Lulu
I
Je, Christine, qui ay plouré
XI ans en abbaye close,
Où j’ay tousjours puis demouré
Que Charles (c’est estrange chose!),
Le filz du roy, se dire l’ose,
S’en fouy de Paris de tire,
Par la traïson là enclose,
Ore à prime me prens à rire;
II
A rire bonement de joie
Me prens pour le temps yvernage
Qui se depart, où je souloie
Me tenir tristement en cage.
Mais or changeray mon langage
De pleur en chant, quant recouvré
Ay bon temps Bien ma part avoir enduré
III
L’an mil CCCCXXIX 1429
Reprint à luire li soleil.
Il ramene le bon temps neuf
Qu’on [n’] avoit veü de droit oil
Puis long temps, dont plusers en dueil
Orent vesqu; j’en suis de ceulx.
Mais plus de rien je ne me dueil,
Quant ores voy ce que [je] veulx.
IV
Si est bien le vers retourné
De grant dueil en joie nouvelle
Depuis le temps qu’ay sejourné
Là où je suis, et la tresbelle
Saison, que printemps on appelle,
La Dieu mercy, qu’ay desirée,
Où toute rien se renouvelle,
S’est du sec au vert temps tirée.
V
C’est que le degeté enfant
Du roy de France legitime,
Qui long temps a esté souffrant
Mains grans ennuiz, qui or aprime,
Se lieva ainsi que vers prime,
Venant comme roy coronné
En puissance tresgrande et fine,
Et d’espérons d’or espronné.
Explanation : In the text of Ditie de Jehanne d’Arc by Christine de Pizan, the whole text is written in the XV century Middle French, not entirely Old French. The French words in Middle French were already similar to the Modern version in the grapheme (writing format). However, there are major differences in the pronunciation. Some words that might look the same (as in spelling) as the Modern French, have different pronunciations, and it is important to distinguish them, and illustrate them in the voice recording. While recording, I need to pay particular attention to the /r/ which is more pronounced as an uvular trill (Spanish phonetic) than the modern voiced uvular fricative, the diphthongs, the palatals, and the word endings. For example, the /g/ was pronounced as the affricate /dz/ in Middle French, but the /g/ is pronounced as /z/ in Modern French. Furthermore, the final /s/ was still pronounced in the text, as well as most of the word endings (e.g “Charles”) In the words King Charles, the /s/ at the end of Charles need to be emphasized and not avoided. Also, I already witnessed some letters in word-medial positions that are not pronounced. They indicate the losses that will eventually occur, as the language evolves to the Modern form. Most importantly, in Old/ Middle French, the vowel “e” at the end of each word was still pronounced, but in modern version of French, the “e” at the end is not pronounced. For instance, the word “close”, even though it does not have the accent marking at the end of the vowel “e” as in “é”, it still need to be pronounced. Many Old French diphthongs and triphthongs were transitioning from their Classical Latin pronunciations to their Modern French pronunciations: “eu” (not including as in “Dieu”) pronounced as [ew], “au” as [aw], and “aux” as [awks]. Additionally, oral “oi” pronounced as [ɔj], nasal “oi” pronounced as [õj], and oral “ié” as [je]. Moreover, nasal “ie” pronounced as as [jẽ], “ou” as [ɔw], “ei” as [ẽj]. Also, oral “ue” pronounced as [we], nasal “ue” as [wẽ]. And, “ai” pronounced as [aj], and “ieu” as [jew]. Last but not least, the words that are connecting need to be pronounced as connected, same with Modern French. For instance, “tristement en”, there is not a separation in front of the word “en”, and the letter “t” in “ment” need to be carried forward, and connect with “en”.