Hyphenation ofquarderonnassent

Linguistic Analysis of "quarderonnassent" (French)

1. Examination & Pronunciation:

The word "quarderonnassent" is a highly complex, archaic French verb form. It's the third-person plural imperfect subjunctive of the verb "garder" (to keep, to guard). Pronunciation is challenging due to the multiple nasal vowels and consonant clusters.

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid breaking consonant clusters unless they are pronounceable as separate syllables, the division is as follows (using only original letters):

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: None
• Root: gard- (from Latin guardare - to watch, to guard)
• Suffixes:
  • -ero- (thematic vowel, part of the imperfect subjunctive formation)
  • -nna- (linking vowel and nasal marker)
  • -ss- (part of the imperfect subjunctive formation)
  • -ent (third-person plural ending)

4. Stress Identification:

French generally has stress on the final syllable of a phrase or breath group. In this case, the final syllable "-sent" receives the primary stress.

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/ɡaʁ.də.ʁɔ̃.nas.sɑ̃/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

Here's a detailed breakdown of each syllable, with IPA transcription, rule application, and potential exceptions:

• qua- /kwa/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel sounds. The 'qu' digraph represents a single sound /kwa/. Exception: 'qu' is a digraph, but treated as a single unit for syllabification.
• -der- /dəʁ/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Consonant clusters are generally kept together unless they can be easily separated by a vowel sound. The 'der' cluster is pronounceable as a unit.
• -o- /ɔ̃/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel sounds form the nucleus of a syllable. Nasal vowel.
• -nas- /nas/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Consonant clusters are kept together. The 'nas' cluster is pronounceable as a unit.
• -sent /sɑ̃/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Final syllable receives stress. Nasal vowel.

7. Edge Case Review:

The double 'n' in "-nna-" and "-ss-" are remnants of older French morphology and contribute to the nasalization of the preceding vowel. These are not typical syllable-breaking points.

8. Grammatical Role:

As the imperfect subjunctive, the syllabification and stress remain consistent regardless of its function within a sentence.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• Word: quarderonnassent
• Part of Speech: Verb (Imperfect Subjunctive)
• Definitions:
  • "They would guard" / "They were to guard"
  • Translation: English equivalent is "they would guard" or "they were to guard".
• Synonyms: (Modern French equivalents) ils garderaient, ils gardassent
• Antonyms: (Context-dependent) ils négligeraient (they would neglect)
• Examples: Si les soldats quarderonnassent la forteresse, elle ne serait pas tombée. (If the soldiers had guarded the fortress, it would not have fallen.)

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

While the IPA transcription is standard, subtle regional variations in vowel pronunciation (particularly nasal vowels) might exist. However, these variations wouldn't significantly alter the syllable division.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• garder /ɡaʁ.de/ - Syllables: gar-der. Similar structure, demonstrating the 'gar' cluster remains intact.
• gardions /ɡaʁ.djɔ̃/ - Syllables: gar-dions. The addition of the ending '-ions' follows the same syllabification pattern.
• gardèrent /ɡaʁ.dɛ.ʁe/ - Syllables: gar-dè-rent. Demonstrates the stress on the final syllable and the preservation of consonant clusters.