masculine comitatus. In Old French it was sometimes feminine-La comté de Flandres. —(FROISSART.) This feminine remains in La Franche-comté, name of province, and la Comté-pairie. (4) Un comité is from English committee. § 243. Feminine Nouns ending in -i. (a) La loi is from feminine legem. La foi, from fidem. (b) La paroi is from Latin masculine parietem. Hence, as might be expected, it is constantly found masculine in Old French: Je contemplay les paroys lesquels estoyent tous incrustez de marbre.-(RABELAIS). It is now definitively feminine, contrary both to French and to Latin endings. It is irregular. La nef § 244. Feminine Nouns ending in -f. nave, (ship, old) Latin navem (feminine). La clef § 245. Feminine Nouns ending in -m. La faim hunger Latin famem (feminine). § 246. Feminine Nouns ending in -n. (a) Most feminine substantives in -n are learned' words in -ion derived directly from corresponding feminine Latin substantives in -ionem: légion (legionem); action (actionem). Many have been formed from French sources, after the same model. These also are feminine légalisation; légaliser. By far the greater number in both series are abstract nouns. (b) The following feminine substantives of popular formation also have their origin in Latin nouns in -io, ionem: All words in -aison, la maison (mansionem); la raison, (rationem), etc., etc. La façon (contrefaçon), la leçon, la rançon, are derived respectively from factionem, lectionem, redemptionem. La boisson (bibitionem, Low Latin); La moisson (messionem); la cuisson (coctionem); la cloison (clausionem, Low Latin); la toison (tonsionem); foison (fusionem). La prison (prehensionem), and la trahison (traditionem). (c) La garnison and la guérison are from garnir and guérir respectively. Une démangeaison is from verb démanger. Similarly the rarer words échauffaison, fauchaison, flottaison, pendaison, from échauffer, etc.* (d) The rare masculine nouns in -ion are variously derived : Le septentrion, north, is from Latin septentrionem, which is masculine. So scorpion from scorpionem. Un million is derived from mille, with augmentative suffix: un billion in form bis and million. Le lampion is lampe with suffix -on. So le croupion. Le bastion, le gabion, le galion, are from Italian bastione, gabione, galeone. Le brimborion, bauble, is apparently a corruption of breviarium (= prières). "Marchandise de messes et de brimborions." (CALVIN, 16th cent.) Un scion,+ le talion. Le pion is a doublet of piéton * Other words in -son, -çon, have either a different origin, le son (sonus), or have followed the general French rule: un frisson (frictionem); du poison (potionem). Many of these have corresponding learned doublets of the same gender la rançon and la rédemption; la façon, and la faction, etc. Sometimes the doublets have different genders: le poison, la potion, le frisson, la friction. † It is doubtless to the concrete meaning given to scion that we owe its change of gender. In Latin sectionem is abstract, and equals a cutting off. Will this account for the change of gender of talion from feminine to masculine? § 247. Feminine Nouns ending in -r. i. Abstract Nouns in -eur. (a) Most abstract nouns in -eur were derived from Latin masculines in -or, -orem. Couleur (colorem), fureur (furorem), rigueur (rigorem). They all changed their gender from masculine to feminine. (b) Honneur, déshonneur, and labeur, are the only three which have had the Latin gender definitely restored to them. In Old French they were feminine : Quant de si haute honor (je) sui cheue dans la boue. (Berte, 13th cent.) C'est tres gracieuse labeurs. (J. DE CONDET, 14th cent.) In the 15th and 16th centuries we find both genders employed: * Nous sera l'honneur cent fois plus grande. (FROISSART, 15th cent.) Gerard sachant tous honneurs mondains. (GERARD DE NEVERS, 15th cent.) (c) Many abstract nouns in -eur have been made after the same model from French adjectives, etc. They are all feminine: aigreur (aigre); longueur (long); pesanteur (pesant), etc. (d) But le bonheur et le malheur have a different origin. They are compounds from heur (augurium). Augure, the learned word, also from augurium, is similarly masculine. Heur is now almost obsolete. It is common as late as Corneille, Molière, etc.† Je vous épouse Agnès, et cent fois la journée, Vous devez bénir l'heur de votre destinée. (MOLIÈRE: Ecole des Femmes.) ii. Concrete Nouns in cur. (a) La vapeur from Latin masculine vaporem La liqueur liquorem seem to have followed the example of the abstract nouns in -eur. (b) All other concrete nouns are masculine, whatever may be their origin le cœur ; l'équateur. A very large number are designations of men: auteur, empereur, inspecteur, and have for the most part corresponding feminine forms (see § 229, b). iii. La chair is from Latin feminine, caro, carnem. La cour is Latin feminine cohortem. La cuiller is also spelt cuillère, whence gender. La mer is from Latin neuter, mare, plural maria. plural was taken for a singular feminine (compare § 234). The * Compare amour from amorem (§ 145), which still preserves two nders. + Heureux remains. § 248. Feminine Nouns ending in -s. (1) Une fois is from Latin plural feminine, vices. (2) Une oasis is employed in the masculine by Châteaubriand: Smyrna c'est une espèce d'oasis civilisé. It is now definitely feminine according to etymology. It is from Greek feminine ὄασις. 3. Une vis is from Latin feminine, vitis, a vine. The secondary meanings are obtained from the comparison between the winding of vine-tendrils, spiral staircases, and screws. In Italian vite vine and screw. § 249. Feminine Nouns ending in -t. (a) La part, la plupart, are both from Latin feminine, partem. La mort is from Latin feminine mortem. La nuit La dot Dot is often masculine in older French. Molière has dot masculine.* C'est une raillerie que de vouloir me constituer son dot de toutes les dépenses qu'elle ne fera point. La forêt is from Low Latin, foresta. (b) La dent, dentem, is masculine in Latin. It is so found till the 14th century.+ (L'Arare.) Le nez moult tres bien fait, les dantz menus et blanz. (Sax., 12th cent tribus. glus, glutem. la vertu virtutem All the above are feminine in Latin. § 251. Feminine Nouns ending in -x. la paix is from Latin feminine pax, pacem.‡ la croix *This dot Littré derives from Low-Latin dotum. He adds: "Des éditions rajeunissant le texte ont mis sa dot. Vaugelas et Perrot d'Ablancourt le faisaient aussi masculin. C'est un archaïsme. Mais Ménage remarque que le feminin l'emportait.” t Rire des gros dents, se dit en Lorraine."-LITTRÉ. See § 126, note, |