See M. Famechon,Notice sur la Guinée française(Paris, 1900); J. Chautard,Étude géophysique et géologique sur le Fouta-Djallon(Paris, 1905); André Arcin,La Guinée française(Paris, 1906), a valuable monograph; J. Machat,Les Rivières du Sud et la Fouta-Diallon(Paris, 1906), another valuable work, containing exhaustive bibliographies. Consult also F. Rouget,La Guinée(Paris, 1908), an official publication, the annualReportson French West Africa, published by the British Foreign Office, and the Carte de la Guinée française by A. Méunier in 4 sheets on the scale 1:500,000 (Paris, 1902).
See M. Famechon,Notice sur la Guinée française(Paris, 1900); J. Chautard,Étude géophysique et géologique sur le Fouta-Djallon(Paris, 1905); André Arcin,La Guinée française(Paris, 1906), a valuable monograph; J. Machat,Les Rivières du Sud et la Fouta-Diallon(Paris, 1906), another valuable work, containing exhaustive bibliographies. Consult also F. Rouget,La Guinée(Paris, 1908), an official publication, the annualReportson French West Africa, published by the British Foreign Office, and the Carte de la Guinée française by A. Méunier in 4 sheets on the scale 1:500,000 (Paris, 1902).
1Numerous remains of a stone age have been discovered, both on the coast and in the hinterland. See L. Desplagnes, “L’Archéologie préhistorique en Guinée française,” inBull. Soc. Géog. Comm. de Bordeaux, March 1907, and the authorities there cited.
1Numerous remains of a stone age have been discovered, both on the coast and in the hinterland. See L. Desplagnes, “L’Archéologie préhistorique en Guinée française,” inBull. Soc. Géog. Comm. de Bordeaux, March 1907, and the authorities there cited.
FRENCH LANGUAGE.I.Geography.—French is the general name of the north-north-western group of Romanic dialects, the modern Latin of northern Gaul (carried by emigration to some places—as lower Canada—out of France). In a restricted sense it is that variety of the Parisian dialect which is spoken by the educated, and is the general literary language of France. The region in which the native language is termed French consists of the northern half of France (including Lorraine) and parts of Belgium and Switzerland; its boundaries on the west are the Atlantic Ocean and the Celtic dialects of Brittany; on the north-west and north, the English Channel; on the north-east and east the Teutonic dialects of Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. In the south-east and south the boundary is to a great extent conventional and ill-defined, there being originally no linguistic break between the southern French dialects and the northern Provençal dialects of southern France, north-western Italy and south-western Switzerland. It is formed partly by spaces of intermediate dialects (some of whose features are French, others Provençal), partly by spaces of mixed dialects resulting from the invasion of the space by more northern and more southern settlers, partly by lines where the intermediate dialects have been suppressed by more northern (French) and more southern (Provençal) dialects without these having mixed. Starting in the west at the mouth of the Gironde, the boundary runs nearly north soon after passing Bordeaux; a little north of Angoulême it turns to the east, and runs in this direction into Switzerland to the north of Geneva.
II.External History.—(a)Political.—By the Roman conquests the language of Rome was spread over the greater part of southern and western Europe, and gradually supplanted the native tongues. The language introduced was at first nearly uniform over the whole empire, Latin provincialisms and many more or less general features of the older vulgar language being suppressed by the preponderating influence of the educated speech of the capital. As legions became stationary, as colonies were formed, and as the natives adopted the language of their conquerors, this language split up into local dialects, the distinguishing features of which are due, as far as can be ascertained (except, to some extent, as to the vocabulary), not to speakers of different nationalities misspeaking Latin, each with the peculiarities of his native language, but to the fact that linguistic changes, which are ever occurring, are not perfectly uniform over a large area, however homogeneous the speakers. As Gaul was not conquered by Caesar till the middle of the first century before our era, its Latin cannot have begun to differ from that of Rome till after that date; but the artificial retention of classical Latin as the literary and official language after the popular spoken language had diverged from it, often renders the chronology of the earlier periods of the Romanic languages obscure. It is, however, certain that the popular Latin of Gaul had become differentiated from that of central Italy before the Teutonic conquest of Gaul, which was not completed till the latter half of the 5th century; the invaders gradually adopted the language of their more civilized subjects, which remained unaffected, except in its vocabulary. Probably by this time it had divergedso widely from the artificially preserved literary language that it could no longer be regarded merely as mispronounced Latin; the Latin documents of the next following centuries contain many clearly popular words and forms, and the literary and popular languages are distinguished aslatinaandromana. The termgallica, at first denoting the native Celtic language of Gaul, is found applied to its supplanter before the end of the 9th century, and survives in the Bretongallek, the regular term for “French.” After the Franks in Gaul had abandoned their native Teutonic language, the termfrancisca, by which this was denoted, came to be applied to the Romanic one they adopted, and, under the formfrançaise, remains its native name to this day; but this name was confined to the Romanic of northern Gaul, which makes it probable that this, at the time of the adoption of the namefrancisca, had become distinct from the Romanic of southern Gaul.Franciscais the Teutonic adjectivefrankisk, which occurs in Old English in the formfrencise; this word, with its umlautedefromawith followingi, survives under the formFrench, which, though purely Teutonic in origin and form, has long been exclusively applied to the Romanic language and inhabitants of Gaul. The German namefranzose, with its accent on, andoin, the second syllable, comes fromfrançois, a native French form older thanfrançais, but later than the Early Old Frenchfranceis. The Scandinavian settlers on the north-west coast of France early in the 10th century quickly lost their native speech, which left no trace except in some contributions to the vocabulary of the language they adopted. The main feature since is the growth of the political supremacy of Paris, carrying with it that of its dialect; in 1539 Francis I. ordered that all public documents should be in French (of Paris), which then became the official language of the whole kingdom, though it is still foreign to nearly half its population.
The conquest of England in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, introduced into England, as the language of the rulers and (for a time) most of the writers, the dialects spoken in Normandy (see alsoAnglo-Norman Literature). Confined in their native country to definite areas, these dialects, following their speakers, became mixed in England, so that their forms were used to some extent indifferently; and the constant communication with Normandy maintained during several reigns introduced also later forms of continental Norman. As the conquerors learned the language of the conquered, and as the more cultured of the latter learned that of the former, the Norman of England (including that of the English-speaking Lowlands of Scotland) became anglicized; instead of following the changes of the Norman of France, it followed those of English. The accession in 1154 of Henry II. of Anjou disturbed the Norman character of Anglo-French, and the loss of Normandy under John in 1204 gave full play to the literary importance of the French of Paris, many of whose forms afterwards penetrated to England. At the same time English, with a large French addition to its vocabulary, was steadily recovering its supremacy, and is officially employed (for the first time since the Conquest) in the Proclamation of Henry III., 1258. The semi-artificial result of this mixture of French of different dialects and of different periods, more or less anglicized according to the date or education of the speaker or writer, is generally termed “the Anglo-Norman dialect”; but the term is misleading for a great part of its existence, because while the French of Normandy was not a single dialect, the later French of England came from other French provinces besides Normandy, and being to a considerable extent in artificial conditions, was checked in the natural development implied by the term “dialect.” The disuse of Anglo-French as a natural language is evidenced by English being substituted for it in legal proceedings in 1362, and in schools in 1387; but law reports were written in it up to about 1600, and, converted into modern literary French, it remains in official use for giving the royal assent to bills of parliament.
