§ 84. u preceded by g and q.-1. u in the syllables gué, gui is silent. The u is preserved to prevent the g from having the value of j, which it has before e and i. This is exactly the converse of the process explained in mangeant, etc., where e is inserted in order that the j sound may be kept (see g, § 102). But ие, ui, form diphthongs in a. aiguille, aiguillée, aiguiller, aiguilleter, aiguillette, aiguillon, aiguillonner, aiguiser, aiguiseur, etc. B. Compounds of ambigu, contigu, exigu. y. arguer, linguiste and derivatives. 2. u followed by q is silent. But ua, ui, are diphthongs in foreign words of Latin or Italian origin, which have not become decidedly naturalized. A few, however, can scarcely be said to be other than naturalized, and yet they maintain the u. They stand out as exceptions: aquarelle, aquatique, quadrupède, équitation, etc. § 85. The symbols oi and ai.-The Latin e* produced in the Picardian and Burgundian dialect oi, pronounced apparently as oi in English: noise. In the Norman dialects it produced ei, pronounced éi. These two sounds seem to have coalesced, and to have given first de a strong diphthong, and then oé a weak one. These remain in provincial French and in patois. In the sixteenth century we find the spelling oi regularly established, but with two modes of pronunciation, the one oé, oué or simply ê, the pronunciation of the court; the other of or ou-â, that of the people.+ These two modes of pronunciation were kept more or less distinct till the end of the last century, when a compromise was, so to speak, arrived at. To the endings of verbs especially, and to some odd words, foible, monnoie, paroître, etc., the pronunciation è was given by all: this the symbol ai was made to express.§ To the remainder the pronunciation oua was given, and the old symbol oi retained. Roide and harnois are still undecided. * The oi in victoire, gloire (victoria, gloria), foi, soif (fidem, sitim), etc., has not the same origin, but its subsequent history is identical. † ELLIS, p. 824, and in LIVET: Robert et Henri Estienne; Pelletier; De Bèze, etc. More or less,' for it seems certain that even at the court oi had the sound oua in many words. Abundant examples of the faulty rhymes caused by the double pronunciation could be given. (See Prosody.) SAs early as 1675 we find a Normandy lawyer suggesting that the spelling ai or ei should be employed. But he was not successful in his endeavour to reconcile the spelling with the pronunciation. Voltaire himself at length made the change, and set an example which was gradually followed. But there is yet confusion, for often still ai = ati. Ei or è, would have been better. § 86. Oignon, ognon.-In older French oign was the usual spelling in this and similar words; the pronunciation was that of ogn in ognon.* Most words have changed their spelling or their pronunciation, cigoigne, roignon, coigner, have become cigogne, rognon, cogner, etc. Eloigner, témoigner, etc., have retained their old spelling, but have changed their pronunciation. In poigne, poignée, poignard, etc., we have the old spelling and the old pronunciation together.† Oignon and ognon are both written. § 87. Nasal Vowels and Nasal Consonants. The socalled nasal vowel sounds are nothing but modifications of four of the oral vowels. But their connection is greatly hidden by the symbols employed : Nasalized a (fâchez) is represented by an, am, en, em, (fantaisie). Nasalized a (fatigue) is represented by in, im, ain, aim, (fin). Nasalized o (modéré) is represented by on, om, (mon). Nasalized eu (jeu) or e (je) is represented by un, um (jeun).‡ The word 'nasal,' applied by every one to these four vowels, is misleading. Professor Max Müller gives the following explanation of what is meant : "If, instead of emitting the vowel sound freely through the mouth, we allow . the air to vibrate through the cavities which connect the nose with the pharynx, we have the nasal vowels so common in French, as un, on, in, an. It is not necessary that the air should actually pass through the nose; on the contrary, we may shut the nose, and thus increase the nasal twang. The letters m and n, on the contrary, are the true nasals; with them the breathing is emitted, not through the mouth, but through the nose." § 88. en and em employed as prefixes. It is stated in § 77 that en and em, followed by a vowel, as in venir, or by another n or m, as in ancienne, amnestie, have not the nasal sound heard in dent, but (1) that e regains its usual value before a consonant; (2) that n is a consonant as in English. The following observations are necessary to a full comprehension of the difficulty: * Eloigne and Pologne are made to rhyme by Sarrasin, 17th century. + Quelques-uns prononcent poi-gne, poi-gnard.