l'asthme ἆσθμα le drame δραμα le dogme δόγμα § 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: lo flègme φλέγμα le rhume ῥεῦμα le domaine le jeûne un organe (d) le costume is from Italian masculine costume. (e) Are irregular : le blâme le calme l'estime blâmer estimer le vacarme (Flemish), wacharme (woe to the poor, see however § 271). § 262. Masculine nouns ending in -ne. (a) From Latin masculines: (b) From Latin neuters are derived: dominium jejunium organum (com. le règne patrimonium praeconium le patrimoine le prône regnum orgue, § 234) le signe signum La croupe comes directly from the Germanic, but le groupe is from the Italian gruppo. 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 une balançoire balançant une bassinoire bassinant cardant abattant un abattoir une cardoire une décrottoire décrottant Especially in Late and Low un reposoir † Une écritoire, from scriptorium, alone is feminine. masculine in Old French: Un bon écritoire.-RABELAIS. refoulant reposant séchant tirant, etc. It was often un refouloir un séchoir un tiroir tin. 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 § 235). 4. l'ivoire from eboreus (ebur, eboris), was feminine according to French ending till the 17th century. C. From various Latin masculines are derived: le cylindre porus titulus le tonnerre tonitrus numerus 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: *Calendre, mangle, also from cylindrus, follow French ending. We find chanvre employed in feminine in older French: “Il arriva qu'au temps que la chanvre se sème."-LA FONTAINE. Emplastre is sometimes feminine in older French : emplâtre."-HAMILTON, 17th century. "Une petite Vitre also for 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 metre: μéтpov. le cidre σίκερα le gouffre see golfe le météore μeréwpa F. From Low-Latin : le meurtre mordrum 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 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. Fénelon *Navire was either gender till lately. Bossuet has it feminine : "De même que l'ancre empêche que la navire soit emportée." has it masculine: "Ces navires sont si nombreux." § 265. Masculine Nouns ending in -se. (a) Le narcisse, narcissus. Le gymnase, γυμνάσιον. (b) Are irregular:-Le diocèse, Lat. dioecesis. Was formerly feminine, according to etymology and French ending. Lecarrosse, Italian, carrozza, 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: le faîte fastigium pactum le précepte praeceptum le plébiscite plebiscitum un gîte le geste le site gistum (L.-L.) gestus un automate αὐτόματον le tumulte situs tumultus neuters are derived : le labyrinthe λαβύρινθος le squelette le stigmate σκελετόν le contraste contrasto (e) From verbal stems (§ 257 8) :— le buste le doute douter § 267. Masculine Nouns ending in -ue. le catalogue, le dialogue, etc., karádoyos, diáλoyos. § 268. Masculine Nouns ending in -ve. From Latin masculines are: le glaive le fleuve fluvius From a verbal stem : le rêve, rêver. gladius § 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 |