WORDS FORMED BY PREFIXES

Note :— L. stands for Latiu.

P. „ Popular Latin.

O.F. „ Old French.

M. F. „ Modem French.

(i) L. ab, F. av, ab.

Force : ' off," ' away,' ' absence of.' Avant, ' before' (L. ab-ante)\ aveugle, 'blind' (P. aboculus). Words of learned origin retain ab, e.g. abdiquer, abhorrer, abject, etc. ; Latin abs occurs in s abstenir {L. abstinere, P. abstenere), which was in O.F. astenir, and in words of learned origin, as abstinence, abstraction, abstraire.

(2) L. ad, F. a, ad.

Dénotes: 'direction towards," 'tendency towards' ; forms factitive verbs. In Latin the d of ad was in composition assimilated with c, f, g, l, p, r, s, t, but changed to c before qu, and retained before d, j, m, n, v ; cf. ac-ced^re, af-firmare, ag-gravare, al-licere, ap-portare, ar-ridere, as-surgere, at-traherc, but ac-quirere and ad-dere, ad-jurare, ad-monere, ad-nuere, ad-volare.

In O.F. the d was always dropped or assimilated, so apportare, atlrahere, adjurare, adorare became aporter, atraire, ajurer, aorer.

Learned influence bas mostly restored the rfor assimilated it in M. F. ; e.g. adorer, apporter. The oïd spelling is, however, retained in apercevoir, abaisser, abattre, etc.

Form words with this prefi.'c from the following, and give their English meaning : —

baisser cueillir paraître meuble

bord guerre courir mort

irait néant genou prouver

Note that M. F. forms many factitive verbs with this prefi.v, asaffiner [fin ) affoler ( fol) allonger ( long)

apprêter [prêt) attrister [triste] adoucir [doux) affaiblir [faible) a noblir (noble) appauvrir (pauvre)

i86 Histoire de la Première Croisade

Form verbs with this prefix from the following, and give their English meaning : —

lourd léger moindre grand

mol plat proche tendre

(3) L. cum, F. com, con, col, cor, co.

Force: 'with,' ' altogether. '

Comparatively few words are formed in O. F. with this prefix, though it was very commonly used for composition in Latin. From Latin compounds were taken o\'er into French : com-mencer [cofninitlare, i.e. ctim-initiare), commettre [committere), compter [computare), coucher [collocare), cotivrir [cooperire'), coudre [cons2/ere), cailler [coagulare), compagnon (P. companionem, from cum and panis, i.e. ' who eats bread with another,' ' one who eats at the same table' ; cf German der Gênasse, 'companion,' from ge?iiessen , ' to enjoy,' hère 'ameal').

Nearly ail French words with this prefix are of comparatively modem formation ; e.g. compère, con/rérc, concierge, commerce, complémentaire, corrélatif, combattre, contracter.

Form compounds with this prefix and the following words, and give their meaning in English : —

sentir mettre vaincre fondre courir citoyen paraître latéral rompre mère jurer 7-épondre

(4) L. de, F. de, dé.