So the French hospital became hôpital with a circumflex ^ over the o
Likwise many other words followed suit:
- forest became forêt.
- host became hôte.
- hostesse became hôtesse.
- haste became hâte.
- coast became côte.
- fenester (church window) became fenêtre = window.
- paste (or pastry) became pâte and pâté.
- beast became bête.
- feast became fête.
- master became maître.
- tempest became tempête.
- arrest (stop) became arrêter.
- conquest became conquête.
- inquest became enquête.
- to cost became coûter.
- crust became croûte.
- hostel became hôtel.
- isle became île.
- interest became intérêt.
- plaster became plâtre.
- quest became quête.
- vestments (clothes) became vêtements.
Sometimes a letter other than 's' was dropped in French, and later replaced by a circumflex in French words such as:
- aage (age) became âge where the preceding a was dropped.
- baailler (to yawn or gape) became bâiller where the preceding a was dropped.
- baaillon (gag) became bâillon where the preceding a was dropped.
- creu (from the verb croître) became crû where the precedinge was dropped. Crû is different to cru which is from the verbcroire (to think, believe).
- deu (from the verb devoir) became dû where the preceding ewas dropped.
- meur (wall) became mûr where the preceding e was dropped.
- seur (sure as in safe, sound, reliable) became sûr where thee was dropped.
Over the centuries the Norman French of England blended intoEnglish, and retained the 's' in many of the imported French words while the French in France developed down a different track to become ... well ... French as in the modern French language in its various forms.
So you can often figure out the meaning of a French word with a circumflex by knowing that the circumflex indicates a missing letter after the vowel ... usually the letter 's'.
So you can often figure out the meaning of a French word with a circumflex by knowing that the circumflex indicates a missing letter after the vowel ... usually the letter 's'.