(b)Literary.—Doubtless because the popular Latin of northern Gaul changed more rapidly than that of any other part of the empire, French was, of all the Romanic dialects, the first to be recognized as a distinct language, and the first to be used in literature; and though the oldest specimen now extant is probably not the first, it is considerably earlier than any existing documents of the allied languages. In 813 the council of Tours ordered certain homilies to be translated into Rustic Roman or into German; and in 842 Louis the German, Charles the Bald, and their armies confirmed their engagements by taking oaths in both languages at Strassburg. These have been preserved to us by the historian Nithard (who died in 853); and though, in consequence of the only existing manuscript (at Paris) being more than a century later than the time of the author, certain alterations have occurred in the text of the French oaths, they present more archaic forms (probably of North-Eastern French) than any other document. The next memorials are a short poem, probably North-Eastern, on St Eulalia, preserved in a manuscript of the 10th century at Valenciennes, and some autograph fragments (also at Valenciennes) of a homily on the prophet Jonah, in mixed Latin and Eastern French, of the same period. To the same century belong a poem on Christ’s Passion, apparently in a mixed (not intermediate) language of French and Provençal, and one, probably in South-Eastern French, on St Leger; both are preserved, in different handwritings, in a MS. at Clermont-Ferrand, whose scribes have introduced many Provençal forms. After the middle of the 11th century literary remains are comparatively numerous; the chief early representative of the main dialects are the following, some of them preserved in several MSS., the earliest of which, however (the only ones here mentioned), are in several cases a generation or two later than the works themselves. In Western French are a verse life of St Alexius (Alexis), probably Norman, in an Anglo-Norman MS. at Hildesheim; the epic poem of Roland, possibly also Norman, in an A.-N. MS. at Oxford; a Norman verbal translation of the Psalms, in an A.-N. MS. also at Oxford; another later one, from a different Latin version, in an A.-N. MS. at Cambridge; a Norman translation of the Four Books of Kings, in a probably A.-N. MS. at Paris. The earliest work in the Parisian dialect is probably the Travels of Charlemagne, preserved in a late Anglo-Norman MS. with much altered forms. In Eastern French, of rather later date, there are translations of the Dialogues of Pope Gregory, in a MS. at Paris, containing also fragments of Gregory’s Moralities, and (still later) of some Sermons of St Bernard, in a MS. also in Paris. From the end of the 12th century literary and official documents, often including local charters, abound in almost every dialect, until the growing influence of Paris caused its language to supersede in writing the other local ones. This influence, occasionally apparent about the end of the 12th century, was overpowering in the 15th, when authors, though often displaying provincialisms, almost all wrote in the dialect of the capital; the last dialect to lose its literary independence was the North-Eastern, which, being the Romanic language of Flanders, had a political life of its own, and (modified by Parisian) was used in literature after 1400.
III.Internal History.—Though much has been done in recent years, in the scientific investigation of the sounds, inflexions, and syntax of the older stages and dialects of French, much still remains to be done, and it must suffice here to give a sketch, mainly of the dialects which were imported into England by the Normans—in which English readers will probably take most interest, and especially of the features which explain the forms of English words of French origin. Dates and places are only approximations, and many statements are liable to be modified by further researches. The primitive Latin forms given are often not classical Latin words, but derivatives from these; and reference is generally made to the Middle English (Chaucerian) pronunciation of English words, not the modern.
(a)Vocabulary.—The fundamental part of the vocabulary of French is the Latin imported into Gaul, the French words being simply the Latin words themselves, with the natural changes undergone by all living speech, or derivatives formed at various dates. Comparatively few words were introduced from the Celtic language of the native inhabitants (bec,lieuefrom the Celtic words given by Latin writers asbeccus,leuca), but the numberadopted from the language of the Teutonic conquerors of Gaul is large (guerre=werra;laid=laidh;choisir=kausjan). The words were imported at different periods of the Teutonic supremacy, and consequently show chronological differences in their sounds (haïr=hatan;français=frankisk;écrevisse=krebiz;échine=skina). Small separate importations of Teutonic words resulted from the Scandinavian settlement in France, and the commercial intercourse with the Low German nations on the North Sea (friper= Norsehripa;chaloupe= Dutchsloop;est= Old Englisheást). In the meantime, as Latin (with considerable alterations in pronunciation, vocabulary, &c.) continued in literary, official and ecclesiastical use, the popular language borrowed from time to time various more or less altered classical Latin words; and when the popular language came to be used in literature, especially in that of the church, these importations largely increased (virginitetEulalia =virginitātem;imagenaAlexis =imāginem—the popular forms would probably have beenvergedet,emain). At the Renaissance they became very abundant, and have continued since, stifling to some extent the developmental power of the language. Imported words, whether Teutonic, classical Latin or other, often receive some modification at their importation, and always take part in all subsequent natural phonetic changes in the language (Early Old Frenchadversarie, Modern Frenchadversaire) . Those French words which appear to contradict the phonetic laws were mostly introduced into the language after the taking place (in words already existing in the language) of the changes formulated by the laws in question; compare the late importedlaïquewith the inheritedlai, both from Latinlaicum. In this and many other cases the language possesses two forms of the same Latin word, one descended from it, the other borrowed (meubleandmobilefrommōbilem). Some Oriental and other foreign words were brought in by the crusaders (amiralfromamir); in the 16th century, wars, royal marriages and literature caused a large number of Italian words (soldat=soldato;brave=bravo;caresser=carezzare) to be introduced, and many Spanish ones (alcôve=alcoba;hâbler=hablar). A few words have been furnished by Provençal (abeille,cadenas), and several have been adopted from other dialects into the French of Paris (esquiverNorman or Picard for the Paris-Frencheschiver). German has contributed a few (blocus=blochūs;choucroute=sūrkrūt); and recently a considerable number have been imported from England (drain,confortable,flirter). In Old French, new words are freely formed by derivation, and to a less extent by composition; in Modern French, borrowing from Latin or other foreign languages is the more usual course. Of the French words now obsolete some have disappeared because the things they express are obsolete; others have been replaced by words of native formation, and many have been superseded by foreign words generally of literary origin; of those which survive, many have undergone considerable alterations in meaning. A large number of Old French words and meanings, now extinct in the language of Paris, were introduced into English after the Norman Conquest; and though some have perished, many have survived—strifefrom Old Frenchestrif(Teutonicstrīt);quaintfromcointe(cognitum);rememberfromremembrer(rememorāre);chaplet(garland) fromchapelet(Modern French “chaplet of beads”);appointment(rendezvous) fromappointement(now “salary”). Many also survive in other French dialects.
(b)Dialects.—The history of the French language from the period of its earliest extant literary memorials is that of the dialects composing it. But as the popular notion of a dialect as the speech of a definite area, possessing certain peculiarities confined to and extending throughout that area, is far from correct, it will be advisable to drop the misleading divisions into “Norman dialect,” “Picard dialect” and the like, and take instead each important feature in the chronological order (as far as can be ascertained) of its development, pointing out roughly the area in which it exists, and its present state. The local terms used are intentionally vague, and it does not, for instance, at all follow that because “Eastern” and “Western” are used to denote the localities of more than one dialectal feature, the boundary line between the two divisions is the same in each case. It is, indeed, because dialectal differences as they arise do not follow the same boundary lines (much less the political divisions of provinces), but cross one another to any extent, that to speak of the dialect of a large area as an individual whole, unless that area is cut off by physical or alien linguistic boundaries, creates only confusion. Thus the Central French of Paris, the ancestor of classical Modern French, agrees with a more southern form of Romanic (Limousin, Auvergne, Forez, Lyonnais, Dauphiné) in havingts, nottsh, for Latink(c) beforeiande;tsh, notk, fork(c) beforea; and with the whole South in havinggu, notw, for Teutonicw; while it belongs to the East in havingoifor earlierei; and to the West in havingé, notei, for Latina; andi, notei, from Latinĕ+i. It may be well to denote that SouthernFrenchdoes not correspond to southernFrance, whose native language is Provençal. “Modern French” means ordinary educated Parisian French.
(e)Phonology.—The history of the sounds of a language is, to a considerable extent, that of its inflections, which, no less than the body of a word, are composed of sounds. This fact, and the fact that unconscious changes are much more reducible to law than conscious ones, render the phonology of a language by far the surest and widest foundation for its dialectology, the importance of the sound-changes in this respect depending, not on their prominence, but on the earliness of their date. For several centuries after the divergence between spoken and written Latin, the history of these changes has to be determined mainly by reasoning, aided by a little direct evidence in the misspellings of inscriptions the semi-popular forms in glossaries, and the warnings of Latin grammarians against vulgarities. With the rise of Romanic literature the materials for tracing the changes become abundant, though as they do not give us the sounds themselves, but only their written representations, much difficulty, and some uncertainty, often attach to deciphering the evidence. Fortunately, early Romanic orthography, that of Old French included (for which see next section), was phonetic, as Italian orthography still is; the alphabet was imperfect, as many new sounds had to be represented which were not provided for in the Roman alphabet from which it arose, but writers aimed at representing the sounds they uttered, not at using a fixed combination of letters for each word, however they pronounced it.
