PHONETIC ANALYSIS
Word in text: “ESPERIT” [esperit]
Stressed syllable: penultimate -per-
Latin etymon: “SPIRITUS” [spiritus]
Modern French: “ESPRIT” [ɛspʁi]
SPIRITUS > ESPIRIT [espirit] after addition of a prosthetic “e” and complete lenition of the fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s] and deletion of the high back “u” [u] of the final syllable.
ESPIRIT > ESPERIT [esperit] (Middle French in text) after regular vowel evolution of short high front “i” [ǐ] to mid-high front “e” [e].
ESPERIT > ESPRIT [ɛspʁi] after syncope of mid-high front “e” [e] in the penultimate syllable, regular vowel evolution of word initial mid-high front “e” [e] to mid-low front “e” [ɛ], and complete lenition of word final voiceless laminal denti-alveolar stopped “t” [t].
Word in text: “MONSTRER” [monstrer] (infinitive of “MONSTRE”)
Stressed syllable: ultimate -strer
Latin etymon: “MONSTRĀRE” [monstrāre]
Modern French: “MONTRER” [mɔ̃tʁe]
MONSTRĀRE > MONSTRER [monstrer] (Old French in text) after regular vowel evolution of long low center “a” [a] to mid-high front “e” [e] and word final mid-high front “e” [e] is deleted.
MONSTRER > MONTRER [mɔntʁe] after regular vowel evolution of mid-high back “o” [o] to mid-low back “o” [ɔ] and complete lenition of the fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s].
MONTRER > MONTRER [mɔ̃tʁe] after nasalization of mid-low back “o” [ɔ] plus the alveolar nasal consonant “n” [n].
Word in text: “PUEPLE” [pwøplə]
Stressed syllable: penultimate “pue-” [pwø-]
Latin etymon: “POPULUS” [populus]
Modern French: “PEUPLE” [pœpl]
POPULUS > POPLU [poplu] after syncope of the high back “u” [u] in the penultimate syllable and deletion of word final fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s].
POPLU > POPLE [poplə] after word final high back “u” [u] yields the mid-high central “e” [ə].
POPLE > PEUPLE [pøplə] after regular vowel evolution of the long mid-high back “o” [o] to the rounded mid-high near front “eu” [ø].
PEUPLE > PUEPLE [pwøplə] (Old French in text) after metathesis and diphthongization of the mid-high near front “eu” [ø] to “ue” [wø].
PUEPLE > PEUPLE [pœpl] after elimination of word final mid-high central “e” [ə] and transition of “ue” [wø] to “eu” [œ].
Word in text: “AYMER” [aymer] (infinitive of “AYME”)
Stressed syllable: ultimate “-mer” [mer]
Latin etymon: “AMĀRE” [amāre]
Modern French: “AIMER” [eme]
AMĀRE > AMER [amer] after deletion of word final “e” [e] and regular vowel evolution of the long low center “a” [a] in the ultimate syllable to mid-high front “e” [e].
AMER > AYMER [aymer] (Middle French in text) after addition of the high front rounded “y” [y] in the penultimate syllable.
AYMER > AIMER [eme] after regular vowel evolution of the high front rounded “y” [y] to unrounded high front “i” [i] and complete lenition of word final voiced alveolar approximant “r” [r] (though the grapheme remains).
Word in text: “FORS” [fors]
Stressed syllable: (monosyllabic; Latin stressed syllable is “fo-” [fo-])
Latin etymon: “FORIS” [forīs]
Modern French: “HORS” [ɔʁ]
FORIS > FORS [fors] (Middle French in text) after syncope of the high front “i” [i] in the ultimate syllable.
FORS > HORS [hors] after lenition of the fricative labio-dental “f” [f] to the voiceless glottal fricative “h” [h].
HORS > HORS [ɔʁ] after complete lenition of the voiceless glottal fricative “h” [h] and the word final fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s] (though both graphemes remain).
Word in text: “CHASTEAU” [ʃɑsto] (singular of “CHASTEAULX”)
Stressed syllable: ultimate “-teau” [to]
Latin etymon: “CASTELLUM” [kastellum]
Modern French: “CHÂTEAU” [ʃɑto]
CASTELLUM > CHASTEL [ʃastel] after deletion of the ultimate syllable and palatalization of the voiceless velar stopped “c” [k] to the fricative postalveolar voiced “ch” [ʃ].
