Hyphenation oftourillonnâtes

Analysis of "tourillonnâtes"

1. Pronunciation Considerations:

The word "tourillonnâtes" is a conjugated form of the verb "tourillonner" (to ruffle, to swirl), and is the second-person plural imperfect subjunctive. It presents challenges due to the consonant clusters and nasal vowels. The pronunciation is relatively consistent across regions, though subtle variations in nasal vowel quality exist.

2. Syllable Division:

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

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• tour-: Root, derived from Old French tor (tower, turning), related to the idea of rotation.
• illon-: Inflectional suffix indicating iterative or diminutive action. Origin: likely Vulgar Latin.
• -n-: Linking consonant, part of the inflectional suffix.
• -â-: Vowel insertion for euphony and grammatical marking.
• -tes: Ending, 2nd person plural imperfect subjunctive. Origin: Latin -tis.

4. Stress Identification:

The primary stress in French generally falls on the last syllable of a word or phrase. In this case, it falls on "-tes".

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/tu.ʁi.jɔ.nɑt/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

• tou /tu/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel sounds. No consonant cluster breaks the vowel.
• ril /ʁi/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Consonant 'r' is syllabified with the following vowel.
• lon /jɔ/ - Open syllable. Rule: 'illon' is treated as a single morpheme and the vowel 'o' forms the nucleus. The 'j' is a glide and is part of the syllable.
• nâ /nɑ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel 'â' forms the nucleus.
• tes /t/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Final consonant 't' closes the syllable.

7. Edge Case Review:

The "illon" sequence is a common inflectional suffix in French, and its syllabification is well-established. The vowel insertion "â" is a standard feature of verb conjugation and doesn't pose a syllabification issue.

8. Grammatical Role:

As a verb form, the syllabification remains consistent. If "tourillonner" were used as a noun (though rare), the stress would likely shift to the final syllable, but the syllable division would remain the same.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• tourillonnâtes: (verb) You (plural, formal/southern France) would ruffle, swirl, or agitate.
• Part of Speech: Verb (imperfect subjunctive, 2nd person plural)
• Translation: You (pl.) would ruffle/swirl.
• Synonyms: agiteriez, remueriez (would stir/move)
• Antonyms: calmeriez, immobiliseriez (would calm/immobilize)
• Examples: "Si vous tourillonnâtes les feuilles, elles s'envoleraient." (If you ruffled the leaves, they would fly away.)

10. Regional Variations:

Pronunciation of nasal vowels can vary slightly between regions. However, the syllable division remains consistent.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• rationnel /ʁa.sjɔ.nɛl/ - Syllables: ra-tion-nel. Similar structure with consonant clusters.
• occasion /ɔ.ka.zjɔ̃/ - Syllables: o-ca-sion. Similar vowel-consonant patterns.
• pollution /pɔ.ly.sjɔ̃/ - Syllables: po-lu-tion. Similar 'illon' ending, demonstrating consistent syllabification.