AN

INTRODUCTION

TO

OLD

FRENCH

Vs.

1 .

BY

THE

SAME

AUTHOR

Third

Edition.

First Steps in French History, Literature, and Philology.'Hommes de Lettres" Series of French Classics.

VOL. I. : VOLTAIKE'S SIIOKT PROSE TALES.

In Preparation. Old French The History Handbook Commentary and Literature of Romance and Phonetics. of the Anglo-Norman Dialect.

Philology.

AN

INTRODUCTION

TO

OLD

FRENCH

BY

F.

F.

ROGET

. ' LDI \TE OF GENEVAUNIVERSITY, LECTURER THE FRENCH ON LANGUAGE AND LITllI \ rri; r, AND OS KuMA.MEPHILOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY ST. ANDREW, OF

THIRD

WILLIAMS

AND

XOKGATE

14. HENRIETTA20, SOUTH

STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDONFREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH

AND 7, BROAD STREET, OXFORD1896

First

Printed

1886.

Reprinted Xew Type from 1894.

PREFACE

TO

FIRST

EDITION

THIS book contains no independent research and little scientific method. Suggestedby some acquaintancewith the difficulties of students who begin to read Old French,it has been written for the convenience of candidates for

the L.L.A.. title of St. Andrews University, and perchance may be found useful by students working under the Cambridge University schemefor a tripos in Mditeval andModern Languages. Professor Crombie, of St. Andrews, for his kind

encouragement, and Mr. G. Saintsbury, for a timely hint regarding the scopeof this work, have my thanks. The excellent works of Bartsch (Chrestomathie l'ancien de franais) and of Cldat (Grammaire lmentaire la vieille de langue franaise)have,more directly than any other sources, afforded me guidance and help. Those books should be resorted to by students who may have a taste for more scholarshipthan can be offered in this Introduction to a phaseof language, which the philologist and the literary in critic will find well-nigh inexhaustible material.

vi

Old

French

But for fear of being found inaccurate by the learned, andyet abstruseby the learners,I should trust altogetherto the excellence of the subject for a recommendation to

the critics, whosejudgment a book on Old French studiescannot escape.

In the selection of fragments of Old French texts, and in the construction of the Glossary,I have attempted to provide those studying French literature in the works of G. Saintsbury,Staaff,and Vinet, with the meansof understanding the Old French extracts found in those Manuals.F. F. R.

KinxBUEOH, 24(7 November 18S6.

PREFACE

TO

SECOND

EDITION

SOME time ago, at our publisher's, Paterfamilias stepped in. He wanted a book on Old French for his daughter. This volume washandedto him, as the only one extant in English. He looked at the Preface,and read : This book contains independent no research and little scientific method.He shook his head, and laid down the book. Such a

humble beginning would not do for his daughter.Yet the sale of the first edition-not a small one-

was rapid, considering to what a limited circle it could appeal. This second edition is as humble as the first.

Preface

vii

It is not a treatise on phonetics; it is not an Old French grammar properly so called ; it is not a corpus of properly edited texts, nor is it a learned etymological dictionary. It is just an introduction to Old French. The works of Cldat and of Bartsch were the acknowledged basisof the first issue. I have now collated my writingwith such authorities as Schwan, Suchier, and Darmestetcr, of more recent date. This work is no longer the

iinly one of its kind in English. There appeared, 1892, in Specimens Old French, by Paget Toynbee, Clarendon of Press,750 pages. This is a very good piece of work. I particularly wish to acknowledgea nattering "///trams-totus.nullui.

(nothingquantum. all that, what.all, every.none.

alques.

aliguod(s).

a little.

The following onesappearin the Old languagein a form that is now changed:Old French. Modern.

alcuns, alquns(alqu'un), etc.chasque, chesque, etc. chascuns, chaucuns(chasqu'un).meint, maint. mesme, misme, medisme.

aucun.chaque. chacun.maint. mme.

hom, om, on, etc. (nornin. only).riens, ren. tels, tex.

on.rien, chose. tel.

toz, plur. tuit, toit. un, ung, unt, hun.

tout. un.

Several of the above are real Nouns, some are used as

Adverbs, and others, according to the Syntax used, are either negative or affirmative in meaning.

