French letters and spelling. Use of apostrophe in transcription

Studying English language, Russian-speaking people have to master the rules for using one special icon - the apostrophe. What is it, when is it used and in what languages ​​is it still used? Let's find answers to all these questions!

Origin of the term

The word in question “apostrophe” came into Russian and others foreign languages from ancient Greek. The term apostrophos that existed in it was formed from the words: apo (from) and strepho (address). So literally given noun translated as “turned from something.” Most likely, the shape of this very icon was meant.

In Slavic languages this term came through the mediation of French, in which it is very often used to this day.

Apostrophe - what is it?

This name refers to a linguistic sign that looks like a comma (') or a single quotation mark ("), but, unlike them, is placed at the top of the line.

The apostrophe sign is widely used in different languages world, but often for different purposes. Let's look at the most famous of them.

Ukrainian apostrophe

As is known, in such as Belarusian and Ukrainian there is no solid separator mark(ъ). Instead, the graphic icon in question (’) is used to signal the separate pronunciation of sounds.

Most often it is used when writing so-called Ukrainian “words with an apostrophe” - terms in which labial consonants and “r” are written before the diphthongs “ya”, “yu”, “e”, “i”. For example: five, tem’yachko, pir’ya and the like.

This sign is also used after prefixes or the first part difficult words, which end in a hard consonant, before the above diphthongs. As an example, we can cite the following words with an apostrophe: ob"em (volume), ob"yava (advertisement), pіd"їzd (entrance).

It is worth noting interesting fact: after the Reform of the Russian language of 1918, for almost two decades the apostrophe was widely used in all spheres as a dividing sign. Therefore, all three of the above Ukrainian words in Russian they were also written with an apostrophe. And only in 1956 “ъ” became the only dividing character in the Russian language. At the same time, Ukrainian and Belarusian completely lost it, but at the same time retained “"”.

What role does the apostrophe play in Russian?

In addition to the above cases of using the sign being studied in the Ukrainian language, there is one more. Moreover, it is also used in Russian. It's about about writing words of foreign origin.

Most often this concerns proper names. For example, the surname of a famous British writer is Peter O'Donnell, or the name main character movie " gone With the Wind" - Scarlett O'Hara.

In addition to the above-mentioned case, in Russian it is permissible to use an apostrophe when it is necessary to separate Russian endings or suffixes from the initial part of a word written in Latin: “My mother finally understood how to use E-mail correctly.”

Use of the apostrophe in English and other foreign languages

Having learned the answer to main question“Apostrophe - what is it?”, and also having considered the cases when it is used in Russian and Ukrainian, it is worth paying attention to the use of this sign in other languages.

• In French this sign is widely used to indicate missing vowels. For example: le homme - l'homme (person).
• In German, to avoid confusion with words that end with the sound [s], this sign in writing helps to indicate Genitive they have. For example: Thomas (Thomas - nominative) and Thomas" (Thomas - genitive).
• In Esperanto, an apostrophe is used to shorten the article la: l"kor" (la koro). Also in this language, this graphic sign is used to indicate the elimination of the final vowel in nouns in Nominative case singular.
• In the Macedonian language, the apostrophe plays an even more important role important role. There it denotes a neutral vowel sound in certain dialectisms: “k’smet” (kismet), “s’klet” (rez).

Use of apostrophe in transcription

Knowing what an apostrophe is in writing, it’s worth figuring out what role it plays in transcription.

In most cases like this, the mark is used to indicate the place of emphasis.

In many Slavic languages(including Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian) an apostrophe in transcription indicates the softness of the preceding consonant, but not soft sign, as some claim. Because this sign is “mute” and only signals the softness of the preceding sound. As an example, consider the word “July”: [ii “ul”].

In conclusion, it is worth noting that when working in text editors, it is not always convenient to switch the language layout in order to place an apostrophe (it is only available in the English font). Therefore, there is an easier way: hold down the Alt key and at the same time enter the code “39” or “146” on a separate numeric keypad.

How to type in French so that all the superscript and subscript characters so commonly used in French are written? I can recommend several methods. First suitable for those, who types only in Word. The second and third are for those who use other applications, for example, Skype.

