examining bodies and the simplification of french syntax
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EXAMINING BODIES AND THE SIMPLIFICATION OF FRENCH SYNTAXSource: The Modern Language Quarterly (1900-1904), Vol. 3, No. 2 (December 1900), p. 150Published by: Modern Humanities Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41065319 .
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150 THE MODERN LANGUAGE QUARTERLY
adjective, as : du bon pain, de la bonne viande, des bons fruits.
The Adjective. 1. Adjectives may agree with the nearer
of two nouns, as : un courage et une foi nouvelle.
2. Nu, demi, and feu may agree with the nouns they qualify, even if they pre- cede them, as : nus pieds, une demie heure (without a hyphen)/«^ la reine.
3. Compound adjectives may be written in one word and the sign of the plural placed at the end, as : nou- veauné, nouveaunée, nouveaunés, nou- veaunées.
4. But adjectives of colour, having become invariable nouns, will remain invari- able, as : des robes bleu clair.
5. The participles approuvé, attendu, ci- inclus, ci-joint, excepté, non compris, y compris, oté, passé, supposé, vu, which are now invariable when placed before the nouns they qualify, may now agree when they precede, as : je vous envoie ci joint, or ci jointes les pièces demandées.
6. The numerals vingt and cent may take the sign of the plural whether they are followed by another number or not, as : quatre vingts dix élèves, quatre cents trente hommes.
7. Compound numbers need not have a hyphen between their parts, as : dix sept
8. Mille may be written thus even in dates, as : Van mille huit cents trente.
9. Tout may agree before all feminine adjectives, as : des personnes toutes heureuses.
10. Même may be used in the plural after a plural noun or pronoun, and there need be no hyphen between même and the pronoun, as : nous mêmes, les dieux mêmes.
The Verb. 1. The apostrophe and hyphen may be
omitted, as : entrouvrir, est il. 2. The verb may be in the plural if pre-
ceded by more than one subject in the singular joined by ni, ou, comme avec, ainsi que.
3. O est may always be used for ce sont, as : c'est des montagnes et des précipices.
4. The past participle conjugated with avoir may remain invariable in all cases, as : les livres que fai lu ' the past participle of reflexive verbs may also remain invariable : ils se sont tu.
The Adverb. Ne may be omitted after empêcher, éviter,
craindre, douter, contester, nier que, il ne tient pas à, il ¿en faut que, etc. It may also be suppressed after com- paratives, and the phrases a moins Que. avant aue.
de V. Payen-Payne.
EXAMINING BODIES AND THE SIMPLIFICATION OF FRENCH SYNTAX.
Teachers of French in English Schools must have been awaiting with interest the announcement by English examining bodies of the attitude that they intend to adopt with regard to M. Leygues' decree of July 31. It will be seen that the decisions of the various bodies are not uniform.
While the Civil Service Commissioners and the Delegates of the Oxford Local and of the Cambridge Local Examinations have announced that they will recognise the con- cessions specified in the decree, the Oxford and Cambridge Schools Examination Board have declared that 'the licences tolerated
by the arrêté du 31 juillet 1900 will not be formally recognised by the Board till they have been considered by the French Aca- demy ; but in the meantime Examiners will be instructed to bear them in mind both in setting papers and in marking answers.' The Board of Education ' notify that they will endeavour to give effect to the conces- sions specified in the decree7; and the College of Preceptors will, pending the decision of the Academy, admit all the modifications except those which relate to the Past Participle. No announcement on the subject has yet been made by the University of London.
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