CHAPTEE THE UNDECLINABLEFIRST

VIII PARTS or SPEECH

SECTION-ADVERBS

THESEare remarkable in many instancesfor the addition of an Old French s, which, when it is not excused by someforegoing corruption of the classicalAdverb in Latin,

Adverbsmust be traced back to the adverbial Accusatives

85of

Romance,or laid down to the appearancein the early period of a generally-accepted adverbial &' ' Onques from unquam, ores and from adhoram, examples are in point. As for Adverbs in -ment, this ending, before being a suffix, was a regular Noun. The Adjectives it followed, and affectedadverbially, agreedwith it as they would with any other feminineSubstantive,and when the connection grew to actual amalgamation, phonetic laws obtained sway over it. Examples:bon privcointebeau

produced bone-ment(bonement). priveement.cointement.blement.

dlivre

delivrement.

diligent loyal grandgent bries

diligentment (diligenment). loyalment (loyaument). grandment(granment).gentement. briement.

In Nouns like tremblement, traveillement, pemment, of which the Old languagehas a great number,-ment is, of course,a Noun-suffix, and the preceding e, if not always etymological,is phonetically a binding-vowel distinct from the e of the feminine Adjective amalgamatedwith -ment,Latin mente. This remark is intended as a hint to

beginnersnot to be led away by appearances superficial or analogies-a valuable caution when reading Old French, because Modern languageoften suggests the false points of comparisonwith the Old. In the following list we give principally Adverbs of time, manner,and place. A large number are convertible into

Prepositions without further alteration,and into Conjunctionsby the additionof gue.I. Adverbs extinct or obsoletenowadaysare :-

86

Old

French

Old French.a bandon.

Modern. volont.

English.at will.

abaus. ades. adun. aino, ainques. ainois,enceiz.ains, einz.

auparavant. aussitt. ensemble. jamais. avant, plutt.avant, mais.

before,formerly at once,directly. together. ever. before,rather.before.

alsi, alsiment. amont. antan. anuit. apermenmes.as, es, etc. atant.

aussi, galement. en haut. l'an pass. cette nuit. sur le champ.voici. alors.

also. upwards. last year. that night, to-night. at once.here is, here are. then, now.

au main, main. auques, alques. autresi, altresi.aval.

le matin. un peu. de mme.en bas.

in the morning. a little, somewhat. similarly, alike.downwards.

aiens,cans. desanz. detrs.dont.

ici dedans. auparavant. derrire.d'o.

inside, herein. before. behind, backward.hence.

durement. endementres,) endementiers. j eneslepas. enqui, encui.ensement.

beaucoup. sur le champ. ici, l.de mme.

much,heavily. immediately. here, there.alike.

pendantce temps. meanwhile.

ensorquetot.ensus. entresait.

surtout.en haut.

above all.above.

f entirement,)

\ aussitt. Jmalgr soi.dedans.

quite, at once. under compulsion.inside.

cnviz.enz.

erranment. cs, ez.cste-vus. faitcment.

sur le champ. voici, voil.voici. ainsi.

immediately. here is, there is.here is. thus so.

Adverbs

Old French. finablement. gens,gienz. hui, hoi.idono, adonc.

Modern. enfin. rien. aujourd'hui.alors.

English. lastly, at last. nothing. to-day.then.

iki, iqui, enqui. iloec, illueques. jajai. jus, jos.laienz, leans.lassus.

l, ici. l. dj, jadis. en bas.l-dedans.l-haut.

there. there. already,formerly. down.inside, therein.thereon.

longues. luec, lues,los. mar.meshui.

longtemps. aussitt. par malheur.dsormais.

long. immediately. by misfortune.henceforth.

mont. mult, moult.nai. ne'is.nenil.

beaucoup, trs. trs, beaucoup.non. mme, pas mme.non.

much, many. very.nay. evenno.

can, ouan. cette anne. oidi. aujourd'hui. onques, oncque. jamais. orains. tout l'heure.ore, or, ores. maintenant.

this year. to-day. ever. a while ago.now.

petit.

petitet,petitelet. piea. primes. puer. pro, prou. qui, ki.res res.

peu.

trs-peu. a verylittle. il y a longtemps. longago. premirement. firstly. en dehors, vain. outside, vain. en in assez, beaucoup. enough, much. l. there.anew. backward.

a little.

rechief, de rechief. de nouveau. redre. eu arrire.

tout prs. au moins. aussitt.

close. at least. directly.

sainglement. sempre.sovels, sevals. tantost.

sparment. singly. toujours, aussitt. always, once. at

88 Old French.

Old FrenchModern. English.

tostens. totevoies. toudis. veals,viaus. voirs, voirement.

toujours. de toute manire. toujours. au moins. vraiment.

always. by all means. every day. at least. really, truly.

