GIFT or Mr* Gerville Mott PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS BY T. MAC1RONE PROFESSOR OF FRENCH PHONETICS IN THE FRANCO-ENGLISH GUILD, PARIS ALLYN AND BACON BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO COPYRIGHT, 1921. BY T. MACIRONE ^ J. S. Gushing Co. Berwick & Smith Co. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE THIS book aims to help students of French to over- come the difficulties which confront them when they try to acquire a correct pronunciation of that language. It is the result of many years' successful experience in teaching phonetics to American students. The author is thoroughly familiar with the difficulties of pronuncia- tion which they encounter, and understands how to lead them to acquire a good French accent. The book discusses the principles of voice production, illustrates by means of two cuts the organs of speech, and gives the exact position of these organs in making each French sound. It devotes a chapter to the vowels and one to conso- nants, giving the phonetic symbol for each sound with a paragraph explaining its use. One chapter is devoted entirely to daily exercises for the pupil's practice. An r other is given to phonetic transcription of French stories and poems, the same piece of literature being presented in two columns, side by side, one in the regular Roman print and the other in the phonetic alphabet. The vocabulary at the end furnishes the student with the meaning of every French word and idiom occurring in the chapter on phonetic transcription. AUGUST 1, 1921. iii M44235 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. WHAT PHONETICS DOES 1 Advantages of Phonetics .... 1 Disadvantages of the Old Method . . 2 Physical Differences 3 The Mouth 4 Phonetics in Europe . . . 6 Summary . . . , . . .8 II. FORMATION OF THE MOUTH AND THROAT. SPEECH SOUNDS 9 Distinctions in French and English . . 9 Organs of Speech ...... 9 Speech Sounds . . . . . .15 III. VOWEL SOUNDS 17 Variety of Vowel Sounds . . . .17 French Vowel Sounds 18 Nasal Vowels 30 Summary .34 IV. CONSONANTS 35 Voiced and Voiceless Consonants . . .35 V. DAILY EXERCISES 49 Vowels 49 Consonants 53 VI. PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF FRENCH STORIES AND POEMS 57 La bonne femme et son biquet . . .57 VI CONTENTS Histoire du petit Chaperon Rouge . . 59 Le violon magique . . . . .62 Les braves gens 70 Plaisir d' amour 79 Le bon Dieu de Chemille . . . .87 La tarte a la creme 92 Jeanne au pain sec 95 Liberte 97 VOCABULARY OF PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION . 99 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS CHAPTER I WHAT PHONETICS DOES Advantages of Phonetics. What are phonetic principles and what is the use of them in learning how to speak French? Phonetics teaches us exactly how we all make the sounds we utter when speaking. It treats of sounds, not letters. It splits up every word into the sounds it is composed of and studies these sounds, one by one. Every language has a lim- ited number of sounds, just as it has a limited num- ber of letters, and the first thing we have to do in study- ing phonetics is to learn to differentiate between sounds and letters. In phonetics we study sounds for the sake of learning to speak the language of a country as the natives speak it, and we get into the habit of thinking of a word by the sounds it contains and not by the letters that represent it. When you learn to speak a new language the sound is the unit ; to try to teach a foreigner to pronounce a whole word correctly, without explaining the sounds 1 2 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS it is composed o f . is like trying to teach a child to do a sum in addition without firsc teaching him his figures. When we learn to speak French we have to learn French sounds; when we study Spanish, Spanish sounds, and so on. Very often the same sound occurs in many languages, but there are always a few unfa- miliar sounds to learn in every new language we study. Disadvantages of the Old Method. Heretofore, the only way a foreigner had of trying to teach you how to speak his language was by repeating the word over and over again, and trusting to your ear to guide your tongue and lips into making the right sounds. But for the majority of people who have not a partic- ularly good ear it was waste of time. The French master for instance repeated over and over again, " say tu" (thou), and the poor American student re- peated " tou," and so it went on : Frenchman " tu," American " tou," or even " tjou," generally with no result whatever except a growing indignation on the part of the Frenchman, who could not understand that the American was not purposely pronouncing it badly, and a growing despair and weariness on the part of the American. Or take another very difficult French word, " puis " (then). How many of us have not tried in vain to satisfy a French ear with our pronunciation of the sound in the middle of that word ? It should be " puis," and the American, simply because no one has WHAT PHONETICS DOES 3 ever explained the real difference to him phonetically, keeps on saying " pouis." Or again the French r. You know that the letter r in French must always be pronounced. Only a very small percentage of Americans pronounce all their r's, so this is always a' difficulty, w r hen you begin to speak French. We do not generally pronounce the r, for instance, in the word " bark/ 7 very few people say " barrrk " ; and we do not pronounce it in" father/ 7 Only a very few people say " fatherrr." Many Americans know that in French every r must be pronounced, and they take endless pains to pronounce every r when they are speaking French. But in English there are certain ways of pronouncing the r, which are so foreign to a Frenchman, that he does not even recognize it for an r ! And it is so per- fectly easy to pronounce the real French northern r, the r of the cultured people in Paris, if only we know how. That is what phonetics will teach you. Physical Differences. After all, there is nothing miraculous about the fact that a Frenchman utters certain sounds quite easily and that we try in vain to imitate him. He has exactly the same difficulty when he tries to imitate our sounds. The reason simply is that all his life his mouth muscles have been exer- cising themselves in expressing certain sounds that we have never uttered, and all our lives we have been 4 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS uttering certain sounds that he has never expressed. So when we try to imitate his sounds, we are not only hampered by our absolute ignorance of how to pronounce them, but even if by accident, or because we have a very good ear, we do hit on the right way of pronouncing them, our muscles are stiff, and do not at first respond quickly enough to the effort we demand of them. We think we cannot do it, and give it up, when, if we had only persevered, our muscles would gradually have become exercised and would have produced the required sound correctly. There is another thing that must often have struck you among the people by whom you are surrounded in your daily life : that they do not all pronounce English words in the same way as you. Sometimes this is because they come from a different part of the country and their accent is different from yours. Sometimes it is because they have some slight defect in their speech. This defect could be overcome by a knowledge of phonetics. It probably comes from some slight difficulty the speaker had as a child in pronounc- ing certain sounds, and this difficulty can in nearly every case be overcome. We need only to study sufficiently how we ourselves pronounce the sound, and how it should be pronounced. The Mouth. You must get into the way of study- ing the inside of your mouth and throat, of trying to feel, when you cannot see in the glass, exactly where WHAT PHONETICS DOES 5 you put your tongue to utter certain sounds : whether it touches your teeth or your palate, and where it touches them, or if it touches nothing at all, what its position is in your mouth. If you wish to do this very thoroughly, for instance for learning several foreign languages, Spanish perhaps as well as French, or for correcting some mistake in your own pronunciation, it is a good plan to use an artificial palate for your investigations. You place it in your mouth, as a test, when you wish to know if you are putting your tongue in the right position ; for the greater number of the consonants are pronounced with the tongue touching the palate more or less. The artificial palate shows you exactly where your tongue touches it, and if your position is wrong, you correct it. 1 1 Mr. Dumville in his admirable book, "Elements of French Pro- nunciation and Diction," published by Dent, London, explains how this can be done. He says: "The student who takes interest in the examination and comparison of different sounds would do well ' to get an artificial palate made ; by its means many interesting ex- periments can be performed. This useful piece of apparatus can be cheaply constructed by a dentist, or a person of an ingenious turn of mind can make one himself. The following directions may be useful : " Get a few cents worth of beeswax. Place it in a small pot, and put the pot in warm water until the wax is just soft. Remove it and place it on an oval piece of wood or a large spoon, of a sufficient size to cover the breadth of the teeth. Place the spoon in the mouth, and bite down hard on the wax. Then remove carefully from the mouth, and allow the molding to cool and harden. Place it in a small round tin box, the sides of which are a little higher than the molding, and having greased the inside of the box, pour on plaster of Paris. Leave for a few hours, then remove the wax carefully 6 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS Phonetics in Europe. Phonetics has been very much used for years in many European countries, with the best results. There are many schools in England where the children do not see French written in or- dinary spelling for a whole year after they begin to study it. They do systematic phonetic exercises every day from the outset, and so their muscles are trained while they are young and supple; and they are very quickly able to pronounce the French sounds as well as the English. This is the case in a con- stantly growing number of English schools. 1 from the plaster. A good impression of the inside of the mouth should appear. "On this an artificial palate can be made by first greasing it and laying on strips of filter paper (or thin blotting paper) soaked in gum. The addition of a little powdered chalk will help to give solidity, though it is not desirable to make the palate thick. Allow the gum to dry and then after cutting off unnecessary corners and seeing that the artificial palate does not extend any farther back than the hard palate of the mouth, it can be covered with several thin coats of black enamel or Japan black. It is now ready for use. By covering the lower side with powdered chalk and placing it in the mouth, it is possible to see where the tongue touches for any articulation, for the powder will be removed by the moisture of the tongue." 1 If ever you have the opportunity, go and see for yourself at the Perse School, Cambridge. The boys there have been trained in phonetics for many years, and their pronunciation is remarkable. During the entire first year they read and write in phonetics. This prevents them from ever being led astray by the letters that are not pronounced in ordinary spelling. The sounds are explained to them in detail ; they sing and say them every day. They write the words they learn in phonetics, so that they are never tempted to pronounce them badly. Because in phonetics we write only the sounds we pro- nounce, spelling becomes written speech, which it never is in any language now. WHAT PHONETICS DOES 7 Spelling in every tongue has become conventional, letters are pronounced in many different ways, and it is only custom that teaches you how to pronounce them. In phonetics every sound has its own sign, and every sign is pronounced in one single way, so that it is not possible to make a mistake. But still, even for people who have not been so fortunate as to have been taught in this way from the beginning, much can be done by phonetics. 1 When the American army went to France, the men had all kinds of trouble with the language. Many soldiers will tell you how difficult they found it to make themselves understood. They knew the words, they could rea^The papers, but when it came to pronouncing the wtfrds, no one knew what they meant. They had never learned French pronunciation, except in the way it is spoken of at the beginning of this chapter ; that is to say, they had tried to imitate their teacher. And as we have said, in the majority of cases this leads practically nowhere. Just think for a minute what a drawback a bad accent is. It puts you at an immediate disadvantage with a foreigner. He listens to you with something 1 The author once had an Italian pupil at the phonetics class of the Versailles Holiday Course for Foreigners, who had for many years pronounced the French nasal vowels (bon, en, etc.) like an English ng, in sing for instance. When it was explained to her pho- netically how they ought to be pronounced, she corrected herself in a week. It made a great difference, as the nasal sounds are constantly occurring in French, and when wrongly uttered they made her accent very disagreeable. 8 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS very much like contempt. You seem to him to be talking either like an ignorant man or like a child, and the association of ideas between a bad accent and ignorance or childishness is so close that he finds it practically impossible to treat you as he would an equal. Think what a pity this is, when it merely needs a thorough mastery of phonetics to put our children on an equal footing with the foreigner whosf language they are learning. Summary. To sum up the ideas contained in this opening chapter : the new light that the study of phonetics has brought to the teaching of a foreign language is that we must begin by studying the sounds of which that language is composed before we try to join those sounds together into words. We must begin at the beginning as a baby does. We must learn to think in sounds. This new faculty of studying sounds may be a ma- terial help to us in other ways, for instance, in correct- ing any mistakes we may make in our own language. No one is too old to study phonetics. It is a very simple new science which clears away the old difficul- ties of understanding between men of different tongues. A bad accent in a foreign language puts you im- mediately in a false position with regard to the foreigner. He treats you like a child, because you sound to him like a child. He cannot realize that you have the same education and attainments as himself. CHAPTER II FORMATION OF THE MOUTH AND THROAT. SPEECH SOUNDS Distinctions in French and English. When you learn to speak French, the first thing to be clearly understood is that hardly one single sound is to be pronounced exactly the same as in English. Each consonant and each vowel has its own peculiar pro- nunciation, and this pronunciation is not the same as for the corresponding consonants and vowels in Eng- lish. To take a common example : the letter a in French is never pronounced as in " cat/' or as in " wall," or as in " hate/ 7 and never quite the same as in " father." It is perhaps this last category which is the most likely to lead you into error, as the French a in " pas " (not), for instance, will seem to you, until you have had your ear trained a little, the same as in father ; but it is not so. Organs of Speech. Now in order to understand how to pronounce these new French sounds, we must first realize how we pronounce our own English sounds, and study the formation of the inside of our mouths and throats. We all know, of course, in a superficial way, what they are like, and we probably all know the 9 10 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS few things about to be mentioned here, but everything depends on these ideas being perfectly clear and quite present in our memories. Begin by taking a pocket mirror and looking at the inside of your mouth and throat, standing with your back to the light, so that the rays of light may strike the mirror and light up your throat. What do you see? Here is a diagram to help you. Look at the illus- tration for a few minutes to get quite accustomed to it. You must imagine that your head has been cut in two from top to bottom, and that you are CROSS SECTION OF HEAD AND THROAT. looking at one half of it, from the side. This gives you a much more defi- nite idea of your organs than you can have by looking at them from the front, because then you see only the end of your tongue, the surface of your palate, etc. Now notice the things with which you are most familiar, the outlines of the head and face, the nose, FORMATION OF THROAT AND MOUTH 11 the lips, and then begin to examine the inside of all these. Do you recognize the tongue, the large muscle NOSE MOUTH"/ LIPS '"",';> TEETH .'