- LITTRE. The main point here is to call attention to the fact that the symbols employed for the oral vowels do not correspond throughout to those of the nasal vowels. Other lists are given by different writers on phonetics. Mr. Ellis declares himself unable to solve the question of the exact correspondence of the oral vowels with the French nasals. (Early English Pronunciation, vol. iv., p. 1123, 'q.') (See also pp. $25-829.) * (1) en and em employed as prefixes maintain their nasal value : en-ivrer, en-orgueillir, em-mailloter, em-mener. (2.) The sound of n is added to prevent hiatus: en(n)ivrer, en(n)orgueillir, en(n)harmonique (3) The same happens when en is a separate word: s'en aller. (4) But in enhardir, enharnacher, etc., in which h is aspirated, the sound of n is not added; there is hiatus: enhardir, en-harnacher (compare en haut). § 89. an, am, en, em, in, im, etc., in words imperfectly naturalized. The following words are still imperfectly naturalized; am, em, etc., do not represent vowel-sounds: (a) Words borrowed from Latin: spécimen, album, minimum, factotum, ultimatum, forum, idem, item, postscriptum, Te Deum. (b) The Hebrew word Amen. (c) Pensum and intérim are anomalous. The first syllable has a nasal vowel, the last not. (d) Examen and hymen have either the pronunciation hymèn, examèn, or examin, hymin more often the latter. (e) In Jérusalem, Ephraim, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Lutzen, etc., am, em, en, are not nasal vowels. Adam is naturalized, am is a nasal vowel. § 90. Ena and in.-In modern French the nasal vowel heard in key-word fantaisie is variously symbolized by an, am, en, em; and it is doubtful whether at any time these symbols represented distinct vowel sounds. However this may be, when now the nasal-vowel meaning of the symbols is lost, (through the n or m being doubled, or a vowel following, see $77), the sounds represented return, as a rule, to the respective sounds of a + n', a + m', é + n', é + m2 (§ 77). all cases where this return does not exist, will be found, on examination, to arise from the influence of the a sound, either oral as in fatigue, or nasalized as in fin (see § 87): - But 1. Emm equals amm in all words except the 'learned word dilemme. Ex.: ardemment, prudemment, femme, etc. Enn equals ann in hennir, nenni, rouennerie, solennel. 2. En equals in;-a. In the diphthong -ien, -yen: chien, moyen. B. In the diphthong -éen: européen. y. In agenda, appendice, mentor, pensum, Bengali, benjoin, benzoïque, effendi, Bengale, Benjamin, Penthiève, Rubens, Marengo, Spenser, etc.‡ 3. Em equals in in Thomas à Kempis, sempiternel. * Ennemi alone excepted (ènemi), the en at the beginning of words has always its nasal sound. This may serve as a practical rule. In Picardy they pronounce still en, enfer, enfre, entrer like in, infer, intre, intrer; in Wallon, bandeau, dent, vent, endroit, difficilement, différence, are pronounced like beindeau, daint, vaint, aindroit, difficilemaint, diferainss; in the Berry, langue like lingue. (See Diez. p. 449, vol. 1.) Mr. Meyer thinks they were distinct till the 12th century. In a few words of learned origin it is 'an' (fantaisie) which is heard: orient, quotient, science, client, inconvénient, patience, expédient, récipient, efficient. CHAPTER III.-CONSONANT SOUNDS. § 91. A vowel sound has been explained to be a sound formed by the voice, modified, but not interrupted, by the various positions of the tongue and lips. When the sound is interrupted, a consonant sound is produced. SYMBOLS EMPLOYED TO REPRESENT CONSONANT SOUNDS. § 92. It was shown in § 59 that there are more vowel sounds than there are letters to represent them. The reverse is true of the consonant sounds; there are more letters than there are sounds. The following letters are superfluous: 1. q, which is sounded as k. 2. c, which is sometimes sounded as k, sometimes as s. 3. x, which is a double letter, and is sounded sometimes as ks, sometimes as gz. 4. h, which is not sounded at all. 5. w, which is sounded as ou, and is then a vowel, or as v, and is then a consonant. SYMBOLS GROUPED ACCORDING TO THEIR SOUNDS. § 93. There are in French sixteen consonant sounds. Of these, fifteen can be represented by simple letters: Several of these can also be represented by two of these letters combined; thus, One of the consonant sounds can only be represented by two letters: 16. ch as in key-word chou. § 94. These consonant sounds are variously classified: 1. They are said to be momentary if they cannot be prolonged. This the term mute implies. k, g, t, d, p, b, are mutes. 2. They are said to be continuous if they can be prolonged. The continuous are divided into SPIRANTS: ch, j, s, z, f, v. NASALS: n, m. 3. The mutes and spirants demand a further important division; namely, that into hard or sharp, soft or flat. They run in couples, and often interchange, even in modern speech.* 4. The consonant sounds are otherwise classified according to the organ by which they are mainly sounded. GUTTURALS: k, g, ch, j. DENTALS: t, d, s, z, n, 1, r. |