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5. Voulez-vous bien me dire | Will you tell me why these

pourquoi ces lettres sont
du féminin?

Parce que les noms de
ces lettres se terminent
par un e muet :

letters are feminine?

Because the names of these

elle; emme; enne;

6. Donnez-moi des exemples. On dit un P; un D; un O; mais il faut dire une S; une H; une M.

letters are terminated by an e mute:

erre; esse.

Give me some examples.
One says: a P
One says: a P; a D; an O;
but one must say: an S;
an H; an M.

VOYELLES.

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VOWELS.

a-t-il de How many vowels are there?

There are six.

Name them.

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at the end of a word of two or more syllables is mute.

10. Formez des syllabes avec les voyelles et les con

sonnes.

Form syllables by means of

the vowels and consonants.

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1 Observe that a without a circumflex accent has a very light sound, like the a in the English word bat.

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14. Dites ce que vous savez | Say what you know about w.

du w.

w n'est pas une lettre française; elle vient de mots étrangers. 15. Comment se prononce le w?

Il se prononce ou dans les mots qui nous viennent de l'anglais: ainsi whist est ouist; whisky est ouiski; mais dans les mots dérivés de l'allemand il se prononce V: Weimar est Veimar; Kirsch-Wasser se dit Kirsh-Vasser.

16. L'x a différents sons,

?

n'est-ce pas Oui, monsieur; c'est aussi expliqué plus loin, au paragraphe 100.

w is not a French letter; it comes from foreign words.

How is w pronounced?

It is pronounced ou in the words which come from the English: thus, whist is ouist; whisky is ouiski; but in the words derived from the German it is pronounced v: Weimar is Veimar; KirschWasser is Kirsh-Vasser.

x has different sounds, has it not?

Yes, sir; this also is explained later, at paragraph 100.

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18. Faites une observation | Make an observation on the

sur la lettre h.

L'h n'a aucun

letter h.

son en h has no sound in French;

français; ainsi ph se
prononce comme une f
et th comme un t.

thus, ph is pronounced like an f and th like a t.

phi

phy

pho

pho phu

thy

tho thu

19. pha phe phé
tha the thé thi

20. Faites une autre obser- | Make another observation on

vation sur la manière de
prononcer ch.

ch se prononce comme sh
en anglais.

cha

the manner of pronouncing

ch.

ch is pronounced like sh in English.

che ché chichy cho chu

21. Comment prononce-t-on | How do you pronounce c?

le c?

Comme un k devant a o Like a k before a o u, and

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Dur devant a o u, et doux Hard before a o u, and soft

devant e é i y.

ga ge

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24. Quand le g est-il doux | When is g soft before a o u?

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When is g hard before e é iy?

REMARK.-geu, in which eu is sounded u, occurs only in ga-geu-re, a bet. 26. Quand le g est-il dur devant e é iy? Quand il est suivi de u; et les voyelles a o u sont aussi quelquefois précédées de u, ce qui ne change rien au son.

When it is followed by u; and the vowels a o u are also sometimes preceded by u, which does not alter the sound.

gua gue gué gui guy guo

REMARKS ON TIES.

NOTA.-The question of ties is one that could be made very obscure and tiresome by too many explanations: usage is the best guide.

27. A number of consonants, when at the end of a word, must be sounded as if belonging to the next word, if that next word begins with a vowel; they are:

1. C.-Il est donc i-nu-ti-le que vous par-tiez ̄a-vec~

It is therefore

Ar-thur.

Arthur.

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11. D (like t).--C'est mon grand a-mi.

should go away

with

Un grand

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great friend.

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hom-me.2

man.

Words ending in rd carry the r not the d.

Le ca-nard est bon. Le brouil-lard est é-pais. Le

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2 In sud-ouest and sud-est, however, the dis carried like d, not t.

The

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