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§ 38. Influence of the Tonic Accent on the formation of Words.

1. In Latin, accent depends on quantity;* in French, quantity depends upon accent (§ 78).

The chief rules for the accent† in Latin are

The accent is never laid upon the last syllable, but—

In dissyllables, the accent is always on the penult, Romae, arma, bona.

In trisyllables, etc., the accent is laid (a) upon the penult, if that penult is long: tegentes, puella, pudicae, civilis; (b) upon the antepenult, if the penult is short: postulas, ho'mines.

2. Every French word is accented (a) on the last syllable, if it does not end in e mute; (b) upon the last but one, if it does end in e mute (§ 52):

brigade, vapeur, inévitable, pastoral.

3. Every French word belonging to the old and popular vocabulary has the syllable accented which was accented in Latin:

frêle, fragilis, tiède, tepidus.

4. The converse is rarely untrue: every French word which does not accent the same syllable as the corresponding Latin word is of learned formation, and is more or less modern:

fragile, fragilis; tepi'de, tepidus.

In

English edition is practically a different book, and is less easy. Professor Max Müller's Lectures on Language, Professor Whitney's Language and the Study of Language, Mr. Peile's Latin and Greek Etymology, etc., the general laws of phonetic change can be followed in detail. A more or less complete study of such books should precede the reading of special works on French word-formation. The following short sketch can be understood without any such preparation. * See Peile, Etymology, pp. 200, 201, etc.

† No distinction is here drawn between acute and circumflex accent. In some old words the accent in the Latin has been displaced before the French word was formed; thus, mordre is from mordere, and not from mordere; others are souris, foie, from sori cem. ficătum, and not from so'ricem, ficatum. But such words are rare.

§ 39 Permutation.*

VOWELS.

The changes to which the Latin vowels and diphthongs have been subjected in their passage into French are exceedingly various. These changes depend greatly upon quantity, and upon the fact of the vowel being accented or not. † It is not intended here (while pointing incidentally to this) to do more than to show the ease with which the vowels pass into one another. The Latin vowel often remains.

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*To be able to judge fairly of the changes to which vowels and consonants have been subjected in their passage into French, the difference in the English reading of Latin, and the probably correct reading, must not be neglected. See on this subject Syllabus of Latin Pronunciation, drawn up by Professors Munro and Palmer; Dr. Smith's Latin Grammar, §§ 819 to 918, etc., etc.

† Examples are given of accented and unaccented syllables. The length by nature of the Latin vowels is marked each time. The accented syllable is indicated by a dot: a sinus. This is done, even in monosyllables, so that the Latin and French may be easily compared.

For a short history of the Latin vowels and diphthongs, see Brachet's Etymological Dictionary. Introduction. For details, see Diez's Grammatik, vol. i.

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In order to understand the following remarks on the permutation of consonants, it is necessary to study §§ 92, 93, where the consonant sounds are classified.

It is also important to notice :—

1. That the initial consonants constantly remain unchanged. 2. That the medial consonants change oftenest.

3. That the finals more often drop off than change.

4. That the change often arises from assimilation; more rarely from dissimilation.

5. That the change is from mute to spirant; rarely from spirant to mute.

6. That the change is generally from hard to soft; rarely from soft to hard.

7. That the soft often sink into a vowel.

8. That the change of sound from one organ to another is almost unknown.*

GUTTURALS.

k, q, c, were equivalent symbols in Latin. k was extremely rare; q was employed only when followed by u or v; c was in common use. Those few French words in which k occurs are of quite modern manufacture, and are not from the Latin, but from the Greek kilomètre; kilogramme.

Both q and c sink into g, the soft guttural.

French g from Latin c. gros, crassus; venger, vindicare; aigu, acutus.

aigle, aquila.

French g from Latin q.

Sometimes the symbols q and c interchange; the hard guttural nd remaining queue, cauda; car, quare.

mples occur in patois: amikié for amitié, ghieu for Dieu. patois). Mékier, moikié, for métier, moitié (Canadian French). Müller's Lectures, p. 185, note, and Student's English Language,

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