The characteristics of French as distinguished from the allied languages and from Latin, and the relations of its sounds, inflections and syntax to those of the last-named language, belong to the general subject of the Romanic languages. It will be well, however, to mention here some of the features in which it agrees with the closely related Provençal, and some in which it differs. As to the latter, it has already been pointed out that the two languages glide insensibly into one another, there being a belt of dialects which possess some of the features of each. French and Provençal of the 10th century—the earliest date at which documents exist in both—agree to a great extent in the treatment of Latin final consonants and the vowels preceding them, a matter of great importance for inflections (numerous French examples occur in this section), (1) They reject all vowels, excepta, of Latin final (unaccented) syllables, unless preceded by certain consonant combinations or followed bynt(here, as elsewhere, certain exceptions cannot be noticed); (2) they do not rejectasimilarly situated; (3) they reject final (unaccented)m; (4) they retain final s. French and Northern Provençal also agree in changing Latinüfrom a labio-guttural to a labio-palatal vowel; the modern sound (Germanü) of the accented vowel of Frenchlune, Provençalluna, contrasting with that in Italian and Spanishluna, appears to have existed before the earliest extant documents. The final vowel laws generally apply to the unaccented vowel preceding the accented syllable, if it is preceded by another syllable, and followed by a single consonant—matin(mātūtinum),dortoir(dormītōrium), with vowel dropped;canevas(cannabāceum),armedure, laterarmëure, nowarmure(armātūram), withe=ǝ, as explained below.
On the other hand, French differs from Provençal: (1) in uniformly preserving (in Early Old French) Latin finalt, whichis generally rejected in Provençal—Frenchaimet(Latinamat), Provençalama;aiment(amant), Prov.aman; (2) in always rejecting, absorbing or consonantizing the vowel of the last syllable but one, if unaccented; in such words asangele(often speltangle), theeafter thegonly serves to show its soft sound—Frenchveintre(nowvaincre, Latinvincere), Prov.vencer, with accent on first syllable; Frenchesclandre(scandalum), Prov.escandol; Frencholie(dissyllabic,i=yconsonant, nowhuile), Prov.oli(oleum); (3) in changing accentedanot in position intoaibefore nasals and gutturals and not after a palatal, and elsewhere intoé(West French) orei(East French), which develops anibefore it when preceded by a palatal—Frenchmain(Latinmanum), Prov.man;aigre(ācrem),agre;ele(ālam), East Frencheile, Prov.ala;meitié(medietātem), East Frenchmoitieit, Prov.meitat; (4) in changingain unaccented final syllables into the vowelǝ, intermediate toaande; this vowel is writtenain one or two of the older documents, elsewheree—Frenchaime(Latinamā), Prov.ama;aimes(amās), Prov.amas;aimet(amat), Prov.ama; (5) in changing originalauintoò—Frenchor(aurum), Prov.aur;rober(Teutonicraubōn), Prov.raubar; (6) in changing general Romanicé, from accentedēandĭnot in position, intoei—Frenchveine(vēnam), Prov.vena;peil(pilum), Prov.pel.
As some of the dialectal differences were in existence at the date of the earliest extant documents, and as the existing materials, till the latter half of the 11th century, are scanty and of uncertain locality, the chronological order (here adopted) of the earlier sound-changes is only tentative.
(1) Northern French hastsh(writtencorch) for Latink(c) andtbefore palatal vowels, where Central and Southern French havets(writtencorz)—North Norman and Picardchire(cēram),brach(brāchium),plache(plateam); Parisian, South Norman, &c.,cire,braz,place. Before the close of the Early Old French period (12th century)tsloses its initial consonant, and the same happened totsha century or two later; with this change the old distinction is maintained—Modern Guernsey and Picardchire, Modern Picardplache(in ordinary Modern French spelling); usual Frenchcire,place. English, having borrowed from North and South Norman (and later Parisian), has instances of bothtshands, the former in comparatively small number—chisel(Modern Frenchciseau= (?)caesellum),escutcheon(écusson,scūtiōnem);city(cité,cīvitātem),place. (2) Initial Teutonicwis retained in the north-east and along the north coast; elsewhere, as in the other Romance languages,gwas prefixed—Picard, &c.,warde(Teutonicwarda),werre(werra); Parisian, &c.,guarde,guerre. In the 12th century theuorwofgudropped, giving the Modern Frenchgarde,guerre(withgu=g);wremains in Picard and Walloon, but in North Normandy it becomesv—Modern Guernseyvâson, Walloonwazon, Modern Frenchgazon(Teutonicwason). English has both forms, sometimes in words originally the same—wageandgage(Modern Frenchgage, Teutonicwadi);wardenandguardian(gardien,warding). (3) Latinbafter accentedain the imperfect of the first conjugation, which becomesvin Eastern French, in Western French further changes tow, and forms the diphthongouwith the preceding vowel—Normanamowe(amābam),portout(portābat); Burgundianameve,portevet.-eveis still retained in some places, but generally the imperfect of the first conjugation is assimilated to that of the others—amoit, likeavoit(habēbat). (4) The palatalization of every then existingkandg(hard) when followed bya,iore, after having caused the development ofibefore thee(East Frenchei) derived fromanot in position, is abandoned in the north, the consonants returning to ordinarykorg, while in the centre and south they are assibilated totshordzh—North Norman and Picardcachier(captiāre),kier(cārum),cose(causam),eskiver(Teutonicskiuhan),wiket(Teutonicwik+ittum),gal(gallum),gardin(from Teutonicgard); South Norman and Parisianchacier,chier,chose,eschiver,guichet,jal,jardin. Probably in the 14th century the initial consonant oftsh,dzhdisappeared, giving the modern Frenchchasser,jardinwithch=shandj=zh; buttshis retained in Walloon, anddzhin Lorraine. The Northern forms survive—Modern Guernseycachier,gardìn; Picardcacher,gardin. English possesses numerous examples of both forms, sometimes in related words—catchandchase;wicket,eschew;garden,jaundice(jaunisse, fromgalbanum). (5) For Latin accentedanot in position Western French usually hasé, Eastern Frenchei, both of which take anibefore them when a palatal precedes—Norman and Parisianper(parem),oiez(audiātis); Lorrainepeir,oieis. In the 17th and 18th centuries closeéchanged to openè, except when final or before a silent consonant—amer(amārum) now havingè,aimer(amāre) retainingé. English shows the Western closeé—peer(Modern Frenchpair, Old Frenchper),chief(chef,caput); Middle High German the Easternei—lameir(Modern Frenchl’amer,l’aimer,la mer= Latinmare). (6) Latin accentedenot in position, when it came to be followed in Old French byiunites with this to formiin the Western dialects, while the Eastern have the diphthongsei—Picard, Norman and Parisianpire(pejor),piz(pectus); Burgundianpeire,peiz. The distinction is still preserved—Modern Frenchpire,pis; Modern Burgundianpeire,pei. English words show alwaysi—price(prix,pretium)spite(dépit,dēspectum). (7) The nasalization of vowels followed by a nasal consonant did not take place simultaneously with all the vowels.Aandebeforeṇ(gutturaln, as insing),ñ(palataln),nandmwere nasal in the 11th century, such words astant(tantum) andgent(gentem) forming in the Alexis assonances to themselves, distinct from the assonances withaandebefore non-nasal consonants. In the