17 (b) NOUN + ADJECTIVE. (1) the Adjective standing before the Noun: as, le libre échange, free trade. le haut fourneau, blast furnace. la grand❜mère (see § 17 (h) Obs.), grandmother. le petit-fils, grandson. la petite-fille, grand-daughter. Preliminary Remark. -No other Parts of Speech than Nouns and Adjectives, entering into the composition of a word, can take the sign of the Plural, and even these only when they are really used substantively and adjectively : (a) Noun + Noun; add the sign of the plural to both; as, le chou-fleur, le chef-lieu, les choux-fleurs, les chefs-lieux, cauliflowers. (b) Noun + Adjective, or Adj. + Noun; add the sign of the Plural to both: as, (c) Noun + Prep. +Noun; add the sign of the Plural to the first Noun only (comp. English- man of war; plur. men of war): as, (d) Adv. or Prep. + Noun; add the sign of the Plural to the Noun 18 (e) Verb + Noun; add the sign of the Plural to neither: as, le porte-monnaie, les porte-monnaie, purses. Observation.If used as one word a Compound Noun follows the general rule :Les parapluies, les passeports (see also h). = (f) Noun, or Verb, + Noun Phrase (in apposition to another Noun understood) remain both unchanged: as, (g) Indeclinable + Indeclinable (i.e. Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions) remain both unchanged: as, le passe-partout, l'ouï-dire, les passe-partout, skeleton keys. (h) A Compound Noun used in the Singular may contain a Noun which, on account of its meaning, requires to be in the Plural: as, un essuie-mains, i.e. a towel (i.e. for wiping the hands); pl., des essuie-mains. un cure-dents, i.e. a tooth-pick (i.e. for picking the teeth); pl., des cure-dents. PRINCIPAL RULES OF GENDER. (See also §§ 98-100.) (a) GENDER ASCERTAINED BY DERIVATION: Upwards of 90 per cent of French Nouns have the same gender as the Latin Nouns from which they are derived, reckoning the French Masculine as the substitute for the Latin Neuter Nouns, most of which were merged into Masculine in French as, 1 The Accusative Singular is given of most Latin derivations, see Introduction. Fourth Latin Declension: le grade [gradus], rank. la main [manus], hand. Fifth Latin Declension: le midi [meridiem], noon. une effigie [effigiem], a figure, image. Important Exception. -Most French Nouns in -eur, though nearly all derived from Latin Nouns in -or, -oris, are feminine1:-la chaleur, heat; la fleur, flower; la peur, fear; la faveur, favour. 1 [Un honneur, le labeur, les pleurs, alone have remained faithful to their original gender.] (b) GENDER ASCERTAINED BY MEANING: Masculine :-the Names of Males:-l'homme, man; le garçon, boy; le lion. Feminine:-the Names of— Females:-la femme, woman; la fille, daughter, girl; la poule, hen. Names of Fruits, Flowers, Countries, le raisin, le lis, le Portugal, le Danemark, le beau Paris, le Rhin (also-le Rhône). Towns, and Rivers, as a rule, are- la France, la Grande Bretagne, For Special Rules and Exceptions, see Appendix, § 99. (c) GENDER ASCERTAINED BY TERMINATION: (1) Masculine: Nouns ending in a sounded vowel or diphthong:-l'opéra, le café, coffee; le feu, fire, etc. most consonants:-le plomb, lead; le dard, dart; le soleil, sun, etc. -aire, -ment :-le dictionnaire; le complément. -age, -ège :—le carnage; le voyage; le cortège. -asme, -isme, -iste :-cet enthousiasme, le schisme (pron. chiss-me). -cle, -ème, -ôme :-un_article; le système, le diplôme. (2) Feminine: Nouns ending in ● mute1 preceded by a vowel or diphthong:—la proie, prey; la pluie, rain; une araignée, spider. the other endings in e mute not mentioned above (1) (Masc.):— la bouteille, bottle; la présence, la constance, la campagne, etc. -ion, -son, -çon :—la portion, la maison, la leçon, etc. -eur, -té, -tié :-la faveur, la faculté, cette amitié. 1 The best corrective to the common, but very misleading, rule that Nouns ending in e mute are Feminine, is to be found in (a), i.e. French Nouns derived from Latin Masculine and Neuter Nouns are Masculine in French-le cercle [circulus]; le verbe [verbum]. 