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Original Articles

About Structural Sketches

Pages 13-35 | Published online: 04 Dec 2015

  • Bemerkungen zum quantitativen Vokalsystem im modernen Französisch, Acta Linguistica 3. 49f. (1942–43).
  • Though the identity of the vowels of Fr. mode and Amer. Eng. fun. can be doubted.
  • Such speakers as practice vowel harmony regularly, will pronounce this form as [aksƐlƐrō] with other contextual variants, which, of course, does not affect the differentiative pattern.
  • Über die phonologische Interpretation der Diphthonge, Studies in English 4. Footnote 64 (Prague 1933). In a practical transcription like the one we use below, it is probably best to write a small ə above the line for every permanent 'mute e' (as in premier, brebis), and for those whose retention or discarding in colloquial speech is determined by the context.
  • Even here, our conclusions should be tempered by common sense. We have, in French, an adverb, characterized as such ‘by serving as an attribute… in adjectival phrases’, namely tout, for which one distinguishes between a feminine and a masculine: il est tout/tu/drôle, elle est toute/tut/drôle (writers even distinguish between a singular and a plural: elles sont toutes drôles). But the feature is so exceptional that no one could muster up courage to state that adverbs in general are characterized by gender distinction.
  • What he writes on the subject (last paragraph of 2.121) seems to imply that the feminine liaison form is /m/, which would give m'opinion for ‘my opinion’. From what can be gathered from one of Hall's former publications, we may assume that he has been misled here by ma mie and mamours which, etymologically, are for m'amie and m'amour (+ s). But, since Hall is dealing with Contemporary French, he should consider mie and mamours two substantives with no definite synchronic connection with amie and amour.
  • Hall's assumption that the imperfect subjunctive (his ‘Timeless C’) is more definitely excluded from spoken use than the preterite, is inaccurate. Parisian speakers just never use the latter, whereas a very few might at least try to use the former when wanting to improve upon their everyday grammar. It is amusing to notice that the difficulty experienced by the speakers of French in handling the imperfect subjunctive is mirrored by Hall's barbarism/ildənas/ (that) he gave (2.331.3). It would have been safer to leave such forms out of consideration.
  • With some speakers, at least.
  • Cf. Vladimir Buben, Influence de l'orthographe sur la prononciation du français moderne (Bratislava 1935).

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