Rolandumbre(ombre,umbram) andculchet(couche,collocat),fier(ferum) andchiens(canēs),dit(dictum) andvint(vēnit),ceinte(ciṇctam) andveie(voie,viam),brun(Teutonicbrūn) andfut(fuit) assonate freely, thougho(u) before nasals shows a tendency to separation. The nasalization ofiandu(= Modern Frenchu) did not take place till the 16th century; and in all cases the loss of the following nasal consonant is quite modern, the older pronunciation oftant,ombrebeingtãnt,õmbrǝ, not as nowtã,õbrh. The nasalization took place whether the nasal consonant was or was not followed by a vowel,femme(fēminam),honneur(honōrem) being pronounced with nasal vowels m the first syllable till after the 16th century, as indicated by the doubling of the nasal consonant in the spelling and by the phonetic change (infemmeand other words) next to be mentioned. English generally hasau(now often reduced toa) for Old Frenchã—vaunt(vanter,vānitāre),tawny(tanné(?) Celtic). (8) The assimilation ofē(nasale) toã(nasala) did not begin till the middle of the 11th century, and is not yet universal, in France, though generally a century later. In the Alexis nasala(as intant) is never confounded with nasale(as ingent) in the assonances, though the copyist (a century later) often writesafor nasalein unaccented syllables, as inamfant(enfant,infantem); in the Roland there are several cases of mixture in the assonances,gent, for instance, occurring inantstanzas,tantinentones. English has several words withaforebefore nasals—rank(rang, Old Frenchrenc, Teutonichriṇga),pansy(pensée,pēnsātam); but the majority showe—enter(entrer,intrāre),fleam(flamme, Old Frenchfleme,phlebotomum). The distinction is still preserved in the Norman of Guernsey, whereananden, though both nasal, have different sounds—lànchier(lancer,laṇceāre), butmèntrie(Old Frenchmenterie, frommentīrī). (9) The loss ofs, or ratherz, before voiced consonants began early,sbeing often omitted or wrongly inserted in 12th century MSS.—Earliest Old Frenchmasle(masculum),sisdre(sīceram); Modern Frenchmâle,cidre. In English it has everywhere disappeared—male,cider; except in two words, where it appears, as occasionally in Old French, asd—meddle(mêler,misculāre),medlar(néflier, Old French alsomeslier,mespilārium). The loss ofsbefore voiceless consonants (exceptf) is about two centuries later, and it is not universal even in Parisian—Early Old Frenchfeste(festam),escuier(scūtārium); Modern Frenchfête,écuyer, butespérer(spērāre). In the north-eastsbeforetis still retained—Walloonchestai(château,castellum),fiess(fête). English showssregularly—feast,esquire. (10) Medialdh(softth, as inthen), and finalthfrom Latintordbetween vowels, do not begin to disappear till the latter half of the 11th century. In native French MSS.dhis generally writtend, andthwrittent; but the German scribe of the Oaths writesadjudha(adjūtam),cadhuna(Greekkatáandūnam); and the English one of the Alexiscuntretha(contrātam),lothet(laudātum), and that of the Cambridge Psalterheriteth(hērēditātem). Medialdhoften drops even in the last-named MSS., and soon disappears; the same is true for finalthin Western French—Modern Frenchcontrée,loué. But in Eastern French finalth, to which Latintbetween vowels had probably been reduced throughdanddh, appears in the 12th century and later ast, rhyming on ordinary French finalt—Picard and Burgundianpechiet(peccātum)apeleit(appellātum). In Western French some finalthswere saved by being changed tof—Modern Frenchsoif(sitim),mœuf(obsolete,modum). English has one or two instances of finalth, none of medialdh—faith(foi,fidem); Middle Englishcariteþ(charité,caritātem),drutð(Old Frenchdru, Teutonicdrūd); generally the consonant is lost—country,charity. Middle High German shows the Eastern French final consonant—moraliteit(moralité,mōrālitātem). (11)Tfrom Latin finalt, if in an Old French unaccented syllable, begins to disappear in the Roland, where sometimesaimet(amat), sometimesaime, is required by the metre, and soon drops in all dialects. The Modern Frenchtofaime-t-iland similar forms is an analogical insertion from such forms asdort-il(dormit), where thethas always existed. (12) The change of the diphthongaitoèiand afterwards toèè(the doubling indicates length) had not taken place in the earliest French documents, words withaiassonating only on words witha; in the Roland such assonances occur, but those ofaionèare more frequent—faire(facere) assonating onparastre(patraster) and onestes(estis); and the MS. (half a century later than the poem) occasionally haseiandeforai—recleimet(reclāmat),desfere(disfacere), the latter agreeing with the Modern French sound. Before nasals (as inlaine=lānam) andié(as inpayé=pācātum),airemained a diphthong up to the 16th century, being apparentlyei, whose fate in this situation it has followed. English showsairegularly before nasals and when final, and in a few other words—vain(vain,vānum),pay(payer,pācāre),wait(guetter, Teutonicwahtēn); but before most consonants it has usuallyèè—peace(pais,pācum),feat(fait,factum). (13) The loss or transpositionofi(= y-consonant) following the consonant ending an accented syllable begins in the 12th century—Early Old Frenchglorie(glōriam),estudie(studium),olie(oleum); Modern Frenchgloire,étude,huile. English sometimes shows the earlier form—glory,study; sometimes the later—dower(douaire, Early Old Frenchdoarie,dōtārium),oil(huile). (14) The vocalization oflpreceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant becomes frequent at the end of the 12th century; when preceded by openè, anadeveloped before thelwhile this was a consonant—11th centurysalse(salsa),beltet(bellitatem),solder(solidāre); Modern Frenchsauce,beauté,souder. In Parisian, finalèlfollowed the fate ofèlbefore a consonant, becoming the triphthongèau, but in Norman the vocalization did not take place, and thelwas afterwards rejected—Modern Frenchruisseau, Modern Guernseyrussé(rīvicellum). English words of French origin sometimes showlbefore a consonant, but the general form isu—scald(échauder,excalidāre),Walter(Gautier, TeutonicWaldhari);sauce,beauty,soder. Finalèlis kept—veal(veau,vitellum),seal(sceau,sigillum). (15) In the east and centreéichanges toòi, while the older sound is retained in the north-west and west—Normanestreit(étroit,strictum),preie(proie,praedam), 12th century Picard, Parisian, &c.,estroit,proie. But the earliest (10th century) specimens of the latter group of dialects haveéi—pleier(ployer,plicāre) Eulalia,mettreiet(mettrait,mitterehabēbat) Jonah. Parisianòi, whether fromeior from Old Frenchòi,ói, became in the 15th centuryuè(spellings withoueoroeare not uncommon—mirouerformiroir,mīrātōrium), and in the following, in certain words,è, now writtenai—français,connaître, fromfrançois(franceis,franciscum),conoistre(conuistre,cognōscere); where it did not undergo the latter change it is nowuaorwa—roi(rei,rēgem),croix(cruis,crūcem). Before nasals and palatall,ei(now =è) was kept—veine(vēna),veille(vigilā), and it everywhere survives unlabialized in Modern Norman—Guernseyételle(étoile,stēlla) withé,ser(soir,sērum) withè. English shows generallyei(orai) for originalei—strait(estreit),prey(preie); but in several words the later Parisianoi—coy(coi,qviētum),loyal(loyal,lēgālem). (16) The splitting of the vowel-sound from accented Latinōorunot in position, represented in Old French byoanduindifferently, intou,o(before nasals), andeu(the latter at first a diphthong, now = Germanö), is unknown to Western French till the 12th century, and is not general in the east. The sound in 11th century Norman was much nearer tou(Modern Frenchou) than toó(Modern Frenchô), as the words borrowed by English showuu(at