CHAPITRE PREMIER
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1, 11 Elle me j^renait les pieds. The French generally use the
definite article instead of the possesssive adjective with any part of the bodj, as: elle s* est cassé la jatnbe^ she broke her leg ; fat mal à la Ute^ my head aches.
14 Mémoire, Note the différence between mémoire (fem.), Latin memoria, memory, and mémoire (masc), also derived from the Latin memoria, but with a change of gender and signifying "memoir," smnmary, tradesman*s bill; mémoire d* apothicaire (famil.), an overcharge.
16 Brandes, heath, heather, from a Low Latin word branda,
16 Et que fêtais surpris. In French, whatever may be the
conjonction by which the first of several clauses is introduced, ail subséquent clauses are introdnced by que, and it is to be translated by whatever word was nsed in the first clause, as : si vous allez à Londres demain^ et que vous y voyiez mon frère ^ etc., if you go to London to morrow, and if you see my brother there, &c. Note that if que takes the place of si it is generally followed by the subjunctive mood.
17 Au-devant de moi^ to meet me ; prendre le devant^ to go
on before ; aller au-devant des désirs de quelqu^un^ to forestall anyone's wishes. Etym., de and avant ; Lat., ab-ante, 22 De bonnes paroles, When the adjective précèdes the snbstantive, de is used instead of the ordinary partitive article, which otherwise agrées in gender and number with the substantive.
2, 1 Bien d* autres choses, Bien^ if not followed by an adjec-
tive, requires the definite article after it, as : bien du pain, bien des choses, 2 Dont, Many French grammars call dont the genitive of the relative pronoun, and it certainly does take the place of it, as : la maison dont vous voyez le toit^ the house of which you see the roof, <&c., but it is really the Latin de unde, from whence. Tbie form d'ond is (oi^id iii ** Clément Iklarot.'*
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2, 6 Voici» Voici is used to call attention to aomething abont
to be said, whereas voilà alludes to something that bas been said or done. See same page, Une 26. 8 D'' homme, Af ter a négative tbe partitive article is alwayfl dej for words of aU genders and nmnbers.
13 Age^ from Low Latin œtaticum, a form derîved from
œtatem. Ail masculine French words in âge can be traced back to the Low Latin affîx of aticum ; cf. fromage^ from fromaticum, voyage^ from viaticum, wheree s tbe féminine words in âge are derived directly from Latin féminine words, as image from imago, rage from rabies, &c.
14 // envoyait de ses nouvelles^ be used to send news of bim-
self.
17 Uouvrage marche fort^ work is prospering.
20 Uouvrage donnait^ work was plentifol.
22 De ce qucy from tbe fact tbat.
26 Voilà tout. Compare witb note on voici. Une 5, same
page.
27 Près is always foUowed by de, wbereas fret is always
followed by à,
3, 1 Casser une bourrée, to break up wood for a faggot;
bourrée is derived from bourre, stufifing made ol tbe bair of animais. Littré says tbat tbe bourrée dlffers from tbe fagot in tbat tbe latter generally bas one or two pièces of wood of larger size tban tbe otbers, wbereas tbe bourrée is made up of small pièces of wood of equal size.
1 Pousser la barrière, pusbing open tbe gâte.
8 Que demeurait, etc. Observe tbe position of tbe nominative case after tbe verb, because it is a relative clause.
6 Qui cria dans sa hart, wbicb creaked on its binges, tbe binge being a pièce of twisted witby, sucb as is used for binding faggots, wbicb is tbe true meaning of hart. Hart also means a balter to bang a criminaJ. La hart au cou, witb a rope round tbe neck.
10 Sèches, féminine from sec. Tbe tendency in French
words, derived from Latin words in wbicb tbe letter c occurs, is to soften tbe c into ch. Cf. Campus, champ ; caballus, cheval ; canis, chien, &q., &o.
11 Depuis longtemps, etc., be bad been walking for a long
time.
17 Plus d'une fois. Plus, except as a sign of comparison, is
always followed hj de\ in. comparison it is followed
by que, as : je suis plus grand que vous, 27 Estropié, maimed, from tbe Italian stropfio, obstacle,
^ipdrancç.
Fiftge Lia*
9, 28 Aufays, home, Le. to the district in which they both Éved.
82 Qui voulait, eic, who wîshed for further détails. A, 8 Tout en mangeant, whilst eating.
5 Échafaudage, scaff olding, from Low Latin sca/aldus, The accented é at the beginnlng of a French word often indicates the suppression of the letter s in the original word, which s is generally retained in English. Cf. épice, Lat. species (t. e, aromatic species), English spice. French étranger, Lat. extraneus, Engl. Etranger. French éponge, Lat. spongea, Engl. sponge, &c,, &c,
9 Pas de chance, no luck.
10 Des malins, clever sharp fellows.
11 Se faire faire des rentes, to get a pension paid them. 14 Enduit, coating.
16 11 se fût fait estropier, he would hâve got himself maimed. The imperfect subjunctives of être and avoir are often used for the conditional of thèse verbs.
