IRREGULAR FEMININES OF ADJECTIVES OF QUALITY

76. (a) Adjectives ending in -eux change x into s before the féminine mute e, e.g. :

affectueux f. affectueuse; fabuleux f. fabuleuse; courageux " courageuse; lumineux " lumineuse; creux " creuse; mystérieux " mystérieuse;

REFERENCE GRAMMAR

curieux f. curieuse; nombreux f. nombreuse; dangereux " dangereuse; soigneux " soigneuse;

(b) Adjectives ending in -ier require the grave accent over the vowel e of that ending, when used in the féminine, e.g. :

dernier f. dernière; régulier f. régulière; entier " entière; fier (fjeir) " fière;

(c) Adjectives ending in -ien (je), or in -el (el) require their final consonant doubled before the féminine mute e, e.g.:

ancien f. ancienne; chrétien f. chrétienne;

canadien " canadienne; moyen " moyenne;

actuel " actuelle; graduel " graduelle;

éternel " éternelle; solennel " solennelle;

77. Why do those endings in No. 76 (b and c) above, i.e., -ier, -ien, and -el require those changes? The answer is conveyed by the rules under Nos. 11 and 12 on p. 9, and by the phonetic principle stated under No. 16, on p. 19, in connection with verbal stems, namely: two mute e syllables can never follow each other, e.g. :

The vowel e in -ier (-je) is sounded because followed by final r; as soon as mute e (féminine ending) is added, r is no longer final, and e in -iere becomes automatically silent; thus, there would be a case of two mute e syllables folio wing each other; in order to avoid it, the vowel e in -ier must retain its sound and, therefore, takes the grave accent: -ière (-jeir); A similar process takes place with -ien (-je) and -el (-el) ; but, instead of using the accent (see No. 12a, p. 9), those vowels e retain their sound by means of the double consonant (two cons.) as shown in No. 126, p. 9; thus, ien becomes ienne (-j'en), and el changes into elle (-el). In the case of ien (-je) and ienne (-jen) the doubling of the consonant n does away with the nasal vowel sound (e), and e recovers one of its original sounds (e).

78. The adjective cher ($eir) requires a grave accent over its vowel e, when used in the féminine, for the reason given in No. 77, above:

cher ($e:r) fem.: chère ($e:r)

79. Neuf, sportif and vif change their final f into v before the féminine mute e: vive, sportive, neuve (viw), (sportiw), (nœiv).

80. Bon, bas and gros double their final consonant before mute e (féminine): bonne, basse, grosse,

81. Final c, in blanc (bla) and sec (sek) changes into ch, in the féminine: blanche (blâity and sèche (se$).

82. Public changes its final c in^o qu, in the féminine: publique (pyblik).

83. Frais is fraîche in the féminine, and long, in the féminine, is longue.

84. Pareil doubles its final 1 before the féminine ending (mute e): pareille (pareij).

85. Européen (œropee) doubles its final consonant when used in the féminine: européenne (œropeen).

86. Beau and nouveau, to begin with, have two masculine forms; the second one, respectively, is bel and nouvel; (u is changed into 1: compare with No. 10, p. 70).

Beau and nouveau are used before nouns beginning with a consonant, whereas bel and nouvel are used before nouns beginning with a vowel.

The féminine ending (mute e) is added to those latter masculine forms: bel (bel) becomes belle (bel), and nouvel (nuvel) changes into nouvelle (nuvel). Consult No. 77 above as to the reason for doubling 1.)

87. Vieux (before nouns beginning with a consonant) and vieil (before nouns beginning with a vowel or h mute) use vieille (vjeij) as their féminine.