first writtenu, afterwardsouorow), neveróó; but was probably not quiteu, as Modern Norman shows the same splitting of the sound as Parisian. Examples are—Early Old Frenchesposeorespuse(spōnsam),nomornum(nōmen),flororflur(flōrem); Modern Frenchépouse,nom,fleur; Modern Guernseygoule(gueule,gulam),nom,flleur. Modern Picard also showsu, which is the regular sound beforer—flour; but Modern Burgundian often keeps the original Old Frenchó—vo(vous,vōs). English shows almost alwaysuu—spouse,noun,flower(Early Middle Englishspuse,nun,flur); butnephewwithéu(neveu,nepōtem). (17) The loss of theu(orw) ofqudates from the end of the 12th century—Old Frenchquart(qvartum),quitier(qviētāre) withqu=kw, Modern Frenchquart,quitterwithqu=k. In Walloon thewis preserved—couâr(quart),cuitter; as is the case in English—quart,quit. Thewofgwseems to have been lost rather earlier, English having simpleg—gage(gage, olderguage, Teutonicwadi),guise(guise, Teutonicwīsa). (18) The change of the diphthongòutouudid not take place till after the 12th century, such words asAnjou(Andegāvum) assonating in the Roland onfort(fortem); and did not occur in Picardy, whereòubecameaucausfrom oldercòus,còls(cous,collōs) coinciding withcausfromcalz(chauds,calidōs). English keepsòudistinct fromuu—vaultforvaut(Modern Frenchvoûte,volvitam),soder(souder,solidāre). (19) The change of the diphthongiéto simpleéis specially Anglo-Norman, in Old French of the Continent these sounds never rhyme, in that of England they constantly do, and English words show, with rare exceptions, the simple vowel—fierce(Old Frenchfiers,ferus), chief (chief,caput), withie=ee; butpannier(panier,panārium). At the beginning of the modern period, Parisian dropped theiofiewhen preceded bychorj—chef,abréger(Old Frenchabregier,abbreviāre); elsewhere (except in verbs)ieis retained—fier(ferum),pitié(pietātem). Modern Guernsey retainsieafterch—ap’rchier(approcher,adpropeāre).(20) Some of the Modern French changes have found their places under older ones; those remaining to be noticed are so recent that English examples of the older forms are superfluous. In the 16th century the diphthongauchanged toaoand then toó, its present sound, rendering, for instance,maux(Old Frenchmals,malōs) identical withmots(muttōs). Theauofeauunderwent the same change, but itsewas still sounded asǝ(theeofque); in the next century this was dropped, makingveaux(Old Frenchvëels,vitellōs) identical withvaux(vals,vallēs). (21) A more general and very important change began much earlier than the last; this is the loss of many final consonants. In Early Old French every consonant was pronounced as written; by degrees many of them disappeared when followed by another consonant, whether in the same word (in which case they were generally omitted in writing) or in a following one. This was the state of things in the 16th century; those final consonants which are usually silent in Modern French were still sounded, if before a vowel or at the end of a sentence or a line of poetry, but generally not elsewhere. Thus a large number of French words had two forms; the Old Frenchfortappeared asfòr(though still writtenfort) before a consonant, fòrt elsewhere. At a later period final consonants were lost (with certain exceptions) when the word stood at the end of a sentence or of a line of poetry; but they are generally kept when followed by a word beginning with a vowel. (22) A still later change is the general loss of the vowel (written e) of unaccented final syllables; this vowel preserved in the 16th century the soundǝ, which it had in Early Old French. In later Anglo-Norman finalǝ(like every other sound) was treated exactly as the same sound in Middle English; that is, it came to be omitted or retained at pleasure, and in the 15th century disappeared. In Old French the loss of finalǝis confined to a few words and forms; the 10th centurysaveiet(sapēbatforsapiēbat) became in the 11thsaveit, andore(ad hōram),ele(illam) develop the abbreviatedor, el. In the 15th centuryǝbefore a vowel generally disappears—mûr, Old Frenchmëur(mātūrum); and in the 16th, though still written,ǝafter an unaccented vowel, and in the syllableentafter a vowel, does the same—vraiment, Old Frenchvraiement(vērācā mente);avoienttwo syllables, as now (avaient), in Old French three syllables (ashabēbant). These phenomena occur much earlier in the anglicized French of England—13th centuryaveynt(Old Frenchaveient). But the universal loss of finale, which has clipped a syllable from half the French vocabulary, did not take place till the 18th century, after the general loss of final consonants;fortandforte, distinguished at the end of a sentence or line in the 16th century asfòrtandfòrtǝ, remain distinguished, but asfòrandfòrt. The metre of poetry is still constructed on the obsolete pronunciation, which is even revived in singing; “dîtes, la jeune belle,” actually four syllables (dit, la zhœn bèl), is considered as seven, fitted with music accordingly, and sung to fit the music (ditǝ, la zhœna bèlǝ). (23) In Old French, as in the other Romanic languages, the stress (force, accent) is on the syllable which was accented in Latin; compare the treatment of the accented and unaccented vowels inlatrō amās, givinglére, áime, and inlatrōnem, amātis, givinglarón, améz, the accented vowels being those which rhyme or assonate. At present, stress in French is much less marked than in English, German or Italian, and is to a certain extent variable; which is partly the reason why most native French scholars find no difficulty in maintaining that the stress in living Modern French is on the same syllable as in Old French. The fact that stress in the French of to-day is independent of length (quantity) and pitch (tone) largely aids the confusion; for though the final and originally accented syllable (not counting the silent e as a syllable) is now generally pronounced with less force, it very often has a long vowel with raised pitch. In actual pronunciation the chief stress is usually on the first syllable (counting according to the sounds, not the spelling), but in many polysyllables it is on the last but one; thus incautionthe accented (strong) syllable cau, inoccasionit isca. Poetry is still written according to the original place of the stress; the rhyme-syllables oflarron, aimezare stillronandmez, which when set to music receive an accented (strong) note, and are sung accordingly, though in speech the la and ai generally have the principal stress. In reading poetry, as distinguished from singing, the modern pronunciation is used, both as to the loss of the finalǝand the displacement of the stress, the result being that the theoretical metre in which the poetry is written disappears. (24) In certain cases accented vowels were lengthened in Old French, as before a lost s; this was indicated in the 16th century by a circumflex—bête, Old Frenchbeste(bestiam),âme, Old Frenchanme(anima). The same occurred in the plural of many nouns, where a consonant was lost before thesof the flection; thus singularcocwith short vowel, pluralcoswith long. The pluralcos, though speltcogsinstead ofcô(=kóó), is still sometimes to be heard, but, like other similar ones, is generally refashioned after the singular, becomingkòk. In present French, except where a difference of quality has resulted, as incôte(Old Frenchcoste, costam) withòandcotte(Old Frenchcote), withò, short and long vowels generally run together, quantity being now variable and uncertain; but at the beginning of this century the Early Modern distinctions appear to have been generally preserved.