CHASTEL > CHASTEAU [ʃasto] after deletion of the word final voiced velar lateral approximant “l” [l] and evolution of the mid-high front “e” [e] to mid-high back “eau” [o].
CHASTEAU > CHÂTEAU [ʃɑto] after elision of the fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s] in the penultimate syllable and addition of an accent on the low center “a” [a] to indicate the former presence of the “s.”
Word in text: “BIEN” [bjẽn]
Stressed syllable: (monosyllabic; Latin stressed syllable is “be-” [be-])
Latin etymon: “BENE” [bene]
Modern French: “BIEN” [bjɛ̃]
BENE > BIENE [bjẽne] after diphthongization of mid-high front “e” [e] to the “ie” [je] diphthong and nasalization of this diphthong, yielding “iẽ” [je].
BIENE > BIEN [bjẽn] after loss of the word final mid-high front vowel “e” [e].
BIEN > BIEN [bjɛ̃] after regular vowel evolution of the nasal mid-high front “e” [ẽ] to the nasal mid-low front “e” [ɛ̃].
Word in text: “CLER” [kler]
Stressed syllable: (monosyllabic; Latin stressed syllable is “cla-” [kla])
Latin etymon: “CLĀRUS” [klārus]
Modern French: “CLAIR” [klɛʁ]
CLĀRUS > CLER [kler] (Old French in text) after regular vowel evolution of the low center “a” [a] to mid-high front “e” [e] and deletion of the high back “u” [u] and the fricative alveolar voiceless “s” [s] in the ultimate syllable.
CLER > CLAIR [klɛʁ] after regular vowel evolution and grapheme change of the mid-high front “e” [e] to mid-low front “ai” [ɛ].
Word in text: “VIE” [vie]
Stressed syllable: penultimate “vi-” [vi]
Latin etymon: “VĪTA” [vīta]
Modern French: “VIE” [vi]
VITA > VIA [via] after complete lenition of the intervocalic voiceless alveolar stopped “t” [t].
VIA > VIE [vie] (Old French in text)after regular vowel evolution of the low center “a” [a] to the high-mid front “e” [e].
VIE > VIE [vi] after the loss of word final high-mid front “e” [e], though the grapheme remains.
Word in text: “CAR” [kaʁ]
Stressed syllable: (monosyllabic; stressed Latin syllable is “qua-” [kwa-])
Latin etymon: “QUĀRĒ” [kware]
Modern French: “CAR” [kaʁ]
QUĀRĒ > QUER [kwer] (Old French) after loss of word final mid-high front “e” [e] and regular vowel evolution of low center “a” [a] to mid-high front “e” [e].
QUER > CAR [kaʁ] (Middle French in text) after lenition of the voiced labio-velar approximant “u” [w], grapheme change of “q” [k] to “c” [k], and irregular vowel change of the mid-high front “e” [e] to low center “a” [a].
Word in text: “MIRACLE” [mirakle]
Stressed syllable: “-ra-” [-ra-]
Latin etymon: “MĪRĀCULUM” [mīrākulum]
Modern French: “MIRACLE” [miʁakl]
MĪRĀCULUM > MIRACLU [miraklu] after syncope of the high back “u” [u] in the penultimate syllable and complete lenition of word final bilabial nasal “m” [m].
MIRACLU > MIRACLE [mirakle] (Old French in text) after word final high back “u” [u] yields mid-high front “e” [e].
MIRACLE > MIRACLE [miʁakl] after word final mid-high front “e” [e] is lost, though the grapheme remains.
Word in text: “QUOY” [kwa]
Stressed syllable: (monosyllabic)
Latin etymon: “QUID” [kwid]
Modern French: “QUOI” [kwa]
QUID > QUI [kwi] after complete lenition of the voiced linguolabial stopped “d” [d].
QUI > QUOY [kwa] after regular vowel evolution and diphthongization of the high front “i” [i] to the diphthong “oy” [wa].
QUOY > QUOI [kwa] after grapheme change of “y” [i] to “i” [i].
