§ 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.

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b. Otherwise the gender is masculine: as

a tomahawk, un casse-téte. a portfolio, un porte-feuille Compare (1) un aparté

(2) un bénédicité

(3) un parterre,

(see § 152 for examples.) aside Latina and parte, ablative of pars.

blessing Latin bene and dicite 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:

(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:

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

Et vous avez meillor envie.

nee.

(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 ?

§ 274. Maire, majeur, moindre, mineur.

1. Major has given us the substantive maire (mayor); majorem the word majeur, which is employed as adjective and substantive. 2. Minor remains in the adjective moindre; minorem in mineur, adjective and substantive.

§ 275. Postérieur, extérieur, etc.

In addition to the Latin comparatives meilleur, pire, moindre, which are of popular formation, exist the comparatives postérieur, extérieur, etc. (see § 147), which are of learned origin, and are formed from the Latin (ex. antérieur). Like them they have no positive.

§ 276. Illustrissime, etc.

A few Latin superlatives of popular derivation remained in Old French; they have now died out, as grandime, saintime. Some of learned formation are still employed; they are either technical or familiar:

Charles douze déclara son beau-frère généralissime de ses armées en Suède. (VOLTAIRE.)

Il nous a donné un vin excellentissime.

§ 277. Cardinals.

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1. In Old French vingt score is freely used: Le peis de trois vinz (=60 livres).

(ROIs, 12th cent.) Le temple y perdit xiiii -xx homes armez (quatorze-vingt = 280). (JOINVILLE, 13th cent.)

2. The form six-vingts (120) remained till the 17th century, and was in common use by Racine, La Bruyère, Bossuet, etc. It is now obsolete.

3. A blind asylum in Paris still bears the name of les Quinzevingts. It has fifteen score (300) inmates.

4. The simpler forms: septante (70), octante (80), nonante (90), are only now used in the South of France and Switzerland. They are found in Molière, Bossuet, etc.*

§ 278. Ordinals.

a. Prime (Latin primus), instead of premier (Latin primarius), is found in de prime-abord, de prime-saut, and in some technical phrases. Tiers (tertius) for troisième, occurs only in a few sentences: Le tiers état, etc. In the feminine we have fièvre tierce. Quart (quartus) for quatrième, is found in La Fontaine. It is now only used in medicine, fièvre quarte. Quint (quintus) instead of cinq (quinque), is confined to Charles-Quint (Spain), and SixteQuint.

b. Used absolutely as substantives, le tiers (3), le quart (†), are the common forms.

Le quint () is archaic. But several substantives have form " quint.' Remain also as technical terms: sixte, none, dîme.

CHAPTER II.-PRONOUNS.

§ 279. Pronouns are either—

Adjectival determining a substantive.

Substantival standing instead of a substantive. Pronouns are of six kinds :

(a) Personal, Relative, Interrogative, Indefinite: mostly substantival.

(b) Possessive, Demonstrative: partly substantival, partly adjectival.

Most Personal, Relative, and Interrogative Pronouns have special forms for gender, number, and case.

The Possessive and Demonstrative Pronouns have special forms for gender and number, but not for case.

Some Indefinite Pronouns have special forms for gender and number, but not for case. Some have neither gender, number, nor case forms.

Personal Pronouns.

§ 280. The Personal Pronouns are all substantival. They may be conveniently divided into

(i) CONJUNCTIVE: closely joined to a verb.*

Je parle au garçon, I speak to the waiter.

Le guide le voit et lui parle, The guide sees him and speaks to him.

(ii) DISJUNCTIVE: not closely joined to a verb.*

§ 282. CONJUNCTIVE PERSONAL PRONOUNS (reflexive).

Me, te, nous, vous, are also used as reflexive pronouns of the Accusative and Dative cases: the Nominative and Genitive are wanting. For the third person there is a special form, se.

*En, in reality an adverb (Lat. inde), is commonly employed as a genitive of the third person: Il en parle, he speaks of it. The genitive of the second and third person is wanting. Y, also an adverb (Lat. ibi), is employed as a dative of the third person; Il y va souvent, he goes there often, or he goes to it often. En and y are seldom applied to persons.