Francophone pedants, prepare to weep

[ahinton]

You speak for me, ff. I have known about the reason for the circumflex since I was an infant, because both my parents were bilingual (French/English) and obsessed with etymology.

I hate to see linguistic history erased.

I hate also to see the linguistic present erased - or at least gravely compromised - in this kind of way; it was bad enough when it apparently became acceptable some time ago for upper case letters in French to be seen as no longer requiring the accents that their lower case versions would still have borne.

[Serial_Apologist]

I hate also to see the linguistic present erased - or at least gravely compromised - in this kind of way; it was bad enough when it apparently became acceptable some time ago for upper case letters in French to be seen as no longer requiring the accents that their lower case versions would still have borne.

But surely that has been the case (no pun intended) for a very long time - at least as far back as my 1950s schooldays?

[usher]

When I was learning classical Greek as a schoolboy in the 1960s the accents (which marked pitch) were no longer regarded as necessary by those teaching me. I was relieved at the time but regret it now. I liked the way that French marked its origins in Latin by way of the accents, especially the circumflex.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Just out of interest - "circumflex" (as I always knew it) or "circonflex"? (Or are these two different accents?)

[jean]

Same word: "circumflex" English (or Latin); "circonflex" French.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Same word: "circumflex" English (or Latin); "circonflex" French.

[ardcarp]

By massive co-incidence I was in the modern languages dept of a Northern University today, and mentioned this business to a lecturer in French. He grinned at me and said, 'c'est bete'.....

[Nick Armstrong]

By massive co-incidence I was in the modern languages dept of a Northern University today, and mentioned this business to a lecturer in French. He grinned at me and said, 'c'est bete'.....

Given his trade, one hopes he said 'c'est bête' ... for, as vinteuil has stressed, only the accents on 'i' and 'u' are affected by the reforms...

[usher]

A friend in Perpignan has posted on Facebook a photograph of a Great Tit with the suggestion that this is now a depiction of "un wazo." Say it ain't so! (of course, this could be, given his provenance, a Catalan spelling).

[ardcarp]

Given his trade, one hopes he said 'c'est bête' ... for, as vinteuil has stressed, only the accents on 'i' and 'u' are affected by the reforms...

....he said it the usual way, his point being that it matters not a toss. (I assumed.)

[french frank]

for, as vinteuil has stressed, only the accents on 'i' and 'u' are affected by the reforms...

Wait a while

I suspect the internet has hastened this move - just as Radio 3 can seldom manage diacritics on their website. This does matter when presenters are dealing with languages with which they are only semi-familiar, if that. Thus we had Les fêtes d'Ebb for Hébé, which might suggest an ignorance of English pronunciation too

[Nick Armstrong]

....he said it the usual way, his point being that it matters not a toss. (I assumed.)

I was pulling your jâmbe (and his)

[Serial_Apologist]

I was pulling your jâmbe (and his)

And did you get any circumreflex reaction?

[Nick Armstrong]

And did you get any circumreflex reaction?

It was neither acute nor particularly grave, happily

[ardcarp]

I was pulling your jâmbe (and his)

Sorry, Calibs, esprit d'escalier on my part. Anyway, I can't remember when I last put a cedilla under a Frech boy.