II. Adverbs common to Old and Modern French are : Old French. acertes.aillors.

Modern French. certes, srieusement.ailleurs.

asses,aisses,sez. ausi, assi.

assez,beaucoup. aussi.

autrefoz.autretant.

quelquefois.autant.

ben, beyn. a,sai.cert, certe. ci, chi.cornent, cornant. demesmes. desi.

bien. ici.certainement. ici.comment. de mme. d'ici.

desja.desorems. doresanavant.encor, ancor.

dj.dsormais. dornavant.encore.

ensamble, ensems.entraviers.

ensemble, avec.en travers.

entretant.envers.

pendant ce temps. l'envers, la renverse.

especial,par especial. forment, fortment. gaires,guerres. icy, ichi. jameis.lai.

spcialement. beaucoup. gure, beaucoup. ici. jamais.l.

lau contract, la u. for

l o.

AdverbsOla French. Modern French.

89

lor, lors.meins, mains.meintenant.

alors.moins.tout de suite.

mi, mei, permi. ne, ned.nun, nom.

au milieu. ne (negat. particle).non.

ol, o. ou, o, ou.

oui. o.

plus, plux.po, pou.

plus.peu.

quant, cant.sovent.

combien,quand.souvent.

tant, tan, itant.tart.

tant, tellement.tard.

tost.

tt, vite.

tousjours.vechi. vla.

toujours.voici. voil.

vez.volentiers.

voici, voil.volontiers.

The abovelists are purely formal in their arrangement, and by no means established on an etymological basis. Adverbs, and for the matter of that, Prepositions andConjunctions, Indefinite Pronouns, and Interjections,draw upon the other Parts of Speechand upon one another for theirformation.

The suffix -mentis sometimes spelt: mant,mand,mane, etc. The Pronominal Adverbs are en,y, and dont. Un is from inde; it has the forms en, an, ent, ant,int, em. Y is from bi ; it has the forms, i, iv, hi. Contractionswith en are : sin for si en, quin for qui en,nen for ne en,

A contraction with y is : noi for noi,ne... y. Dont from de imde has: dont,dunt, dons, dom,dune. The three appearas Indirect Objectsin the Personaland Eelative Pronouns, defectivein consequence the phonetic of

impoverishment later Latinity. of

go

Old FrenchADVERBS OF NEGATION

Non, nen, no, ne, from Latin non,is found in early documents. The formations ne . . . pas, ne .. . point, ne ... mie,

ne . . . goutte, . . . grain, etc.,emphaticat first, then purely ne negational,supersede altogether the simple negation. Ne, reduced to a mere negative or dubitative particle, appears atonicposition in many syntactical combinations. in Nient or noientis equivalentin meaningto rien,nullement, when it is used adverbially.SECOND SECTION-PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions lost to the Modern language:Old French. Modern French.

ab, a, from Lat. ains, anz.

b.

avec. avant.

aprof.atot.

auprsde, aprs.avec.

avers.

ct de.

deci en, deci a.dedesoz. defers.

jusqu'.sous. dehors de.

dejoste, dejuste.delez, dales. desor.

ct de. ct de. sur, dessus.

empor,en pur. emprs. endroit, endreit.en mi.estre.

pour, causede. auprsde, aprs. quant , vers.au milieuoutre.

de.

fors. joste, juste. Ion, lunc. o, ob, od, ot (Lat. apud).otot.

dehors,except. prs de. prs de. avec.avec.

pues,puys.sus, suz.

aprs,depuis.sur.

trs.

depuis.

Prepositions

gi

II. Prepositions possessed common the Old and in by the Modernlanguage :Old French. Modern French.

a (Latin ad). apris.avan.avoec.