19 VIII. THE SUBSTANTIVE LIMITED BY AN ADJECTIVE OF (For Exceptions, Philological Remarks, etc., see opposite page.) An Adjective agrees in Gender, as in Number (see § 13), with the Substantive it qualifies; to apply this rule it is necessary to know the different ways of forming the Feminine of Adjectives : General Rule: m. f. FORMATION OF THE FEMININE OF ADJECTIVES. Add -e mute to all Adjectives not specified further on, see § 20: as, Le fruit vert n'est pas mûr. Green fruit is not ripe. The green apple is not ripe. La pomme verte n'est pas mûre. m.pl. Les fruits verts ne sont pas mûrs. f. pl. Les pommes vertes ne sont pas mûres. Observe:-Aigu, f.; aiguë, acute; ambigu, f.; ambiguë, ambiguous, to indicate that u is to be sounded distinctly, whilst without diæresis the u in -gue or -que is only the sign of a hard g or c, and is not sounded. See §§ 81 and 93. 20 Special Rules :— (a) Adjectives ending in -e mute in the masc. form, remain unchanged; as— Un ami fidèle est sincère (m.) Une amie fidèle est sincère (f.) }A faithful friend is sincere. Les amis fidèles sont sincères (m. pl.) Faithful friends are sincere. Les amies fidèles sont sincères (f. pl.) J (b) Adjectives ending in -x change this x into s, and add -e mute: as, L'or'est un métal précieux (m.) Le diamant est une pierre précieuse (f.) L'or et l'argent sont des métaux précieux (m. pl.) Le diamant et le rubis sont des pierres précieuses (f. pl.) Gold is a precious metal. The diamond and ruby are precious Thus- jalou-x, -se, jealous; heureu-x, -se, happy, fortunate; silencieu-x, -se, silent, etc. (c) Adjectives ending in -f change this f into v, and add -e mute: as, L'écolier attentif (m.) est récompensé. L'écolière attentive (f.) est récompensée. Les écoliers attentifs (m. pl.) sont récompensés. Les écolières attentives (f. pl.) sont récompensées. J The attentive pupil is rewarded. The attentive pupils are rewarded. Thus- vif, vive, lively; neuf, neuve, new; juif, juive, Jewish, etc. (d) Adjectives ending in -c change this c into qu, and add -e mute: as, L'édifice public (m.) est utile. Thus- turc, turqu-e, Turkish, etc. The public edifice is useful. In- grec, f. grecque, Greek, Grecian, the c is retained. Thus ggu, to indicate that it remains hard, in- long, f. longu-e, long. PHILOLOGICAL REMARKS, ETC., TO THE RULES ON THE OPPOSITE PAGE. Most adjectives reproduce in their feminine form the Latin final stem-consonant dropped or altered in French in the Masculine form; hence most irregularities occur in the Masculine : Adjectives and substantives in -er have their masc. ending strengthened into -èr, and e mute added (comp. § 61): as, cher, chèr-e [carus], dear; berger, bergèr-e, [vervecem], shepherd(-ess). Thus also the following in -et :— secret, secrète [secretus] secret. Plénière is used in fem. only :-Cour plénière, indulgence plénière. The two following have thrown off the Lat. final stem-cons. in the Masc. :Mon auteur favori. Ma lecture favorite [favoritus]. Il se tient coi; elle se tient coite [quietus]. Notice also Le tiers état, the third estate (commons); My favourite author. f. la tierce partie, the third part. Obs. to (b). In accordance with the general philological Rule above :— m. Le poil roux, red hair. Le miel doux, sweet honey. f. La barbe rousse [russa], red beard. Thus also (though there is no ss in Latin)— Faux témoin, false witness; f. fausse alarme, false alarm. Hébreu is used in masc. only : Texte hébreu, pl. livres hébreux; but, m. and f., un caractère (la langue) hébraïque. Obs. to (c). In accordance with the general Rule above : Un bref délai, a brief delay. Il a la parole brève [brevis]. Brief and cursif are not used in the masc.: Une briève description (narration). Une écriture cursive. Obs. to (d). The following in -c, and one in -s, change this into ch :-Le sucre blanc, white sugar. Le ton franc, frank manner of speaking. Le raisin sec, raisin (dry). Le teint frais, healthy complexion. La neige blanche (O.G. blanch), white snow. La figue sèche [siccus, see Introd.], dry fig. 1 La langue franque; a mixture of French, Italian, Spanish, etc., spoken by Europeans of the lower class in the Levant. C |