§ 19. Modern French, A.D. 1600 to present day.-France under the Valois had passed through a period of suffering and bloodshed, the dark outlines of which are but too apparent under a thin veil of civilization. Her language and literature had well nigh lost all originality, and it seemed as if the national genius would succumb under its repeated and different trials. Yet it was then that the characteristics of the Gallic race again showed themselves: their quick perception, their readiness to assimilate, and their passionate love of the beautiful. After numerous efforts, all tending towards the same goal, the literature and language attained the full expression of the true and the sublime. It was given to this race, so often enslaved and so often rising superior to all reverses, once more to rule over the literary world.

§ 20. During the last two centuries Italian, literary Latin and Greek had each had a part in moulding the language. It was now the turn of Spain. Owing to the wars of the League and the sojourn of Spanish armies in France, many Spanish words found their way into French. (§ 31.) Corneille, in borrowing from Spanish authors, only followed the fashion of the age, but his genius soon placed him far above those whom he imitated. We find in his writings neither Spaniards nor Romans, but embodiments of nobleness, generosity, and heroism such as belong to all time. He awakes in us the noblest sentiments of which humanity is capable, and yet remains essentially French. This is true of most of the great writers of the seventeenth century; if they looked elsewhere for the framework of their subjects, they gave new life and soul to the borrowed form, and stamped it with the impress of genuine French thought.

The language of the seventeenth century proved equal to every demand made upon it. Logic, irony, religious enthusiasm, and sublimity, all found their due expression in an idiom remarkable for grace, clearness, and precision. Born in a coarse and degrading period, it became the most refined and the most justly admired of all the languages of Europe. The country long divided into dialects henceforth

owned but one language and one nationality-the language and nationality of France.

§ 21. The French of the seventeenth century owed its merits, in great measure, to a victorious and absolute monarchy, and to a court always brilliant and latterly religious. Unfortunately, its finest qualities were at last exaggerated into defects: nobility of expression merged into pomposity, and precision degenerated into stiffness. The authors of the eighteenth century cast off this oppressive majesty, this theatrical rigidity, and clothed the language with new attributes. After the death of Louis XIV., the very foundations of society seemed to crumble away, and a flood of misfortunes to pour in upon France. The people in vain sought for some. authority to which they could worthily submit. A new power arose-the power of the pen. Till then it had seemed as if letters existed only for the pleasure and luxury of the rich; but the writers of the eighteenth century, no longer content to please, called all authorities to account before them, and questioned all received ideas. French became the language of politics, as well as of imagination and poetry.

The genius of Voltaire, sparkling with wit, though wanting in depth, seemed to hover over the century: philosopher, poet, historian, this active and fertile mind adapted the language to every purpose, and gave it greater ease and simplicity. But perhaps J. J. Rousseau made a still deeper impress on it than even Voltaire. Artistic feeling and poetic insight enabled him to mould the formal style of the preceding century into a vehicle for expressing his admiration of the simplest works of nature. His prose cannot be too highly valued for its delightful melody and harmonious flow.

§ 22. In our brief sketch of the French language, and its bearing upon literature, we have arrived at our own times. Now as before we can trace in it the influence of the moral and political changes which have taken place. Under the first empire, when liberty of thought was no longer possible, and the literature was but a servile imita

tion of that of the seventeenth century, the language which had expressed the boldest thoughts and aspirations of freedom, sank lifeless under the old forms to which it was made to return, and no work of genius was produced in the country.* The Restoration came, and with it France seemed to breathe again. Poets and writers arose on all sides, and made this the most brilliant period of the century. The philosophical school of the eighteenth century, in its attack upon all current tradition, had respected nothing but the national language and literature. The Romantic school of the nineteenth century tried to destroy the only remaining authority of the past, that of the classical and traditional forms of literary composition. They partially succeeded, but the struggle still goes on between the Romantists and Classicists, between movement and rest.

Various other influences have been at work on the language during this century, and need a passing notice. We have first the novels which have formed so large a part of the writings of the last fifty years. In their train follows a class whose influence is painfully real, that of mercenary writers, who to win popularity sacrifice to the corrupt tastes of the multitude, and do not disdain to reproduce the thoughts and phrases of the lowest stratum of society. These are the faithful representatives of luxury, pleasure, and all the weaknesses of our age. Happily, side by side with them are numerous talented and thoughtful men, who seek truth for its own sake, and in whose writings the first qualities of the French language, clearness and precision, are manifest. Let us hope that they may more than counteract the evil.