, avec,par, sur. aprs.avant, devant.avec.

chiez. cuntre.

chez. contre, vers.

davant. de coste, encoste. dedenz.dedesus. dedevant. dens. derrier.

devant, avant. ct de. au dedans de, dans.au dessus de. au devant de. dans. derrire.

des (Latin deipso).desoz. desus.devers.

ds,depuis.au dessous de, sons. au dessus de, sur.vers.

en, ant, int, ens, en. encontre.entor.

en, dans. contre, vers.autour de.

entre, antre.environ, anviron.

entre,parmi.autour de.

niaugre. otiltre, ultre. par, per.por.

malgr. au del de, outre. par, traverspour.

prez, pris. selonc.sens, sainz.

prs de. selon, le long de.sans, except.

sor, sour.soz, souz.

sur, plus que.sous.

viers.

envers, contre.

Old FrenchTHIRD SECTION CONJUNCTIONS

Old French.

Modern French.

a ce que.adonc.

afin que.alors.

affin que.assavoir.

afin que.c'est dire.

au plus tost que. car, quer.com, come.

aussitt que. car, donc.comme, que.

delors que. demantresque. dent, den. desi que. devant que. donc, donques. dusques, jusque. ensi que. entres! que. entresque. essi . . . que.et, e.

depuis que. pendant que. puis, ensuite. jusqu' ce que. avant que. donc,alors. jusqu' ce que. tandis que, pour que. jusqu' ce que. tandis que. de sorte que.et.

fors que. in quant. ja si . . . ne. ja soit ce que. meis,mais, mes. mais que.ne.ne ... ne

exceptque. autant que. quelque. . . que. quoique. mais, plus. pourvu que,et, ni.ni ... ni.

neporquant. ne poruec.

pourtant. nanmoins.

ne ... si ... que.ou, o, ou.

ne ... pastant . . . que.ou.

ou que. parke. parke ... ne.por ce que. porro que.

quelquepart que. pour que. moins que ... ne.parce que. parce que.

InterjectionsOld French. Modem French.

93

puesque. puissedi que. quandius.quanque, quant que.

parce que, depuis que. puisque. autant que.tout ce que, autant que.

quant.quant que.

quand, lorsque.tant que.

que, ke, quet. que que. que . .. que. quoi que.se ... non.

que, car. pendant que. tantt . . . tantt. quoique,pendant que.sauf.

si, se. si corne.si ne.

ainsi, si, comme. comme, que.sans.

si que. si, se, set.tant cum.

comme. si (English'if').tant que.

tantost que. tt maintenant que.touteffois.

aussitt que. aussitt que.en tous cas, toutefois.

tresque,tros que. usque.FOURTH

jusqu' ce que. jusqu' ce que.

SECTION-INTERJECTIONS

OU French.

Modem French.

a.

ah, ha.

ahi, a, ai.aia. aimmi.

hlas.eh bien. malheur moi.

allas, halas,alais.aoi. avoi.

hlas.vrai, bien, diable. va dire, dis donc.

dea. diva.e. enne.

es,ais.

voil.

94Old French.fi.ha.

Old FrenchModern French.fi

hahay,liai, hai.haro, hare, hari.hau.

haroh. holla.

hei. hola.

o.ohi.os.

oh, o.hlas.

va.

eh bien, h.

A few of these are Interjections only in name. Alias, for instance, contains the Adjective las, and is found in the Feminine when put in the mouth of a woman, as in lasse medret (poor mother !). Diva contains parts of the Verbs aller and dire. Exclamations like caitif mei, las rnei, are elliptical (poor me !).

CHAPTER

IX

THE VERB

WE can give only a shorb sketch of the Verb-forms and of the peculiarities of conjugation in Old French. The subject is a vast one, forms are too numerous to be compressedinto an elementarywork like this, and their classification is not yet uniform.

The Auxiliaries, the four conjugations of so-called Regular Verbs, the so-calledIrregular conjugations with some consideration of ' analogy,' of ' strengthening' and ' weakening,' of the growth of Verbs in their ' organic' types, regardlessof dialectic, orthographic,and inorganic side-forms, is a sufficientbudget for a practical grammar this of Old French. Let it be remembered that the study of et ymology and phoneticsis not our aim.