VERBAL MORPHOLOGY ANALYSIS
MŌNSTRAT (Latin) [mōnstrat] > MONSTRE (Old French word in text) [monstre] > MONTRE (modern French) [mɔ̃tʁ]
The present-tense third person singular form of the Latin verb “monstrāre,” “mōnstrat” [mōnstrat], undergoes complete lenition of the word final voiceless alveolar stop “t” [t]. It also undergoes regular vowel evolution in which word final low center “a” [a] becomes mid-high near front “e” [e]. This gives us the Old French word in the text, “monstre” [monstre]. The voiceless alveolar fricative “s” [s] is deleted. Word final mid-high near front “e” [e] is deleted in pronunciation, though the grapheme remains. The mid-high back “o” [o] undergoes regular vowel evolution and yields the nasal mid-low near back “o” [ɔ̃], giving us the Modern French “montre” [mɔ̃tʁ].
CRĒDĒRE (Latin) [krēdēre] > CROIRE (Old French word in text) [krware] > CROIRE (Modern French) [kʁwaʁ]
The infinitive form of the Latin verb “crēdēre” undergoes syncope of the penultimate syllable “de” [de], yielding “crere” [krere]. The long mid-high front “e” [e] in the penultimate syllable diphthongizes to “oi” [wa] according to regular vowel evolution, yielding “croire” [krware], the Old French word in the text. The word final mid-high front “e” [e] is deleted, though the grapheme remains and is no longer pronounced, giving us the Modern French “croire” [kʁwaʁ].
AMAT (Latin) [amat] > AYME (Middle French) [ayme] > AIME (Modern French) [ɛm]
The third person singular form of the verb “amāre,” “amat,” undergoes deletion of the word final voiceless alveolar stop “t” [t]. The low center “a” [a] in the ultimate syllable undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes mid-high front “e” [e]. The high front rounded “y” [y] is added to the penultimate syllable, giving us “ayme” [ayme], the Middle French word in the text. The word final mid-high front “e” [e] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains. The high front rounded “y” [y] undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes high front unrounded “i” [i]. The word initial low center “a” [a] evolves to mid-low near-front “a” [ɛ], giving us the Modern French “aime” [ɛm].
FACERE (Latin) [fakere] > FAIRE (Old French) [fare] > FAIRE (Modern French) [fɛʁ]
The infinitive form of the Latin verb “facere” undergoes syncope of the penultimate syllable and the grapheme “i” is added, giving us the Old French word in the text, “faire” [fare]. The word final mid-high “e” [e] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains. The low center “a” [a] evolves to a mid-low near-front “a” [ɛ], giving us the Modern French “faire” [fɛʁ].
SUNT (Latin) [sunt] > SONT (Old French) [sont] > SONT (Modern French) [sɔ̃]
The third person plural form of the Latin verb “esse,” “sunt,” undergoes regular vowel evolution as the high back “u” [u] becomes mid-high back “o” [o], giving us the Old French word in the text, “sont” [sont]. The vowel then evolves into the mid-low near-back “o” [ɔ], which becomes nasalized [ɔ̃] due to the presence of the linguolabial nasal consonant immediately after it. The word final voiceless linguolabial stop “t” [t] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains, leaving us with the Modern French “sont” [sɔ̃].
APPELLAT (Latin) [apelat] > APPELLE (Old French) [apele] > APPELLE (Modern French) [apɛl]
The third person singular form of the Latin verb “appellāre,” “appellat,” undergoes complete lenition of the word final voiceless alveolar stop “t” [t] and regular word final vowel evolution of the low center “a” [a] to the mid-high front “e” [e], giving us the Old French word in the text, “appelle” [apele]. The mid-high front vowel “e” [e] undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes the mid-low near-front “e” [ɛ]. The word final mid-high front “e” [e] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains, giving us the Modern French “appelle” [apɛl].
NOUN AND ADJECTIVE MORPHOLOGY
Old French in text: « Et sa belle vie, par foy / Monstre qu’elle est de Dieu en grace »
Modern French: « Et, en vérité, la beauté de sa vie montre qu’elle a la grâce de Dieu »
The Old French word in the text, “elle” [ele], is derived from the Latin feminine singular third person pronoun “illa” [ila]. The word final low center “a” [a] undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes the mid-high front “e” [e]. The word initial high front “i” [i] also becomes the mid-high front “e” [e] due to regular vowel evolution, giving us “elle” [ele]. The word final mid-high front “e” [e] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains. The word initial mid-high front “e” [e] yields the mid-low near-front “e” [ɛ], giving us the Modern French “elle” [ɛl].