*" THROAT X ADAM'S APPLE '' GLOTTIS curled up in the front of the mouth? Do you see that it is joined to the bottom of your mouth for a long way? It is not simply a kind of finger, joined at one end, as we so often imagine. It can take many, many 12 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS different shapes in your mouth. Move it about with your fingers, backwards and forwards, and from side to side, so as to be quite sure of this. Put it as far back as you can, touch your palate all over its surface with your tongue. For all these investigations, it is best to go into a room alone, where you will not mind making faces, and where you will be free to pronounce any sounds you like without being laughed at. Now do you see the palate in the illustration? Do you see that it is a kind of wall, separating your mouth from your nose? It is the floor of the nose, and the roof of the mouth at the same time. Do you see that it has a hard bone inside in front, near your lips, but that at the back it has no bone ; the bone comes to an end? Run your finger along it inside your mouth to make sure of this, and then try to touch the soft part at the back. You will find you can't, as it is too sensi- tive, and touching it will tend to make you feel queer. This soft end of the palate is called the soft palate or uvula, and you can see it very easily in the looking glass. Stand with your back to the light, open your mouth very wide, as wide as you can, and say " Ah ! " several times. You will see the soft end of the palate hanging down at the back of your mouth. When you say " Ah ! " your tongue will lie at the bottom of your mouth, and will allow you to see the back very clearly. Now, when you say " Ah ! ", exactly what do you do? Have you ever thought that your mouth and FORMATION OF THROAT AND MOUTH 13 throat are a most wonderful musical instrument? You do instinctively without any effort what men have had great trouble to produce in a musical instru- ment. The breath comes out of your lungs up the windpipe, passes through the larynx, between the vocal cords, and so out through your mouth or through your nose, or through both. Your nose or your mouth are like the body of a musical instrument, of a trumpet, for instance, or a horn. It is there that the air cir- culates before passing out between your lips or through your nostrils. Think of all this for a minute. Look at the illus- tration; find the windpipe and the larynx, with the vocal cords stretched across it, looking like a little mouth. See how the air is able to pass either through the mouth or through the nose or through both. This is because of the flexibility of the uvula, that soft end of the palate which we were talking about just now. You can move it tight against the back of your throat, and so force the air out through your mouth, or you can bring it down and allow the air to go out wholly or partly through your nose. If we make all the air pass out through the nose, we bring the uvula right down to meet the tongue behind; but we do not often do this. We are so used to moving the uvula up and down like this, that we do not notice it, but in studying French sounds, we must notice it. We must try to become conscious of its movements, to know without 14 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS looking in the glass when the uvula is up, pressed against the back of the passage leading into the nose (the pharynx), and when it is down, allowing the air to rise into the nasal cavity. Also, we must learn how to raise and lower it at will. It is quite easy after a little practice to feel it moving, and to control its movements. Now we must think for a few minutes about the vocal cords. You can see them in the picture, and you must try to locate them in your own throat. They are fibers of elastic ssue stretched across the larynx. At certain times, as the air comes out between them, it makes them vibrate. If we sing, they vibrate very much. When we are at rest, breathing quietly, they lie quite loose, and the breath passes out between them with hardly any sound at all. Listen to yourself breathing for a minute : breathe harder, as when you have run a long way, and you will hear a louder sound. The top of the windpipe, which contains the vocal cords, is a little larger than the pipe itself. Feel it by rubbing your hand against the front of your neck, where your Adam's apple is. Keep your finger against the larynx, sing a few notes, and let your ear convince you that the sounds you pro- duce originate exactly at that spot. Sing them softly and locate the sound. Do this several times, then speak a few sentences, and see if you can notice that certain sounds cause this vibration in the throat, and certain others do not. Pronounce, for instance, the FORMATION OP THROAT AND MOUTH 15 word "bake." Say it very slowly in two syllables, ba-ke, ba-ke, ba-ke. Say it several times, and notice how the vibration in your throat stops before the k. Put your fingers over your ears, while you are doing this, and you will hear it better. Now you have found out that you make two different kinds of sounds when you speak, some with vibration of the vocal cords, and some without vibration. We shall examine this more closely presently (page 35). Speech Sounds. Remember that we are speaking of speech sounds, and not of letters. These are two very different things. Very often a single sound is not represented by a single letter; for instance, in the word " cough " there are five letters, and only three sounds, a fc, a sort of o, and an /, kof. You may say, if you like, that ou repre- sents the sound o, and gh the sound /. In each case two letters represent one single sound. And again a single letter may represent two sounds, and not always the same two sounds ; for instance, x in " box " represents a k and an s, boks; and x in " exam- ine " represents a g and a z, egzamine. It is well here to spend a little time getting used to the idea of the difference between the sounds and letters in words. Take a number of ordinary words, and count the number of sounds they contain, and compare this with the number of letters they contain. French is like the English in this respect : words are 16 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS no longer pronounced as they are spelled. Spelling is one thing and pronunciation is another, and here we are studying pronunciation. In the exercises at the end of the book (page 49), you will pronounce every single sound you see represented. The signs and letters we are going to use represent sounds. Let us first examine the difference between the vowel sounds and the consonants. When we pronounce a vowel sound, for instance, a as in " father/ 7 the breath passes out without meeting any obstacle in its way. When we pronounce a consonant sound such as b, d, g, v, our breath no longer passes out freely ; it is hampered in its passage through the mouth ; as in be, do, go, vie. Sometimes it is the lips that prevent the breath passing out for a minute, as in be, or it is the tongue pressing behind the teeth, as in do, or the tongue presses farther back against the palate, as in go, or it is the teeth press- ing against the lip, as in vie. But in each case one of the organs of the mouth intervenes to prevent the breath passing out freely. CHAPTER III VOWEL SOUNDS Variety of Vowel Sounds. We are going to study the vowel sounds first. Pronounce all the ones you know, a as in cat, wall, father, hate; e as in hen, there, women; i as in in (which is the same sound as that of e in women), and in bite, etc. How is it that these vowel sounds differ so much, and how is it that we can make so many of them ? In other languages there are many, many more. In fact there is no reason why there should not be an unlimited number of them. Have you heard people speak who come from many different states, and have you noticed how very differently they pronounce their v*owel sounds? If there is such di- versity of sounds in English alone, how many do you imagine you would hear all over the world ? What is the secret of this ? We have only to vary the shape of our mouths ever so little to vary the sound produced. And as the mouth with the lips and cheeks is very elastic, we can imagine them taking an indefinite number of shapes and therefore forming an indefinite number of sounds. Now let us prove this. Open your mouth wide, lay your tongue flat, and say "Ah!" Then without 17 18 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS moving your tongue, begin to push your lips out, and go on trying to say " Ah ! " and you will find that the sound will gradually resolve itself into " ou," without any wish of yours. That is to say, the sound changes as soon as you change the shape of your mouth. Pull the corners of your lips back as you do when you smile, put your lips together without closing them, and raise your tongue in the front of your mouth, and the sound will become ee, as in the word " feet." Now try to let some of the air get into your nose, that is, bring down the uvula a little, and you will hear a nasal sound in your vowel. Perhaps you will not be able to do this at first, or perhaps you habitually do it in the pro- nunciation of all your vowels. This is a very common mistake to make. In English the nasal is regarded as a disagreeable tone. If you are in the habit of speaking with a nasal tone, you will not at first be able to produce a pure mouth vowel, as you must learn to do in French. French Vowel Sounds. In America we very often pronounce two or three vowel sounds very rapidly, one after the other, producing what is called a diphthongal y sound ; for instance, when you say " hate," you really say hay-eat, very rapidly. When you say " boy," you really say baw-ee, very rapidly. When you say x "light," you really say lah-eat, very rapidly. In French you must never do this. All the vowel sounds X consist of one single sound. Be very careful of this. VOWEL SOUNDS 19 We are going to give each French sound a sign to represent it, so that when reference is made to any particular sound you may be quite sure exactly which one is meant. We shall put after the explana- tion of each sound the different ways in which it is spelled. We are going to take the vowels in a certain definite order, beginning with those that are pronounced in the front of the mouth, with the tongue in front, and ending with those that are pronounced at the back of the mouth, with the tongue drawn up behind. i. The first vowel sound is i. Put your mouth in a smiling position almost closed ; tighten all the muscles of your cheeks, somewhat as if you were going to. bite very hard ; put your tongue in the front of your mouth and raise the tip of it a little, pressing it firmly against your teeth. As you are pronouncing i, be sure that all your muscles are quite still. If they move ever so little, as they often do in speaking English, in pro- nouncing the kindred sound ee in " feet/ ; you will have a diphthongal sound such as was spoken of just now. These diphthongal sounds are not French, and are ex- tremely disagreeable to a French ear. This i is the regular sound of i, i, or y, as in hardi(s), 1 bold ; ile, island ; lycee, high school. 1 Many of these different spellings of the vowel sounds may be followed by an s as a sign of the plural ; this s is only occasionally sounded for the sake of euphony before a vowel. 20 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS It is also the sound of i in various combinations, such as ie, is, it, ient, ix. comedie(&), comedy. tu finis, thou finishest. il finit, he finishes. Us sclent , they saw. dix, ten (when the x is not sounded). The exercises on this sound and all the following ones will be found beginning on page 49. They should all be pronounced every day, as many times as possible. At first the jaws and muscles should ache after each exercise. e. This sound is very like the last. Put your mouth in the same smiling position, tighten all the muscles of your cheeks, put your tongue in the front of your mouth, with the tip raised a little and pressed against your teeth, opening your mouth a little more. This is the sound that most Americans have great difficulty in pronouncing, so great pains must be taken with it. It is very much tighter, firmer, and sharper than the kindred English sound of e in " pen." This e is the regular sound of e, as in eglise, church ; fumee, smoke. It is also the sound : (1) of e alone and in various combinations, such as ed(s), es, ef(s), oe, er in the infinitive of many verbs, ez in the second person plural of the present indicative of nearly all verbs, et in the conjunction and (but not at the end of a great many words, like gar$onnet, where the et is pronounced differ- ently) ; and (2) sometimes of ai, for instance in the VOWEL SOUNDS 21 present indicative of avoir f in the first person singular of the past of many verbs, in the future of all verbs, and ais and ait in the present indicative of the verb savoir (this is quite exceptional). effort, effort. (vous) allez, (you) go. pied(s), foot. et, and. mes, my. O')'ai, (I) have. ctef(s), key. (j)'aZZai, (I) went. (Edipe, (Edipus. (j)'irai, (I) shall go. docAer(s), church tower. (je) sais, (I) know. aller, to go. (iZ).sait, (he) knows. c. This Greek e represents the sound which is generally spelled e. Open your mouth fairly wide, about half as wide as you can, let your cheek muscles relax, put your tongue a little farther back than for e, and not so high in the mouth ; think of a sheep bleating. This is perhaps the French vowel which comes closest to having a corresponding sound in English. It is not unlike the first vowel sound in there. Most people pronounce that vowel with two vowel sounds, that is, with a diphthongal vowel, and in French, as we have said, you must never do that. Instead try to isolate the first vowel sound in " there " and you will have a vowel very close to the French. This 8 is the regular sound of e and e, as in frere, brother; tres, very; beche, spade. It is also one of the sounds of e alone and : (1) of e, e, and e in various combinations, such as et(s) (except 22 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS the conjunction ei), et(s), ect(s), es, est, ei ; and (2) sometimes of ai, ai, and of ais, ait, and aient in the im- perfect and conditional of all verbs. miel, honey. saison, season. bouquet(s), bunch of flowers, aine, eldest. /oret(s), forest. (j)'oZZaiSj (I) was going. aspect(s), aspect. (il) alla.it, (he) was going. (tu) es, (thou) art. (j)^Vais, (I) should gc. (il) est, (he) is. (il) ira.it, (he) would go. neige, snow. (Us) iraient, (they) would go. a. This is the easiest sound of all to produce, as it is the sound we all make instinctively when we open the mouth and vocalize, letting the tongue lie fiat in the bottom of the mouth. It is the sound that a baby of any nationality pronounces when it begins to talk, for this reason : it does not make any cffcrt, it just talks, and a is the sound that comes. If the child is angry and screaming, it makes quite a different sound, because then it tightens its muscles and says something like i. For a the muscles are lax, the tongue is lying flat, and the vocal cords vibrate. It is not at all like a in hat, which sound does not exist in French and is a sound made with the tongue fairly high in the front of the rrnuth, and the muscles tight. On the contrary the French a (in papa for instance), is pro- nounced with the tongue flat and the muscles quite loose. VOWEL SOUNDS 23 This a is the most usual sound of a or d, in papa, papa; nous allames, we went. It is also generally the sound : (1) of a in such com- binations as as, at(s) ; (2) of i, i, is, it, ient, following o in moi, etc. ; and (3) occasionally of e. Be very careful as to this word, moi, and of others like it, toi, voit, etc., as so many people pronounce them with a " back a" (the next sound to be considered), which is quite wrong and very unpleasant to the French ear. (tu) as, (thou) hast. boite, box. chat(s), cat. (je) vois, (I) see. fenime, woman. (il) voit, (he) sees. moi, me, I. (Us) voient, (they) see. a. This sound is somewhat like a in " father," but it is more hollow. It is the sound spoken of just now as the " back a." Do not confuse its sign a with a that we have just had. Open your mouth very wide, as wide as you can, and draw your tongue back a little. This a is the sound occasionally given to a, especially in nation, nation; and in all French words ending in ation. It is also sometimes the sound : (1) of d; (2) of a in such combinations as as, at, ea ; and (3) of i, is, ie, ids, e, following o. matin, mastiff, fras, stocking. climat, climate. Jeanne, Jane. foi, faith. trois, three. voie, way. poids, weight. poele, stove. 