en donnant du bout, in striking the tip

This lesson in pronunciation may hâve been suggested to Molière by a book. Discours physique de la parole published in 1668 by Géraud de Cordemoy (died 1684), a member of the French Academy and reader to

NOTES

the Dauphin. If this is so, Molière has expanded his original (see the Mesnard édition, vol. viii, pages 87, 88).

Page 27. — I. je dis de la prose. One of the most frequent allusions in French conversation and writing is to M. Jourdain’s discovery of prose.

2. Mettre que. The infinitive for the impérative is quite common, especially in administrative notices and military orders. The expressions used here were the conventional terms of love-making. See the poetry of the preceding Act.

Page 28. — I. Celle que vous avez dite. Perhaps a moral on the use of simple direct sentences, drawn for the benefit of the audience.