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 Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:19 am
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:31 am
History of the French Language
Roman ere
It begins with the invasion of Gaule by the Cesar's armies in -59 before JC
At that time, there was gallic tribes , speaking different dialects.
After the conquest, the Latin was "adopted" by the country.
French is mostly based on vulgar Latin [ for example : cabalus , the familiar version of equus -> cheval ]
Then, as any language, there has been lots of evolution from the latin , especially phonetically and gramatically [ it is much simpler than Latin wink ]
Middle age
The first text written in Roman [French ancestor, also called romana lingua ] is the Strasbourg's Serments, in 842 , where two sons of Charlemagne, Louis le Germanique & Charles le Chauve , promise each other a mutual help against their other brother Lothaire [ Charlemagne had divided his empire in three parts for his 3 sons ]
At that time, there's 2 main roman languages spoken in France : ' langue d'oïl ' [ in the north, it is from this language that the current French comes ] and 'langue d'oc' [ in the south ]
There already is some romans written in Old french around the XIIth century [ the Roman de Renart [ yes. Renart with a 't' in this very case , it is a name], written by Pierre de Saint Cloud or Le Roman de la Rose by Guillaume de Lorris ] , as well as songs written by the troubadours [ the ballad of Roland, nephew of Charlemagne, for example , or Tristan and Yseult ] , who were sort of poets/singers/artists of the Middle Age.
The first traces of Poetry in old french are found around the XVth Century , with Charles d'Orléans [ one of the King ] , or François Villon
Renaissance
In 1537 , French is adopted as the language of right and administration ( instead of latin )
At this time, some people [ Montaigne , Rabelais ] begin to write essays , stories, in French [ 'real' French this time ], instead of latin.
Classical Ere
During the XVIIth century , some groups of intellectuals begin to try to codify French , the most famous of them is probabily Malherbes , but the participation of the Pleiades' Poets [ during the XVI th century, maybe some of you know Ronsard, or Du Bellay ? ] is also extremely important : they are the first poems written in current French
In 1635, the cardinal De Richelieu creates the French Academy, whose members are in charge of purifying the french Language
It becomes more and more a scientific language, especially when Descartes writes his Method's Discourse [ 1637 ] ,which is one of the first philosophical and scientific essays written in French
Etymology
The majority of the french vocabulary is based on latin or greco latin words .
None the less, there is about 12% of the french words who come from other languages ( such as english, which represents a quarter of this category , italian, german, ancient gallic dialects , spanish, dutch, sanskrits, arabic , etc )
Some random facts about French
It used to be the diplomatic language, until the beginning of the XXth century.
None the less, it is still one of the two languages that are spoken over the 5 continents, and is also one of the two official languages of the UN
It is spoken in about 51 countries , with 210 millions of native speakers
There is plenty different 'versions' of french now in the world , from one country to another it may vary a lot [ for example , in Switzerland they say 'nonante' , 'septante' instead of 'quatre-vingt dix' and 'soixante-dix'
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:58 am
Phonetic
Erm. I'm really not good at that, so if you have any correction , go ahead ;]
Vowels
a = à = a like in mama
i = ee like in see
u = ù = It sounds a bit like tuna . Actually I can't find any english equivalent D:
It sounds like a german ü .