24 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS o. This is what is called the " open o." On pro- nouncing this sound after a, the last sound treated, draw back your tongue still more, push your lips out a little, and make the whole of your mouth round, but keep it open. It is very different from the English sound of o in not, for instance. The French sound must be round. This o is one of the pronunciations of o, au, and quite exceptionally of u. col, collar. Paul, Paul. rhum, rum. o. Be particularly careful how you pronounce this sound. There are very few people in America who do not give it a diphthongal form. Look at your mouth in the mirror while you are pronouncing " boat," for instance, and see how the lower jaw moves. Say it very slowly, so as to divide your diphthong into two parts. You will find that you begin with your mouth fairly open, and end with it almost closed. There are many different ways of pronouncing " boat/' varying from " ba-out," to " bo-oot," passing sometimes through other vowels on the way from the first of these sounds to the second. But that vowel is never really pure in English. That is to say, it is never a single sound from the beginning to the end ; it is always a diphthong. In French it is a pure sound, a single vowel, the vowel o. Scotch people generally pronounce it easily. Push your lips out, tighten your cheeks and jaw muscles, draw your tongue still farther back than for o, and VOWEL SOUNDS 25 utter a sound which to you will seem to be almost " oo." Sing it as often as possible. Think of your tongue. Be sure that it is quite still. You must practice this sound very often at first, because when we have to pronounce a sound that we have perhaps never pronounced before, our muscles soon get tirecl and relax. This o is the other pronunciation of o and cm, as in chose, thing; saucer, to save. It is also sometimes the sound : (1) of o and o in such combinations as os, ot(s) ; and (2) of au in such combi- nations as au(x), aut(s), aud(s), eau(x). gros, big. ar&cftaut(s), artichoke. cote, hill. cftaud(s), warm. pot(s), pot. eau(x), water. chevaux, horses. u. This is the last of the eight elementary French vowels. Keep your muscles tight, push your lips still farther out than for o, draw your tongue a little farther back, and you will say u. (Do not think that this is the sound which is written or printed " u " in French; it is written " on.") Think of the vowel in the English word " boot/' and make it with lips fully rounded and face muscles tight. For u the lips should be pushed out as far as possible, and the tongue drawn back as far as possible. There is very little difference between this sound and the last. The round opening between the lips should be large enough to admit the 26 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS end and a little of the wood of a lead pencil when you pronounce o, but only the lead when you pronounce u. This u is the regular sound for ou in such combina- tions as ou(s)j ou, oue(s), out, oux, oup(s), aoul. cou(s), neck. ctoux, sweet, ou, where. coup(s), blow. roue(s), wheel. saoul, drunk. tout, all. These eight elementary vowels should be pronounced every day one after the other, in the order in which they are given here. Sing them up the scale, and then sing in the reverse order down the scale. Do this several times. This will help you to vocalize more than you generally do perhaps, which is the very thing needed in French. It will also help you to keep your muscles still, while you are singing each sound, and prevent you from pronouncing a diphthong. Hold each note as long as you can. You will find the o the most difficult to keep stead}^. Another good way to keep the lips and lower jaw steady, thus preventing the pure sounds from becom- ing diphthongs is to put a pencil between the teeth. Another good way is to sing each sound twice : first short, to see whether the mouth is properly shaped for it, and then long, prolonging the sound as much as possible. The more -you prolong the sound without altering it, the more quickly will you train your muscles to pronounce it correctly and to find their proper VOWEL SOUND'S 27 position at an instant's notice. See page 49 for daily exercises. Now besides these eight fundamental vowels there are four other pure mouth vowels, which are difficult to pronounce. One is the sound that in French is generally spelled " u." We have already referred to it. We shall give it the sign y. Two of the other three are spelled " eu," and the third " e." Two of them are particularly hard for Americans to pronounce correctly. y. This sound, in spite of its great difficulty, can be found quite mechanically in the following way. Put your mouth in the right position for i, the first of the eight fundamental vowels ; that is, draw the corners of your lips back, as if you were going to smile, tighten all your muscles, press the tip of your tongue against the teeth. Then pronounce i, slowly pushing your lips as far out as you can without changing the position of your tongue. If you follow these directions exactly, you cannot go wrong. Put your tongue in the right position for i, then push out your lips. You should practice many times, pro- nouncing i y, i y, i y, and then back- wards y i, y i, y i. Keep up the vocaliza- tion without a break ; do not stop your voice ; do not say i, y, but i y, and you will hear the sound gradually passing from i to y. Do it very slowly at first, so as to be sure to keep your tongue in exactly the same position. 28 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS Another trick which will perhaps help you to find this sound is to whistle the highest note you can, the very highest, then stop whistling and pronounce y. Keep your tongue and lips quite firm. When you were whistling your highest note they were exactly in the right position for pronouncing y. Practice i y u. u y i. See exercises on page 50. This y is the regular sound for u in such combina- tions as u(s), $(s), ut, ue(s), and exceptionally of en, euSj eut, eu, in the past tense of the verb avoir. tu, thou. eu, had. (ZiO/us, (thou) wast. (j)'eus, (I) had. ng(s), ond(s). om(s), omp, omb(s), ), boy(s). nom(s) > name. pont(s), bridge(s). compter, to count. Zong(s), long (pi.). pZomb(s), lead(s). /ond(s), bottom(s). Be exceedingly careful to keep this a vowel sound. Do not let your tongue touch your palate at all. If you do, it will make the sound a consonant, not a voweL 8. Again this is not the nasal form of 8, but of the English vowel in " cat/' " Ma'am." That is to say, the mouth must be more open than for the sound 8. Pro- nounce the vowel sound in " cat," and then lower the uvula. This sound needs to be less nasalized than the two preceding ones. Do not lower the uvula so much. Do not let so much air vibrate in the nasal passages. This vowel needs to be only slightly nasal- ized. Practice e --- 8, being careful to open the mouth wider in passing from 8 to 8. This sound, e, is spelled in a great many ways : in(s), inq, ingt(s), im, yn, ym, ain(s), aint(s), aim(s), ang, ein(s), eint(s), en(s), etc. 34 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS , way(s). wain(s), hand. cinq, five (when the q is saint (s), saint. not sounded). daim(s), deer. dngt(s), twenty (pi.). seing, signature. simple, simple. plem, full. syntax, syntax. teint(s), complexion. nymphe, nymph. chien(s), dog. de. This is the nasalized form of oe. All you need .to do is to pronounce oe and then lower the uvula. Some phoneticians say that for oe the mouth is a little more open than for oe. You can do the same kind of exercises that you did for o and a ; that is, pronounce 8, and then round out the lips, and you will say oe. Practice --- 8 --- oe, oe --- 8 --- 8, being care- ful always to o"pen the mouth considerably wider for than for 8. See exercises on page 53. This sound is spelled un(s), um(s), eun. Hun(s), Hun. parfum(s), scent jeun, fasting. Summary. Notice that French vowels form a series from i to u. Pronounce i-e-s-a-a-o-o-u, and notice: (1) that the tongue starts in the front of the mouth and is gradually drawn back; and (2) that the lips are at first drawn back as in a smile and then are gradually pushed farther forward, till for the sound of u they are in a pouting position. CHAPTER IV CONSONANTS Voiced and Voiceless Consonants. When we were speaking of the vocal cords (page 14), we said that certain sounds we pronounce make them vibrate, while certain others do not. We took as an example the word " ba-ke/' and we noticed- that when we pro- nounced the first syllable ba the vocal cords vibrated, but not so when we pronounced the second syllable ke. Why is this? There are two groups of speech sounds ; the voiced sounds and the voiceless sounds. By voiced sounds are meant those which are pronounced with vibration of the vocal cords ; and by voiceless sounds, those which are pronounced without vibration of the vocal cords. All the vowels are pronounced with vibration of the vocal cords. Therefore, they are all voiced sounds. But the consonants are sometimes voiced and sometimes voiceless. A consonant is always pronounced with a sound of friction in the mouth. When the sound of friction is accompanied by vibration of the vocal cords, it is said to be voiced ; when it is not accompanied by vibration of the vocal cords, it is said to be voiceless. Vowels, on the other hand, are necessarily always aq- 35 36 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS companied by vibration of the vocal cords, as they depend on the vibration for their sound ; they have no other sound, as they are not accompanied by a sound of friction. For instance, pronounce the consonant " b." Try to pronounce it unaccompanied by any vowel sound. Do not say " be/ 7 or " bi," as in the alphabet. Isolate the sound " b." Now pronounce " p " in the same way. What is the difference between the two? In both sounds the consonant consists of a little explosion, as the lips, after being pressed closely together, are forced apart by the air escaping from the mouth. In the case of " b," the explosion is accompanied by vibration of the vocal cords. In the case of " p," the vocal cords do not vibrate. This is the only difference between these two consonants. Pronounce "b" without vibration of the vocal cords, and you have "p"; pronounce "p" with vibration of the vocal cords, and you have " b." Take another example : the second consonant of the word " ba-ke," of which we spoke above. Is " k " a voiced consonant or a voiceless ? Pronounce it without any vowel after it, and listen carefully. Put your finger on your larynx, in the front of the throat, as we suggested on page 14, and see if you can feel any vibra- tion. Better still, pronounce a " k," put your hands over your ears, and listen for vibration. There is none. What is the friction that causes this consonant sound? Your tongue touches your palate almost at CONSONANTS 37 the place where the hard bone leaves off, and as the breath forces its way through between the tongue and the palate the sound " k " is heard. Some people pronounce it a little farther back and some a little farther forward. Pronounce the same sound with vibration of the vocal cords, and you will hear a hard " g." " K " and " g " are two forms of the same con- sonant, the voiceless form and the voiced. There are other pairs of consonants, " d " and " t," " v " and " f," " z" and " s," the soft " g " and " sh." In English there are also two forms of the sound " th," the sound in " there " and " thin." We are going to take the French forms of these con- sonants one by one, as we have done for the vowels. First, however, let us consider a general principle which applies to all French consonants as compared with all English consonants. All French voiced consonants, b, d, g (hard), m, n, v, z, etc., are pronounced with much more voice than the corresponding English consonants. And the French voiceless consonants, p, t, k, /, s, etc., are pronounced with far less breath than the corresponding English consonants. You should practice constantly to acquire the ability to make this distinction. To make your voiced consonants mo re v voiced, put your tongue and lips in the right position for forming the consonant, and then try to make your vocal cords vibrate before actually forming the sound. When your tongue and lips are in the right position, try to 38 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS pronounce a kind of " m " or " n," before " b " or " d," etc. You will hear a kind of nasal sound, formed by the breath vibrating in the nasal passages since it cannot circulate freely in the mouth because your organs are in position to pronounce the consonant. Put a great deal of energy into these exercises. Do not be satisfied until your voiced consonants have as much tone in them as a Frenchman's. It is only a matter of exercise and perseverance. Then to make your voiceless consonants smoother, to pronounce them with less escape of breath, you should try to pronounce the corresponding English voiced consonants without voice. This seems a con- tradiction of terms. So it is, but the effort gives the required result. For instance, pronounce an English " b," that is a " b " with very little voice, and gradually eliminate the voice, but without adding more breath, and you will pronounce the French " p." We shall next take up the different French conso- nants in order. p. As we have just explained, this is a voiceless consonant, and therefore it must be pronounced in French with much less escape of breath than in Eng- lish. When you have done what is advised above, that is to say, when you have pronounced an English " b " without voice, try putting a sheet of thin paper in front of your mouth, to see how much breath escapes. Pro- nounce first an English " p," and then a French p, and CONSONANTS 39 see if the paper moves considerably less for the French p than for the English ; or, better still, light a very small candle, like those used on a Christmas tree, and hold the flame immediately in front of your lips. If you pronounce a vigorous English " p/' the flame will probably go out ; whereas, if you pronounce a good French p, that is, a very gentle one, the flame will move only very slightly. Make all the difference you can between the English " pa , " and the French " papa." b. This is the voiced form of "p." Put your lips together as if you were going to pronounce " b," and before pronouncing it, try to pronounce an " m " with your lips closed, then bring them apart for b. What you have to do is to make your vocal cords vibrate before allowing your lips to separate for the b. Your vocal cords must vibrate much more for this sound than in pronouncing English " b." t. Apply the same method here that we suggested for the p. The " t " is a voiceless consonant like p. Therefore you must pronounce it with far less breath in French than in English. Pronounce an English " d " with the tongue touching the palate just behind the teeth. This is 'the correct position for French t. So pronounce an English " d " and then gradually stop vibrating your vocal cords. In English the pronuncia- tion of " t " causes quite a large puff of breath from the mouth. For the French t, there must be little 40 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS of this. If you pronounce it correctly, you should feel hardly any escape of breath. d. This is the voiced form of t. Try the same method as for b. Put your tongue in the right position for English " d/' and then vibrate your vocal cords as if you were going to pronounce " n " before actually drawing your tongue away from the palate to pro- nounce d. That is, allow your vocal cords to vibrate as much as possible, much more than for the English "d," k. The same principles apply here. This is a voiceless consonant (it is generally written " c " or " qu " in French) pronounced with the middle of the tongue raised against the middle of the palate, about where the hard bone ends (see page 12). Again here there must be little escape of breath when pronouncing the French k. Pronounce an English hard " g," and then stop vibrating the vocal cords. The sound must be perfectly soft and gentle. Place your hand against your lower lip and, if you pronounce the French k properly, you will feel practically no escape of breath. g. This is the voiced form of k. Put your tongue in the right position and try to produce a sound like the English " ng " in " sing/' before letting your tongue go. That is to say, make your vocal cords vibrate as much as possible before you actually utter the sound. CONSONANTS 41 m, n. These are of course nasal consonants, and the nasal consonants have much more resonance in French than in English. They are of course voiced. Practice them with much energy ; make as much noise as you can. Let them vibrate in your nose. Practice them with as much reverberation as possible. Then you will grad- ually acquire the habit of giving them resonance as French people do. ji. This is the third French voiced nasal consonant sound. We have one something like it in English, " ng " in words like " sing." But this is of course not pronounced like " n " followed by " g." It is quite a different sound, pronounced by touching the soft palate with the tongue. The French sound is not the same as this English one. It is the sound that is habitually written " gn," in words like " montagwe," " agneau," etc. It is pronounced by touching the palate with the tongue but farther forward than in English. The tongue must touch the hard palate, and above all, the point of the tongue must be kept well behind the lower teeth. Many foreigners and not a few provincial French people pronounce it nj instead of ji, but this is of course a mistake. You get nj in words like " opinion " and " pam'er." The second sound in nj is pronounced with the tip of the tongue raised (see page 45). That is why in pronouncing n it is well to keep the tip of the 42 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS tongue down behind the lower teeth, so as to be sure not to pronounce nj. Also in nj the palate is touched farther forward, that is to say, n is pronounced farther forward in the mouth than ji. w. This is practically the same consonant as in English. It is the consonant form of u (see vowels). Pronounce u with the lips well forward, and the tongue well back, bringing your lips a little closer together, and you will have the consonant w. It is spelled o in many French words ending in oi y for instance moi, toi, soi, loi, roi, where the " i " is pronounced a after it. Be careful not to pronounce this " i " like a after the sound w, as so many Americans do. Practice m - w - a, moi (me) ; t - w - a, toi (thee). it. This sound does not exist in English, and is very difficult to pronounce. It is written \i because it is the consonant form of y. It is the consonant that y becomes when it is followed by certain vowels, especially i. You must follow the same process as for w. That is to say, pronounce y, the tongue and lips as far forward as possible. Bring the lips together, so that they touch lightly, and you will have the con- sonant i[. It is best, however, to practice the sound in another way. It is constantly followed by the vowel i, and in this connection gives endless trouble to Americans. So practice pronouncing first the vowel y, then the consonant q, and then the vowel i. The y - it - i, y-n-i CONSONANTS 43 three will glide insensibly into one another. Then pre- fix a consonant, for instance p. p - y - q - i, p - y - q - i, etc. Be careful to pronounce four sounds. Little by little you will eliminate the vowel y and pronounce the word " puis " as it should be pronounced p - q - i without any vowel between the p and the q. But it is useless at first to attempt to pronounce the consonant, without beginning with the vowel that leads to it. It is a consonant that we are totally unused to pronounc- ing. Therefore, start by pronouncing the vowel y before attempting the consonant q. Practice in this way all the words in ui, for instance : y - il - i - t (huit, eight). y - q - i - 1 (huile, oil). 