1. Keyboard shortcuts in Word

The required axans and sedias can be configured by assigning special keyboard shortcuts. For example, when you press the Ctrl key and the letter “e” at the same time, type “é”. To assign keyboard shortcuts, you need to click on the “Insert” button on the top panel of Word and select the “Symbol” option

In the “Symbol” window that opens, find and select the desired French letter, for example é. At the bottom of the page, click on the “Keyboard Shortcuts” button:

In the window that opens, in the “New keyboard shortcut” field, enter a convenient combination, for example “Ctrl” + “e” (you don’t need to write Ctrl, just press the two indicated keys at the same time). At the bottom of the page you need to click on the “Assign” button.

Now in any Word document, when you simultaneously press two keys - “Ctrl” + “e” - you will see é! The main thing is not to forget which keys to press.

2. Install the French keyboard layout

If you actively use not only Word, but also other applications, I advise you to install French layout keyboards. To do this you need:

1. Click on the “Start” button, go to the “Control Panel” of the computer and select the “Regional and Language Options” button.

2. Select the “Languages ​​and keyboards” tab, click on the “Change keyboard” button.

3. Find the “Add” button

4. And in the window, select the input language – “French (France)” and the keyboard layout – “French”. Click "Ok".

You can switch to/from the French keyboard in the same way as you do with the English keyboard.

French keyboard layout - AZERTY

Don't forget about the special "French" keyboard layout, which is not the same as the English one:

Canadian keyboard layout

To install, the same manipulations are required as for French, but we select, accordingly, “French (Canada)”.

3. Entering codes in combination with Alt

Alt character codes are typed by holding down the Alt key and a numeric combination on the numeric keypad.

 Listen to the audio lesson with additional explanations

I think that many have already noticed that sometimes there are different icons above and below French letters: sticks, houses, dots, worms, commas...

As you understand, they are drawn for a reason.

The letter of the alphabet already known to us is e (this is the one when we put our lips together as if we are going to speak O, and we ourselves say uh) is pronounced differently with different symbols.

é

If you see this icon above it (accent aigu (sharp accent) or “stick to the right”), it needs to be pronounced, smiling.

Prepare your lips for sound And, and say it yourself uh.

That is, stretch your lips towards your ears as much as possible. And with such a smile from ear to ear, you say uh.

fé e, bé bé, café, é cole, é tudie, ré cit, té lé, é té, é crire, litté rature, pré fé ré

Cé cile dé teste le café.
C"est l"é cole numé ro deux.
C"est la discipline pré fé ré e de Bé né dicte.
Le bé bé de Pé pé a le nez é paté.
Il a pitié des bé bé s.

è ê ё

The scientific name for these icons is: accent grave, accent circonflexe, tréma (let’s call them in our own way – stick to the left, house, two dots).

All three options are pronounced the same, like Russian uh.

trè s, prè s, aprè s, frè re, pè re, mè re, poè te, crè me, problè me, modè le
fê te, bê te, rê ve, crê pe, forê t, fenê tre, Noе l

C"est le pè re de Pierre.
Le Noé l est ma fê te préférée.

I hope everyone knows that the French language grew out of Latin (just like Italian, spanish languages). That is, in French words Latin roots predominate.

So here it is. Where in Latin there was a letter s in this root, in modern French there is house. But in other languages ​​(and not only Romance languages, but, for example, in English and Russian) this s has been preserved.

Look at the word fê te!

Let's restore the letter hidden under the house. What happened? Feste.

What does it remind us of? Look at spanish word fiesta and on Russian word"festival". Right! It's a "holiday"! So you can guess the meaning of the word, which contains e with a house.

And now a word forê t.

We proceed in the same way. We restore the letter s – forest.

Those who speak English have already understood that this is a “forest”. By the way, this letter has been preserved in French, for example, in the word forestier (forester).

Two dots can stand not only above e, but also above other letters too.

The main purpose of this icon is to separate vowels.

Usually two vowels in a row make one sound. For example, the letter combination a i is read as uh(we'll learn more about this later).

But if you put not one, but two dots over i, this letter combination will read as ai.

naï f, égoï ste, Raphaе l, Noе l

The house (accent circonflexe) and the “stick to the left” (accent grave) can stand not only above the letter e.

These icons can be used to distinguish the meaning of words.

du – partial article male(or continuous article)
dû – past tense form of the verb devoir

sur – preposition “on, about”

a – verb avoir(have) for pronouns “he, she”
à – preposition “in”

ou – conjunction “or”
où – question word"Where? Where?"

la – pronoun “her” (answers the question “who?”)
là – adverb “there, here”

Attention! This does not affect pronunciation in any way.

ç

garç on, leç on, maç on, faç on, faç ade, limaç on, reç u

Apostrophe

This is a comma above and to the right of the letter that hides an extra vowel underneath.