(1) Northern French hastsh(writtencorch) for Latink(c) andtbefore palatal vowels, where Central and Southern French havets(writtencorz)—North Norman and Picardchire(cēram),brach(brāchium),plache(plateam); Parisian, South Norman, &c.,cire,braz,place. Before the close of the Early Old French period (12th century)tsloses its initial consonant, and the same happened totsha century or two later; with this change the old distinction is maintained—Modern Guernsey and Picardchire, Modern Picardplache(in ordinary Modern French spelling); usual Frenchcire,place. English, having borrowed from North and South Norman (and later Parisian), has instances of bothtshands, the former in comparatively small number—chisel(Modern Frenchciseau= (?)caesellum),escutcheon(écusson,scūtiōnem);city(cité,cīvitātem),place. (2) Initial Teutonicwis retained in the north-east and along the north coast; elsewhere, as in the other Romance languages,gwas prefixed—Picard, &c.,warde(Teutonicwarda),werre(werra); Parisian, &c.,guarde,guerre. In the 12th century theuorwofgudropped, giving the Modern Frenchgarde,guerre(withgu=g);wremains in Picard and Walloon, but in North Normandy it becomesv—Modern Guernseyvâson, Walloonwazon, Modern Frenchgazon(Teutonicwason). English has both forms, sometimes in words originally the same—wageandgage(Modern Frenchgage, Teutonicwadi);wardenandguardian(gardien,warding). (3) Latinbafter accentedain the imperfect of the first conjugation, which becomesvin Eastern French, in Western French further changes tow, and forms the diphthongouwith the preceding vowel—Normanamowe(amābam),portout(portābat); Burgundianameve,portevet.-eveis still retained in some places, but generally the imperfect of the first conjugation is assimilated to that of the others—amoit, likeavoit(habēbat). (4) The palatalization of every then existingkandg(hard) when followed bya,iore, after having caused the development ofibefore thee(East Frenchei) derived fromanot in position, is abandoned in the north, the consonants returning to ordinarykorg, while in the centre and south they are assibilated totshordzh—North Norman and Picardcachier(captiāre),kier(cārum),cose(causam),eskiver(Teutonicskiuhan),wiket(Teutonicwik+ittum),gal(gallum),gardin(from Teutonicgard); South Norman and Parisianchacier,chier,chose,eschiver,guichet,jal,jardin. Probably in the 14th century the initial consonant oftsh,dzhdisappeared, giving the modern Frenchchasser,jardinwithch=shandj=zh; buttshis retained in Walloon, anddzhin Lorraine. The Northern forms survive—Modern Guernseycachier,gardìn; Picardcacher,gardin. English possesses numerous examples of both forms, sometimes in related words—catchandchase;wicket,eschew;garden,jaundice(jaunisse, fromgalbanum). (5) For Latin accentedanot in position Western French usually hasé, Eastern Frenchei, both of which take anibefore them when a palatal precedes—Norman and Parisianper(parem),oiez(audiātis); Lorrainepeir,oieis. In the 17th and 18th centuries closeéchanged to openè, except when final or before a silent consonant—amer(amārum) now havingè,aimer(amāre) retainingé. English shows the Western closeé—peer(Modern Frenchpair, Old Frenchper),chief(chef,caput); Middle High German the Easternei—lameir(Modern Frenchl’amer,l’aimer,la mer= Latinmare). (6) Latin accentedenot in position, when it came to be followed in Old French byiunites with this to formiin the Western dialects, while the Eastern have the diphthongsei—Picard, Norman and Parisianpire(pejor),piz(pectus); Burgundianpeire,peiz. The distinction is still preserved—Modern Frenchpire,pis; Modern Burgundianpeire,pei. English words show alwaysi—price(prix,pretium)spite(dépit,dēspectum). (7) The nasalization of vowels followed by a nasal consonant did not take place simultaneously with all the vowels.Aandebeforeṇ(gutturaln, as insing),ñ(palataln),nandmwere nasal in the 11th century, such words astant(tantum) andgent(gentem) forming in the Alexis assonances to themselves, distinct from the assonances withaandebefore non-nasal consonants. In the Rolandumbre(ombre,umbram) andculchet(couche,collocat),fier(ferum) andchiens(canēs),dit(dictum) andvint(vēnit),ceinte(ciṇctam) andveie(voie,viam),brun(Teutonicbrūn) andfut(fuit) assonate freely, thougho(u) before nasals shows a tendency to separation. The nasalization ofiandu(= Modern Frenchu) did not take place till the 16th century; and in all cases the loss of the following nasal consonant is quite modern, the older pronunciation oftant,ombrebeingtãnt,õmbrǝ, not as nowtã,õbrh. The nasalization took place whether the nasal consonant was or was not followed by a vowel,femme(fēminam),honneur(honōrem) being pronounced with nasal vowels m the first syllable till after the 16th century, as indicated by the doubling of the nasal consonant in the spelling and by the phonetic change (infemmeand other words) next to be mentioned. English generally hasau(now often reduced toa) for Old Frenchã—vaunt(vanter,vānitāre),tawny(tanné(?) Celtic). (8) The assimilation ofē(nasale) toã(nasala) did not begin till the middle of the 11th century, and is not yet universal, in France, though generally a century later. In the Alexis nasala(as intant) is never confounded with nasale(as ingent) in the assonances, though the copyist (a century later) often writesafor nasalein unaccented syllables, as inamfant(enfant,infantem); in the Roland there are several cases of mixture in the assonances,gent, for instance, occurring inantstanzas,tantinentones. English has several words withaforebefore nasals—rank(rang, Old Frenchrenc, Teutonichriṇga),pansy(pensée,pēnsātam); but the majority showe—enter(entrer,intrāre),fleam(flamme, Old Frenchfleme,phlebotomum). The distinction is still preserved in the Norman of Guernsey, whereananden, though both nasal, have different sounds—lànchier(lancer,laṇceāre), butmèntrie(Old Frenchmenterie, frommentīrī). (9) The loss ofs, or ratherz, before voiced consonants began early,sbeing often omitted or wrongly inserted in 12th century MSS.—Earliest Old Frenchmasle(masculum),sisdre(sīceram); Modern Frenchmâle,cidre. In English it has everywhere disappeared—male,cider; except in two words, where it appears, as occasionally in Old French, asd—meddle(mêler,misculāre),medlar(néflier, Old French alsomeslier,mespilārium). The loss ofsbefore voiceless consonants (exceptf) is about two centuries later, and it is not universal even in Parisian—Early Old Frenchfeste(festam),escuier(scūtārium); Modern Frenchfête,écuyer, butespérer(spērāre). In the north-eastsbeforetis still retained—Walloonchestai(château,castellum),fiess(fête). English showssregularly—feast,esquire. (10) Medialdh(softth, as inthen), and finalthfrom Latintordbetween vowels, do not begin to disappear till the latter half of the 11th century. In native French MSS.dhis generally writtend, andthwrittent; but the German scribe of the Oaths writesadjudha(adjūtam),cadhuna(Greekkatáandūnam); and the English one of the Alexiscuntretha(contrātam),lothet(laudātum), and that of the Cambridge Psalterheriteth(hērēditātem). Medialdhoften drops even in the last-named MSS., and soon disappears; the same is true for finalthin Western French—Modern Frenchcontrée,loué. But in Eastern French finalth, to which Latintbetween vowels had probably been reduced throughdanddh, appears in the 12th century and later ast, rhyming on ordinary French finalt—Picard and Burgundianpechiet(peccātum)apeleit(appellātum). In Western French some finalthswere saved by being changed tof—Modern Frenchsoif(sitim),mœuf(obsolete,modum). English has one or two instances of finalth, none of medialdh—faith(foi,fidem); Middle Englishcariteþ(charité,caritātem),drutð(Old Frenchdru, Teutonicdrūd); generally the consonant is lost—country,charity. Middle High German shows the Eastern French final consonant—moraliteit(moralité,mōrālitātem). (11)Tfrom Latin finalt, if in an Old French unaccented syllable, begins to disappear in the Roland, where sometimesaimet(amat), sometimesaime, is required by the metre, and soon drops in all dialects. The Modern Frenchtofaime-t-iland similar forms is an analogical insertion from such forms asdort-il(dormit), where thethas always existed. (12) The change of the diphthongaitoèiand afterwards toèè(the doubling indicates length) had not taken place in the earliest French documents, words withaiassonating only on words witha; in the Roland such assonances occur, but those ofaionèare more frequent—faire(facere) assonating onparastre(patraster) and onestes(estis); and the MS. (half a century later than the poem) occasionally haseiandeforai—recleimet(reclāmat),desfere(disfacere), the latter agreeing with the Modern French sound. Before nasals (as inlaine=lānam) andié(as inpayé=pācātum),airemained a diphthong up to the 16th century, being apparentlyei, whose fate in this situation it has followed. English showsairegularly before nasals and when final, and in a few other words—vain(vain,vānum),pay(payer,pācāre),wait(guetter, Teutonicwahtēn); but before most consonants it has usuallyèè—peace(pais,pācum),feat(fait,factum). (13) The loss or transpositionofi(= y-consonant) following the consonant ending an accented syllable begins in the 12th century—Early Old Frenchglorie(glōriam),estudie(studium),olie(oleum); Modern Frenchgloire,étude,huile. English sometimes shows the earlier form—glory,study; sometimes the later—dower(douaire, Early Old Frenchdoarie,dōtārium),oil(huile). (14) The vocalization oflpreceded by a vowel and followed by a consonant becomes frequent at the end of the 12th century; when preceded by openè, anadeveloped before thelwhile this was a consonant—11th