Verb EstreFIRST SECTION-THE AUXILIARIES

95

These present,at the outset of our chapter on Verbs, the partly synthetic, partly analytic conjugation which is characteristic of the Old French language, and of the Modern language. The forms of aveir and of estre, early evolved, and most frequently used either in tonic or in atonic position, becamewhat we may call centres of analogy. In any language the most frequently used word-forms may become such centres, and assimilate other forms to them-

selves. Assimilation by analogicalforce may occurin two ways. The stem of less frequently used words may by phonetic attraction be assimilated to a powerful type : there arisesthen a centre of stem analogy. The flexions of more unusual application may yield to a similar action put forth by well-establishedflexions : there arisesthen a centreof flexion analogy. Les, mes, ses sont, tes, ; font, vont, ont; mettait, tait; disait, lisait are groups in which this principle has beenat work.VEKB ESTRE.

This is derived partly from the corresponding forms of classicalLatin, partly from Low-Latin formations, partly from a root foreign to the Latin verb. The Imperfect of the Indicative has two parallel sets offorms.

The Future has three sets of forms, and the ConditionalPresent has two.

There are instances a Pluperfect of synthetic makeon ofthe Latin Pattern. Estre. Latin : essere for esse. Indicative.

We print the Latin with phoneticalterations.

Main-form.^; m g ^ 'sui. es. J est. j somes,sous, estes.sont.

By-forms.is. es. sommes, esmes, ermes. iestes.sunt, son.

Phonetic Latin.som, sui. es. est. somus. estis.sont.

Future III.

Future II.

Future I.

Past Definite.

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Verb EstreConditional.

97Phonetic Latin.esseraba. etc.

'fain-form.seroie. seroies. seroit. seriens.

By-forms.sereie. sereies. sereiet. serions

seriez.seroient. estroie. estroies. esteroit.

serieiz, series.estevaba. etc.

astreit.

astreient.

soie.

seie.

sea.

.a d> CD "

soies.

seies.

seas.

soit.

seiet, sit, sia, sie.

seat.

soiens. PH soiez.soient. fusse.

soions. soieiz, soies,seietst.fuisse.

semus. seatis.sant. fosse.

Imperfect. fosses fasses. fuisses.fust. fussions. fussiez.fussent.

fuisset, fus. fussions, fuissons. fussieiz, fussis

fosset. fossi'mus. fossitis.fussent.

Imperative.sois. soiens. soions. sea. semus.

soiez.

soieiz, soies.

seatis.( estante.

Gerundand Present Parting*'

estant.

1 estdndo.

Old French

Past Participle. Main-form.estet.

By-forms.esteit, est.

Phonetic Latin.esttu.

Infinitive.I. II. estre. ester. ssere. estre.

Compound tenses are omitted, their components being given above and elsewhere.When there are two or several sets of forms for one

tense,thoseclosestto Latin are the most corruptible and belongto the earlier phases the literature. of The Latin Pluperfect appearsin the Third Person only : it is furet, fure or fura, from fuerat, with the tensevalue ofthe Modern Preterite.

VERB

AVOIR.

PHONETIC

LATIN

: ABERE.

Indicative.

Main-form. ai.as.

By-forms. ay, ey, hay, ays.

Phonetic Latin. bjo.bes.

Present.ha. bet at, ad, o. a,adz, ait,( avuns, avon, avum,^avonies, avommes, > avons. avez.ont.

abmus. abtis.bunt.

(,

aveiz, avs.

avem.

J

unt, ant, an.

favoie.avoit. avions. aviez.

aveie.aveit, aveid. avions, avion. avieiz, avis.aveient.

aba.abat. abemus. abetis.abant.

Imperfect. ab avoies. aveies..avoient.

Verb AvoirIndicative.

99Phonetic Latin.bui. abust.

Main-form. c"4-3 g

By-forms.eu. os.

oi. eiis.

tC ot. " eiimes.CO eiistes.

X eust.emes.ostes.

rout, ant, oth, og, ab,\

/ abuit.abvmus.abvstis. abverunt.

PH orent.avrai.

/eurent, augrent, urent,\X eurent. /

favrai, aurai, arai, avrais,y

i avais.avruns,

/ aberdbjo.etc.

avras. S -i avrt.PR avrons.

avras, auras, aras. averad, avra, avrait.avrum. -

avrez.avrent.

avroiz, ares.Conditional.