1 - y - il - i (lui, he) . n - y - q - i (nuit, night). a-n-y-q-i (ennui, worry) . s - y - it - i (suis, (I) am). b-r-y-q-i (bruit, noise). r-y-t[-i-s-o (ruisseau, stream). Then leave out the vowel y and pronounce : q-i-t 1-q-i a-n-q-i b-r-q-i q-i-1 n-q-i s - q - i r-q-i-s-o Hyphens have been purposely left between the sounds to show you that the best way to practice the sounds is always to prolong each one before pronouncing the 44 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS next. This insures more care and better training for the ear. f . There is very little to be said about f . It is a voiceless consonant, so pronounce it gently in French. v. This is a voiced consonant. Pronounce it with plenty of voice. If you do not, it will sound like an f to a French ear. Do the. same exercises as for b, d, g, etc. Try to vocalize, to make your vocal cords vibrate, before you take your upper teeth from your lower lip and then pronounce v with a great deal of energy. s. This is a voiceless sound. Do not hiss it so much as in English and remember that unlike the English it is generally not pronounced at the end of words in French. But there are of course exceptions to this rule. z. This is the corresponding voiced consonant. Vocalize it well. Do as you did for the nasal conso- nants. Pronounce it with a great deal of energy. It should tire you at first, if you do it with enough force. Little by little you should be able to do it with just as much energy, but without its tiring you. $. This is the voiceless sh sound, usually spelled " ch " in French. Pronounce it less energetically than in English, and notice that in English it is habitually preceded by the sound of " t "; for instance, " (t)child," " (t) change," etc. In French this is not so. CONSONANTS 45 3. This is the corresponding voiced consonant generally spelled " j " in French. In English it is the sound that is spelled " g " (soft) or " j," except that in English a " d " is always sounded before it ; as for example, " (d) George, " " (d) James/ 7 etc. It is pro- nounced without the " d " in the English word " leisure." Give it plenty of voice in French, or it will sound to a French ear too much like the $ referred to above. j. This is the voiced consonant which is written " y," in English, as in " you," " yet," etc. In French it most frequently occurs to indicate the pronunciation of what is called the liquid " 1 " (1 mouillee). Words like " fille," " briller," must be pronounced fij, brije. This sound is also often given to " i," as, for instance, in " bien " = bje. It is the consonantal form of i, just as w is the consonantal form of u, and it of y. When you pronounce i, your tongue is very high in the front of your mouth. If you raise it a little higher, you hear first of all a slight whistling sound, as the air forces its way between the tongue and the gums. If you raise it a very little more, you hear the consonant j. You must be very careful to pronounce it distinctly at the end of words ending in eil or ail. You must pro- nounce " soleil," solsj and not simply sole, as so many Americans do. r. We come now to the important sound of r. There are in fact two r's in French : a dental conso- 46 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS nant r, and a uvula consonant R. They differ from English " r " in that they are always distinctly pro- nounced. The dental r is the , easier to acquire. It is trilled on the tip of the tongue directly behind the upper teeth. But the uvula R is more typically French. It is pronounced by trilling the uvula instead of the tip of the tongue. This is the R that is heard in Paris among educated people, and in most of the big towns. It is taking the place of the front r, which is still heard in the south and in country districts. You must not confuse this R with the r grasseye, as it is called, by which is generally meant a disagreeable scraping of the throat substituted by vulgar people in Paris for the uvula R. To pronounce the uvula R, all you have to do is to try to make the uvula more supple. Put water in your mouth and gargle frequently. You will be able to make the uvula vibrate at once in this way. Then gradually try it without water. Once you have learned how to make your uvula vibrate at will, you will easily learn how to pronounce all the different vowels and consonants coming both before and after R. If you find that you cannot pronounce the uvula R after several days of constant practice, it is best to give it up and content yourself with trilling the tongue. Both these ways of pronouncing the r are French. Provided you succeed in producing a trill, it does not CONSONANTS 47 matter whether it is on the end of the tongue or at the uvula. Certain students, who persist in trying to make the uvula vibrate when they have great difficulty in doing so, succeed only in making a very disagreeable sound. But this is true of only a very small propor- tion of pupils. Most people find it quite easy after a little practice. Practice the uvula R, first before the vowel a ; then prefix the consonant g to it, like this : r a, r a, and then g r a, g r a, etc. Practice the front r, first before the vowel i ; and then after the consonant d, thus : r i, r i, d r i ? d r [. 1. This is the last consonant and it is almost as important as r. In America it is often pronounced with a good deal of the front of the tongue touching the palate, which gives a very thick sound. It should be pronounced in French with only the tip of the tongue touching the palate. If you have the artificial palate that we spoke of on page 5, Chapter I, use it freely for the practice of this sound. In English also the tip of the tongue is curled up, and back. In French the tip of the tongue retains its natural position, downwards, and just touches the palate behind the teeth. Begin by practicing words that commence with 1 in French: " levre," " liquide," " livre," and then practice, " il," " elle," "aile," etc., with 1 as the final 48 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS sound, and try to give exactly the same sound as for initial 1. Then, little by little, introduce words that have 1 in the middle. Some of these you will find very difficult. Begin with the ones that have 1 after a vowel that is clearly pronounced, as, for instance, " balcon," " sellier," " Malvy," etc. Then come to words like " matelas " which you will find the most difficult, because in English, 1 after t is almost a new consonant, as it is pronounced by many people. And in words like " matelas " in French the vowel " e " is so little pronounced that the 1 comes almost im- mediately after the t. Begin by pronouncing " ma-te-las," " ma-te-lot," " cou-te-las," etc., in three distinct syllables. Little by little you will be able to pronounce them with hardly any "e" in the middle, as French people do, without at the same time spoiling your 1. CHAPTER V DAILY EXERCISES VOWELS Sing up the scale : i -, i , e-, e , 8-, 8- --, a-, a , a -, a ~, o-, o , o -, o , u -, u . Sing down the scale : u -, u , o -, o - -, o -, o , a -, i -, i . Repeat each of these two exercises at least twice. Say, or sing on one note, the five following exercises, repeating each one at least twice : i y u> u y i. e o. o e. 8 oo o. o 03 e. Q Q 5. 3 Q Q. 8 e 62. ce e 8. These exercises should all be pronounced carefully two or three times. After these vowel exercises pronounce daily as many of the following sentences as you can, carrying out the 49 50 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS instructions on the pronunciation of consonants given in Chapter IV. You should do some of each series every day. i. il vi isi. II vit ici. si mil si si si vit. Six mille six scies scient vite. pri dri do vni: 1 r 1m* fini:r Prie Henri de venir lui finir la la dviiz. devise, vit n ezit pa da di:r ton 2 Vite n'hesite pas de dire ton avi. avis. e. 30 se ko to pje e blese. Je sais que ton pied est blesse. me 3 kle e te de sot o kafe. Mes clefs et tes des sont au cafe, vone mar$e a kote do se Venez marcher a cote de ces pre. pres. verse la kafe e lo te. Versez le cafe et le the. 1 This sign is used in phonetics to indicate those syllables in which the vowel is definitely long. A vowel followed by this sign is held longer than the others. In these daily exercises we have put the quantity sign only where the length of the vowel is to be particularly marked ; as the difference in quantity between the vowels is very slight, when you are pronouncing exercises slowly and with care. In these exercises all the vowels should be given full length for the sake of clearness and precision. Farther on, in the stories and poetry the quantity signs are regularly given wherever required. 2 When there is a nasal vowel at the end of a word and the next word begins with a vowel also, the n must be sounded as well as the nasal vowel on account of the liaison. Of course this n is always marked in phonetics. 3 There is a good deal of difference of opinion among phoneticians, as to the pronunciation of the syllable es at the end of the little words "les, " "tes," "ses," etc. But we have given here the pronunciation which is most generally accepted and is considered the most modern. Some French people pronounce these words le, t8, se, etc. If one cares to go into phonetics more thoroughly, he will find that there is distinctly a third sound for the letter "e" in French, intermediate between e and 8, and this is perhaps ths sound which is pronounced in these words- DAILY EXERCISES 51 e. me ta te:t syr la te d orcje. fe so me avek sykse. pre do mireij so tne de lake. il avet yn eil pre d el. a. papa mo vwa lo swair. lo $a a la pat sal. la lam d asje e da la bwat. twa e mwa nu vwajo 1 wazo. a. il j a trwa pulaje da lo bwa. ramase la pwail. 10 klima e frwa. la nasjo ga:ji. o. la bon ora lo bol. 1 om soldo lo kol. pol koji syr lo sol. ofro dy rom a 1 espajiol dy tirol. o. lo po do $o:d et a o. so:v le po:vroz animo. 3ano so so:v avok le so. le flo roo:s lo nivo do 1 o. u. pu:s ta luirdo buil ver la fu:l. u:vro lo $u puir la pu:l. tu le 3alu so de fu. vuz avez ublje le nuij. Y- ty yz yno bry brytal. 11 fy 5yst yno minyt. ma 3yipo prym et yze. il syfi d yno lyit. Mets ta tete sur la taie d'oreiller. Fais ce mets avec succes. Pres de Mireille se tenait un laquais. II avait une aile pres d'elle. Papa me voit le soir. Le chat a la patte sale. La lame d'acier est dans la boite. Toi et moi nous voyons Foiseau. II y a trois poulaillers dans le bois. Ramassez la poele. Le climat est froid. La nation gagne. La bonne aura le bol. L'homme solde le col. Paul cogne sur le sol. Off re du rhum a 1'Espagnol du Tyrol. Le pot d'eau chaude est en haut. Sauve les pauvres animaux. Jeannot se sauve avec les seaux. Les flots rehaussent le niveau de Feau. Pousse la lourde boule vers la foule. Ouvre le chou pour la poule. Tous les jaloux sont des foux. Vous avez oublie les nouilles. Tu eus une bru brutale. II fut juste une minute. Ma jupe prune est usee. II suffit d'une lutte. 52 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS 0. 30 v0 d0z b!0. se d0 vj0 s5 id0. S0 ki sot oer0 so de dj0. il v^ de v0 mervej0. oe. leer flceir so la terosir de boksoeir. 10 boef do 1 avoegl et a arsatoeij. 1 orgoeij do ma soeir et eferjoeir o loe:r. 1 oef dy 5oen doktoeir e da le fce:j. a. lo foza e solqi do mosj0 broton0. 11 mo lo di. mi 050 notro promje do- vwair. 30 to rodon to portoplym. a. lo ba do ta tait e da lo ka. pra 1 afa e se para. 3:r, promje ku do toneir, 3 e vy le poivro be:t rodesadr e voniir muriir syir loeir litjeir . . . de dezastr ! skolastik pice- re, 3 avez avi d a f eir ota. mosj0 peroil, emy, pin'za pu:r so done kurai3 yno dublo priz da sa tabatje:r an ekaij ki gresa, e pada kelko sogod, silasj0z- ma, madam peroil, e Iqi s dtrorogardeir. mo- sj0 e madam peroil, u kom o lez aple ply komynema da lo pe:j, a manjeir d afekty0;s familjarite mosj0 vik- tris e madam abrwazin etc, da tut la forso dy te:rm, de person do 1 asje ta. bje porta kwako trez 036 (loeir maria:3 s ete f et alo:r ko $arl dis rejiet akoir) il vive do potit rat, do se tut pot it rat ki oitrofwa syfizet a kostitye la for- tyin. po:vroz o fo, il no s an apersove pa, eja vjcji sa so kree okde de bozwe d la sosjete nuveil. e ilz etet oer0, a la manjeir d il j a sekat a, da loeir mezonet do est survenu cet orage. Alors, au premier coup de tonnerre, j'ai vu les pauvres betes redescendre et venir mourir sur leur litiere . . . Un desastre ! Scholastique pleu- rait, j'avais envie d ? en faire autant. Monsieur Peyrolles, emu, puisa pour se donner courage une double prise dans sa tabatiere en ecaille qui gringa, et pendant quelques secondes, silencieuse- ment, Madame Peyrolles, et lui s'entreregarderent. Mon- sieur et Madame Peyrolles, ou comme on les appelait plus communement dans le pays, en maniere d'affectueuse familiarit^ Monsieur Vic- trice et Madame Ambroisine etaient, dans toute la force du terme, des personnes de Pancien temps. Bien portants quoique tres ages (leur mariage s'etait fait alors que Charles dix regnait encore) ils vivaient de petites rentes, de ces toutes petites rentes qui autrefois suffisaient a constituer la for- tune. Pauvres au fond, ils ne s'en apercevaient pas, ayant vieilli sans se creer aucun des besoins de la societe nouvelle. Et ils etaient heureux, a la maniere d'il y a cinquante ans, dans leur maisonette de PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS la gra plas, u le moebla fane p0 a p0, le glas latamo. terni garde pu:r 0, gras o suvoniir, yna me:m e imiqabla fre- $ce:r. soelma, a $ak ratuir d avril, madam abrwazin, daz ce o gronje blai a la o e trasforme a majianari, fazet yn 5s u d0 do veir a swa ; e, ka la reysit ete bon, sla loeir per met e da s ofriir kelko dusceir. 1 elavais de veir a swa n e pa kosidere a kataperdri kom travaij artiza, e la burswazi atarde e apovri da sa kwe da proves eim a sa kree esi, sa krwair derose, oe modesta syplema da ravany. mez, elas ! le ve:r a swa da madam abrwazin n ave pa reysi set ane. su- de, la bon figyir pre- okype da masj0 viktris s eklera. som mi be:t? e sa n i pase soelma ply ! me 33 p0 ta 1 a$te, to $a:l . . . notra rat dy 3as da bram-f e, nu n 1 avo same tue dapqi 1 eritais dy povr okl. vwala d0z ane d sla : a la Grand 'Place, ou les meubles fanes peu a peu, les glaces lentement ternies gardaient pour eux, grace au souvenir, une meme et immuable frai- cheur. Seulement, a chaque retour d'avril, Madame Ambroisine, dans un haut grenier blanchi a la chaux et transforme .en magnanerie, faisait une once ou deux de vers a soie ; et, quand la reussite etait bonne, cela leur permettait de s'offrir quelques douceurs. L'elevage des vers a soie n'est pas considere a Canteperdrix comme travail artisan, et la bourgeoisie attardee et appauvrie de ce coin de province aime a se creer ainsi, sans croire deroger, un modeste supplement de revenu. Mais, helas ! les vers a soie de Madame Ambroisine n'avaient pas reussi cette annee. Sou- dain, la bonne figure pre- occupee de Monsieur Victrice s'eclaira. Sommes-nous betes ? et je n'y pensais seulement plus ! mais je peux te Facheter, ton chale . . . Notre rente du Jas de Brame-Faim, nous ne 1'avons jamais touchee depuis Theritage du pauvre oncle. Vona deux annees de cela : & PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION 75 sa sekat fra par a, lo total mot a trwa sa fra sa lez etere, systo s ko ty espere d9 te koko. la dosy, mosj0 e ma- dam peroil s egzalteir : p0t 5 s lese laterne esi? trwa sa fra, me s et yn som ! e so fermje, so frederi, dot il n ave same scelmat apersy la figyir ! yn somein dyra mosj0 e madam pero:l no parleir ko dy vwaja:5. kar so n ete pa presizema $o:z komod ko d atedro lo dome:n do bram-fe, per$e da la motaji, o dosy dy vila:3 d atropjeir, hn'- me:m desa per^e o. katr ce:r pu:r mote, ota pu:r rodesadr : yn abscis do tut de su:r. lo dima$, 5 so truva pre. yn vwazin ave prete son an, e lo bulase so arto u, sy:r d0 $e:z solidmat amare, mosj0 e madam peroil s e- staleir ta bje ko mal, o milj0 do bagaisoz e provizjo akumyle par skolastik. vuz ire drwa syska atropjeir, dize skolas- tik, ki konese lo pe:j ; cent cinquante francs par an, le total monte a trois cents francs sans les interets, juste ce que tu esperais de tes cocons. La-dessus, Monsieur et Ma- dame Peyrolles s'exalterent : Peut-on se laisser lanterner ainsi? Trois cents francs, mais c'est une somme ! Et ce fermier, ce Frederi, dont ils n'avaient jamais seulement apergu la figure ! Une semaine durant Monsieur et Madame Peyrolles ne parlerent que du voyage. Car ce n'etait pas precisement chose commode que d'atteindre le domaine de Brame-Faim, perche dans la montagne, au-dessus du village d'Entrepierres, lui- meme deja perche haut. Quatre heures pour monter, autant pour redescendre : une absence de tout un jour. Le dimanche, on se trouva prets. Une voisine avait prete son ane, et le boulanger SOD charreton ou, sur deux chaises solidement amarrees, Monsieur et Madame Peyrolles s'in- stallerent tant bien que mal, au milieu des bagages et provisions accumules par Scholastique. Vous irez droit jusqu'a, Entrepierres, disait Scholas- tique, qui connaissait le pays ; 76 PRACTICAL FRENCH PHONETICS a atrapjeir, 5 kit la grarut, me tu 1 mod vuz edikara la satje k alor il fodra pradr. vu detelare a mimote, pu:r de30ne, pre d yna suirs ki e suz ce $e:n. la vu lesre 1 $arto, parska le vwatyir na v5 pa ply Iwe, e madam motara sy:r 1 an. sore vu bate 1 an, o mwc ! 