Two other great influences are at work on the language, that of journalism and the large influx of foreign words brought into French by international intercourse. ($$ 35, 36.)

Lastly, we have that class of men who devote themselves to philological researches. Never has the language been so carefully traced back to its original sources as in our day; never has it been made the subject of such careful investiga

* Châteaubriand, Madame de Staël, and Le Maistre wrote in exile.

tion. There is no doubt that these studies, as yet in their infancy, will influence the language in the right direction. Writers who have learnt the history of their own language cannot without injury to themselves, and to the interests of their country, lose sight of the glorious heritage which has been left them by the genius of France.

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

$23. Synthetic and Analytic Languages.*-A language which depends much upon inflexion, and less upon the position of the words, is said to be synthetic.' Latin is synthetic. A language which depends little upon inflexions, and much upon the position of words, is said to be 'analytic.' Modern French is analytic. Old French holds a place between these two, and may be conveniently called semi-synthetic. (§ 3.)

That Old French is more analytic than Latin is mainly seen in1. The use of the article.

2. The greater use of tense auxiliaries.

3. The greater use of prepositions instead of case endings. 4. The greater use of pronouns with verbs, etc.

That Modern French is more analytic than Old French is mainly seen in

1. The total absence of case endings in substantives and adjectives, and the general use of prepositions.

2. The greater importance of the order of the words in the

sentence.

§ 24. Popular and Low Latin. (§ 6.)-For a list of Latin words in popular use in classical times and in late Latin, which have left traces in one or more of the Romance languages, see Diez, pp. 5-30, vol. i.

To Popular Latin the term 'low' has been often misapplied. The following extracts will explain the difference :-"L'invasion barbare est l'événement qui consacre d'une façon irrévocable la scission des deux idiomes: le latin vulgaire, maître de la Gaule, et tout près de donner naissance au français; le latin littéraire, incompréhensible au peuple, langue morte confinée désormais dans le domaine des savants et qui n'aura aucune influence sur la formation de nos langues modernes. Par Grégoire de Tours, par Frédégaire, par la renaissance de Charlemagne, par la scholastique du moyen âge, le latin se perpétua dans les usages savants, et retrouva au seizième siècle comme une sorte de resurrection artificielle : il est encore de nos jours la langue de

* On this subject see "Students' English Language,” Lectures xvi. and xvii.

Composition.

§ 41. Compound words are of two kinds

(1) Those words in which the modifying and the modified word are merely placed side by side, and in which neither the one nor the other loses its independent existence. These are sufficiently discussed in §§ 152, 218.

(2) Those words in which the modifying word has been so welded witn the word modified, that the independence of either one or both words is gone, and the accentuation is that of a simple word; such are: oripeau, flamberge, merluche, Lundi, Mardi, Mercredi, Jeudi, Vendredi, Samedi, autruche, connétable, aubépine, midi, malheur, printemps, raifort, banqueroute, minuit, banlieu, fainéant, licou, etc., etc.

By far the most important series of Compound words are those formed by particle prefixes.

The following lists only include prefixes of popular origin, and not all of those. Learned prefixes are not given; for the most part they tell their own story.

It does not necessarily follow that every French word which may possess any one of these prefixes has a similar origin; in some cases the entire word has been imported from Latin into French; in others the word has been formed, by analogy, from Latin or French materials.

*As long as the compound parts of a compound word convey separate and distinct ideas, the accentuation follows the general sense of the combination (§ 53): when this loose connexion ceases, the ordinary rules of word accentuation are followed (§ 52).

In Modern French the accentuation is a test of inferior value-the difference between accented and unaccented syllables is too small (§§ 52-6); in English it is often the only test between a real compound word and the mere agglutination of two or more words. (Latham's English Language, p. 226.) Compare also German separable and inseparable verbs. Some words have an intermediate position, and may be supposed to have a semi-accent. In some Latin words the prefix was accented, in others not; partly from this reason, and partly because of changes in the mode of formation, the derivation of compound words presents difficulties. These are well explained by G. Paris in L'Accent Latin, pp. 82, 83.