20 Cela coûte gros, that costs a lot of money.
22 C* était une terrible affaire qu'un voyage, etc, such a long and costlj joumey was a terrible business. This inverted order of the subject and predicate is very common in French. An easy way of rendering such a sentence into English is to omit the ce and que altogether, and transpose the French order of the subject and predicate, as : c'était un grand homme que César, Gœsar was a great man. It may also be translated by retaining the French order, and substituting the English auxiliary verb for the French que, as : he was a great man, was Cœsar.
25 Le curé, the parish priest, not " the curate." It is curious how the English word curate has lost its original meaning of the priest having charge of soûls (cure). In tbe English Frayer book we find it with its proper meaning in the Frayer for Bishops and Curâtes.
27 L* aumônier, BXmoTiex, the priest charged with the spiritual direction of any establishment, such as a régiment, collège, hospital. Its original meaning is dispenser of alms, from the Greek iXerifioavvti, pity, charity, alms. Observe the transition from the Greek X to the French u, and the omission of the 5 marked by the circumflex accent.
8, 9 Le mardi gras, Shrove Tuesday, being the last day before Lent on which méat was aUowed to be eaten, le gras meaning méat diet, as opposed* to le maigre, vegetable 4iet.
156 NOTBS.
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8, 10 Un régaly a treat. The etymology of thia word îb donM* fui. M. Littré dismisses sammarily the old idea of regaliSf royal, and suggestes re- and galer, which has the signification of to amuse. Cf. the expressions gala and galant.
12 Tout heureuse. Observe that the adverb tout, coming before a féminine adjective beginning with a mute (t. e. not aspirated) h, does not assume the féminine form.
14 Délayer, to dilute, from Latin dilatare, because in dilut-
ing you extend, increase the quantity.
15 La poêle, the frying pan. Note the différence between
poêle, fem., a frying pan, from Latin patella, and poêli masc, a pall, from Latin pallium ; poêle, masc, also means a stove, its etymology with this meaning is doubtful.
16 Plus de vache, plus de lait, etc., no more cow I no more
milkl
20 A Vune de nos voisines, from one of our neighbours.
23 Poêlon, formerly meant a small frying pan, it now means an earthenware frying pan or saucepan.
27 Comme elle fleure bon, how nice it smells; fleurer îfl another form of flairer ; now the former has a neuter, the latter an active sensé. Note the gender of bon, although referring to farine, which is fem., it is an adjective used adverbially, and consequently does not vary its gender. Sucn adjectivea as bas, haut, droit, cher, if used adverbially, do not change their gender or number.
29 Précisément. Note the acute accent on the second e introduced for euphony, as in communément, expressément, profondément, confusément, and several other adverbs.
6, 7 Dame, an interjection, such as, Well I Well you know I It is derived from dominus, as the expression Danu Dieu ! English : Good Lord 1 which is found constantly in old French books, will show.
15 Ne te fasse pas vilaine fipire, should not disappoint you.
16 La huche, tne hutch or box in which the bread was kept.
Etym. L. Latin hutica (?).
20 Pèle. Observe the grave accent on the e preceding / ; verbs in 1er, nèr, ter, ver, either double the consonani before an e mute, as appeler, j*appelle, or place a grave accent on the e preceding tne consonant, as achever, f achève ; acheter, f achète ; se promener, ji me promène.
23 Une cuillerée, a spoonful. The termination ée dénotes the quantity contained in the object, indicated by Uie primitive noun, cf. bouche, bouchée, a mouthful, dko., f^i^d is derived from the Latin féminine participial
KOTÈS. tS7
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termination ata. (See Public School French Grammar, Brachet, edited by Brette and Masson,p. 77, Hachette, 1884.)
6, 26 Chaude^ from Latin calidus^ bj the usual transition of
Latin c into French ch (see note on hchafaudage^ p. 4, line 5), and / softened into m, as in " alter," autre^ " ultra," outre^ <fcc.
26 // n'y eut plus qu*à, there was nothing to be done but wait for, &g.
80 Longue^ observe the insertion of the letter u in the féminine of long^ thus preserving the hard sound of the g which would be softened hj the simple addition of the ordinary f emine termination e ; longe, noun Bubst., means either a lunging rein for exercising young horses, or a loin of veal, mutton, &o,
33 Lèvera, will rise. For this grave accent see note line 20, same page.
7, 2 Bouillons, bubbles.
17 £« ^ri5/7/fl»^, sputtering. Grésiller properly means to
wither up by the action of heat, as the heat of the Sun withers leaves. M. Littré says that the root of the Word is cognate with gril and griller, to broU.
18 Chatouillait, tickled.
21 C^était aussi, etc. For this construction see note on page 4, 1. 22.
23 Si attentif que Je fusse, ail attentive as I was.
28 Cuiller à pot, ladle.
32 Heurta le seuil, knocked at the door post or threshold ; heurter means to run violently up against any thing ' or person. Se heurter la tête contre un mur has a proverbial meaning of trying to convince a person who is not easily persuaded. M. Littré suggests as the etymology of the word the English verb *' to hurt."
8, 6 On fait donc la fête ici (fam.), there are highjinksgoing
on hère then.
6 Ne vous gênez pas, do not let me interrupt you. The original meaning of gêner, or mettre à la gêne, was to put to torture ; gênes et potences, racks and gallows; its etymology is géhenne, gehenna, the place of torture.
