NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER I.

§ 196. Le, la, les.

1. The French definite article is derived from the Latin ille, illum, illa, illos, illas, etc.*

2. Till the fourteenth century, articles, like substantives, etc. (see § 209), had two cases, the Subjective and the Objective. The more common forms were

Subjective li, la
Objective

li, les

le, la

les, les.

Ensi fu li assous devises.

(VILLEHARDOUIN, 13th cent.)

Quant li estez et la douce saisons. (Couci, 12th cent.)
Ensi (ils) sejornerent le jor et l'endemain en cel palais.

Par la Deu grace qui en la crois fu mis.

(VILLEHARDOUIN.)

(Roncirals, 12th cent.)

Espousa rois Pepins Berte la belle et gente.

Des douze pairs, li diz en sont ocis.

(Berte, 13th cent.)

(Chanson de Roland, 11th cent.)

(Id.)

Les diz mulez fait Charles establer. As usual, the subjective was gradually sacrificed, and we have in Modern French the objective forms, le, la, les, as the cases of both the subjective and objective.

3. The use of the objective as a 'genitive' (without a preposition) remains in de par le roi (de (la) part du roi), de par le monde. Compare Hôtel-Dieu, Dieu merci, bain-marie (§ 209 note).

§ 197. Du, de la, de l', des, and au, à la, à l', aux.

In Old French, prepositions were used, unless (as in the possessive genitive) the relation was sufficiently clear to prevent ambiguity. Many of these prepositions and articles were contracted.

Some of these contractions are still used in Modern French. Thus, of the old forms:

ès (en les) occurs only in bachelier ès lettres, maître ès arts, etc.

"Il est singulier que ille ait laissé tomber la syllabe accentuée pour ne garder que celle qui ne l'était pas; peut-être cela s'explique-t-il parce que passant au rôle d'article il est toujours proclitique et non accentué dans la phrase."-LITTRÉ. See however Brachet, le.

tl into u. (See p. 128.)

1. In German grammars, der, die, das, may, according to its force, be called an article or a demonstrative pronoun. This is true of 'the' in Old English* and le in Old French.

Li rois les oi volentiers,

Et fist trois seremenz entiers,

L'ame (de) Urpandragon son pere,

Et la (that) (de) son fil, et la (that) (de) sa mere,
Qu'il iroit.

(12th cent.; in BURGUY.)

2. Such demonstrative power lingers in a few Modern French phrases pour le coup (this time), de la sorte (in this way)

§ 199. Du, de la, des = some or any

1. The so-called 'partitive article' + is nothing more than the genitive case of the definite, employed in a less precise sense. Thus, in Donnez-moi du pain que vous avez là, the word du would be called a 'definite' article; whereas in Donnez-moi du pain, it would be called a 'partitive' article.

In both instances there is an ellipsis of 'partie' or some equivalent. In the case of the definite, this ellipsis is not usual: Donnez-moi un peu du pain que vous avez là, being more common than Donnez-moi du pain que vous avez là.

2. This partitive article may be preceded by any preposition; as, avec du pain, pour du pain, etc., the preposition governing the word understood in the objective.

§ 200. Un, une a, an.

1. The indefinite article is a numeral adjective employed unemphatically.

NUMERAL ADJECTIVE: J'ai un livre, mais vous en avez deux. I have one book, but you have two.

INDEFINITE ARTICLE: J'ai un livre. I have a book.

2. In Old French it had two cases, like other adjectives, but of these two cases no traces are left.

See Morris' Historical Outlines of English Accidence, p. 125. The term 'partitive article' is confined to English text-books. French grammarians do not acknowledge it, but speak of the definite article as employed in a partitive sense.

§ 201. Observations on Rules for formation of Feminine of Adjectives.

Unfortunately it would have been inconvenient to have inverted the rules, but it would perhaps have been more correct; for the feminine in most cases is nearer the Latin original than is the masculine; thus,

(a) It is not the Latin f which has been changed into v, but the Latin v which in French has been hardened into f, as it usually is at the end of monosyllables: brevem, bref; novem, neuf; activus, actif; bovem, bœuf, etc. (§ 39.)

(b) It is not the Latin x which has been changed into s, but 's which has been changed into x: duos, deux; amorosus, amoureux; tussis, toux, etc. (§ 39.)

(c) Or to take isolated words, compare-gros, grosse, and grossus, grossa; mol, molle, and mollis; nouvel, nouvelle, and novellus, novella; doux, douce, and dulcis; roux, rousse, and russus, russa; coi, coite, and quietus, quieta; bénin, benigne, and benignus, benigna, etc.

§ 202. Adjectives in -eur.

For practical purposes, the ordinary rule that adjectives in -eur, with an exactly corresponding present participle, have -euse in the feminine is sufficient: flatteur (flattant) flatteuse; blanchisseur (blanchissant) blanchisseuse. But a few words interfere with the "rule." They are all substantival forms in common use as adjectives:

(a) The words débiteur, exécuteur, inventeur, inspecteur, persécuteur, have corresponding present participles, but it is not from these present participles they have been formed, but from the Latin substantives, debitorem, executorem, inventorem, inspectorem. Hence they have débitrice, etc., in feminine. (See § 229, b.)

