Hyphenation oftoussaillèrent

Analysis of "toussaillèrent"

1. Pronunciation:

The word "toussaillèrent" is pronounced approximately as /tusaj.lɛʁɛ̃/. It's the third-person plural past historic (or passé simple) form of the verb "tousser" (to cough).

2. Syllable Division:

The syllable division, adhering to the rule of using only the original letters, is: tou-sail-lè-rent.

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: tous- (from Old French tos, ultimately from Latin totus meaning "all, whole"). Function: Intensifier, originally indicating a complete action.
• Root: sail- (from Old French saillier, ultimately from Latin salire meaning "to jump, leap"). Function: Core meaning related to a quick, repetitive action. In this context, it relates to the action of coughing.
• Suffix: -lè- (inflectional suffix indicating the 3rd person plural past historic tense). Function: Grammatical marker for tense, mood, and person.
• Suffix: -rent (inflectional suffix indicating the 3rd person plural past historic tense). Function: Grammatical marker for tense, mood, and person.

4. Stress Identification:

The stress in French generally falls on the last syllable of a phrase or breath group. In this case, the final syllable "-rent" receives the primary stress.

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/tu.saj.lɛ.ʁɛ̃/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

• tou: /tu/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel nuclei. The 'ou' diphthong acts as a single vowel nucleus. No special cases.
• sail: /saj/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel nuclei. The 'ai' diphthong acts as a single vowel nucleus. No special cases.
• lè: /lