French French Morphology Morphology In French Nouns

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Igor Tuesday 24th of January 2006 05:02:16 PM
French morphology - I am writing a paper on morphology and would like to ask if someone could correct me on these translations:

(Een) huis - (un) maison
Mijn huis - mon maison
Huizen - maisonnes(?)
Mijn huizen - mon maisonnes
In huis - dans (la) maison
In mijn huis - dans mon maison
In mijn huizen - dans mon maisonnes

Second, I would like to ask about the word order in French;
(I do speak a little French, but not enough to answer these kind of questions)
How strict is the word order in French? I think it's quite strict, as in, one can derive meaning from the way words are orderer in a sentence (like, the subject is always left from the verb, object alsways to the right and you cannot see from simply the forms of appearing which noun is the subject and which the object, you have to get this information through word order).

Thanks in advance!

Baudolina Tuesday 24th of January 2006 08:47:37 PM
- I’ll try to help though I’m just a learner too but I hope that Mery or someone else would correct me if I’m wrong.
(Een) huis - une maison
Mijn huis - ma maison
Huizen – des maisons
Mijn huizen - mes maisons
In huis - dans la maison / à la maison
In mijn huis - dans ma maison
In mijn huizen - dans mes maisons
Maison is feminine in French and the articles and possessive pronouns should agree in gender and number with the noun. The plural form of maison is simply maisons. You add the ending –ne to form the feminine adjectives and nouns when the masculine ones end in –on. (champion m. – championne f.)
As for the word order, yes, I think it’s quite strict, too, though the subject go after the verb in the case of inversion but there are strict rules for uses of inversion as well, I think. There are no cases like nominative or dative if that’s what you meant by “see from simply the forms of appearing”.
Good luck with your paper :)

Igor Tuesday 24th of January 2006 09:40:55 PM
- Thanks, that really helped, it comes back a bit, maybe Mery has something to add, but I think your translations are correct.

nominative and dative case is indeed what I meant by 'form of appearance':) I guess I could just have said nominative, accusative and dative case, I probably couldn't remember these words when I posted (quite embarrassing for someone who studies linguistics!)

anyway, thanks for your reply!

Igor Thursday 26th of January 2006 07:41:56 PM
another question - and it is about affixes.
In Dutch there are diminuative suffixes (and we are very fond of them! one can say for example 'that's a big little bird!','Dat is een groot vogeltje!')
Anyway, these suffixes attach to the noun, are there such suffixes in French? Or do you, if you have to say something like 'c'est un petit maison'.

Finally, could someone give me the translations of both 'John hits the ball' and 'The ball hits john'?

Does French have suffixes like the English -able (as in playable), -ify (as in electrify) -like (goldlike) and so forth? or do these also have to be realized apart from the noun/verb/adjective/...?

Baudolina Friday 27th of January 2006 07:48:11 PM
another answer - I think the diminutive suffix in French is -ette. So, ‘une petite maison’ could be replaced by ‘une maisonnette’. Also French has the -able suffix (example --‘portable’) and -ifier suffix (électrifier), which should be the French counterpart of –ify, I guess. And I’m not sure which came from where, I mean, the English might have taken these suffixes from the French.
John frappe la balle. La balle frappe John.

Phrasebase Archive
	Igor	Tuesday 24th of January 2006 05:02:16 PM
	French morphology - I am writing a paper on morphology and would like to ask if someone could correct me on these translations: (Een) huis - (un) maison Mijn huis - mon maison Huizen - maisonnes(?) Mijn huizen - mon maisonnes In huis - dans (la) maison In mijn huis - dans mon maison In mijn huizen - dans mon maisonnes Second, I would like to ask about the word order in French; (I do speak a little French, but not enough to answer these kind of questions) How strict is the word order in French? I think it's quite strict, as in, one can derive meaning from the way words are orderer in a sentence (like, the subject is always left from the verb, object alsways to the right and you cannot see from simply the forms of appearing which noun is the subject and which the object, you have to get this information through word order). Thanks in advance!
	Baudolina	Tuesday 24th of January 2006 08:47:37 PM
	- I’ll try to help though I’m just a learner too but I hope that Mery or someone else would correct me if I’m wrong. (Een) huis - une maison Mijn huis - ma maison Huizen – des maisons Mijn huizen - mes maisons In huis - dans la maison / à la maison In mijn huis - dans ma maison In mijn huizen - dans mes maisons Maison is feminine in French and the articles and possessive pronouns should agree in gender and number with the noun. The plural form of maison is simply maisons. You add the ending –ne to form the feminine adjectives and nouns when the masculine ones end in –on. (champion m. – championne f.) As for the word order, yes, I think it’s quite strict, too, though the subject go after the verb in the case of inversion but there are strict rules for uses of inversion as well, I think. There are no cases like nominative or dative if that’s what you meant by “see from simply the forms of appearing”. Good luck with your paper :)
	Igor	Tuesday 24th of January 2006 09:40:55 PM
	- Thanks, that really helped, it comes back a bit, maybe Mery has something to add, but I think your translations are correct. nominative and dative case is indeed what I meant by 'form of appearance':) I guess I could just have said nominative, accusative and dative case, I probably couldn't remember these words when I posted (quite embarrassing for someone who studies linguistics!) anyway, thanks for your reply!
	Igor	Thursday 26th of January 2006 07:41:56 PM
	another question - and it is about affixes. In Dutch there are diminuative suffixes (and we are very fond of them! one can say for example 'that's a big little bird!','Dat is een groot vogeltje!') Anyway, these suffixes attach to the noun, are there such suffixes in French? Or do you, if you have to say something like 'c'est un petit maison'. Finally, could someone give me the translations of both 'John hits the ball' and 'The ball hits john'? Does French have suffixes like the English -able (as in playable), -ify (as in electrify) -like (goldlike) and so forth? or do these also have to be realized apart from the noun/verb/adjective/...?
	Baudolina	Friday 27th of January 2006 07:48:11 PM
	another answer - I think the diminutive suffix in French is -ette. So, ‘une petite maison’ could be replaced by ‘une maisonnette’. Also French has the -able suffix (example --‘portable’) and -ifier suffix (électrifier), which should be the French counterpart of –ify, I guess. And I’m not sure which came from where, I mean, the English might have taken these suffixes from the French. John frappe la balle. La balle frappe John.