3 e ata$e la ba a 1 arjeir da 1 ekipa:3. apre katra bonz ceir da mote, mwatje rula, mwatje trota, koformemat o program da skolastik, a traveir bqisoz e pjeraij, le vwaja3oe:r afe ariveir dava la 3as perdy da bram- fe. sa n e pa bo ! di madam abrwazin, tira syn la brido pu:r kosidere la mazyir rusaitr, a kaju rule, avek so twa ba d u sortet 63 p0 da fyme. le ble so kleir, rapri masj0 viktris, 3 i vw dada le grijo kuriir. e madam abrwazin ko- kly : dam ! pu:r sa sekat fra par a, 5 na p0 purta paz avwair la 5cito dy marki da karaba. a Entrepierres, on quitte la grand'route, mais tout le monde vous indiquera le sentier qu'alors il faudra prendre. Vous detellerez a mi-montee, pour dejeuner, pres d'une source qui est sous un chene. La vous laisserez le charreton, parce que les voitures ne vont pas plus loin, et madame montera sur Tane. Saurez- vous bater 1'ane, au moins ! J'ai attache le bat a Tarriere de 1'equipage. Apres quatre bonnes heures de montee, moitie roulant, moitie trottant, conformement au programme de Scholastique, u travers buissons et pierrailes, les voyageurs enfin arriverent devant le Jas perdu de Brame- Faim. Ce n'est pas beau ! dit madame Ambroisine, tirant sur le bridon pour considerer la masure rougeatre, en cailloux roules, avec son toit bas d'ou sortait un peu de fumee. Les bles sont clairs, reprit Monsieur Vic f rice, j'y vois dedans les grillons courir. Et Madame Ambroisine con- clut : Dame ! pour cent cinquante francs .par an, on ne peut pourtant pas avoir le chateau du marquis de Carabas. PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION 77 masj0 viktris eda, ma- dam abrwazin mi pjet a teir, e tu le d0 s ava- se:r, sqivi da 1 an. me sa k il vwaje, so ki lez ature avet de tel eir do mizeir, k a 1 ide da dmade d 1 ar5J^ne put, '>>T'I' dry <\ bread/ ' a>uun-;e, a^;,>ny;^> aucun-e, pvVw'., hat eric, r,or,e ; aucun ne, not one, none. aupres (de), near, close to. aurais, cond. of avoir (trans- lated had after lorsque). aurait, cond. of avoir. auras, fut. of avoir. aurore, /., dawn. aussi, such, so, too, and so; un danseur aussi leste, such a nimble dancer. aussitot, immediately, at once. autant, as much; de faire autant, (to) do the same thing. autel, m., altar. autour (de), round. autorite, /., authority. autre, other; autre chose, something else, anything else; ne . . . autre chose, nothing else ; d'autres, others. autrefois, formerly. aux, to the (his, its), for the, at the, on the, in the (his, its) ; de la taille qu'on reve aux fees, the size one dreams fairies to be of. avais, imp. ind. of avoir ; j'avais envie de, I felt inclined to; j'avais une frayeur mortelle, I was in a mortal fright ; moi 102 VOCABULARY j' avals pour consigne, my instruct Jons w^re.' fc avait, "imp. ind. of avoir; il y avail', fhero \Vvis'; Jean a Tr ait 'ben 'o3ur,~ Jean was kind- hearted; avait un tel air de misere, looked so miserable. avance, /., advance, start ; en avance de, in advance, be- j forehand. avancer, (to) go on ; s'avancer, (to) go forward. avant, before; avant peu, in a short time ; avant que, be- fore. avare, m., miser. avare, adj., miserly. Ave M., Latin Catholic prayer. avec, with, by; avec un bruit de trompette, as loud as a trumpet ; avec gaite, gayly ; avec Scholastique, I and Scho- lastique ; avec cela, added to that. averse,/., shower (of rain). avez, pres. ind. of avoir. avoir, (to) have ; avoir Tair, (to) seem ; de lui avoir vole sa bourse, of having robbed him of his purse ; apres 1' avoir dechire, after having torn him ; pour T avoir faussement accuse, for hav- ing falsely accused him. avouer, (to) confess. avril, m., April. ay ant, pres. part, of avoir. ayez, imperative and subj. of avoir, azur, m., azure. babil, m., babble, prattle. bagage, m. (generally used in the plural in French), luggage. bague, /., ring. baignade, /., dip, bath. baisser, (to) go down. balance, /., scales (for weigh- ing). balancer, (to) swing or move to and fro. bande, /., troop, gang. bas, m., bottom. bas-se, low; plus bas. lower down ; a bas, down. bastille, /., fortress-prison. bat, m., pack-saddle. bataille, /., battle, fight. bater, (to) saddle. baton, m., stick. battre, (to) beat. bavardage, m., chatter. beau (bel), belle, fine, beautiful, handsome. beaucoup, (very) much. becqueter, (to) pick; se bee- queter, (to) bill and coo. bel, see beau. belle, see beau. benediction, /., blessing, bene- diction, benison. besogne, /., work. besoin, m., need; avoir besoin de, (to) need. VOCABULARY 103 bestiole, /., creature, beastie. bete, /., animal, creature, mount. bete, adj., silly, stupid. beurre, m., butter. bien, m., property, estate. bien, adv., well, very, quite, very well, quite well ; si bien que, so that ; il f aut bien mourir, people MUST die (this word is very much used in French to give greater em- phasis to the accompanying word. It is often better in English not to translate it, but simply to emphasize the accompanying word; for in- stance, il faut bien mourir, people MUST die ; mon valet est bien force de rester chez moi, my man is OBLIGED to stay with me) ; eh bien ! well ! bien portante, in good health; pour bien se re- prendre a la vie, to make another good start in life; bien mieux, better still; ou bien, or else. bientot, soon. bijou, m.j jewel ; bijoux, jewelry. biquet, m., kid. bis, brown. blanc-he, white. blanchir, (to) whiten; blanchi a la chaux, whitewashed. ble, m., corn ; les bles, the corn. bleme, pale ; le front bleme, with a pale face. bleu, blue. blond-e, fair. bobinette, /., string. bocage, m., grove. bohemien-ne, gypsy, gypsy- man, gypsy- woman. boire, (to) drink. bois, m., wood. bon, bon-ne, good, kind, nice; le bon dieu, God, the Host, the Holy Sacrament; bon pour vous ! it's all very well for you! bonne femme, dame; la reussite etait bonne, they were a great success. bonbon, m., sweet, candy. bondir, (to) bound, caper. bonheur, m., happiness; au petit bonheur, as well as we could. bonne, see bon. bonnet, m., cap. bonte, /., kindness, goodness. bord, m., edge. border, (to) skirt. bouillir, (to) boil. bouilloire, /., kettle. boulanger, m., baker; poignets de boulanger, baker's wrists. bouquet, m., bunch (of flowers). bourdon, m., drone, humble- bee, bumble-bee. bourdonnement, m., buzzing. bourdonner, (to) hum, buzz. bourgeoisie, /., middle classes. " bourgeon, m., bud, shoot ; bour- 104 VOCABULARY geon a bois, branch-shoot; bourgeon a fruit, fruit-shoot. bourre, /., bud, shoot. bourreau, m., executioner. bourse, /., purse. bout, m., end ; faire un bout de sieste, (to) take a little nap. bouton, m., button. bras, m., arm. brave, brave, good, honest, breviaire, m., breviary. bridon, m., small bridle. briller, (to) shine. brin, m., blade (of grass), bit. brindille, /., twig. broussailles, /. pL, brushwood. bruit, m., noise ; du bruit, a noise ; avec un bruit cje trompette, as loud as a trumpet. bruler, (to) burn, brusquement, suddenly, hastily, bruyere, /., heather, broom, buisson, m., bush. but, m., mark, buveur, m., drinker. ?a, that, it. cabanette, /., breeding-cage. cabinet, m., small room ; dans le cabinet noir, in the dark, cachot, m., dungeon. cadenasser, (to) padlock, cage, /., cage, caillou, m., pebble, stone; cail- loux roules, shingle of round stones. calice, m., calyx. canon, m., gun, cannon. capuchon, m., hood. car, for. Carabas, the Marquis de Cara- bas is a well-known character in the French fairy tale of Puss in Boots (Le chat botte). carreau, m., tile; a carreaux, check. carrefour, m., cross-roads. carriole, /., small cart with a hood. cas, m., case; en tout cas, at all events. casser, (to) break. cathedrale, /., cathedral. cause, /., cause ; a cause de, because of. ce, adj., this, that, the; ce . . .-ci, this ; ce . . .-la, that. ce, pron., this, that, it (some- times not to be translated, sometimes translated by a per- sonal or demonstrative pro- noun, he, she, they, these, those, etc.) ; ce qui, ce que, what, which (sometimes not translated) ; jusqu'a ce que, until; c'est pour mieux te voir, all the better to see you with ; c'est pour mieux te serrer, all the better to hug you with; c'est pour mieux t' entendre, all the better to hear you with; VOCABULARY 105' c'est pour te croquer, they are to eat you with; tout ce que, all that; c'est que, that is because (or often not translated) ; c'est bon la tarte, the tart is nice. ceci, this, it. cela, that, it ; voila deux annees de cela, that's two years ago. celui, m., the one. cependant, meanwhile. cercle, m., club. ceremonie, /., ceremony. cerise, /., cherry ; son joli capu- chon couleur de cerise, her pretty cherry-colored hood. certain-e, certain. certes, certainly. cesser (de), (to) stop. cet, adj., m., this, that. cette, adj., /., this, that. ceux, those, these, the ones, the people. chacun-e, every one, each one. chagrin, m., sorrow, grief. chaise, /., chair. chale, m., shawl. champ, m., field; donnez la clef des champs, give their liberty ; aux champs les rossignols, aux champs les hirondelles, to the fields with the nightingales, to the fields with the swallows. changer, (to) change. chanson, /., song. chant, m., song, singing. chanter, (to) sing. chanteur, m., singer. chapeau, m., hat; coup de chapeau, bow. chaperon, m., hood; le petit Chaperon Rouge, little Red Riding Hood. chaque, each, every. chardonneret, m., goldfinch. charger, (to) load; se charger, (to) undertake, take upon oneself; se charger d'une commission, (to) take a mes- sage, take something. chariot, m., wagon. charitable, charitable. Charles Dix, brother of Louis XVI; he was king of France 1824-1830. charme, m., charm. j charmant-e, charming. j charretier, m., carter, wagoner, i charreton, m., little cart. I charrette, /., cart. chasser, (to) drive away. chateau, m., castle, hall, country seat, mansion. chaud-e, warm. chaux, /., lime ; blanchi a la chaux, whitewashed. Chemille, a small city in Tou- raine in the center of France. chemin, m., way, track, path, road; me ramenait sur son chemin, brought me back towards it ; en chemin, on the way. 106 VOCABULARY chene, m., oak. cher, chere, dear. chercher, (to) look for; en- voyer chercher, (to) send for. cherra, future of choir. cheval, m., horse. cheveux, m. pi. (generally used in plural in French), hair. chevillette, /., pin, latch. chevre, /., goat. chez, to, with ; chez ma mere- grand, to my grandmother's ; chez elle, at her house. chien, m., dog. choir, (to) fall. choisir, (to) choose. chose, /., thing; autre chose, something else, anything else ; ne . . . autre chose, nothing else. chou, m., cabbage. Chretien, m., Christian. chronometre, m., chronometer. cidre, m., cider. ciel, m., sky, heaven ; le regard au ciel, looking up to the sky (heaven) . cite, /., city. clair-e, clear, bright, limpid; les bles sont clairs, the corn is thin ; aux couleurs claires, bright-colored. clef, /., key; mettre la clef sur la porte, (to) run away (with- out paying one's debts) ; donnez la clef des champs, give their liberty. clou, m., nail. cocon, m., cocoon. coeur, m., heart- coin, m., corner ; coin de prov- ince, secluded country place. colombe, /., dove. colonnette, /., small column. combien, how much, how many. comique, comic, laughable. commander (a), (to) command. comme r as, like, as of; comme on n'en trouve pas, such as you do not find; comme vous avez de grands yeux, what big eyes you have ; comme vous avez de gros bras, what big arms you have; comme vous avez de grandes oreilles, what big ears you have; comme vous avez de longues dents, what long teeth you have ; ah ! c'est comme cela, ah ! that's how it is ; de nuit comme de jour, night as well as day. commencer, (to) begin. comment, how ; il sut comment fake, he knew what to do, he knew how to manage; com- ment cela ? how was that ? commission, /., message; se charger d'une commission, (to) take a message, take something. commode, easy. commode, /., chest of drawers, bureau. VOCABULARY 107 communement, commonly. compatissant-e, compassionate. compliment, compliment ; recevez mes compliments, I congratulate you. comprendre, (to) understand ; sans comprendre, understanding. without compris-e, p. p. of comprendre. compte, m., account, score; pour le compte de, on ac- count of. compter, (to) count. conclure, (to) conclude. conclut, pres. and pret. of con- clure. condamner, (to) sentence. conduire, (to) take, lead. conduisait, imperfect of con- duire. conduit, p. p. of conduire. conference, /., lecture. confitures, /. pi., jam. conformement (a), according to. confortable, comfortable. connaissaient, imperfect of con- naitre. connaissait, imperfect of con- naitre. connait, pres. ind. of connaitre. connaitre, (to) know. connut, subjunctive of connaitre. considerer, (to) consider, sur- vey. consigne, /., instructions (plural). constituer, (to) constitute. conte, m., tale; contes de fees, fairy tales. content-e, happy. contenter, (to) please, satisfy ; se contenter (de), (to) con- tent oneself (with). contester, (to) dispute. continuer, (to) go on. contraire, m., contrary; con- traire aux lois, unlawfully. contre, against. convaincre, (to) convict. convainquit, pret. of convaincre. coq, m., cock. coque, /., shell, egg shell ; ceufs a la coque, boiled eggs. coquet-te, vain. coquetiery m., egg-cup. corbeille, /.,. basket; au creux de ses mains unies en cor- beille, in the hollow depths of his linked hands. corde, /., string, tether, rope. corsage, m., bodice. costume, m., costume, dress. c6te, /., hill; a mi-cote, half- way up the hill. coteau, m., hill, slope. cou, m., neck; le loup prit ses jambes a son cou, the wolf took to his heels. coucher, (to) lie; se coucher, (to) lie down; couche, lying in bed. couler, (to) flow ; tant que cette eau coulera, as long as this water flows. 108 VOCABULARY couleur, /., color; son joli capuchon couleur de cerise, her pretty cherry-colored hood; aux couleurs claires, bright-colored. coup, m., tug, stroke, hit, clap; coup de fouet, lash; tout a coup, all of a sudden, sud^ denly; a coup stir, to a cer- tainty, certainly; coup de chapeau, bow. coupable, m. and /., guilty person. couper, (to) cut. courage, m., courage. courant, m., current, course ; remontant le courant des jours disparus, going back over past times. courir, (to) run (about). couronne, /., wreath. courroux, m., wrath. course, /., race. court-e, short. cousin-e, m. and/., cousin. craignions, imperfect of crain- 'dre. craindre, (to) be afraid of, fear. craquer, (to) crack. creer, (to) create ; se creer, (to) make for oneself. creme, /., cream, custard. cremeu-x, -se, creamy. creux, m., hollow. crier, (to) cry. crime, m., crime. critique, adj., critical; le mo- ment etait critique, the mo- ment was a critical one. crochet, ra., hook. croire (a), (to) think, believe (in) ; sans croire deroger, without considering that they are lowering themselves; ils laisserent croire, they let it be thought; il faut croire, I suppose. croquer, (to) eat. crus, pret. of croire. crut, pret. of croire ; qui crut a une accalmie, who thought the storm had subsided. cueillir, (to) pick, gather. cuire, (to) cook; de cuire, of cooking; faisant cuire, cook- ing. cuisson, /., cooking. cuit, p. p. of cuire. cuivre, m., brass, copper. culinaire, culinary. cultiver, (to) cultivate. cure, m., parish priest. d'ailleurs, besides, moreover. dame, inter j., well ! why ! danger eu-x, -se, dangerous. dans, in, into, out of; puiser . . . dans, to take . . . out of; dans la misere, desti- tute; toujours dans tes his- toires et tes methodes, etc., always fussing about your methods, etc. VOCABULARY 109 danse, /., dance ; tous entraient en danse, all joined the dance. danser, (to) dance; pour dan- ser, for dancing. danseur, ra., dancer. de, of, from, to, out of, in, on, for, with, by, any (after a negative) ; (de should often not be translated) ; d'abord, (at) first; de plus, besides, else ; de T, de la, some, any ; d'assez mechante humeur, in rather a nasty temper ; bijoux de jeune fille, jewelry she had as a girl ; de meme, in the same way. deboucher, (to) uncork, draw the cork (of). dechirer, (to) tear. decider, (to) decide. decision, /., decision. decouvert, p. p. of decouvrir. decouvrir, (to) discover. dedans, in (it). defaut, m.j fault ; le beurre helas ! faisant defaut, there being alas ! a lack of butter. definir, (to) define ; mal defini, ill-defined. degre, ra., step. degringoler, (to) tumble down ; qui degringolait, falling down. deja, already. dejeuner, (to) have lunch. dejeuner, ra., lunch. delicat-e, delicate. delicatement, delicately. delicieu-x, -se, delicious. delit, ra., misdemeanor, delin- quency ; en flagrant delit, in the very act. demain, to-morrow. demande, /., request. demander, (to) ask (for) ; de demander, asking for. demeurer, (to) live. demon, ra., demon, fiend. denicher, (to) hunt out, ferret out. denoncer, (to) denounce. dent, /., tooth. depouiller, (to) strip, deprive ; on Tavait depouille, he had been stripped. depuis, since ; depuis que, since ; depuis quelque temps, some time before, for some time. derni-er, -ere, last. deroger, (to) derogate; sans croire deroger, without con- sidering that they are lower- ing themselves. derriere, behind; pattes de derriere, hind legs. desastre, ra., disaster. descendre, (to) go down, come down. desquelles, of which. dessecher, (to) dry, wither. dessus, adv., on it; la-dessus, thereupon ; au-dessus de, above. destin, ra., fate. 110 VOCABULARY deteler, (to) take out the horse (s). detour, turn, bend, way round. deux, two ; tous les deux, both (of them). devais, imperfect of devoir; je devais, it was my business to. devant, in front of, opposite, before ; renacler devant, (to) grumble at. devenir, (to) become, get. devenu, p. p. of devenir; sont devenus, became. devez, pres. ind. of devoir, must. devient, pres. ind. of devenir. devoir, (to) be obliged (to), have to, owe. devoir, w., duty, devons, pres. ind. of devoir, devorer, (to) devour, devote, /., pious woman, devra, fut. of devoir, will have to. diable, m., devil, dieu, m., God ; le bon Dieu, God, the Host, the Holy Sacrament. different-e, different. dimanche, m., Sunday. dire, (to) tell, say; ce que je veux dire, what I mean, disais, imperfect of dire, disait, imperfect of dire, disant, pres. part, of dire; en disant ces mots, as he said these words. dise, subj. of dire; point n'est besoin que je le dise, there is no need for me to say so. discussion, /., quarrel. disparaitre, (to) disappear. disparu, p. p. of disparaitre; les jours disparus, past times. disparut, pret. of