2. The grave accent (l'accent grave), which slopes in a contrary direction to the writing (); for instance, le père, the father.

3. The circumflex accent (l'accent circonflexe), which is represented by a v inverted (4), and which shows that the vowel over which it is placed, is to be pronounced long; for instance, la fenêtre, the window.

Amongst the other signs to be observed are:

1. The apostrophe (l'apostrophe), which shows that a vowel is cut off at the end of a word, the next word beginning with a vowel or an h mute; for instance, l'habit, the coat (instead of le habit).

2. The cedilla (la cédille), which is an apostrophe always placed under the letter ; this sign shows that the c must be pronounced soft, like the letter s in the word sin; for instance, reçu, received.

3. The diaresis (le tréma), which is two points placed over one of two vowels, that would otherwise be a compound vowel or a diphthong, and parts them into two syllables; for instance, haïr, to hate.

4. The hyphen (le tiret, or le trait d'union), which is used to connect two words together; for instance, avez-vous, have you? dit-il, said he.

Sect. 3. - VOWELS.

1. Simple Vowels.

a, i, and o, have their natural sound, and are sometimes pronounced long and sometimes short; for instance, le mal, the evil; la table, the table; pâle, pale; il, he; la mine, the countenance; l'île, the island; la brosse, the brush; la rose, the rose; la côte, the shore.

e (unaccented) is mute at the end of a word of two or more syllables; for instance, la parole, the word; l'alarme, the alarm; triste, sad.

At the end of monosyllables, or in the middle of words of more than one syllable, it is pronounced nearly like e in the word her; for instance, me, me; te, thee; le, him: revenir, to come back.

é is pronounced like ay in the word day; for instance, l'été, the summer; le désir, the wish; le métal, the metal.

e (unaccented) has the same sound before d, r, or z, in the same syllable; for instance, le pied, the foot; parler, to speak; le nez, the nose.

è is pronounced nearly like the e in the word fell, sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, le procès, the process; fidèle, faithful; la comète, the comet; le père, the father; la mère, the mother; le frère, the brother.

e (unaccented) has the same sound before c, f, 1, p, s, t, x ; for instance, le bec, the beak; le chef, the chief; le miel, the honey; le cep, the vine-stock; blesser, to wound; le bonnet, the cap; vexer, to vex.

ê is pronounced nearly like the a in the word rare, but much broader; for instance, la fenêtre, the window; la crême, the cream; le rêve, the dream.

e (unaccented) has the same sound in monosyllables ending in er, and sometimes before rd, rs, and rt; for instance, le ver, the worm; la mer, the sea; le fer, the iron; il perd, he loses; le revers, the reverse; le dessert, the dessert.

u. The pronunciation of this vowel must be learned with the assistance of the master. It is sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, sur, upon; le mulet, the mule. la prune, the plum; sûr, sure; la nature, the nature ; la rue, the street.

;

y is pronounced like e in the word he, and is only found in words derived from the Greek; for instance, la physique, physics; la syllabe, the syllable.

2. Compound Vowels.

ai and ei have the same sound as è, and are pronounced nearly like the English ai in the word air, sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, laid, ugly; faire, to make; la reine, the queen.

ai at the end of a word sounds like é; for instance, le balai, the broom; gai, joyful; j'ai, I have.

au and eau sound like o in the word no, sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, sauf, safe; l'aune, the ell; l'eau, the water.

eu and œu are pronounced like u in the word bud, sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, la peur, the fear; le flatteur, the flatterer; le jeu, the game; la sœur, the sister; le bœuf, the ox; l'œuvre, the work.

ou sounds like the English o in the word move, sometimes short and sometimes long; for instance, la mousse, the moss; l'amour, the love; nous, we.

3. Nasal Sounds.

Amongst the vowels may be reckoned the nasal sounds (voyelles nasales); namely, if the vowels a, e, i, o, u, y, ai, ei, and the diphthong oi, are followed by an m or an n at the end of the syllable, they are pronounced so that the air passes through the nose and the mouth at the same time. As these sounds do not exist in English, they must be learned with the assistance of the master.

am: la lampe, the lamp; le champ, the field.
an: la plante, the plant; la viande, the meat.
em: le temps, the time; l'empire, the empire.
en: la fente, the split; mentir, to lie.

aim: la faim, the hunger; l'essaim, the swarm.
ain: le pain, the bread; le bain, the bath.
ein: la ceinture, the girdle; peindre, to paint.
im: simple, simple; impie, impious.
in: la fin, the end; le matin, the morning.

ym: la nymphe, the nymph; la symphonie, the symphony. om: le nom, the name; l'ombre, the shade.

on: non, no; le bâton, the staff; la passion, the passion. um: la parfum, the perfume; humble, humble. un: brun, brown; Lundi, Monday.

oin: le foin, the hay; le coin, the corner.

REMARK. Should the letter m or n be doubled, or begin a syllable, the preceding vowel has not a nasal sound, but is pronounced in its natural manner; for instance, imminent, imminent; inné, innate; la cousine, the female cousin.

Sect. 4.-DIPHTHONGS.

ay before an s sounds nearly like the ae in the word aerial for instance, le pays, the country; le paysan, the peasant.

ay before a vowel has the same sound as the preceding, but the y in this instance is likewise joined to the succeeding vowel as a consonant, and is pronounced like the y in the word year; for instance, payer, to pay; essayer, to try.

oi is pronounced like the two English interjections oh and ah, joined together; for instance, le roi, the king; la soie, the silk.

ui. In this diphthong each of these vowels has its natural sound, but joined together; for instance, nuire, to hurt; lui, he.

After g and q it stands like a simple i; for instance, le guide, the guide; qui, who?

oy and uy. For these two diphthongs the y is blended with the o and u into one sound, like the i in the two diphthongs oi and ui; at the same time it is joined to the following vowel as a consonant; for instance, le moyen, the means; essuyer, to wipe.

REMARK. The other diphthongs offer no difficulty to the pupil under the direction of a master.

Sect. 5.-CONSONANTS.

Among the consonants deviating from the manner in which the English consonants are pronounced, may be named the following:

c sounds like k before a, o, and u; but when it has the sign of the cedilla, it is then pronounced like the letter s in the word sun; for instance, il plaça, he placed; le garçon, the boy; reçu, received.

ch is pronounced like sh; for instance, la chose, the thing; le chêne, the oak; chaud, warm.

g before e, i, and y, sounds like the sh in the word shine, but much softer, and without the hissing sound; and before a, o, and u, or a consonant, it has the same sound as the English g; for instance, le genou, the knee; la girouette, the weathercock; le gymnase, the gymnasium; la garde, the guard; la gorge, the throat; la gloire, the glory.

When g before e or i is required to be pronounced hard, like g in the word garden, an u must be placed between those letters and the g; but when this letter is followed by a, o, or u, and is to be pronounced soft, like the g in the French word genou, an e must then be placed between those letters and the g; for instance, la guerre, the war; le guide, the guide; le pigeon, the pigeon; nous mangeâmes, we ate.

h is sometimes mute and sometimes pronounced with an aspiration. The author has placed an inverted comma before this letter when aspirated, so that the pupil may have no difficulty in discovering when it is to be pronounced, and when it is not; for instance, l'homme, the man; l'habit, the coat; l'heure, the hour; la 'haine, the hatred; la 'honte, the shame; le 'hibou, the owl.

j sounds like the soft g in the word genou; for instance, le jardin, the garden; le jour, the day; jeune, young.

q, generally followed by u mute, sounds like ; for instance, la qualité, the quality; qui, who? le coq, the cock.