o = o like in plot
ô = a like in call [ I'm not sure American and British pronounce it the same way though ... It'd rather be the american pronounciation then ]
y = i = ee
é = é in cliché or déjà-vu ( I'm pretty sure you all know those words ;] )
è = ê = e in fell
e can be pronounced in several ways, or being 'silent' :
- It's generally pronounced like an 'é' when it's between two consonants
- It's pronounced 'eu' [ see later ] if it's between a 'ch' and a 'm' or a 'v' [ ex : cheveux, cheval , chemin , parchemin, etc ]
- It's silent if it's a the end of a word [ unless you're reading poetry, but I doubt that this happens everyday D; ] [ parle [ speak ] for example, is pronounced : p-a-rl ]
[ Mhh... Lots of accents, such as on 'a' or 'u' do not change the pronounciation ]
Consonants
B = b
C + e / i / y = ss [ like a 's' ]
C + a / u / o = c like in concrete ou = o in clown, zoo [ flou, clou ,.. ]
ç + a / u / o = ss
D= d
F =f
G +u/ Ga / Go = g like in gain
G +e / Gi / Gy = J like in jail [ only for the pronounciation of the 'g' uh ! ]
H alone is never pronounced ( for example : hache will be pronounced 'a-sh' )
J = j
K = k
L = l
M = m
N = n
P = p
R = Guttural 'r', a bit like in german again
S = s
T = t
V = v
w = v
x = x [ Like in excess ]
z = z
Erm... Others XD
Ez / et / er = é if it's placed at the end of a word [ nez , flairer , furet ]
Ai = aî = é if it's everywhere but at the end of a word [ aîné ]
Ai = è if it's at the end of a word [ lait , faisait , etc ]
oe = é [ 'foetus ' , coelome ( although I doubt you'll ever use that word X'D ) ]
oeu = eu = e like in flower [ coeur, fleur , soeur ]
on
ou = like 'oo' in harpoon or in clooney ;]
Au = A bit like 'o' in float
Aï = aille =Ay = y like in fly [ aille, caille , ayez , ... ]
In = ein = ... D:< No english equivalent , it's a sound that comes from the nose again
Sc + a / o / u = 'sk' [ in scalpel , scaphandre for example ]
Sc + e / i / y = 'ss' [ ascenseur for example]
An = en = No english equivalent. It's a sound that comes from the nose
Ph = f
Ch = sh like in shut
Tion = si [ like see ] + on [ attention, fonction, ... ]
Eil = ey like in hey [ soleil ]
Ue+ille = eu + ii [ like a very very accentuated 'ee' in english ] [ cueille , accueil, cercueil ]
Gn = ... Sort of very very accentuated 'n' + ee
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Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:37 pm
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Eccentric Iconoclast Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:04 am
Don't you mean Language du mois? xp
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 9:54 am
Dave Don't you mean Lang uage du mois? xp No, but don't worry , that's a very common mistake.
Language is english.
Langage is french ;]
Check in a dictionnary if you don't believe me
Eccentric iconoclast > Thanks :3 But do you know anything that sounds like the 'u' ? I really cannot think of something in english D:
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Eccentric Iconoclast Vice Captain
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:03 pm
Well, I always say the word as /tyna/, but I don't know if that's standard. I know that in Scottish English, /u/ tends to become /y/. But otherwise you could just instruct them how to say it; just tell them to put their lips in an position and say .
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Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 6:08 pm
MonOstatos Dave Don't you mean Lang uage du mois? xp No, but don't worry , that's a very common mistake.
Language is english.
Langage is french ;]
Check in a dictionnary if you don't believe me
Eccentric iconoclast > Thanks :3 But do you know anything that sounds like the 'u' ? I really cannot think of something in english D: Oh wow, you're right. eek In my (very) limited experience with French, I don't think I've ever seen the word "langage," haha. Just "langue." Hmm.
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Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:35 am
Pronouns
Je = I
Tu = You [ single person, and it's a familiar form ]
Il = He
Elle = She
On = We [ familiar form. But ! It's conjugated like 'elle' or 'il' ]
Nous = we
Vous = You [ either for a group of person, either a polite form for a single person ]
Ils = They [ masculine ]
Elles = They [ feminine ]
N.B :
- Ils / Elles : Elles is used in the only precise case where you're talking of a group of person consisting, exclusively, in females ! If there's , for example, one male and 1214654 females, it'd still be ' Ils ' [ oh yes... One of the vestiges of misoginy XD ]
- When you use an impersonnal verb [ pleuvoir [ to rain ], neiger [ to snow ] , etc ] you use the pronoun 'il'
For example : Il neige = it's snowing
Other pronouns
- Quelqu'un = someone
- Quelque chose = Something
- Personne = No one
- Rien = nothing
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 5:21 am
Survival Guide for a Francophone country
What you'd NEED to know
- Où est la boulangerie ? [ Where is the bakery ] ;D
- J'aime le français [ I love French ]
- Vivent les cuisses de grenouilles [ Long live to frogs' legs surprised ]
Hum ... More seriously
Greetings
Polite forms :
- Bonjour = Good Morning / Afternoon
- Bonsoir = Good evening
- Aurevoir = Goodbye
- Adieu = Farewell [ how formal XD ]
Familiar :
- Salut = Hey
- Salut = Bye [ same word, yes yes ]
- Coucou = Hey
- à plus tard / à plus = See you later
- à bientôt = see you soon
In a conversation
- Comment ça va = How are you [ familiar form ]
- Comment vas-tu = How are you [ familiar form , for one person ]
- Comment allez-vous = How are you [ either polite form for one person, either when you're talking to a group of persons ]
- S'il te plaît = Please [familiar form, for one person]
- S'il vous plaît = Please [ for several persons, or polite form for one person ]
- Merci = Thank you
- De rien = You're welcome
When you want to ask for something
- J'aimerais bien = I would like ... [ ex : j'aimerais bien avoir un verre d'eau = I'd like to have a glass of water ]
- Pourrais-je avoir ... / Est-ce que je pourrais avoir ... = May I have ...
