Thillables before the Accent.
- a. Immediately before, they persist: corona, couronue, teal, loyal. Excep tion: theriaca. triaele, treacle. When a consonant drops, and two vowels touch, they are contracted: aetaticum, cage, age, or fused: magister, maestre, master; but if the syllable begins with a vowel, it is often dropped: artinculus, oracle; but if not initial, the short vowel immediately before the tone vowel drops: bonitatem, bonte, bounty. If the vowel is long it generally persists: labrmire,-labonrer,„labor. • b. • Unaccepted syllables not imme diately preceding the tone: doncele, donzel.
Hr.—Latin Vowels.
If toneless, they are treated without method in spelling; but if accented, a continues, saccus, sack; even if a toneless vowel has dropped: al(i)ens, ab(i)lis = age, able, etc., grace, gratin. The vowels of the Norman, whether influenced or not by the nasality and burr of the Norsk, show a constant tendency to too great broadness and too great fine ness, as compared with a standard approaching the Latin, and this standard is best furnished by modern English spelling, when that remarkable system has been left to itself. The Norman changes will be recognized on sight as characteristic of old, nota bly from Chaucer to Heywood, English, or of provincialisms still current, even in America. Norman a is Danish d, Gothic au, English ate: grand, sometimes spell«l gaunt; but when followed by gutturals or nasals, French turns a to pacem, pais. 'Ibis ai is in Norman a diphthong, often represented by ae; and the Irish pronunciation of English peace is of course only English of Spenser's time, and rightly descends from it; ai in mountain is rightly placed in French to Montaigne's time, and marks the vowel as short. Norman varies between at = al, as in poiterm, or al = aul, I becoming silent, which is modern French, but the a is always very long. Phantasms, fantome, Eng. phantom (1), is a true Norman broad a; but we say tax, while the French is still taux. Most short vowels are liquified in Norman, just as in Icelandic; thus short a in egput, chupt, chief, and even long, gravis. grad, grief. These are, as compared with Norman or French, so few in English that it would seem a late introduction with us. E is in French raised in pronunciation, but in English persists: festurn, feste, feast; el final is often replaced by Ian, mod. can; a before a dental fluctuated between ei, pronounced as ai in straight, and at, pronounced in Norman like oy in boy. This struggle continues in modern French, but there is little trace of it in English: peusum, pois, Nor. and Erg.
peiz (averdupeiz is etymologically correct); heres, hoir, Nor. and Eng. heir; but inonei a, monoie. old Fr. and Nor.; monnaie, mod. Fr. = Eng. Money. B = i in verbs of mod( in conjugation: poenitere, repeutir, repent; and in English varies in racemus, Exceptions: sebum, soef, suet. Eis relevo, relieve, relief; but not in tenerem, tendre, tender. E tonic is liquidized: Alia, siege, sied, seat, and equals is protium, prix, price. /usually becomes e—crista, creste, crest; but remains before nasals—simplicem, simple, dignor, delver, deign :—/sc becomes ois—turehisca, turquois, turquoise: i keeps in—ficus, fique, fig. / becomes oi, = Eng. e or i—picem, poix, peix, pitch, plico, plier, ploier, ply: i or i in certain cases—invidia, envie, envy. 0 generally persists: costa, coste, corselet. coact, cutlet; but cognitus, cointe, quaint. Variations from of to au, but pronounced long: follis, fol, fool; in other positions, persona, person'', person, becomes en and ore, in English more open or more closed: florem, flour, flower, flour, ferocem, farouche. fea=rs, fierce, domitare, domter, daunt.
In Fr. an i has a reflex action on o; not so in English. This and other indications point to the final e being sounded until abottt 1100: gloria, gloYre, glory, ostrca, oistre, oyster, puitre, solium, scull, sill. U changes to cm in French. and in English remains v: crusta, crouste, crust; changes to o in French, in English remains: colunma, colomne, column; changes to oi, both French and English: punctum, point; but truncus, trout, trunk; and of to ter'. but not always in English: fructus, froict, fruit; u long, Latin, is sometimes long, sometimes short in English, but in Norman was always long: eupa, coupe, cup; it short varies: cupreum, coipre, copper; end though influenced by the reflex cf an i in French, in English varies: angustia, angois, anguish. Y. The latin i a Greek letter, was reproduced in Norman and in English, but is i in French: lyre, Fr. lire; mina, mesehe, match. _R. Treated as an e long, and even as an e short: quiestion; queste. quest. CFI Same treatment: poem, poine, pine, pain. AU. Already interchanged in late Latin with 5. English, Norman, modern French, all vary in treat ment: Lat. frauda. thesaurus. nausea; Nor. frode, thesore, noise; Fr. fraude, tresor; Eng. fraud, treasure, noise. EU. No Latin words in the Norman, but the Celtic: leuga, line, lieue, league. Ul. Diphthong rare in Latin. The two vowels occur in circuitus, circuit.