K sounds like k in English. Ex. kan, khan; kilogramme,

French weight. 13. L in the combinations il, ill, not initial, but in the middle or a the end of words, has the liquid sound found in the Englis word brilliant. Ex. paille, straw; fille, daughter; bail, lease travail, labor.

Exceptions: fil, thread; Brésil, Brazil; Nil, Nile; mil, mille thousand; civil, civil; profil, profile; ville, town, and its derivauves; tranquille, tranquillité, &c., quiet, quietness, &c.

1 is silent in baril, barrel; chenil, kennel; coutil, ticking; fils, son; fournil, bakehouse; fusil, gun; gril, gridiron ; outil, tool; persil, parsley.

Il in Sully has the liquid sound-1 is silent in pouls, pulse; and gentilshommes, noblemen.

The 1 marked as silent in the words above, is never carried to the next word.

14. M initial are pronounced as in English. For these letters in 15. Ncombination with the vowels, see nasal sounds, (page 20.) Final consonants after m and n are generally silent. Ex. temps. weather; je romps, je prends, I break, I take.

m is silent in condamner, to condemn; automne, autumn. n final, and not belonging to a noun, is carried to the next word, when this word begins with a vowel or an h mute, if the two words are closely connected. Ex. un bon enfant, a good child: mon ami, my friend; pronounce bon nenfant, mon nami. 16. P is generally sounded as in English. P is however silent in baptême, baptism; baptiser, to baptize; compte, account; dompter, to subdue; exempt, exempt; sept, seven; septième, seventh.

P

final is silent. Ex. coup, blow; drap, cloth.

Exceptions: cap, cape; and proper names generally.

final is not carried to the next word.

17. Q qu is pronounced like k. Ex. question, question; qui, who; qualité, quality :-ue final is silent after q. Ex. pratique, pra ·

tice.

Exceptions: qu is pronounced as in English in aquatique, équateur, équestre, équitation, équation, in-quarto, liquéfier, quadragénaire, quadruple, quadrupède, Quinte-Curce, Quintilien, quintuple, quirinal.

q final is sounded. It is however mute in coq-d'Inde, turkey; and in cinq, five, when followed by a word commencing with a consonant.

18. R The French r is pronounced with greater force than the

19. S

S

English.

is pronounced like r. Ex. arriver, lo arrive; arranger, to arrange.

Exceptions: in the future and conditional of acquérir, to acquire; courir, to run, and mourir, to die, the two r's are distinctly sounded. Ex. je courrai, je mourrai, je courrais, je mourrais, j'acquerrais, &c.

final is pronounced when preceded by a, i, o, u. Ex. car, for; finir, to finish; cor, hunting horn; pur, pure.

Exception: Monsieur, Sir.

preceded by e is generally sounded in monosyllables. Ex. fer, iron; cher, dear.

preceded by e is silent in words of more than one syllable. Ex. parler, to speak; manger, to eat; chercher, to seek. Exceptions: r is sounded in amer, belvéder, cancer, cuiller, éther, enfer, hiver, Jupiter, Lucifer, magister.

The final r of an infinitive is not often carried to the next word in conversation. In serious reading it is generally

carried to the next word.

has generally the same sound as in English.

between two vowels is pronounced as in the English words rose, prose. Ex. base, base; vase, vase; pause, pause; chose, thing.

Exceptions: s in words composed of a particle, or an adjective, and a word commencing with s, preserves the hissing sound. Ex. parasol, parasol; vraisemblable, likely; désuétude, desuetude; preséance, precedence, &c.

is pronounced as in English. Ex. scandale, scandal; science, science.

sch is pronounced like sh, in the words schisme, schismatique, schiste, schérif, schéik, schelling-It is pronounced sk in schème.

S

final is generally silent. Ex. pas, step; mais, but; jus, juice.
Exceptions: s is pronounced in aloès, aloes; atlas, atlas;
blocus, blockade; cens, census; en sus, besides; gratis, gra-
tis; lapis, lapis; iris, iris; maïs, maize; mœurs, manners;
prospectus, prospectus; Rheims, Rheims; vis, screw; and in
Latin and Greek names ending in s-Délos, Romulus, &c.
is carried to the next word when the word commences with
a vowel or an h mute; it has then the sound of z-bons
amis, good friends, is pronounced bon zami. In conversation

20. T

t

t

t

the final s of verbs is not generally carried to the next word.

is pronounced like t in table. Ex. tard, late; tort, wrong. has the sound of the English e in cedar, in the combinations tial, tiel, tion, final or in the middle of words. Ex. partial, partial; essentiel, essential; observation, observation. Words in which those terminations are preceded by s or x, are excepted; the t therefore in bastion, question, mixtion, &e. retains its proper sound.

has the sound of c in cedar, in the words ineptie, absurdity, minutie, minutia; prophétie, prophecy; and in words ending in atie, derived from the Greek, and having in English the termination cy, aristocratie, démocratie, &c.; also in initier, to initiate.

In other words ending in tie, and in those ending in tié and
tier, the t has its proper sound. Ex. garantie, guarantee;
moitié, half; amitié, friendship; chantier, dock-yard; métier,
trade.

th sounds always like t alone. Ex. thé, tea; thèse, thesis.
final is generally silent. Ex. but, aim; mot, word; sort, fate.
Exceptions: t is sounded in brut, chut, correct, dot, direct,
déficit, fat, exact, net, prétérit, suspect, strict, &c.

t

t

in sept, huit, vingt, is sounded except when it comes before a consonant.

is seldom carried to the next word; t in et (and) is always silent.