- Je voudrais ... = I would want ...
How to introduce yourself
- Je viens de .... [country] = I come from ... [ ex : Je viens d'Angleterre = I come from England ]
- Je suis ... [ nationality ] = I am ... [ ex : Je suis italien/italienne [ feminine ] = I am italian ]
- Je m'appelle .... [ name ] = I'm called ....
- Mon nom est ... [ name ] = My name is [ it's not really used, people rather say 'je m'appelle' ]
- Enchanté / Enchantée [ if you're a woman ] = Nice to meet you
List of some Nationality / Country
It might help ;]
Nationality masculine / Nationality feminine // Country
- Anglais / Anglaise [ well... Sorry for all you Scottish people, but we include you in 'english' ;D ] = British // Angleterre = England // écosse = Scotland / Pays de Galle = Wales // Royaume-uni = UK // Grande Bretagne = Great Britain
- Irlandais / Irlandaise = Irish // Irlande = Ireland
- Espagnol / Espagnole = Spanish // Espagne = Spain
- Suisse / Suisse = Swiss // Suisse = Switzerland
- Américain / Américaine = American // états-unis = USA
- Italien / Italienne = Italian // Italie = Italy
- Allemand / Allemande = German // Allemagne = Germany
- Danois / Danoise = Danish // Danemark = Danemark
- Suédois / Suédoise = swedish // Suède = Sweden
- Norvégien / Norvégienne = Norwegian // Norvège = Norway
- Finlandais / Finlandaise = Finnish // Finlande = Finland
- Belge / Belge = Belgian // Belgique = Belgium
- Autrichien / Autrichienne = Austrian // Autriche = Austria
- Tchèque / Tchèque = Czech // République Tchèque = Czech Republic
- Turque / Turque = Turk // Turquie = Turkey [ erm... the country of course :/ ]
- Chinoise / Chinoise = Chinese // Chine = China
- Canadien / Canadienne = Canadian // Canada = Canada
- Mexicain / Mexicaine = Mexican // Mexique = Mexico
- Australien / Australienne = Australian // Australie = Australia
- Japonais / Japonaise = Japanese // Japon = Japan
- Russe / Russe = Russian // Russie = Russia
- Marocain / Marocaine = Moroccan / Maroc = Morocco
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Eccentric Iconoclast Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Apr 07, 2007 12:08 pm
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:00 am
Yes? Well... Thanks for the support Oô I'm quite worried by the numerous people coming into this thread [humhum ] D: Apparently, we're 3 XD I love making such popular threads X'D
Dave > Yes, we rarely use langage ;]
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Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 7:12 am
Articles
So, unlike English, we have genres [ feminine & masculine ]
Defined Articles
Le = the [ masculine ] -> Le bateau = The boat
La = the [ feminine ] -> La fleur = the flower
Les = the [ plural [ feminine or masculine, there's no difference ] ] -> Les avions -> the planes
Le / La + [ word beginning by a vowel ] = l' + word -> L'outil [ le + outil ] = the tool
Undefined Articles
Un = a [ m ]
Une = a [ f ]
Des = plural form [ unlike in English, we use an article for the plural undefined form ] -> Des éléphants = elephants
Quantitative Articles
To talk of a quantity , we use de :
Masculine : De + le = du [ it's a contraction ] -> du pain = bread
Feminine : De la -> De la bière = beer
In a sentence : Est-ce que je pourrais avoir de l'eau ? = May I have water ?
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 11:03 am
What does "ou," sound like?
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Posted: Mon Apr 09, 2007 11:58 am
Madame L. What does "ou," sound like? I forgot about it D: Fix'd ! It's in the pronounciation post :3
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Reply