centurysalse(salsa),beltet(bellitatem),solder(solidāre); Modern Frenchsauce,beauté,souder. In Parisian, finalèlfollowed the fate ofèlbefore a consonant, becoming the triphthongèau, but in Norman the vocalization did not take place, and thelwas afterwards rejected—Modern Frenchruisseau, Modern Guernseyrussé(rīvicellum). English words of French origin sometimes showlbefore a consonant, but the general form isu—scald(échauder,excalidāre),Walter(Gautier, TeutonicWaldhari);sauce,beauty,soder. Finalèlis kept—veal(veau,vitellum),seal(sceau,sigillum). (15) In the east and centreéichanges toòi, while the older sound is retained in the north-west and west—Normanestreit(étroit,strictum),preie(proie,praedam), 12th century Picard, Parisian, &c.,estroit,proie. But the earliest (10th century) specimens of the latter group of dialects haveéi—pleier(ployer,plicāre) Eulalia,mettreiet(mettrait,mitterehabēbat) Jonah. Parisianòi, whether fromeior from Old Frenchòi,ói, became in the 15th centuryuè(spellings withoueoroeare not uncommon—mirouerformiroir,mīrātōrium), and in the following, in certain words,è, now writtenai—français,connaître, fromfrançois(franceis,franciscum),conoistre(conuistre,cognōscere); where it did not undergo the latter change it is nowuaorwa—roi(rei,rēgem),croix(cruis,crūcem). Before nasals and palatall,ei(now =è) was kept—veine(vēna),veille(vigilā), and it everywhere survives unlabialized in Modern Norman—Guernseyételle(étoile,stēlla) withé,ser(soir,sērum) withè. English shows generallyei(orai) for originalei—strait(estreit),prey(preie); but in several words the later Parisianoi—coy(coi,qviētum),loyal(loyal,lēgālem). (16) The splitting of the vowel-sound from accented Latinōorunot in position, represented in Old French byoanduindifferently, intou,o(before nasals), andeu(the latter at first a diphthong, now = Germanö), is unknown to Western French till the 12th century, and is not general in the east. The sound in 11th century Norman was much nearer tou(Modern Frenchou) than toó(Modern Frenchô), as the words borrowed by English showuu(at first writtenu, afterwardsouorow), neveróó; but was probably not quiteu, as Modern Norman shows the same splitting of the sound as Parisian. Examples are—Early Old Frenchesposeorespuse(spōnsam),nomornum(nōmen),flororflur(flōrem); Modern Frenchépouse,nom,fleur; Modern Guernseygoule(gueule,gulam),nom,flleur. Modern Picard also showsu, which is the regular sound beforer—flour; but Modern Burgundian often keeps the original Old Frenchó—vo(vous,vōs). English shows almost alwaysuu—spouse,noun,flower(Early Middle Englishspuse,nun,flur); butnephewwithéu(neveu,nepōtem). (17) The loss of theu(orw) ofqudates from the end of the 12th century—Old Frenchquart(qvartum),quitier(qviētāre) withqu=kw, Modern Frenchquart,quitterwithqu=k. In Walloon thewis preserved—couâr(quart),cuitter; as is the case in English—quart,quit. Thewofgwseems to have been lost rather earlier, English having simpleg—gage(gage, olderguage, Teutonicwadi),guise(guise, Teutonicwīsa). (18) The change of the diphthongòutouudid not take place till after the 12th century, such words asAnjou(Andegāvum) assonating in the Roland onfort(fortem); and did not occur in Picardy, whereòubecameaucausfrom oldercòus,còls(cous,collōs) coinciding withcausfromcalz(chauds,calidōs). English keepsòudistinct fromuu—vaultforvaut(Modern Frenchvoûte,volvitam),soder(souder,solidāre). (19) The change of the diphthongiéto simpleéis specially Anglo-Norman, in Old French of the Continent these sounds never rhyme, in that of England they constantly do, and English words show, with rare exceptions, the simple vowel—fierce(Old Frenchfiers,ferus), chief (chief,caput), withie=ee; butpannier(panier,panārium). At the beginning of the modern period, Parisian dropped theiofiewhen preceded bychorj—chef,abréger(Old Frenchabregier,abbreviāre); elsewhere (except in verbs)ieis retained—fier(ferum),pitié(pietātem). Modern Guernsey retainsieafterch—ap’rchier(approcher,adpropeāre).(20) Some of the Modern French changes have found their places under older ones; those remaining to be noticed are so recent that English examples of the older forms are superfluous. In the 16th century the diphthongauchanged toaoand then toó, its present sound, rendering, for instance,maux(Old Frenchmals,malōs) identical withmots(muttōs). Theauofeauunderwent the same change, but itsewas still sounded asǝ(theeofque); in the next century this was dropped, makingveaux(Old Frenchvëels,vitellōs) identical withvaux(vals,vallēs). (21) A more general and very important change began much earlier than the last; this is the loss of many final consonants. In Early Old French every consonant was pronounced as written; by degrees many of them disappeared when followed by another consonant, whether in the same word (in which case they were generally omitted in writing) or in a following one. This was the state of things in the 16th century; those final consonants which are usually silent in Modern French were still sounded, if before a vowel or at the end of a sentence or a line of poetry, but generally not elsewhere. Thus a large number of French words had two forms; the Old Frenchfortappeared asfòr(though still writtenfort) before a consonant, fòrt elsewhere. At a later period final consonants were lost (with certain exceptions) when the word stood at the end of a sentence or of a line of poetry; but they are generally kept when followed by a word beginning with a vowel. (22) A still later change is the general loss of the vowel (written e) of unaccented final syllables; this vowel preserved in the 16th century the soundǝ, which it had in Early Old French. In later Anglo-Norman finalǝ(like every other sound) was treated exactly as the same sound in Middle English; that is, it came to be omitted or retained at pleasure, and in the 15th century disappeared. In Old French the loss of finalǝis confined to a few words and forms; the 10th centurysaveiet(sapēbatforsapiēbat) became in the 11thsaveit, andore(ad hōram),ele(illam) develop the abbreviatedor, el. In the 15th centuryǝbefore a vowel generally disappears—mûr, Old Frenchmëur(mātūrum); and in the 16th, though still written,ǝafter an unaccented vowel, and in the syllableentafter a vowel, does the same—vraiment, Old Frenchvraiement(vērācā mente);avoienttwo syllables, as now (avaient), in Old French three syllables (ashabēbant). These phenomena occur much earlier in the anglicized French of England—13th centuryaveynt(Old Frenchaveient). But the universal loss of finale, which has clipped a syllable from half the French vocabulary, did not take place till the 18th century, after the general loss of final consonants;fortandforte, distinguished at the end of a sentence or line in the 16th century asfòrtandfòrtǝ, remain distinguished, but asfòrandfòrt. The metre of poetry is still constructed on the obsolete pronunciation, which is even revived in singing; “dîtes, la jeune belle,” actually four syllables (dit, la zhœn bèl), is considered as seven, fitted with music accordingly, and sung to fit the music (ditǝ, la zhœna bèlǝ). (23) In Old French, as in the other Romanic languages, the stress (force, accent) is on the syllable which was accented in Latin; compare the treatment of the accented and unaccented vowels inlatrō amās, givinglére, áime, and inlatrōnem, amātis, givinglarón, améz, the accented vowels being those which rhyme or assonate. At present, stress in French is much less marked than in English, German or Italian, and is to a certain extent variable; which is partly the reason why most native French scholars find no difficulty in maintaining that the stress in living Modern French is on the same syllable as in Old French. The fact that stress in the French of to-day is independent of length (quantity) and pitch (tone) largely aids the confusion; for though the final and originally accented syllable (not counting the silent e as a syllable) is now generally pronounced with less force, it very often has a long vowel with raised pitch. In actual pronunciation the chief stress is usually on the first syllable (counting according to the sounds, not the spelling), but in many polysyllables it is on the last but one; thus incautionthe accented (strong) syllable cau, inoccasionit isca. Poetry is still written according to the original place of the stress; the rhyme-syllables oflarron, aimezare stillronandmez, which when set to music receive an accented (strong) note, and are sung accordingly, though in speech the la and ai generally have the principal stress. In reading poetry, as distinguished from singing, the modern pronunciation is used, both as to the loss of the finalǝand the displacement of the stress, the result being that the theoretical metre in which the poetry is written disappears. (24) In certain cases accented vowels were lengthened in Old French, as before a lost s; this was indicated in the 16th century by a circumflex—bête, Old Frenchbeste(bestiam),âme, Old Frenchanme(anima). The same occurred in the plural of many nouns, where a consonant was lost before thesof the flection; thus singularcocwith short vowel, pluralcoswith long. The pluralcos, though speltcogsinstead ofcô(=kóó), is still sometimes to be heard, but, like other similar ones, is generally refashioned after the singular, becomingkòk. In present French, except where a difference of quality has resulted, as incôte(Old Frenchcoste, costam) withòandcotte(Old Frenchcote), withò, short and long vowels generally run together, quantity being now variable and uncertain; but at the beginning of this century the Early Modern distinctions appear to have been generally preserved.