21. V is a little softer than the English v. Ex. viande, meat; voile,

veil.

22. W which is found only in foreign words, is pronounced like v. Ex. Wurtemberg, Westphalie. In a few other words it has the pronunciation of the English w. Ex. whig, whist. 23. X initial, which in French is only found in a few words, is pronounced like gz. Ex. xylon, cotton-plant; Xavier, Xénophon. Xante, Xantippe.

Xerxès is pronounced gzercess.

X following an initial e, and preceding a vowel or an h, is also sounded like gz. Ex. exil, exile; examiner, to examine; exhiber, to exhibil.

not following an initial e, but coming between two vowels, sounds like ks. Ex. axe, axis; luxe, luxury; Alexandre, Alexander; maxime, maxim; sexe, sex.

X sounds like ss in the following words: six, six dix, ten.

soixante, sixty; Bruxelles, Brussels; Auxonne, Auxerre, Aix-en-Provence.

In sixième, dixième, deuxième, dix-sept, dix-huit, dix-neuf, it is pronounced like z in zone.

final is generally silent. Ex. prix, price; croix, cross; voix, voice.

Exceptions: x is sounded like ks at the end of names of Greek and Latin origin. Ex. Ajax, Styx, etc. In Aix-la-Chapelle it has the same sound.

The x of deux, six, dix, coming before a consonant is silent,
except in the cases mentioned above; i. e., in dix-sept, dix-
huit, dix-neuf.

when carried to the next word, sounds like z.
sounds as in the English words zinc, zone.
zenith, zenith.

Ex. zèle, zeal,

final is generally silent. Ex. nez, nose; chez, with, &c., allez, go.

Exceptions: gaz, gas. In Metz, Suez, &c. it sounds like ss. final is generally carried to the next word when that word commences with a vowel, or an h mute.

EXERCISE 1.-THE VOWels.

(a) Table, table; fable, fable; chat, cat; éclat, splendor; arbre, tree; tard, late; balle, ball.

(â) âme, soul; blâme, blame; bâtir, to build; pâte, paste; âge, age; mât, mast.

(e) me, me; de, of; que, that; elle, she; malle, mail; parle, speak; fourche, fork; salle, hall.

(é) pré, meadow; allé, gone; donné, given; passé, passée, past; élevé, raised; armée, army.

(è) très, very; après, after; achète, buy; mère, mother; espère, hope; lève, raise; chère, fare; chèvre, goat.

(ê) même, same; carême, Lent; arrêt, arrest; tempête, tempest ; tête, head; bête, beast.

(i)

(1)

lit, bed; dit, said; dire, to say; lire, to read; lime, file; cire, wax; rite, rite.

dîner, to dine; île, isle; dîme, tithe; abîme, abyss; épître, epistle; gîte, lodging.

(0) mot, word; cachot, dungeon; repos, rest; trot, trot; globe,

globe; carrosse, coach.

(8) tôt, soon; plutôt, rather; rôti, roast meat; dépôt, deposit ; prévôt, provost.

(u) bu, drank; cru, believed; du, of the; élu, elected; menu, minute; prévu, foreseen; écu, crown.

(û) chûte, fall; brûlot, fireship; mûr, ripe; dûment, duly; il fût, he might be; nous fûmes, we were.

See

30.

THE DIPHTHONGS.

(ai) je donnai, I gave; je parlerai, I will speak; j'allai, I went ; je cherchai, I sought; je menai, I led ; j'irai, I will go. (ais) je donnais, I was giving; je parlerais, I would speak; j'allais, I was going; je cherchais, I was seeking; je menais, I was leading; j'irais, I would go.

(au, eau) maux, evils; chameau, camel; chevaux, horses; beau, handsome; nouveau, new; troupeau, flock.

(ei) neige, snow; veine, rein; reine, queen; Seine, Seine; je peigne, I comb; sein, bosom.

(eu) peu, little; peur, fear; leur, their; il meurt, he dies; sœur, sister; œuf, egg; lueur, light.

(eu) like u. J'eus, I had; tu eus, thou hadst; il eut, he had; eu,

had.

(ia) liant, binding; il lia, he bound; partial, partial; il cria, he cried; il nia, he denied; il pria, he prayed.

(ie) garantie, guarantee; il prie, he prays; il lie, he binds;

he may laugh; il nie, he denies.

il rie,

(oi) loi, law; moi, me; il voit, he sees; il boit, he drinks; ro,

king; droit, right; il croit, he believes.

(ou) bout, end; il coud, he sews; il moud, he grinds; coupe, cup; loup, wolf; coup, blow; croute, crust.

(ua) nuage, cloud; nuance, shade; il salua, he saluted; il remua, he moved; il contribua, he contributed.

(ue) nue, cloud; lue, f. read; reçue, f. received; il salue, he salutes; il remue, he moves.

(ui) lui, him; luisant, shining; cuire, to bake; cuit, baked; nuire, to injure; produire, to produce.

(y) thyrse, thyrsus; type, type; style, style; yeux, eyes; Yvetot, Yvetot; payer, to pay; envoyer, to send; abbaye, abbey; essayer, to try; pays, country; paysage, landscape; paysan, peasant.

EXERCISE 2.-THE NASAL SOUNDS.

Innocent, innocent; inutile, useless; dîner, dinner; immortel immortal; une, one; lune, moon; dunes, downs.