Page:A dictionarie of the French and English tongues - Cotgrave - 1611.djvu/973



Briefe Directions for such as desire

to learne the French Tongue:  And first, of the Vowels, and Diphthongs. A Is to be sounded fully, as in the English all; not as we sound it in stale ale. E, When it is thus accented é, whether in the middle or in the end of a word, is called é Masculin, and sounded out, as in the Latine word docére''. Otherwise it is called e Feminine, and is to be sounded imperfectly as the second sillable of Facere, Or as in this English speech, Is he come? If two or three, e, be in the end of a word, the first are Masculines, the last is Feminine, as destinée, creée.''

E, In the same sillable before N or M is to be sounded like a, as enfance, the first sillable like the second: Except mien, tien, fien, bien, chien, rien, and some others; and enerver and the like, wherein e is not sounded in the same sillable with n.

I, Is to be sounded like ee in English in feeble or meeke''. So must you sound'' amitié, &c. O, Before N or M hath the sound of oo in our English word Moone''. So must you pronounce the French word'' mon, comme on dit, commencement, &c. V, Is sounded as if you would whistle it out, as in the word, a Lute. I, and V are consonants when they are put before other vowels, as with the Latines, as jalousie, vive le Roy''. V also standing before R is sometimes a consonant, as vray, not u-ray.''

gs. Ai]

The Dipththong ai is to be sounded as it is written, in the end of the Aorist of the first Coniugation, as j'aimay''. Secondly, if a vowell follow it, as j'aye, ayons, ayant. Thirdly, if ll follow it, as toüaille. Otherwise it is alwayes sounded like é Masculine, a j'ay, j'aimeray, like j'é, j'émeré.''

The Diphthong ao, in the word saoul, is to be pronounced Son''*, by omitting the prepositine vowell. But in these words paon, tahon, faon, the Subiunctiue vowell is omitted, and they are sounded pan, tan, fan.''

The Diphthong au is to be sounded like o, as we pronounce it in saying Pauls crosse; so sound aux paux like os pos.

Apostrophus taketh away a vowell out of a word of one sillable, when it standeth before another word beginning with a vowell; as, L'eglise for la eglise; L'obelon for le obelon; So we say S'il for si il.

Synalæpha taketh away the sound, but not the bodie, of e feminine before a word beginning with another vowell, as mon pere & ma mere ont disné, read mon per & ma mer ont disné''. If a Verbe end in a or o, and il or on follow it, we put in the in the sound of the letter t; as for parle il, parlet il,'' for dira on, dirat on.

Diæresis is when two points ouer a vowell diuide it from another vowell, as bouë, queuë, read bou-e, queu-e, not bo-ue, que-ue.

Of Consonants.

The generall rule of Consonants is, That if a word end in a consonant, and the word following begin with another, the finall consonant of the word going before is not to be sounded, as tout ce qui luit n'est pas or, read it thus, tou ce qui luy ne pas or.

{ 1. The word end a liquide l, m, n, r, as              {    mon pere, not mo pere''. Howbeit l is              {    not to be sounded in the word il, as il               {    faut, read it i faut.''               { 2. The word end in c, as avec moy, not    Except    {    ave moy.               { 3. The word end in f, as le boeuf d'Angleterre.              { 4. The word end in g, as le ioug de              {    Christ est legier.               { 5. The word end in q, as vn coq d'Inde.              { 6. ''There follow any point, ; : ? ! .      C, With a taile thus ç is to be sounded like s, as garçon, pieça, like garson, piessa. Secondly ch is pronounced like sh, as cheval like sheval. Except in proper names, as Chanaan, and these foure appellatiues, Cholere, Chorde, Eschole, Cichorée. Thirdly c before t is not to be sounded, as faict, dicton, like fet, ditton.''

G, Ioyned with n is to be sounded through the nose, as you sound n in the English word oinion: So pronounce the French oignon, and Espagnol like Spaniard'' in English. These syllables gua, gue, gui, are to be sounded like ga, ge, gi, as in guaine, guerre, guise: Except the proper names Guïse, Guïllaume, and the Verbe Esguïser.''

L, In the middest of a word is not to be sounded, as aultre, oultre, like autre, outre''. In the end of these words, fol, mol, col, sol, is to be sounded like ll in the English word Scullion, or Collier. So must you sound Sillon, toüaille, as though i were written after ll, Sellion, toüaillie.''

M, In the end of words is to be sounded like n, as nom, faim, dam, temps, like non, fein, dan, tans.

N, ''Is not to be sounded in the third person plurall that endeth in ent, as ilz aiment, ilz parlent, read'' iz aimet, &c.