Old French in text: « A l’effect la chose est prouvée »
Modern French: « l’effet prouve la chose »
The Old French word in the text, “effect” [efekt], is derived from the Latin “effectus” [efektus], the perfect passive participle of “efficiō.” The word final voiceless alveolar fricative “s” [s] and the high back “u” [u] in the ultimate syllable undergo complete lenition, giving us “effect” [efekt]. The voiceless velar stop “c” [k] and the voiceless alveolar stop “t” [t] undergo complete lenition, though their graphemes remain. The mid-high front “e” [e] in the ultimate syllable evolves to the mid-low near-front “e” [ɛ], giving us the Modern French “effect” [efɛ].
Old French in text: « on a trouvé en histoire / Qu’à ce faire elle estoit commise »
Modern French: « on a trouvé dans des livres d’histoire qu’elle était destinée à accomplir cette mission »
The Old French word in the text, “histoire” [histware], is derived from the Latin “historia” [historia]. The word final low center “a” [a] undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes the mid-low front “e” [e]. The alveolar trill “r” [r] and the high front vowel “i” [i] undergo metathesis. The mid-high back “o” [o] and the high front “i” [i] diphthongize, giving us the Old French “histoire” [histware]. The voiceless glottal fricative “h” [h] undergoes complete lenition but the grapheme remains, giving us the Modern French “histoire” [istwaʁ].
Old French in text: « el pourteroit baniere / Es guerres françoises »
Modern French: « elle porterait la bannière dans les guerres françaises »
The Old French word in the text, “françoises” [frãnsojses], is derived from the Latin “franciscus” [frankiskus]. The voiceless velar stop in the penultimate syllable, “c” [k], undergoes palatalization because it is followed by a high front “i” [i] and becomes the voiceless alveolar fricative “ç” [s]. The ultimate syllable “-cus” [-kus] undergoes syncope and is completely eliminated. A yod “i” [j] is added following the mid-high back “o” [o] and the low center “a” [a] nasalizes, giving us the Old French “françois” [frãnsojs]. To make the plural form, an “-es” [es] is added. The “o + yod” becomes a mid-low near-back “ai” [ɛ] and the word final voiceless alveolar fricative “s” [s] undergoes complete lenition, though the grapheme remains, giving us the Modern French “français” [fʁɑ̃sɛ]. The unpronounced “-es” word ending indicates that the adjective describes a noun that is feminine and plural.
Old French in text: « Onc miracle, si com je tiens, / Ne fut plus cler »
Modern French: « nul miracle ne fut plus évident »
The Old French word in the text, “cler” [klɛr], is derived from the Latin “clārus” [klārus]. The voiceless alveolar fricative “s” [s] and the high back “u” [u] undergo complete lenition. The low center “a” [a] undergoes regular vowel evolution and becomes the low-mid center “e” [ɛ], giving us the Old French “cler” [klɛr]. The vowel undergoes grapheme change, becoming “ai” [ɛ] and giving us the Modern French “clair” [klɛr].
Old French in text: « Hee! quel honneur au femenin / Sexe! »
Modern French: « Eh ! quel honneur pour le sexe féminin ! »
The Old French word in the text, “femenin” [femenin], is derived from the Latin “fēminīnus” [femininus]. The word final voiceless alveolar fricative “s” [s] and the high back “u” [u] are deleted. The high front “i” [i] in the Latin antepenultimate syllable (Old and Modern French penultimate) yields a mid-high front “e” [e], giving us the Old French “femenin” [femenin]. The mid-high front “e” [e] in the penultimate syllable reverts back to a high front “i” [i]. The high front “i” [i] in the ultimate syllable evolves to a mid-low near-front “i” [ɛ], which becomes nasalized [ɛ̃] due to the presence of the linguolabial nasal “n” [n]. This gives us the Modern French “féminin” [feminɛ̃].