'averoie.

avreie.

aberaba.

4^ averoies. S ' averoit.

avreies. avreit.avrions.

etc.

averiens.

avriez. avrieiz, avris.Vaveroieut. -

Subjunctive. raie. _^ aies. bja. bjas.

1} aifc'^ aiez.eusse.-tJ eusses. o

j aiens. laient.

aiet.-

aions, aion.

bjat.abj.itis.

aieiz, aies,aiest.eusse, euise.oiisses.

abjiimus. abjant.abusse.abusses.

"c eiist.oi eiissiens. eussent.

eust,auuisset, ouist.eussions. eussent.

abuisset.abuissimus.

jf eussiez. essieiz, essis.

abuissitisabuissent.

IOO

Old French Imperative.

Mam-form.aie.

By-forms.-

Latin.bjas.

aiens. aiez.

aions. aieiz, aies. Gerund and PresentParticiple

abjamus. abjatis.

I. aiant.

abiante.

IL avantPast Partie

1 abndo.eii, oiit, oil. abtu.

f abnte.

eut.

The Latin Pluperfect produceda Neo-Latin tensefound in the third person only : auret, auuret, agre (Latin habiterai),SECOND SECTION-THE SO-CALLED FOUR REGULAR

CONJUGATIONS

Philologists reducethe ordinary four Latin conjugations to two. A similar upsetting of the teaching of Modern grammariansmust be resorted to in the handling of the Old French Verbs. The superficial line between Regular and Irregular Verbs must be done away with, and two main principles must be recognisedas shaping the whole process of conjugation. These are (1) that, etymological forms being given as a starting point, analogicalforms may supersedethese; (2) that accentvariation prevails in the old language,as a means of conjugation, to an extent unknown in the modern. We have already becomefamiliar with accent variation in the declension of substan-

tives. It is accompanied by vowel intensification and vowel attenuation when the position and nature of thevowels concerned admit of this.

We place analogy first becauseit is this processwhich

Regular Conjugations

101

led to the Modern conjugation,and establishedits steins and flexions. Some types,when onceclearly evolved,put forth an assimilative power that shaped uniformly, and generalised into classes,feebler types which otherwisewould have remained individual and irreducible to a com-

mon standard. This tendencythat makesfor unity, hardlydiscernible in the Neo-Latin French Verb, becomes more

and more sweepingwith the progressof time, till its pace was slackenedby what must be called,in comparisonwiththe earlier state of affairs, the ' fixation ' of the French

language by literature and culture. The assimilation of less frequent phonetic formations to the preferred onesof the sameorder obscured etymologies. Now it has altogether thrown into the background and shrouded the working of the secondprinciple of Old French conjugation.

We placeaccent variation second because part was a its decreasingone as time wore on. Verb forms are indeed still either parisyllabic or imparisj'llabic, and their accent is still movable; but, along with uniformity in flexion, stem unification, as in Nouns, has taken place,expelling,as a rule, the one or the other of the two accent stems, so

as to destroy the accent conjugation which correspondedto the accent declension. In savoir, for instance, the two

stemssav-and sai(v-) still exist, but in almost all Verbs,as in aimer,where the stem aim- has everywhere superseded am-, there is only one stem throughout the conjugation. Going back to Latin, as for Noun forms, we therefore distinguish parisyllabic Verb forms, in which the accent falls on the samesyllable as in the verb stem,and imparisyllabic forms, in which it falls on oneof the terminational syllables. If the vowel of the verb stem undergoesin Old French intensification, we agreeto call strongthe forms in which this occurs. If, on the contrary, by tlie moving ofthe accent on to the termination forms. terminations the root vowel is set free

from intensification,we agreeto call suchformsweakforms,or attenuated The Latin which are accented and have

producedOld French accentedflexionsare, -dvi [ri],

IO2

Old Fren cli

-di, -im (endings of perfect) ; -ndo, -ntem (Gerund and PresentParticiple) ; -dttim, -Hum,-tum (Past Participle); -anvus, -Mis(First and SecondPersonsPliir. Prs. Indicative) ; -dbam,etc. (Imperfect Indie.) ; -dssem, etc. (Pluperfect Snbj.) ; -Ism, etc. (Inchoative termination) ; the RomanceFuture and Conditional endings,and the Infinitive endings -Are, -ere, -ire.The other Latin terminations contained in Old French

