Hyphenation ofpetite-bourgeoise

Analysis of "petite-bourgeoise"

1. Pronunciation Considerations:

The word "petite-bourgeoise" presents challenges due to its length, historical orthography, and the presence of nasal vowels and liaison possibilities. The pronunciation is generally [pə.tit.buʁ.ʒwaz].

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid breaking consonant clusters unless they are complex or involve 'r', the division is as follows.

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: petite- (from Old French petit, ultimately from Latin parvus meaning "small"). Function: Diminutive.
• Root: bourgeois- (from Old French borjois, originally meaning "town dweller," ultimately from burg meaning "fortress, town"). Function: Denotes a social class.
• Suffix: -eise (feminine suffix, historically indicating a female member of the class). Function: Gender marking.

4. Stress Identification:

In French, stress typically falls on the last syllable of a word or phrase. In this case, the primary stress is on the final syllable, "-oise".

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/pə.tit.buʁ.ʒwaz/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

• pe- /pə/: Open syllable. Rule: Every vowel sound constitutes the nucleus of a syllable. No consonant cluster prevents separation.
• -tite /tit/: Closed syllable. Rule: Consonant 't' follows the vowel 'i', forming a closed syllable.
• -bour /buʁ/: Closed syllable. Rule: 'bour' is treated as a single unit due to the 'r' sound, which attracts the preceding vowel.
• -geo /ʒø/: Closed syllable. Rule: 'geo' is a vowel-consonant-vowel sequence, with the 'g' being pronounced as /ʒ/.
• -ise /waz/: Closed syllable. Rule: 'ise' is a common ending in French, and the 'i' forms the nucleus. Liaison with a following word is possible.

7. Edge Case Review:

The 'r' sound in "bour" can sometimes be elided in rapid speech, but it doesn't affect the syllabification. The pronunciation of 'geo' can vary slightly depending on regional accents.

8. Grammatical Role:

"Petite-bourgeoise" functions primarily as a noun (feminine) and an adjective. Syllabification remains consistent regardless of grammatical function.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: A woman belonging to the lower middle class; a woman of modest means and conventional values.
• Translation: Lower middle-class woman.
• Synonyms: citadine, moyenne classe (woman of the middle class)
• Antonyms: aristocrate, prolétaire
• Examples: "Elle rêvait d'une vie loin de la mentalité petite-bourgeoise." (She dreamed of a life far from the lower middle-class mentality.)

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

Some regional variations might slightly alter the pronunciation of the nasal vowels, but the core syllabification remains consistent.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• table: ta-ble /tabl/ - Similar structure with a closed syllable followed by a closed syllable.
• voiture: voi-ture /vwa.tyʁ/ - Similar structure with vowel-consonant sequences forming syllables.
• université: u-ni-ver-si-té /y.ni.veʁ.si.te/ - Demonstrates how French syllables are often formed around vowel sounds, even within longer words.