(b) Again, enchanteur, pécheur* (sinner), vengeur, chasseur, have for feminine enchanteresse, pécheresse, vengeresse, chasseresse. They were once only employed as substantives; and -esse, like -trice, is an essentially substantival suffix. (Compare § 229, a.)

$203. Vieux, vieil.

"Vieux before a consonant; vieil before a vowel or a silent h." 1. In Old French vieux (or vieils) was the form of the subjective singular, or of the objective plural, vieil the form of the objective singular and subjective plural. (See § 212.)

Et li viaux hom li dist.

(Merlin, 13th cent.) Je veiz le bon homme vieil presenter le gage. (COMMINES, 15th cent.) In the seventeenth century, vieil could be employed instead of vieux; thus, Malherbe says-L'or de cet âge vieil où régnait l'innocence, not because of the following vowel, but because it was the common form.

* Pêcheur, fisherman, has pécheuse in feminine.

§ 204. Beau, bel, etc.

Beau before a consonant, bel before a vowel.' This is only true when there would be true hiatus if beau were used. Thus we say, un bel enfant, but il est beau en tout temps.

A pause being possible between beau and en, the hiatus is only apparent. This is true of nouvel, mol, fol, vieux, etc.

§ 205. Franque, franche.

That Franque and franche have a common origin is very interestingly illustrated by Archbishop Trench. Moreover the extract is à propos in other respects (§7) :

"What a record of great social revolutions in nations, and in the feelings of nations, the word "Frank" contains, which is used, as we all know, to express aught that is generous, straightforward, and free. The Franks, I need not remind you, were a powerful German tribe, or association of tribes, who gave themselves this proud name of the Franks,' or the free, and who at the breaking-up of the Roman Empire possessed themselves of Gaul, to which they gave their own name. They were the ruling, conquering people, honourably distinguished from the Gauls and degenerate Romans, among whom they established themselves, by their independence, their love of freedom, their scorn of a lie; they had, in short, the virtues which belong to a conquering and dominant race in the midst of an inferior and conquered one. And thus it came to pass that, by degrees, the name of 'Frank' indicated not merely a national, but involved a moral, distinction as well; and a 'frank' man was synonymous not merely with a man of the conquering German race, but was an epithet applied to any man possessed of certain high moral qualities which for the most part appertain ed to, and were found only in, men of that stock; and thus in men's daily discourse, when they speak of a person as being 'frank,' or when they use the words franchise," enfranchisement,' to express civil liberties and immunities, their language here, as the outgrowth, the record, and the result of great historic changes, bears testimony to facts of history whereof it may well happen that the speakers have never heard."

§ 206. The diæresis in aiguë.

As u is not sounded in the syllable -que (see § 76), (e.g. figue) the diæresis (") is added to the feminine of adjectives that end in gu, to show that the sound of u is to be preserved:

Aigu, aiguë; exigu, exigue.

* See 'hiatus.' (§ 100. 1.) † A small part of Gaul is more correct.

§ 207. Grand' mère, grand' mères.

1. Adjectives like clarus, clara; altus, alta; bonus, bona; which in Latin have one form for the masculine, and one for the feminine, had also two forms in Old French: clers, clere; halts, halte; bons, bone.

Puis il s'ecrie (Charlemagne) a sa vois grant et halte (haute). (Ch. de Roland, 11th cent.)

D'or est la boucle et belle à esgarder. (Ronciv., 12th cent.) 2. On the contrary, adjectives like grandis, legalis, which in Latin have only one form for both the masculine and feminine, had in Old French only one word for both genders: Hui nous defaut la leial compagnie.

(Ch. de Roland, 11th cent.) Qui vaut mieux par raison loial folie ou sage trahison. (Coucy, 12th cent.) 3. In the fifteenth century the two kinds of adjectives were wrongly treated in the same way. To both kinds the letter e was added in the feminine. This is the modern rule.*

4. The correct etymological feminine survives in the following compounds: grand' cérémonie, grand' chère, grand' chose, grand' faim, grand' soif, grand' hate, grand' mère, grand' messe, grand' peine, grand' peur, grand' pitié, grand' rue.†

5. The addition of an apostrophe to represent the elision of the imaginary e is posterior to the sixteenth century.‡

It has created a genuine irregularity in Modern French; viz., the omission of s in the plural forms of the feminine: des grand' mères. This irregularity was unknown before the sixteenth century: Le discord et les grands haines. (FROISSART, 15th cent.) 6. Thus it will be seen that in grand' mère, grand' mères, etc., (1) The omission of e is right.

(2) The addition of an apostrophe is wrong.

(3) The omission of s is wrong.

* In Lettres royaux, archaic law term, is found the regular form. (See Adverbs.)

† Grand bande, grand chambre, grand'salle, grand'coiffe, grand'garde, grand'sœur, grand pompe, grand mode, grand part, occur in authors of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 66 Le bal et la grand bande, à savoir deux musettes. "-MOLIÈRE.

It seems to have been the invention of Vaugelas, or of some of the grammarians of his time. It is strange that, till quite lately, no better reason should have been given for this omission of the e than the one given even now in almost every descriptive grammar; viz., euphony. Bescherelle points out that the euphony which required grand' mère would necessitate our saying grand' mer, instead of the form invariably employed, grande mer. But he does not seem to have discovered the origin of the anomaly; he gives it up as "inexplicable." The apostrophe was not added to grand merci, but merci had the masculine gender thrust upon it (§ 239): a worse blunder.