do not bear any accent; they therefore admit of strongVerb forms. Latin verbs have not all in the Perfect the accented

terminations -dvi, -di, -ivi, quoted above. Some havethe non-accented terminations -si, -i, -ui. secondary. The latter are

often designatedas primary verbs, and the former as Properly speaking,all Old French verbs consistof both weak and strong forms, but in somethe root vowel is not visibly and outwardly affected by the accent. We shallcall these terminational verbs, and the others accentualverbs.

For instance,chanteris a terminational Verb compared with boivre(unaccentedweak a throughout stem of first, against accentedstrong oi in some forms of second) the ; Imperfect of tenir is a weak tense comparedwith its Past Definite, and, in the Present,noustenonsis a weak person comparedwith il tient.THE TERMINATIONAL CONJUGATION

The test for finding what verbs belong to this conjugation is not the ending of the Infinitive, for the endings, -er, -ir, and -re,are all representedin this conjugation. But a rough and ready criterion is afforded in the ImperfectIndicative compared with the Present. If after the

apocopeof the suffix -oie in the former we obtain a stem which is identical, in the First Person Singular, with that of the latter, the verb in questionis terminational. Thus, je ehantoie holding chant-in common with je chant,the verb is terminational,but amoie being aim in the Present,thisverb is accentual.

Terminational Conjugation1owever muchthe accent mayrest uponit.

10;

The terminational conjugation is throughout purely terminational : it never visibly strengthensthe root vowel,

First Terminational TypecontainingVerbswith -er in the Infinitive. Secondary Verb chanter. Latin : cantre.Indicative.

Main-form.chant.

By-forms.-

Phonetic Latin.cnto.

*5 chantes.CD chantet. ta -

chante, -ed, -at, -a. chanteiz, chants.chan ten.

cntas.cntat.

chantons.

chantez.chantent.

-urns, -um, canttis. -om, -am. cautmus.cntant.

'chantoie. chantoies.

chanteie, etc. cantbam, canta. chantoes, chantoues. cantbas, cautas.

"a chantoit. schan tiens.

"

\

fchantot, chantout,\cantbat,chantevet. Jchantions.

cantat.

cantemtas.

chantiez. chantoient.chantai.

chantiez, chantis. cantetis. chantovent,chantaieut. cautbant, cantant.chantais. canti;'

."" chantas.chantes.tafi

cantsti.cantvit.cantvimus. cantstis.

chantt.' chantmes.

chantad, -a. -et, ed.chantasmes. chantaistes.

3 chantas tes.

(S chantrent chantarent.'chanterai.chanteras.

cantrunt.cantar bjo.etc.

chantarai.-

S chanterat.chanterons,

Jchanterad, chantera,chanterom.

chanterez. | chanteroiz.cliauteront. chanterunt.

fchantereiz, chanters,

Old

French

Conditional.

Main-form.chanteroie. chanteroies. chanteroit. chanteriens.

By-forms.chantereie. chantereies. chantereiet. chanterions.

Phonetit Latin.cantar aba. etc.

chanteriez.chanteroient.

chanterieiz, chanteris.-

Subjunctive.chant. chante. cnte.

chanz.chante t. chan tiens.

chantes.chante. chantions.

cannes.cntet. cantidmus.

chantiez.chantent.

chantieiz, cliantis.

cantitis.cntent.

chantasse.chantasses.

chantaisse, chantaixe. cantssem. 'chantaisses. cantsses.

chautast.chantassieus. chantassiez. chantassent.

chantas, chantt.chantassions.

cantiisset.cantassimus.

{chantassieiz, chantas-) cantassitia. > [ sis. Jcan tassent.

Imperative.chante.chantons.

chant.

cnta.cantmus.

chantez. chanter.

chanteiz, chants.

canttis. cantre.

Infinitive.chanteir, chantar.

Gerimdand Present Participle.

chantant. chantan.Past Participle.

Jcantnte,\

cantndo.

chante 1 -etz,-at,-ad: t. ^ -vv6, -at -au,fem. chantede