disparaitre. dispute, /., dispute, contest, squabble. dit, pres. ind. of dire. dit, pret. of dire. dit, p. p. of dire ; sa priere dite, when his prayer was said. doigt, m., finger; j'en ai encore les doigts picotes, the pricks are still on my fingers from it. doleance, /., grievance. domaine, m., domain, property, state. don, m., gift. done, so ; achetez-vous done, go and buy; laisse done les arbres tranquilles, do leave the trees alone. donner, (to) give. dont, of which, with which, whose, on which ; dont il se moucha, with which he blew his nose ; dont il se servit encore, which he used again ; dont ils n'avaient jamais seulement apercu la figure, whose face they had never even seen. dormir, (to) sleep. double, double. VOCABULARY 111 doucement, gently, softly. douceur, /., creature-comfort, luxury. douleur, /., pain, doute, ra., doubt; sans doute, probably, doubtless, douter, (to) doubt; se douter, (to) suspect. doux, douce, sweet, soft, gentle, douzaine, /., dozen, drap, ra., sheet. dresser, (to) straighten ; se dresser, (to) stand (straight) up. droit, ra., right; le bon droit, the right. droit, adv., straight. droite, /., right ; a droite, to or on the right. drole, funny. du, of, some (often not to be translated) ; du premier coup, at the first hit; du second, at the second; du bruit, a noise, duquel, rel. pron., m. s., of which; aupres duquel, near which. dur-e, hard, hard-boiled, durant, during, for ; une se- maine durant, for a whole week, durer, (to) last. eau, /., water, eblouissant-e, dazzling, eborgner, (to) put out (a per- son' 's) eye ; eborgner des arbres, (to) cut off the superfluous buds or shoots. ebouriffe, in disorder; deux galopins ebouriffe s, two shock-headed urchins. ecaille, /., tortoise shell, scale. echelle, /., ladder. echelon, ra., rung. eclairer, (to) light up ; s'eclairer, (to) light up. eclore, (to) be hatched, hatch, open. ecole, /., school. ecolier, ra., school boy, scholar; une baignade d'ecoliers, a bath with the boys. ecorcher, (to) flay, fleece ; tu as suffisamment ecorche le pauvre monde que les epines te le rendent, you have fleeced the poor long enough, now the thorns shall fleece you. ecouter, (to) listen (to). ecraser, (to) crush; on s'ecra- sait les pieds, they trod on each other's feet. s' eerier, (to) cry (out) ; la voix de son ancien maitre s'ecrier, his old master's voice crying. ecu, m., crown. effet, ra., effect ; en effet, in fact. egratigner, (to) scratch. egrener, (to) tell (one's beads) ; en egrenant des Pater et des 112 VOCABULARY Ave, by reciting Paters and Aves. eh, inter -j.; eh bien, well, very well then ! eh quoi ! what then! elevage, m., breeding. elle, she, her; pour elle, for her sake. embrasser, (to) kiss, embrace, hug. emotion, /., emotion. empecher, (to) prevent. employer, (to) use. emporter, (t ) carry off. emu, p. p. of emouvoir, touched ; la voix emue, in a feeling voice. en, adu. and pron., of it, it (often not translated) ; tu vas t'en aller . . ., you must go and . . . ; il en fut de meme, the same thing happened ; je saurai bien m'en passer, I can quite well do without them; j'en ai encore les doigts picotes, the pricks are still on my fingers from it , nous avons des tyrans parce ( ue nous en sommes, we have tyrants because we are tyrants. en, prep., to, at, by, into, on ; made of (sometimes not lo be translated) ; en chemin, on the way ; en meme temps, at the same time : en tout cas, at all events ; en maniere de, by way of. encore, again, yet, still (some- times not translated) ; encore un petit air, one more little tune; tarte encore, another tart. endroit, m., place, spot; a Tendroit de, with respect to. enfant, m. and /., child ; d'en- fant, childish. enfantin-e, childish, girlish. enfariner, (to) beflour, sprinkle with flour; s'enfariner de, (to) beflour oneself with. enfermer, (to) shut up; ces enfermes, these prisoners. enfin, at length, at last. enivrer, (to) intoxicate ; s'eniv- rer, (to) become intoxicated. ennuyer, (to) annoy, bore. ensuite, then. entendre, (to) hear, listen to; on entendait du bruit, a noise was heard; qui force a danser tous ceux qui T en- tend ent, which will force anybody who hears it to dance ; et s'entendre dire, and to hear some one say to you. entourer, (to) surround. entrain, m., spirits, high spirits ; plus il y mettait d' entrain, the more vigorously he did it. entre, between. s'entre-choquer, (to) knock against each other, come into collision. VOCABULARY 113 entrer, (to) go in (to) ; qui est entre dans Biquette, that went into Biquette ; tous entraient en danse, all joined the dance. s'entre-regarder, (to) look at one another. entrevoir, (to) perceive, catch sight of. entrevoyait, imperfect of entre- voir. envie, /., envy ; avoir envie de, (to) feel inclined to. envoyer, (to) send; envoyer chercher, (to) send for. epais-se, thick. epine, /., thorn. equipage, ra., carriage, cart. es, pres. ind. of etre. espalier, ra., wall fruit tree. esperer, (to) hope (for). esprit, ra., disposition, turn of mind ; simple d' esprit, simple minded. essayer, (to) try. est, pres. ind. of etre, is (some- times translated was) ; est a, belongs to ; il est, there are. et, and. etagere, /., shelves (pi.). etait, imperfect of etre, was. etaient, imperfect of etre, were (with reflexive verbs translate had). etant, pres. part, of etre. ete, ra., summer ; un jour d'ete, a summer day. ete, p. p. of etre. eteindre, (to) put out. etes, pres. ind. of etre. etions, imperfect of etre. etourdir, (to) stun ; tout etourdi deja par un bon dejeuner, dizzy as he already was after a good lunch. etrange, strange. etre, (to) be, etroit-e, narrow. eut, pret. of avoir. eut, imperfect subjunctive of avoir, had, would have ; pour qu'elle eut le temps, for her to have the time; sans at- tendre que le vert eut pousse aux muriers, without waiting for the green to have come out on the mulberry trees. eux, them. eux-memes, themselves ; les chiens eux-memes, the very dogs. eveiller, (to) awake, rouse. evoquer, (to) call up, evoke. s'exalter, (to) become very ex- cited. excellent-e, excellent. exister, (to) exist. experience, /., experience. expier, (to) atone for, expiate. expliquer, (to) explain; s'ex- pliquer, (to) explain matters. exquis-e, exquisite. exterminer, (to) exterminate ; voila pourtant deux mois que 114 VOCABULARY nous nous exterminions, yet we had been wearing our- selves out for two months. extraordinaire, extraordinary. extreme, excessive, extreme. extremite, /., extremity; a toute extremite, dying. face, /., front; qui s'en venait en face de lui, who was com- ing towards him. fache, sorry. facher, (to) make angry; se facher, (to) be or get angry. facon, /., way ; 1'eau faisait des facons pour bouillir, the water made difficulties about boil- ing. faible, weak, feeble. faim, /., hunger. faire, (to) do, manage, make; se faire, (to) become, get; faire une faveur, (to) grant a favor; faire un bout de sieste, (to) take a little nap ; faire part de quelque chose a quelqu'un, (to) acquaint somebody with something ; d'aller faire un tour, of going for a turn; faire une conference, (to) give a lec- ture ; faire place a, (to) make room for. fais, pres. ind. and imperative of faire. faisait, imperfect of faire ; 1'eau faisait des facons pour bouillir, the water made difficulties about boiling. faisant, pres. part, of faire ; le beurre helas ! faisant defaut, there being alas ! a lack of butter; faisant ma partie, singing my part; faisant cuire, cooking. fait, pres. ind. of faire. fait, p. p. of faire ; reflexion faite^ all things considered; ayant fait quelques pas, hav- ing gone a few steps; leur mariage s'etait fait, their mar- riage had taken place. fallait, imperfect of falloir; il fallait la manger^ I had to eat it, it had to be eaten; il fallait tourner, you should have turned ; il fallait prendre une decision, a decision had to be made. falloir, (to) be necessary, have to. fallu, p. p. of falloir; depuis qu'il a fallu s'abonner, since we have had to subscribe; il nous a fallu, we had (to). fameu-x, -se, famous. familiarite, /., familiarity. faner, (to) fade ; les meubles fanes peu a peu, the furniture which had faded little by little. faudra, future of falloir; qu'alors il faudra prendre, which you must take then. VOCABULARY 115 faudrait, cond. of falloir ; il me faudrait une guitare, I must have a guitar, faussement, falsely. faut, pres. ind. of falloir; il faut bien mourir, people must die; que me faut-il de plus, what else do I need; il faut croire, I suppose. fauteuil, ra., armchair, faveur, /., bit of ribbon; faire des faveurs, (to) grant favors. fee, /., fairy; contes de fees fairy tales. femme, /., wife, (married) woman. fer, ra., iron. f erai, future of faire ; je ne me ferai plus griffer par le minet, I won't let the cat scratch me again. fermier, ra., farmer, feu, ra., fire, feuille, /., leaf, f euillete-e : la glace f euilletee en vitres, the thin layers of ice. fidelement, faithfully. fier, (to) trust, confide in ; s'en fier a, (to) trust to, rely on, depend on. fievre, /., fever, figure, /., face. 1, ra., thread, filer, (to) spin ; en train de filer, who was spinning. fileuse, /., spinner. fille, f., girl. fin-e, fine fin, f., end. finir, (to) finish ; c.a ne va done plus finir, will they never be done. firent, pret. of faire. fit, pret. of faire, did, made, said; meme il n'en fit qu'une bouchee, he even swallowed her at a single mouthful; se fit rendre la sarbacane, got back the pea- shooter; fit voir, showed; fit reculer, moved back. flacon, ra., bottle. flagrant-e, flagrant ; en flagrant delit, in the very act. flamme, /., flame. fleur, /., flower; en fleur, in flower, flowering. fleuri-e, decked with flowers. Florian, French writer of the eighteenth century. flot, ra., flood, torrent, wave, billow. flute, /., .flute. foi, /., faith. foin, ra., hay. foire, /., fair. fois, /., time ; une fois, once. foisonner, (to) swarm ; qui foisonnait d'herbes folles, which had abundance of weeds. fond, ra., bottom, background, ground; pauvres au fond, 116 VOCABULARY although they were in the main poor. fonte, /., cast-iron, iron. force, /., force, power, strength ; dans toute la force du terme des personnes de 1'ancien temps, thoroughly old-fash- ioned people. forcer, (to) force, oblige; qui force a danser tous ceux qui Tentendent, which will force anybody who hears it to dance. forfaiture, /., forfeiture; en pleine forfaiture, in the very midst of her crime. forme, /., shape. former, (to) form, frame. fort, adv., very. fort-e, adj., strong. fort, m., fort. fortune, /., fortune ; la fortune, a fortune. fosse, m.y ditch. fou, folle, mad; herbes folles, weeds. fouet, m., whip ; coup de fouet, lash. foule, /., crowd. fourre, m., tnicket. fourrer, (to) poke, stick. fraicheur, /., freshness. frais, fraiche, fresh, cool, bloom- ing ; du pain frais, new bread ; au frais, in the cool. franc, franc-he, frank ; moineau franc, house-sparrow. frapper, (to) knock. frayer, (to) open ; se frayer un passage, (to) make one's way, break through. frayeur, /., fright; j'avais une frayeur mortelle, I was in a mortal fright. frene, m., ash tree. friand-e, fond (of), partial (to). friandise, /. (generally plural in English), sweets, delicacies, dainties. froisser, (to) offend. front, m., forehead; le front bleme, with a pale face. fruit, m., fruit. fuite, /., flight. fumee, /., smoke. fumigation, /., fumigation. furieu-x, -se, furious. fussiez, subj. of etre. fut, pret. of etre; il en fut de meme, the same thing hap- pened; ce qui fut long, which took a long time. fut, subj. of etre; il vaudrait peut-etre mieux que ce fut toi, perhaps it had better be you. gages, m. pi., wages. gagner, (to) earn. gai-e, gay. gaiment, gaily. gaite, /., gayety; avec gaite gayly. galette, /., cake. VOCABULARY 117 galop, m., gallop; Teau prend le galop, the water is begin- , ning to gallop. galopin, m.j urchin. gamin-e, m. and/., child. garantir, (to) warrant; je garantis de les reussir, I warrant I'll do them well. gar con, m., boy. garder, (to) keep. gauche, adj., left. gauche, /., left; a gauche, on or to the left. gavotte, /., gavotte. gener, (to) hinder; il parait que les soucis ne te genent pas toi, you don't seem to be troubled with cares; gene, uncomfortable, uneasy. gener eu-x, -se, generous. genet, m., broom (often put in the plural in French). genou, m., knee ; je me mettais a deux genoux devant une tarte a la creme, I was ready to go on my knees before a cream tart. gens, m. andf. pi., people, folks. gentil-le, pretty, nice. geste, m., action; le regard qui a 1'air de se moquer du geste, a look which seems a mock- ery of the bow. glace, /., looking-glass, mirror, ice. glisser, (to) slip (in). glousser, (to) cluck. gonfler, (to) swell, innate, dis- tend. gourmandise, /., greediness. gout, m., taste. gouter, (to) taste; de gouter, from tasting. grace, /., favor, grace ; grace a, thanks to, owing to. grain, m., grain, graine, /., seed, eggs, grand-e, large, big, great; huit grands jours, eight whole days, a whole week, grand 'mere, grandmother. Grand Place, the central square in a city. grand'route, /., high road, grand 'tante, /., great-aunt, gras-se, fat. greffe, /., graft, grafting, greffier, m., clerk, grenier, m., attic. griffer, (to) scratch, grille,/., bars (pi.), grating. grillon, m., cricket (insect). grimper, (to) climb, grincer, (to) creak, gris-e, grey, grive, /., thrush, gronder, (to) scold ; qui gronde, scolding, gros, grosse, big. guetter, (to) watch, lie in wait for. guetres, /. pi., gaiters. gueux, m., beggar, ragamuffin, scoundrel. 118 VOCABULARY guider, (to) guide, guilleret-te, merry, guitare,/., guitar. habit, m.j coat, clothes (pL). habiter, (to) live. habitude, /., habit; d'habitude, generally, usually ; vous n'etes pas comme d'habi- tude, you are not as usual; plus attendrie qu'a t son habi- tude, more tender than usual. haletant-e, gasping, panting. hangar, m., shed, outhouse. hasard, m., chance ; par hasard, accidentally, as it chanced. haut-e, high, tall; de plus en plus haut, higher and higher. helas ! excl., alas ! herbe, /., grass ; herbes folles, weeds. heritage, m., legacy. heure, /., hour, time; sept heures, seven o'clock. heureusement, fortunately. heureu-x, -se, happy. hirondelle, /., swallow. histoire,/., story, tale ; tou jours dans tes histoires, (you are) always fussing. hiver, m., winter. hochequeue, m., wag-tail. homme, m., man. honteu-x, -se, ashamed. horrible, horrible. huche, /., hutch, bin. huile, /., oil. humeur, /., temper, hurler, (to) howl. hussard, m., hussar. idee, /., idea. il, he, it, there ; il y avait, there was; il n'y a qu'a tirer la chevillette, you need only pull the string; il nous a fallu, we had (to) ; il y a cinquante ans, fifty years ago. imaginer, (to) imagine, desire. immediatement, immediately. immobile, motionless. impossible, impossible. indici le, unutterable, unspeak- able. indienne, /., printed calico, print, muslin. indigner, (to) shock ; s'indigner, (to) become indignant. indiquer, (to) show, point out. indulgence,/., indulgence; avec ces indulgences-la, by indul- gence of that kind. ingrat-e, ungrateful, thankless. installer, (to) settle ; s 'installer, (to) install oneself. instant, m., moment, instant. instinct, m., instinct. interet, m., interest ; les in- terets, the interest. intime, intimate, inmost, deep. invisible, invisible. invoquer, (to) call upon. irai, future of aller. irez, future of aller. VOCABULARY 119 irradier, (to) radiate; irradies de, aureoled with, ivre, drunk, intoxicated. jadis, formerly. jamais, never; a jamais, for ever. jambe, /., leg; le loup prit ses jambes a son cou, the wolf took to his heels; leverent la jambe, raised their legs. jardin, m., garden. jas, m., Provencal word for farm. je, I ; j'en ai encore les doigts picotes, the pricks are still on my fingers from it. jeter, (to) throw. jeu, m., game ; au jeu, at play. jeudi, m., Thursday. jeune, young; jeune fille, (un- married) girl. joie, /., joy. joli-e, pretty. joue, /., cheek; jusqu'a ce qu'elle ait les joues plus rouges que son chapeau, until her cheeks were redder than her hood. jouer, (to) play ; jouer de, (to) play (an instrument) ; con- tinuait a jouer, went on play- ing; cessant de jouer, stop- ping playing ; voila bien la premiere fois que " Plaisir d'amour " me joue ce tour-la, it is certainly the first time " Plaisir d'amour " has played me that trick. jour, m., day; les jours dis- parus, past times. journee, /., day. joyeu-x, -se, joyous. juge, m., judge. juger, (to) try. jusqu'a, up to, to ; jusqu'a ce que, until. juste, just ; notre cure n'etait patient que tout juste, our priest's ^patience w T as only just worthy of the name. justesse, /., justness, accuracy. justice, /., court of justice ; ce qui me revient en toute jus- tice, what is justly due to me. 1', see le and la. la, def. art., /., the (or not to be translated; or sometimes trans- lated by a or by the pronouns his, her, their, etc.). there; la-bas, over there; laissant la son patient, leav- ing his patient (alone) ; la- dessus, thereupon. la, pers. pron., /., her, it ; met la main, put his (my, your. etc.) hand. lache, cowardly. laisser, (to) leave, let, allow; ils laisserent croire, they let it be thought. lait, m.. milk. laiteu-x, -se, milky. 