(d)Orthography.—The history of French spelling is based on that of French sounds; as already stated, the former (apart from a few Latinisms in the earliest documents) for several centuries faithfully followed the latter. When the popular Latin of Gaul was first written, its sounds were represented by the letters of the Roman alphabet; but these were employed, not in the values they had in the time of Caesar, but in those they had acquired in consequence of the phonetic changes that had meantime taken place. Thus, as the Latin sounduhad becomeó(closeo) andūhad becomey(Frenchu, Germanü), the letteruwas used sometimes to denote the soundó, sometimes the soundy; as Latink(writtenc) had becometshorts, according to dialect, beforeeandi,cwas used to represent those sounds as well as that ofk. The chief features of early French orthography (apart from the specialities of individual MSS., especially the earliest) are therefore these:—cstood forkandtshorts;dfordanddh(softth);eforé,è, andǝ;gforganddzh;hwas often written in words of Latin origin where not sounded;i(j) stood fori,yconsonant, anddzh;oforó(Anglo-Normanu) andò;sforsandz;tfortandth;u(v) foró(Anglo-Normanu),yandv;y(rare) fori;zfordzandts. Some new sounds had also to be provided for: wheretshhad to be distinguished from non-finalts,ch—at first, as in Italian, denotingkbeforeiande(chi=kifromqvī)—was used for it; palatallwas represented byill, which when final usually lost onel, and afteridropped itsi; palatalnbygn,ngorngn, to whichiwas often prefixed; and the new letterw, originallyuu(vv), and sometimes representing merelyuvorvu, was employed for the consonant-sound still denoted by it in English. All combinations of vowel-letters represented diphthongs; thusaidenotedafollowed byi,oueitheróuoròu,uieitherói(Anglo-Normanui) oryi, and similarly with the others—ei,eu,oi,iu,ie,ue(andoe), and the triphthongieu. Silent letters, except initialhin Latin words, are very rare; though MSS. copied from older ones often retain letters whose sounds, though existing in the language of the author, had disappeared from that of the more modern scribe. The subsequent changes in orthography are due mainly to changes of sound, and find their explanation in the phonology. Thus, as Old French progresses,s, having become silent before voiced consonants, indicates only the length of the preceding vowel;ebefore nasals, from the change ofē(nasale) toã(nasala), representsã;c, from the change oftstos, representss;quandgu, from the loss of thewofkwandgw, representkandg(hard);ai, from the change ofaitoè, representsè;ou, from the change ofòuandóutou, representsu;chandg, from the change oftshanddzhtoshandzh, representshandzh;euand ue, originally representing diphthongs, represent œ (Germanö);z, from the change oftsanddztosandz, representssandz. The new values of some of these letters were applied to words not originally spelt with them: Old Frenchkbeforeiandewas replaced byqu(evesque,eveske, Latinepiscopum); Old Frenchuandoforó, after this sound had split intoeuandu, were replaced in the latter case byou(rous, forrosorrus, Latinrussum);swas accidentally inserted to mark a long vowel (pasle,pale, Latinpallidum);eureplacedueandoe(neuf,nuef, Latinnovumandnovem);zreplacedsafteré(nez,nes,nāsum). The use ofxfor finalsis due to an orthographical mistake; the MS. contraction ofusbeing something likexwas at last confused with it (iexforieus,oculōs), and, its meaning being forgotten,uwas inserted before thex(yeux) which thus meant no more thans, and was used for it after other vowels (voixforvois,vōcem). As literature came to be extensively cultivated, traditional as distinct from phonetic spelling began to be influential; and in the 14th century, the close of the Old French period, this influence, though not overpowering, was strong—stronger than in England at that time. About the same period there arose etymological as distinct from traditional spelling. This practice, the alteration of traditional spelling by the insertion or substitution of letters which occurred (or were supposed to occur) in the Latin (or supposed Latin) originals of the French words, became very prevalent in the three following centuries, when such forms asdebvoir(dēbēre) fordevoir,faulx(falsum) forfaus,autheur(auctōrem, supposed to beauthōrem) forauteur,poids(supposed to be frompondus, really frompēnsum) forpois, were the rule. But besides the etymological, there was a phonetic school of spelling (Ramus, in 1562, for instance, writesèime,èimates—withe=é,è=è, andę=ǝ—foraimai,aimastes), which, though unsuccessful on the whole, had some effect in correcting the excesses of the other, so that in the 17th century most of these inserted letters began to drop; of those which remain, some (flegmeforflemmeorfleume, Latinphlegma) have corrupted the pronunciation. Some important reforms—as the dropping of silents, and its replacement by a circumflex over the vowel when this was long; the frequent distinction of close and openeby acute and grave accents; the restriction ofianduto the vowel sound, ofjandvto the consonant; and the introduction from Spain of the cedilla to distinguishc=sfromc=kbeforea,uando—are due to the 16th century. The replacement ofoi, where it had assumed the valueè, byai, did not begin till the last century, and was not the rule till the present one. Indeed, since the 16th century the changes in French spelling have been small, compared with the changes of the sounds; final consonants and finale(unaccented) are still written, though the sounds they represent have disappeared.
Still, a marked effort towards the simplification of French orthography was made in the third edition of theDictionaryof the French Academy (1740), practically the work of the Abbé d’Olivet. While in the first (1694) and second (1718) editions of this dictionary words were overburdened with silent letters, supposed to represent better the etymology, in the third edition the spelling of about 5000 words (out of about 18,000) was altered and made more in conformity with the pronunciation. So, for instance,cwas dropped inbeinfaicteurandobject, çinsçavoir, dinadvocat, sinaccroistre, albastre, aspreandbastard, ein the past part.creu, deu, veu,and in such words asalleure, souilleure;ywas replaced byiincecy, celuy, gay, joye, &c. But those changes were not made systematically, and many pedantic spellings were left untouched, while many inconsistencies still remain in the present orthography (sifflerandpersifler, soufflerandboursoufler, &c). The consequence of those efforts in contrary directions is that French orthography is now quite as traditional and unphonetic as English, and gives an even falser notion than this of the actual state of the language it is supposed to represent. Many of the features of Old French orthography, early and late, are preserved in English orthography; to it we owe the use ofcfors(Old Englishc = konly), ofj(i) fordzh, ofv(u) forv(in Old English writtenf), and probably ofchfortsh. The Englishwis purely French, the Old English letter being the runicÞ. When French was introduced into England,kwhad not lost itsw, and the Frenchqu, with that value, replaced the Old EnglishcÞ(queenforcÞen). In Norman, Old Frenchóhad become very likeu, and in England went entirely into it;o, which was one of its French signs, thus came to be often used foruin English (comeforcume).U, having often in Old French its Modern French value, was so used in England, and replaced the Old Englishy(busyforbysi, Middle Englishbrudforbrŷd), andywas often used fori(dayfordai). In the 13th century, whenouhad come to representuin France, it was borrowed by English, and used for the long sound of that vowel (sourforsūr); andgu, which had come to mean simplyg(hard), was occasionally used to represent the soundgbeforeiande(guessforgesse). Some of the Early Modern etymological spellings were imitated in England;fleamandautourwere replaced byphlegmandauthour, the latter spelling having corrupted the pronunciation.
(e)Inflections.—In the earliest Old French extant, the influence of analogy, especially in verbal forms, is very marked when these are compared with Latin (thus the present participles of all conjugations takeant, the ending of the first, Latinantem), and becomes stronger as the language progresses. Such isolated inflectional changes assaveitintosavoit, which are cases of regular phonetic changes, are not noticed here.