In French, everything should be fine :) But two vowels in a row are a mess.

You can't leave de elle. You need to hide the vowel in the preposition under an apostrophe. It turns out d'elle.

Instead of le arbre - l "arbre, je ai - j"ai.

You get used to it very quickly, because very quickly you realize that it is really much more convenient to pronounce it this way.

Lesson summary"Letters with icons":

• é (lips for sound And, and say it yourself uh):
  Cé cile dé teste le café.
• è ê ё (Russian uh):
  Le pè re de Noе l rê ve de fê te.
• ç (Russian With):
  Le garç on a reç u une leç on.
• apostrophe:
  instead of le arbre - l"arbre, je ai - j"ai.
• two dots above the vowel separate it from the previous one, that is, they do not form a letter combination, but are pronounced separately:
  égoï ste, Noе l
• house above the vowelû distinguishes the meaning of words, does not affect pronunciation:
  su r – preposition “on, about”
  sû r – adjective “confident”
• stick to the left above the letterà distinguishes the meaning of words, does not affect pronunciation:
  a – verb avoir (to have) for the pronouns “he, she”
  à – preposition “in”

General patterns of using accents.

The French script has four superscripts; three accents (grave, aigu, circonflexe) and tréma. Let's consider comparison table general positional patterns and functions of superscripts (including tréma).

Use of signs with letters and basic letter combinations:

In addition, tréma occurs in graphic syntagms; ouï, uï, ayo, oh. No signs are placed above y, œ, eau. Only tréma can appear above a nasal vowel (coïncider).

Accent circonflexe.

Accent circonflexe can stand over any simple vowel letter: â, ê, î, ô, û or letter combination: aî, eî, oî, eû, oû, oê = , except y, au, eau.

Accent circonflexe is never placed above a vowel preceding two consonants (except indivisible groups: tr, cl, etc.) and the letter x. Exceptions: a) before double ss in the words châssis ‘frame’, châssis ‘chassis’ and in forms of the verb croître; b) in passe simple verbs venir, tenir (and their derivatives): nous vînmes, vous vîntes, etc.

Accent circonflexe is never placed over a vowel followed by another vowel, whether the latter is pronounced or not, for example: crû (m. r.), but: crue (f. r.). Exception: bâiller.

In a combination of two vowels, the accent circonflexe always stands above the second: traître, théâtre.

Accent circonflexe is not placed above the last letter of the word. Exceptions: participles dû, crû, mû, interjections ô, allô and foreign words and names (Salammbô, etc.), onomatopoeia (bê-ê!).

Accent circonflexe is not placed over the e if it is the first letter of the word. Exception: être.

Accent circonflexe is never placed above nasal vowels. Even when accent circonflexe is used in a given root, it disappears if the vowel takes on a nasal timbre:

traîner, entraîner, but: train, entrain; jeûner, but: à jeun. Exceptions: nous vînmes, vous vîntes, etc.

• Accent circonflexe never breaks letter combinations, unlike accent aigu and tréma.

Reasons for using accent circonflexe.

The use of accent circonflexe is explained by a number of factors: etymological (it is placed in place of the disappeared letter), phonetic (to indicate the duration of a vowel in combination with a change in its timbre), morphological (in some types of word formation), differentiating (to distinguish homonyms).

Accent circonflexe is most often used as a sign to replace a letter that has disappeared from pronunciation and writing, primarily s. It is no coincidence that accent circonflexe is not used before s.
Exceptions: châsse, châssis, forms of the verb croître. Dropped before another consonant s could have been preserved in the same root in words borrowed from Latin and other languages ​​after the process of extinction s had ceased. In Russian borrowings this s can also be represented. Therefore, as a way to check the spelling of [ˆ], it is recommended to compare it with other words of the same root, where s is preserved, or with the corresponding Russian words (alternating s -ˆ):

fête - festival - festival; bête - bestial - beast, etc.

• In more rare cases, [ˆ] replaces another one that has disappeared
  consonant, besides s:

p: âme< anima; t: rêne < retina; d: Rhône < Rhodanus.

• In a number of words [ˆ] appeared instead of a vowel that was gaping, that is, before another vowel. The disappearance of this vowel caused the length of the remaining one, which is indicated by the sign [ˆ]:

mûr< meur < maturum; sûr < seur < securum;

role< roole < rotulam; вge < eage < etaticum.

And in modern spelling[ˆ] is placed instead of the omitted one e muet in a number of cases of word production and inflection.

• 4. Disappearance s led to a change in the sound of the previous vowel. The loss of the vowel in gaping had a similar effect. The remaining vowel received longitude (the so-called historical longitude), and its timbre also changed: in is pronounced closed [α:], ô - closed [o:], ê - open [ε:]. This gave reason to interpret [ˆ] as an indicator of a change in the sound of a letter, and in a number of words it was introduced in order to convey the corresponding shade of the pronunciation of a vowel, regardless of etymology, for example: cône, grâce, interjections ô, allô. Longitude is not always preserved, mainly in stressed syllable; as a rule, such a [ˆ] stands above a stressed vowel (most often above o), in other words of the same root the vowel becomes unstressed and loses its length, [ˆ] can disappear, cf.: cône - conique; grâce - gracieux, etc.

Phonetic [ˆ] is often found in words Greek origin to denote [ε:], [o:], [α:]. However, when using it, you cannot rely solely on pronunciation, since in many cases such pronunciation of the vowel is not marked with a [ˆ]. So, they write cône, diplôme, arôme but: zone, cyclone, although in all words it sounds [o:].

In the use of [ˆ], two contradictory trends collide. On the one hand, the morphological tendency forces us to use [ˆ] in all words of a given root, regardless of the pronunciation tête [ε:] - têtu [e]), on the other hand, the phonetic tendency forces us to put and omit [ˆ] depending on the pronunciation in one and the same root (cône - conique). The struggle between these two tendencies leads to frequent deviations and inconsistencies in the use of the sign [ˆ]. In many cases [ˆ] is retained or omitted only due to tradition. In addition, in modern pronunciation, the differential features of phonemes expressed by the sign [ˆ] are weakened: [ε] coincides with [e], â and a, ô and o are neutralized (especially in an unstressed syllable).

The arbitrary nature of the use of [ˆ] in a number of cases gave rise to its use without connection with etymology and pronunciation by analogy or, conversely, as a distinctive sign (differentiation of homonyms). Sometimes [ˆ] is preserved in words with a “solemn sound”: chrême, châsse, baptême. In other cases, it is used for ornamental purposes in borrowed words to emphasize their “exoticism”: pô, stûpa.

Accent circonflexe in verb forms, inflections, suffixes.

I. Accent circonflexe is written in the following verb forms.

1. In the forms of the 1st and 2nd l. pl. including passé simple of all verbs:

nous parlâmes, dîmes, lûmes, eûmes, vînmes; vous parlâtes, dîtes, lûtes, eûtes, vîntes.

Exceptions: nous haïmes, vous haïtes (here tréma emphasizes the separate reading of a - i, which [ˆ] cannot show) and according to tradition in nous ouïmes, vous ouïtes.

In forms of the 3rd l. units part imparfait du subjonctif of all verbs: qu’il parlât, qu’il dot, qu’il eût, qu’il vоnt; [Here - historical origin(from parlast, etc.). Exception: qu'il haït.

In verb forms ending in -aître, -oître (naître, connaître, paître, paraître, croître and their derivatives). In two cases before t:

1) in the infinitive: naître, accroître and, therefore, in futur and conditionnel: il naîtra, il naîtrait;

2) in the 3rd l. units part présent de l’indicatif: il naît, il accroît. In these verbs [ˆ] replaces the dropped s. Before s [ˆ] disappears: je nais, tu nais, but: il naît, etc.

4. In the forms of the verb croître ‘to grow’ as opposed to the verb croire ‘to believe’.

Présent de l'indicatif Impératif

croire: je crois, tu crois, il croit crois

croître: je croîs, tu croîs, il croît croîs

croire: je crus, tu crus, il crut, ils crurent

croître: je crûs, tu crûs, il crût, ils crûrent

Imparfait du subjonctif

croire:que je crusse, tu crusses, il crût, nous crussions, vous crussiez, ils crussent

croître: que je crûsse, tu crûsses, il crût, nous crûssions, vous crûssiez, ils crûssent

Note. The derived verbs accroître, décroître have [ˆ] only in the 3rd l. units part présent de l’indicatif: il décroît - by general rule verbs ending in aître, -oître.

5. In the 3rd l. units part présent de l’indicatif of verbs plaire (déplaire, complaire), gésir, clore - pepper, t (instead of the dropped s): il plaît, il déplaît, il complaît, il gît, il clôt.

Note: il éclot is currently written without accent circonflexe.

6. In the participe passé of some verbs:

crû (croître) - in contrast to cru (croire) and cru (adj and m); dû (devoir) - in contrast to du (article contracté and partitif); mû (mouvoir) - according to tradition, instead of a dropped vowel in gaping (< теи).

In plural and in forms female accent circonflexe disappears: crus, crue; dus, due; mus, mue.

Note. [ˆ] is not used in derived verbs: accru, décru, indu, ému, promu; however they write redû (redevoir), recrû p. p. and s m (recroître) but: recru (de fatigue).

Accent circonflexe is used in following cases during word formation.

In the suffix of adjectives and nouns -âtre (expresses the incompleteness of the attribute): noirâtre ‘blackish’, marâtre ‘stepmother’.

7. In the suffix of adjectives -être: champêtre ‘field’ (cf.: terrestre ‘earthly’).

8. At the end of the names of the winter months of the Republican calendar (in 1793-1805): nivôse, pluviôse, ventôse.

--> French letters and spelling

French writing is based on Latin alphabet , including 26 pairs of letters (lowercase and uppercase). In addition, in French they use diacritics(superscript) characters and 2 ligatures(plexes of letters). Feature French spelling is the use of letter combinations that perform the function of one letter, as well as the presence of diacritics, which themselves are not pronounced, but indicate the reading of the adjacent letter, or perform a dividing function.

French alphabet

French uses the Latin alphabet, which has 26 letters to represent 35 phonemes.

A a	Jj	Ss
B b	K k	T t
C c	Ll	U u
D d	Mm	Vv
E e	Nn	W w
F f	O o	X x
G g	P p	Y y
H h	Q q	Z z
I i	R r

The letters k and w are used only in words of foreign origin.

The letter h itself is not pronounced, but can indicate readings of neighboring letters. When using the letter h at the beginning of a word in French, there is a distinction h mute (h muet) And h aspirated (h aspiré). With words that start with h aspirated, Linking is prohibited. In addition, there is no truncation of the article before such words. In dictionary h aspirated, usually indicated by an asterisk (*).

Diacritics and ligatures

Feature graphics system French language is the application of the following diacritics:

• accent aigu or acute(´) is placed above the letter e to indicate [e] closed: l’été
• grave accent or gravis(`) is placed above the letter e to indicate [ɛ] open (mère), as well as above other letters to distinguish homonyms (words with the same sound): la – là, ou – où.
• accent circonflexe or circumflex(ˆ) is placed above different vowels and indicates that this sound is long: fête, ôter
• trema or diaeresis(¨) is placed above vowels and indicates that they must be pronounced separately from the preceding vowel sound: Citroën
• cedille or cedilla(¸) placed under the letter c means pronunciation [s], not [k], before vowels, except i and e: garçon
• apostrophe or apostrophe(’) denotes the deletion of the final vowel before a word beginning with a vowel or h a little: l’arbre (le => l’), j’habite ( je => j’)

Below are French letters with diacritics:

In French there are two ligatures: Æ æ And Œ œ .

Ligature œ occurs in both borrowed and native words, and can denote the sounds [e], [ɛ], [œ] and [ø], for example

- [e]: œdème (swelling)
- [ɛ]: œstrogène (estrogen)
- [œ]: cœur (heart)
- [ø]: noud (knot)

Ligature æ pronounced [e] and occurs in words borrowed from Latin, e.g. nævus (nevus), cæcum (cecum)

Letter combinations

Due to the discrepancy between the number of letters and sounds, certain graphic principles are used. In French, the positional principle is used, which consists in the fact that the meaning of a given letter is clarified by its connection with neighboring letters (in Russian - syllabic principle: a single designation is obtained by combining a consonant with a vowel). Thus, some letters in different combinations can represent sounds that do not correspond to their alphabetical meaning.

There are 3 types of letter combinations possible, all of which are represented in French:

• Progressive (x+A): reading a letter depends on the next letter (letters c, g)
• Regressive (A+ x ): dependence of the reading of a letter on the previous one (ill before a vowel or consonant)
• Double-sided (A+ x+B): s between two consonants

Principles of spelling

French makes more extensive use of principles less closely related to the sound of a word or the living phonetic alternations. This is, for example, etymological principle (the spelling characteristic of the language from which the word is borrowed is preserved), traditional principle (reflects previous pronunciation or outdated spelling tricks). This circumstance increases the discrepancy between sound and writing in the text.