120 VOCABULARY lambeau, m., bit, piece. lanterner, (to) put off ; peut-on se laisser lanterner ainsi, you can't allow yourself to be put off like that. laquelle, /., which, what. lard, m., bacon. lavande, /., lavender. le, def. art., m., the (sometimes not translated or sometimes by a or by the pronouns his, her, their, etc.) ; le dimanche, on Sunday; le soir, in the evening; Tete, in summer; 1'hiver, in winter; le matin, in the morning. le, pers. pron., m., him, it, that. legende, /., legend. legerement, lightly, slightly. lendemain, m., next day; le lendemain de ce jour, the day after this one. lentement, slowly. les, def. art., pi., the (sometimes not translated and sometimes translated by the pronouns his, her, their, etc.). les, pers. pron., pi., them. leste, nimble, light, clever. lettre,/., letter. leur, poss. adj., their. leur, pers. pron., them, to (from, for, at, on) them. lever, (to) raise, lift up; leve, up. Hard, m., an old coin, worth a quarter of a cent. liberte, /., freedom. Her, (to) bind, tie up. lieu, m., place; au lieu de, instead of. lire, (to) read. lisait, imperfect of lire. lit, m., bed. Htiere, /., litter, straw. Hvre, m., book. livre, /., pound. loi, /., law; contraire aux lois, unlawfully. loin, far; plus loin, further, farther. Ton, people, you, we. long, long-ue, long ; au long de, le long de, by the side of, along ; ce qui fut long, which took a long time. longtemps, (a) long (time). lorsque, when. loup, m., wolf. lourd-e, heavy. lourdement, heavily. lui, him, her, to him or her (sometimes not to be trans- lated) ; aller lui mettre un grain de sel sur la queue, (to)' go and put a grain of salt on his tail. lui-meme, himself, he, itself. luire, (to) shine ; quand luira le jour, when the day shines. luisaient, imperfect of luire. lumiere, /., light. lunettes, /. pi., spectacles. Lure, small chain of mountains VOCABULARY 121 in the southeast of France, a continuation of Mount Ven- toux. luth, m.j lute. lychnis, m., campion. lyre, /., lyre. m', see me. ma, my. magique, magic, magical. magistral;, m., magistrate. magnanerie, /., silk- worm nurs- ery. maigre, thin. main, /., hand ; mains de cure, priest's hands. maint-e, many a. maintenant, now. mais, but. maison, /., house. maisonette, /., little house. maitre, master. maitresse, /., mistress; la maitresse poutre, the prin- cipal beam, center beam. mal, badly ; tant bien que mal, as well as we (they) could. malade, ill. malade, m. and /., sick person, patient. malheur, m., misfortune ; mu- sicien de malheur, con- founded musician. malheureu-x, -se, unhappy, unfortunate, wretched man (woman) . maiin, knowing, sharp ; un malin, a sharp one; Fceil malin, with a knowing look. maman, /., mama, mother. manche, /., sleeve. mangea, pret. of manger. manger, (to) eat ; avait fini de manger, had finished eating. maniere, /., way, manner. manque, m., want, lack. manquer, (to) miss, fail. marche, m., market. marcher, (to) go ; tout mar- chait bien, all was going well. mari, m., husband. mariage, m., marriage. marjolaine, /., marjoram. marmite, /., pot. marquis, m., marquis. Martin, Saint, Bishop of Tours, in the fifth century. masure, /., dilapitated house. matin, m., morning. mauvais-e, adj., bad, wicked. me, me, myself, to (for, at, from) me, to (for, at, from) myself. mechant-e, cruel, wicked, bad, nasty. mecreant, m., disbeliever, un- believer. melancholic, /., melancholy. meler, (to) mix; sans qu'on s'en melat, without our inter- fering. meme, adj and adv., even, same ; de meme, in the same way. 122 VOCABULARY menetrier, m., fiddler. mensonge, m., lie; il convain- quit de mensong-e le fermier avare, he convicted the mi- serly farmer of lying. merci, ra., mercy, pity; sans merci, merciless, pitiless. mere, /., mother. mere-grand, /., grandmother. merite, ra., merit ; tes merites, your deserts. meriter, (to) deserve. merle, ra., blackbird. merveilleu-x, -se, marvelous. messe, /., mass. mesure, /., time (in music) ; ralentissait par trop la me- sure, was playing rather too slowly. mesurer, (to) measure, calcu- late. methode, /., method. mettre, (to) put (on) ; se mettre en route, (to) start ; mettre a la raison, (to) bring to his (her, etc.) senses ; plus il y mettait d' entrain, the more vigorously he did it; en me mettant au lit, as I went to bed ; qu'on me mette au pain sec, let me be put on dry bread; on vous y mettra certes, you shall most certainly be. meuble; ra., piece of furniture; meubles, furniture. meure, pres. subj. of mourir. mi-cote : a mi-cote, halfway up the hill. midi, ra., midday, noon. mi el, ra., honey. mieux, better, best ; c'est pour mieux te voir, the better to see you with; c'est pour mieux te serrer, the better to hug you with; c'est pour mieux f entendre, the better to hear you with. mignon~ne, pretty, delicate, tiny, darling. milieu, ra., middle. mille, a thousand. mince, thin, slim. minet, ra., puss, pussy. minute, /., minute. miracle, m., miracle. mirent, pret. of mettre; se mirent a, began to. mis-e, p. p. of mettre. miserable, miserable ; un vieux petit homme d'aspect mise- rable, a miserable-looking, little old man. miser e, /., misery, poverty; dans la misere, destitute; avait un tel air de misere, looked so miserable. mit, pret. of mettre; se mit a quatre pattes, went on all fours ; se mit a, began to ; mit pied a terre, alighted. modere, moderate. modeste, modest, moderate. moi, I, me (sometimes only used VOCABULARY 123 for emphasis, not to be trans- lated). moineau, m., sparrow; moineau franc, house-sparrow. moins, less; au moins, du moins, at least, at any rate. mois, m., month. moitie, /., half. mollet, m., calf (of the leg) ; oeufs mollets, boiled eggs (which are neither soft nor hard but between the two). moment, m., moment, time , a ce moment-la, just t\en, au moment ou, just when. mon, my. monde, m., world; le pauvre monde, the poor; tout le monde, everybody. monnaie, /., coin, money. monsieur, sir (often at the be- ginning of the sentence in French, when we should put Sir in the middle or at the end) ; Monsieur le juge, My Lord. montagne, /., mountain, moun- tains. montee, /., ascent; a mi- montee, halfway up. monter, (to) get up, go up, mount; se monter, (to) amount. montrer, (to) show. se moquer (de), (to) laugh at; le regard qui a Tair de se moquer du geste, a look which seems a mockery oi the bow. mordre, (to) bite, mortel-le, mortal. mot, m., word; je te prends au mot, I'll take your word for it. mouche, m., fly. moucher, (to) blow the nose of ; se moucher (de), (to) blow one's nose (with). mouchoir, m., handkerchief. moudre, (to) grind, mouiller, (to) wet. moulu, p. p. of moudre, bruised all over. mourir, (to) die, be dying, mourut, pret. of mourir. mousse, /., moss. mousseu-x, -se, sparkling, multiplier, (to) multiply, munir (de), (to) provide (with). mur, m., wall, mur-e, ripe. murier, m., mulberry tree, musette, /., pipe, bagpipe, musicien, m., musician; mu- sicien de malheur, con- founded musician, musicien-ne, musical; je ne vous savais pas musicien, I did not know you were musical. musique, /., music, myrte, m., myrtle, mysterieu-x, -se, mysterious, obscure. 124 VOCABULARY n', see ne. nageur, m., swimmer. naif, naive, simple, artless, naive. nain, m., dwarf. naissent, pres. ind. of naitre. naitre, (to) be born. naivete, /., artlessness. nappe, /., cloth. navrer, (to) grieve most deeply ; le cceur navre, almost heart- broken. ne, neg. particle used mostly with pas, personne, jamais, etc., not ; n'avait pas de nom, had no name. necessaire, necessary. n'est-cepas? isn't it? mustn't they? is it not so? net, adv., right off, at once. neuf, neuve, new. nez, m. , nose. ni . . . ni, neither . . . nor; ni le chou non plus, neither had the cabbage ; ils ne parlerent ni Tun ni 1'autre, they neither of them spoke. noeud, m., knot; des noeuds de frene, knots in ash wood. noir, black; dans le cabinet noir, in the dark. nom, m., name. nommer, (to) name, call. non, no ; ni le chou non plus, neither had the cabbage. nos, our. notre, our (sometimes translated the). nourrir, (to) nourish, cherish, foster. nourriture, /., food. nous, we, us, ourselves ; il nous a fallu, we had (to). nouveau, nouvelle, new; de nouveau, again. nuance, /., shade, nuee, /., cloud, nuit, /., night. obeir (a), (to) obey. obeissait (a), imperfect of obeir. obliger, (to) oblige, force. obscur-e, obscure. obtenir, (to) obtain. occasion, /., occasion. ceil, m., eye. ceuf, m., egg. officier, m., officer. offrir (a), (to) offer, give; Seigneur, je vous 1'offre, for Thy sake, Lord. oiseau, m., bird. oiselet, m., little bird. ombre, /., shade, dark. on, people, they, some one, we ; on entendit du bruit, a noise was heard; on pay ait ma! ses services, he was beinf; badly paid for his services: il faut croire qu'on se fait vieille, I suppose I am getting old ; peut-on se laisser lan- tern er ainsi ! you can't allow VOCABULARY 125 yourself to be put off like that ! on le conduisait, he was being taken; on rendit a Jean, Jean was given back ; on Tavait depouille, he had been stripped; on le sus- pendit, he was hung up. once, ra., ounce. oncle, ra., uncle. ongle, ra., nail. operation, /., operation. or, ra., gold ; d'or, golden. orage, ra., storm. oreille, /., ear. original-e, original. orner, (to) decorate. oser, (to) dare ; sans trop oser rien dire, without much dar- ing to say anything. oter, (to) take away. ou, or. oft, where, when, in which, on which. oublier, (to) forget. ouvrage, m., work. ouvrir, (to) open; s'ouvrir, (to) open. paien, ra., pagan, heathen. paille, /., straw. pain, ra., bread. panier, ra., basket. papa, ra., papa. par, by, in, on, through; par suite de, owing to ; par an, par annee, a year ; par hasard, accidentally, as it chanced ; par trop, rather too much, paraissaient, imperfect of par- aitre. paraissait, imperfect of paraitre. parait, pres. ind. of paraitre ; il parait que les soucis ne te genent pas, toi, you don't seem to be troubled with cares. paraitre, (to) appear, seem. parce que, because. pardonner, (to) forgive. pareil-le, like, similar. pareillement, in like manner, likewise, parfumer, (to) perfume, scent; parfume, full of scent. parler, (to) speak, talk. parmi, among. part, /., share ; de toutes parts, on all sides; a part soi, to himself, within himself ; de notre part, from us; a part moi, to myself. parti, ra., decision, particuli-er, -ere, peculiar (to), partie, /., part, partir, (to) go off. partout, everywhere, parut, pret. of paraitre. pas, negative with or without ne, not, no ; n'avait pas de nom, had no name. pas, m., step. passage, ra., passage, way; se frayer un passage, (to) make one's way, break through. 126 VOCABULARY passant, m., passer-by. passe, adj., past; mes huit printemps passes d'avril, my eight years last April, passe, prep., beyond, passer, (to) pass, go, go down, disappear; se passer de, (to) do without. Pater, m., name for Lord's Prayer in Latin. patient, m., patient ; notre cure n'etait patient que tout juste, our priest's patience was only just worthy of the name. patissier, m., confectioner, pastry-cook, patte, /., paw, foot, leg; se mit a quatre pattes, went on all fours. paturage, m., pasture. pauvre, poor ; le pauvre monde, the poor; pauvres au fond, although they were in the main poor. payer, (to) pay (for). pays, m., country, countryside, paysan, m., peasant; des pay- sans, country people, peche, /., peach, peche, m., sin. peine, /., trouble, difficulty, pelisse, /., pelisse, pendant, for; pendant que, while. pendre, (to) hang, penser, (to) think, imagine, pente, /., slope. percher, (to) perch. perdre, (to) lose. perdu, p. p. of perdre, out of the way; vous vous etes perdus? have you lost your way? permettait, imperfect of per- mettre. permettez, pres. ind. and im- perative of permettre; ne le permettez pas, don't allow him to. permettre, (to) allow. perse, /., chintz. personne (ne), no one, not any one. personne, /., person. perte, /., loss, ruin. peser, (to) weigh. petit-e, little, small; au petit bonheur, as well as we could ; au petit trot, at a jog trot. peu, little ; avant peu, in a short time; peu a peu, little by little; se soucier peu de, not (to) care much about. peuple, m., people, nation. peuplier, m., poplar. peur, /., fear ; j'avais eu peur, I had been afraid. peut-etre, perhaps. peux, pres. ind. of pouvoir, can, may. philippique, /., philippic (dis- course full of invective) . picoter, (to) prick. pied, m., foot; sur pied, on VOCABULARY 127 one's (my, your, etc.] feet, up ; mit pied a terre, alighted. pierraille, /., pebbles, broken stones. pincer, (to) pinch, nip. pinson, ra., finch, chaffinch. pipe, /., pipe. piquer, (to) prick; pique de mousses, dotted with mosses. pis, adv., worse ; tant pis, so much the worse (for us), it couldn't be helped. pitie, /., pity; c'etait pitie", it was pitiful. place, /., room, place ; sur place, on the spot; a la place de, instead of. plaignant, pres. part, o/plaindre. plain-e, level, flat ; s'ouvrant de plain-pied sur un jardin, opening straight on to a garden. plaindre, (to) pity ; se plaindre, (to) complain. plaisanter, (to) joke, chaff; Anselme plaisante amicale- ment, Anselm who was chaffed in a friendly way. plaisir, m., pleasure; Plaisir d' amour, is the name of a well-known old eighteenth-cen- tury song. planche, /., shelf. plateau, m., scale. plein-e, full; en plein Angelus de midi, right in the middle of the day, at the noon An- gelus ; en plein e forfaiture, in the very midst of her crime. plus, more, most ; ni le chou non plus, neither had the cabbage ; je ne sais plus quoi, I do not know what else ; de plus, besides, else ; plus . . . plus, the more . . . the more ; plus de tarte a la creme, no more custard tart ; ca ne va done plus finir, will they never be done ; et je n'y pensais seulement plus, I had for- gotten all about it; ne . . . plus, no longer, not any longer (this expression is not necessarily always translated) ; de plus en plus, higher and higher; je ne sais plus le gout qu'ont les poires, I have quite forgotten the taste of the pears; n'at- tendaient plus que les co- cons, were now only waiting for the cocoons. poche, /., pocket; violon de poche, pocket violin. pochette,/., little pocket, pocket violin. poignet, m.j wrist. point, m., point; a quel point vous etes faible, how weak you are ; cuits a point, cooked to a turn. ooint, adv. : point re fut besoin de me battre, fhere was no 128 VOCABULARY need to beat me; ne lui donna point de gages, did not give him any wages ; point n'est besoin que je le disc, there is no need for me to say so. poire, /., pear. poli-e, polite, polished, sleek; ses belles mains de cure douces et polies par les benedictions, his beautiful soft priest's hands made sleek with blessing. poliment, politely. pollen, m., pollen. pomme, /., apple. populaire, popular. portant-e : bien portants, in good health. porte, /., door. porter, (to) take, carry, bear (fruit). portrait, m., portrait. poser, (to) place. positivement, positively. posseder, (to) possess. possible, possible ; le plus pos- sible, as much as possible. posture, /., position. pot, ra., pot. potence, /., gallows. pouce, m., thumb. poule, /., hen. pour, to, for; pour troisieme don, for his third gift ; pour que (followed by subjunctive^ in order that, so that, for . . .to; pour qu'elle eut le temps, for her to have the time. pourquoi, why, what for. pourrait, cond. of pouvoir; on pourrait en tirer un bon prix, a good price could be got for it. pourras, future of pouvoir. pourriez, cond. of pouvoir, might. poursuivit, pret. of poursuivre; poursuivit gaiment son che- min, he went gaily on his way. poursuivre, (to) pursue. pourtant, yet, still, all the same ; on ne peut pourtant pas avoir, you can't very well have. pousser, (to) utter, come out, push. poussiere, /., dust. poutre, /., beam, rafter. pouvait, imperfect of pouvoir, could ; n'en pouvait plus, was quite exhausted; ne le pou- vait pas, could not do it. pouvoir, (to) be able. pouvoir, m., power. prairie, /., meadow. pre, m., field, meadow. precisement, exactly. precipiter, (to) fling down; se precipiter, (to) fall headlong; de se precipiter, of falling headlong. preferer, (to) prefer. preluder, (to) preclude; Cou- VOCABULARY 129 sine Annette preludait, Cousin Annette played the opening bars. premi-er, -ere, first. prend, pres. ind. of prendre; Teau prend le galop, the water is beginning to gallop. prendre (a), (to) take (from), capture, get; prendre une decision, (to) make a de- cision ; prendre garde a, (to) beware of. prends, pres. ind. and imperative of prendre; eh bien, je te prends au mot, oh well, I'll take your word for it. preoccupe, anxious, worried. pres (de), near, nearly. presomption, /., presumption. presomptueu-x, -se, presump- tuous. presque, nearly, almost. presser, (to) be urgent ; presse, in a hurry ; 1'avare n'eut rien de plus presse que, the miser had nothing better to do than. pret-e, ready. preter, (to) lend. prier, (to) pray (to). priere, /., prayer. printemps, ra., spring; mes huit printemps, my eight years. prirent, pret. of prendre. pris, pret. of prendre. pris, p. p. of prendre. prise, /., pinch (of snuff). prison, /., prison. prisonnier, ra., prisoner. prit, pret. of prendre; le loup prit comme on dit ses jambes a son cou, the wolf took to his heels as they say ; on prit le sage parti de, we wisely decided to. prix, ra., price. procede, ra., proceeding. prochain-e, next. profond-e, profound. programme, ra., program, plan. promettait, imperfect of pro- mettre. promettre, (to) promise. promis, p. p. of promettre. protestation, /., protest. protester, (to) protest, make objections. prouver, (to) prove. providentiel-le, providential. province, /., province ; coin de province, secluded country- place. provision, /., provision, supply. puis, then. puiser, (to) draw up, take. puisque, since, as. put, pret. of pouvoir, could. qu', see que. quand, when ; quand meme, all the same. quant a, as for, as to. quart, ra., quarter; quart *d'heure, quarter of an hour. 130 VOCABULARY quatre, four; quatre a quatre, four steps 1 at a time. que, conj., that (or not always necessarily translated), than; (to avoid repetition of other conjunctions) because, as, etc.; ne . . . que, only; il n'y a qu'a tirer la chevillette, you need only pull the string; meme il n'en fit qu'une bouchee, he even swallowed her at a single mouthful; ne parlerent que du voyage, talked of nothing else but the excursion ; ce n'etait pas precisement chose commode que d'atteindre, it was not exactly easy to reach; tant bien que mal, as well as they (we, etc.) could. que, rel. pron. } that, whom, which. que, int. or excl. adv. and pron., what; que ne donnerais-je pas, what would I not give. quel-le, what, which. quelconque, whatever, of some kind. quelque-s, some, a few. quelqu'un, somebody, any one. quenouille, /., distaff. queue, /., tail. qui, who, whom, that, which; un ecu a qui m'attachera