i' v ont = ils vont, V jouent =ils jouent

11-12. . .V n' savent pas ce qu'i' disent! = ils ne savent pas ce qu'ils disent !

English and American students must try to pronounce a French / in il, "he," and Us, "they," m., in order to perceive that this sound can easily disappear after i before a consonant. French / is very different from English I in articulation and in acoustic impression: its place of articulation is much more advanced, and near the place where the vowel * is pronounced. English / has nothing in common with i\ its place of articulation is farther back in the mouth, and

near the place where the vowel u is pronounced. French / resembles an i\ English / resembles an u. (Pronounce i and u as simple vowels, and not as compound sounds in accordance with the customary pronunciation of the letters in the English alphabet).

19. The verses recited by the amateur, 18, 19 — 19, 10, are found in Voltaire's tragedy Zaïre, Act I,. Scene IV. Nérestan, a young French knight, formerly a prisoner of Orosmane, the sultan of Jerusalem (thirteenth century), has returned from France, and brings the ransom of Zaïre, of another Christian woman and of ten knights, the companions of his captivity. But he has not obtained gold enough to pay also his own ransom:

. . .Je me rends prisonnier, et demeure en otage. Orosmane replies:

Chrétien, je suis content de ton noble courage; Mais ton orgueil, ici, se serait-il flatté D'effacer Orosmane en générosité?

Reprends ta liberté, remporte tes richesses! A l'or de ces rançons, joins mes justes largesses: Au lieu de dix chrétiens que je dois t' 'accorder ', Je t'en veux donner cent; tu les peux demander. Qu'ils aillent sur tes pas apprendre à ta patrie Qu'il est quelques vertus au fond de la Syrie; Qu'ils jugent en partant qui méritait le mieux, Des Français ou de moi, l'empire de ces lieux. . .

Zaïre was played for the first time in the year 1732. Voltaire ( 1 694-1 778), in this tragedy, treats very cleverly a theme similar to that of Shakespeare's Othello in accordance with the strict rules of the French classical drama.

19, — 7. Je t'en veux donner. . = Je veux t'en donner'. .

24. ..des è ouverts, "open ^-sounds"; des, partitive art., plur. ; e (as well as the names of the other letters, in French) has no plural sign.