solidement, a crown to any one who will tie me up stoutly; bon pour vous qui vous en allez tranquillement sur votre ane, it's all very well for you going quietly along on your donkey. quitter, (to) leave, put down, give up. quoi, what, which; je ne sais plus quoi, I do not know what else ; eh quoi ! what then \ de quoi, something, where- with. quoique, although. raidillon, m., up-hill road, steep hill. raison, /., reason; mettre a la raison, (to) bring to his (her, etc.) senses. ralentir, (to) slacken; ralentis- sait par trop la mesure, was playing rather too slowly. ramasser, (to) pick up; allez ramasser, go and pick up. ramener, (to) bring back; me ramenait sur son chemin, brought me back towards it. rang, m., row. ranger, (to) put in order, ar- range, draw up; se ranger, (to) step aside. rapport, m., connection. rassasie, satisfied, satiated. rayon, m., ray; miel en rayon, honey in the comb. rayonnement, m., radiation. recevez, pres. ind. and impera- tive of recevoir ; recevez mes VOCABULARY 131 compliments, I congratulate you. recevoir, (to) receive, get. recevras, future of recevoir. reclamer, (to) protest. recompenser, (to) reward. se recrier, (to) cry out. recu, p. p. of recevoir. reculer, (to) move back; faire reculer, (to) move back. rectiser, (to) challenge ; se recuser, (to) decline, draw off. redescendre, (to) come down again, go down again. reflet, ra., reflection; des re- flets, light and shade. reflexion, /., reflection ; re- flexion faite, all things con- sidered. refrain, ra., refrain, chorus. refugier, (to) take refuge ; re- fugie, who had taken refuge. refuser, (to) refuse. regaler, (to) treat (to) ; se regal er (de), (to) feast (upon). regard, ra., look ; le regard au ciel, looking up to the sky (heaven) . regarder, (to) look (at) ; ne me regarde pas, is no affair of mine. regler, (to) settle, dispatch. regner, (to) reign. regret, m., regret. relever, (to) turn up; se re- lever, (to) get up again, stand up. remercier, (to) thank. remettre, (to) hand; se re- mettre, (to) recover; se remettre en route, (to) go on one's way. remit, prei. of remettre. remonter, (to) get up ... again ; remontant le courant des jours disparus, going back over past times. remplir, (to) fill; se remplir (de), (to) get filled (with). remuer, (to) move. renacler, (to) hang back, draw back; se renacler devant, (to) grumble at. rendre, (to) give back, return; on rendit a Jean, Jean was given back; tu as suffisam- ment ecorche le pauvre monde que les epines te le rendent, you have fleeced the poor long enough, now the thorns shall fleece you; se fit rendre la sarbacane, got back the pea-shooter. se rengorger, (to) bridle up. rente, /., revenue ; de petites rentes, a small income ; de ces toutes petites rentes, one of those very small in- comes. rentree, /., reopening; firent leur rentree dans, reentered. repandre, (to) spread around. reparaitre, (to) reappear. repas, ra., meal. 132 VOCABULARY repeter, (to) repeat, say . . . again. repondre, (to) reply. repos, m., rest. reposer, (to) put down again; se reposer, (to) rest. reprendre (a), (to) reply, re- join, go back to, resume, take back (from) ; pour bien se reprendre a la vie, (to) make another good start in life. representer, (to) represent. reprit, pret. of reprendre. reseau, m., net, network, wire- work. resigner, (to) resign. resolut, pret. of resoudre. resolution, /., resolution. resoudre, (to) resolve. respect, m., respect. respectueu-x, -se, respectful. ressembler (a), (to) look like, resemble. restant, m., remains, remainder. reste, m., remainder, rest ; du reste, but however, never- theless. tester, (to) stay, remain ; son corsage restait souple et mince, her bodice was still soft and slim. resultat, m., result. retenait, imperfect of retenir. retenir, (to) keep. retirer, (to) take off, remove. retour, m., return; a chaque retour d'avril, every time April came round. retourner, (to) go back ; se retourner, (to) turn (round) ; pour que je ni'en retourne vers Azay, for me to go back to Azay. retrousser, (to) turn up, tuck up. reussir, (to) succeed, be a suc- cess ; je garantis de les reussrr, I warrant I'll do them well. reussite, /., success ; la reussite etait bonne, they were a great success. revanche, /., revenge. reve, m., dream. revenir, (to) come back, accrue, be due, return. revenu, m., income. rever, (to) dream (of). reviennent, pres. ind. of re- venir; qui s'en reviennent en voiture, driving back. revient, pres. ind. of revenir. ricaner, (to) grin, sneer. rideau, m., curtain. rien, anything, nothing; pour rien au monde, not for any- thing in the world ; je n'y comprends rien, I don't understand it. rillettes, /. pi., a particular preparation of minced pork made in Touraine. rire, (to) laugh, chuckle. VOCABULARY 133 risque, m., risk. riviere, /., river. roche, /., rock. rocher, m., rock. rogner, (to) pare, cut, chip. role, m., part. romance, /., ballad, song. ronce, /., bramble, briar. rose, /., rose; rose tremiere, hollyhock. rossignol, m., nightingale, roue, /., wheel, rouge, red. rougeatre, reddish, rouler, (to) rumble along, roll; cailloux roules, shingle of round stones, route, /., way, road ; se mettre en route, (to) start. roux, rousse, red, ruddy, ruisseau, m., stream. rustre, m., boor. s', see se and si. sa, his, her, its. sable, m., sand ; sablier, m., sand-glass, hour- glass. sachant, pres. part, of savoir. sage, good. saint-e, holy. sais, pres. ind. of savoir ; je ne sais plus le gout qu'ont les poires, I have quite forgotten the taste of the pears. saisir, (to) seize. saisissant, pres. part, of saisir. sait, pres. ind. of savoir. salon, m., drawing-room. salut, m., bow, salvation. sanguinaire, bloodthirsty. sans, without; sans doute', doubtless, probably ; sans cela, otherwise, but for that. sarbacane, /., pea-shooter. satisfaire, (to) satisfy. saurai, future of savoir, can. saurez, future of savoir. sauter, (to) jump. savais, imperfect of savoir; je ne vous savais pas musicien, I did not know you were a musician. savait, imperfect of savoir. savant, m., scientist. savant-e, adj., learned, well- informed, clever. savoir, (to) know (how to), know ... (to be) ; sans le savoir, without knowing it. scelerat, m., wretch, villain, scoundrel. se (often not to be translated), himself, herself, itself, them- selves. sec, sharp, gaunt, dry. secateur, m., pruning scissors. second-e, adj., second. seconde, /., second. s' eerier, see eerier. seigneur, m., lord, Lord. sel, m., salt. selon, according to. semaine, /., week. 134 VOCABULARY sembler, (to) seem, s'en aller, see aller. s'en venait, see venait. sentier, m., path, track. sentiment, m., sentiment, ' feel- ing, sentir, (to) feel; se sentir, (to) feel. sera, future of etre. serais, conditional of etre. serait, conditional of etre. seront, future of etre. serpolet, m., wild thyme, serrer, (to) hug, squeeze ; se serrer, (to) squeeze, service, m., service, servir, (to) serve; dont il se servit encore, which he used again. ses, his, her, its. seul-e, alone, seulement, only, even; je n'y pensais seulement plus, I had forgotten all about it. si, adv., so, such; si bien que, so that. si, conj., if. sien-ne (le, la), his (own), her (own) . sieste, /., siesta ; faire un bout de sieste, (to) take a little nap. siffler, (to) whistle, silencieusement, silently, in silence, simple, simple, easy; simple d' esprit, simple-minded, simplement, simply, merely. singuli-er, -ere, singular, ex- traordinary, sinistre, sinister, forbidding, ominous, sinon, if not. societe, /., society ; le salut de la societe, social salvation, soeur, /., sister; sceur touriere, lay-sister. soi, him, oneself, himself, soie, f.i silk; vers a soie, silk worms. soigneusement, carefully, soin, m., care, task, soir, m., evening, sois, imperative and subjunctive of etre, be. soleil, m., sun. solide, strong, firm, stout; solides comme, as firm as. solidement, firmly, stoutly. somme, /., sum ; cela fait une somme, that makes a good round sum; mais c'est une somme, it's a big sum of money, sommeil, m., sleep, sommes, pres. ind. of etre ; sommes-nous betes, how silly we are. son, his, her, its (sometimes translated the). songer (a), (to) think (of). sonner, (to) ring, jingle, sonore, echoing, ringing, sont, pres. ind. of etre. sorte, /., sort, kind. VOCABULARY 135 sortir, (to) go out, come out, get out ; tu sortiras, you shall come out; ce n'est pas Bi- quette qui est sortie du chou, it was not Biquette who came out of the cabbage ; (Toft sortait un peu de fumee, out of which there came (issued) a little smoke ; en sortant de table, on leaving the dinner table, after dinner. sou, m., cent. souci, m., care; il parait que les soucis ne te genent pas, toi, you don't seem to be troubled with cares. se soucier de, (to) care about. soudain, suddenly. souhait, m., wish. soulager, (to) relieve. soulever, (to) hold up, bear up, raise. souper, (to) have supper, sup. soupirer, (to) sigh. souple, soft. source, /., spring. sourire, (to) smile. sous, under, beneath. souvenir, m., memory, remem- brance, keepsake, souvenir. souvent, often. sphinx, m., sphinx. stratageme, m., stratagem. stupeur, /., stupor ; Stupeur ! Great heavens ! suer, (to) perspire. suffire, (to) be enough. suffisaient, imperfect of suffire. suffisamment, enough, suis, pres. ind. of etre. suite, /., continuation ; par suite de, owing to; tout de suite, immediately, suivant, according to; suivant son cceur, after his own heart, suivre, (to) follow, sujet, m., subject ; au sujet de, about. superbe, superb, full of pride, supplement, m., supplement ; un supplement de revenu, an addition to their income, supreme, supreme, crowning, sur, to, onto, on, at, upon, up ; sur pied, on our (my, etc.) feet. sur-e, sure; a coup sur, to a certainty, certainly, surcroit, m., increase, surtout, especially, surveiller, (to) keep an eye on. survenir, (to) come on, arise, occur, survenu, past part, of survenir ; est survenu, occurred, suspendre, (to) hang up ; on le suspendit, he was hung up. sut, pret. of savoir. t', see te. ta, thy, your, tabatiere, /., snuff-box. table, /., table ; table a ouvrage, work-table. 136 VOCABULARY tabouret, ra., stool. taille, /., figure, shape, size. tailler, (to) cut, shape, prune. take, not to say, say nothing of ; fais taire cette musique du diable, make that devil's music stop, stop that devil's music. talus, ra., bank, slope. tambourin, ra., tambourine. tandis que, while, whilst. tant, so much, so many ; tant bien que mal, as well as they could; tant pis, so much the worse (for us), it couldn't be helped ; tant que, as long as, so long as. tantot, by and by; tant6t . . . tantot, now . . . now, some- times . . . sometimes. tantot, ra., afternoon. tard, late; tot ou tard, sooner or later. tarte, /., tart ; tarte a la creme, custard tart. tas, ra., heap. te, thee, you, to you (sometimes not translated), for you, your- self. tel-le, adj., such; avait un tel air de misere, looked so miserable. temple, ra., temple. temps, ra., time, weather; des personnes de 1'ancien temps, old-fashioned people ; de temps en temps, from time to time. tendre, (to) pass, hand, hold out, hang. tenir, (to) hold, keep (on). terme, ra., term ; dans toute la force du terme des personnes de 1'ancien temps, thoroughly old-fashioned people. ternir, (to) tarnish, dull, dim; les glaces lentement ternies, the mirrors which had slowly been tarnished. terre, /., earth, land ; mit pied terre, alighted. tes, adj. pi, thy, your. tete, /., head; le juge et le fermier en tete, headed by the judge and the farmer; en tete a tete, all alone. tiens, pres. ind. and imperative of tenir. tiens ! interjection, here ! timide, shy. tiroir, ra., drawer. tirer, (to) draw, pull (out) ; on pourrait en tirer un bon prix, a good price could be got for it. toi, thee, you (often added for emphasis, not necessarily trans- lated). toit, ra., roof. tomber, (to) fall. tonnelle, /., arbor. tonner, (to) thunder ; qui tonne, thundering. tonnerre, ra., thunder. tort, ra., wrong; avoir tort, (to) be wrong. VOCABULARY 137 tot, soon, early ; tot ou tard, sooner or later. total, m., total, whole. toucher, (to) touch, receive. touffe, /., tuft, clump. toujours, always, still. tour, m., turn, trick. Touraine, /., old name of one of the central provinces of France, now formed into the depart- ment of Indre-et-Loir. touriere, adj. : sreur touriere, lay-sister. tourm enter, (to) torment. Tours, old capital of Touraine, on the Loire. tous, adj. and pron., m. sing.. all, everything; tous les deux, both ; tous les, every. tout, adj. and pron., m. sing., all, everything; tout le monde, everybody ; une ab- sence de tout un jour, a whole day's absence. tout, adv., all, quite, very, right ; tout a coup, all of a sudden, suddenly ; tout d'abord, first, foremost ; tout au contraif e, on the contrary; tout de suite, immediately ; tout de meme, all the same. toute(s), pron. and adj., /., all; toutes deux, both ; de ces toutes petites rentes, one of those very small incomes ; toute la vie, all life long; a toute extremite, dying. tracas, m., worry. tracasser, (to) worry. train, m., train ; en train de filer, who was spinning; en train de, in the act of. tranquille, quiet; laisse done les arbres tranquilles, do leave the trees alone, tranquillement, quietly, transformer, (to) transform, transparent-e, transparent, travail, m., work, travailler, (to) work, travers, m. : a travers, across, through; en travers du, crosswise (on), across, traverser, (to) cross, traverse, treillage, m., trellis, trellis work. tremblant-e, trembling, tremiere, adj. : rose tremiere, hollyhock, tres, very, tresor, m., treasure, triomphalement, triumphantly, triompher, (to) triumph, triste, sad. trompette, /., trumpet; avec un bruit de trompette, as loud as a trumpet, tronc, m., trunk. trop (de), too, too much, too many, much. trot, m., trot ; au petit trot, at a jog trot, trotter, (to) trot; voila done notre petite fille qui trotte, 138 VOCABULARY qui trotte, and so the little girl trotted off. trotteu-r, -se: aiguille trot- teuse, second-hand (of a watch) . trouver, (to) find; se trouver, (to) find oneself, be, happen to be; ils se trouverent, they were, as it happened. tu, past part, of taire ; et Ma- dame Peyrolles s'etant tue, and as Madame Peyrolles stopped talking. tu, thou, you. tuer, (to) kill. tyran, m., tyrant. un, une, a, an, one; une fois, once. unir, (to) link, utile, useful. va, pres. ind. and imperative of aller, is going to, will ; va-t-en, be off. vais, pres. ind. of aller, will, valet, m., servant, (serving) man. valeur, /., value, valoir, (to) be worth, vanter, (to) praise, vas, pres. ind. of aller, will; tu vas t'en aller, you must go and; vas-tu? are you going? vaudrait, cond. of valoir; il vaudrait peut-etre mieux que ce rut toi, perhaps it had better be you. venait, imperfect of venir; qui s'en venait en face de lui, who was coming towards him. venir, (to) come (and) ; que vois-je venir, what do I see coming, vent, m., wind, ver, m., worm; vers a soie, silk- worms. ver, m., verse, vers, to, towards, vert, green. vetements, m. pi., clothes, veux, p:es. ind. of vouloir, will, want; que veux-tu? what would you have? ce que je veux dire, what I mean, veut, pres. ind. of vouloir, will (sometimes translated by the past, would), vibrer, (to) vibrate, vide, empty. vie, /., life, vieille, /., old. vieillir, (to) grow old, make older. vieux, adj., m., old. vieux, m., old man ; les deux vieux, the two old people, vigne, /., vine, village, m., village, ville, /., city, town, vimes, pret. of voir. vin, m., wine. VOCABULARY 139 violon, m.j violin. visage, m., face. viser, (to) take aim at. visiter, (to) visit. visiteur, m., visitor. vit, pret. of voir. vite, quickly. vitre, /., pane of glass ; la glace feuilletee en vitres, the thin layers of ice. vivant, lively. vivant, ra., living creature. vivement, briskly, vigorously, sharply. vivre (de), (to) live (on). vli ! vlan ! slap ! bang ! voeu, m., wish. voici, here is, here are. voila, there are, there is, it is (sometimes not to be trans- lated) ; mais voila que le chien ne veut pas mordre Biquette, but lo and behold ! the dog would not bite Bi- quette; voila pourtant deux mois que nous nous exter- minions, vet we had been wearing ourselves out for two months; voila que, and then ; voila deux annees de cela, that is two years ago. voir, (to) see; se voir, (to) be seen ; fit voir, showed. vois, pres. ind. of voir. voisin-e, m. and /., neighbor; plus voisin de, nearer to. voiture, /., carriage, cart, ve- hicle ; qui s'en reviennent en voiture, driving back. voix, /., voice. voler, (to) steal (something), rob (some one). voliere, /., aviary, bird-cage. volontiers, willingly, gladly ; que volontiers elle montrait, which she liked to show. vomir, (to) pour forth. vont, pres. ind. of aller. votre, your. voudrais, cond. of vouloir. voudras, future of vouloir ; tout ce que tu voudras, all you want, (I will accept) any- thing you like. voudriez, cond. of vouloir. voulait, imperfect of vouloir, would, wanted. vouloir, (to) want, like, be willing. voulu, past part, of vouloir. vous, you. Vouvray, small city in Touraine, known for its sparkling wine. voyage, m., journey, trip, ex- cursion. voyageur, m., traveler, way- farer. voyaient, imperfect of voir ; se voyaient, were seen, you could see. voyais, imperfect of voir. voyez, pres. ind. of voir ; non, mais vous voyez ca d'ici, just fancy what it was like. 140 VOCABULARY vrai-e, real, true ; maman disait vrai, mamma told the truth. vraiment, really. vu, past part, of voir; j'ai vu, I saw. vue, /., view. y, adv. and pron., there, about it (often not to be translated] ; il y avait, there was ; il y a cinquante ans, fifty years ago. yeux, m. pi., eyes. RETURN TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 198 Main Stacks LOAN PERIOD 1 Home Use 2 3 4 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS. Renewals and Recharges may be made 4 days prior to the due date. Books may be renewed by calling 642-3405. DUE AS STAMPED BELOW. JAN 2 2005 in FORM NO. 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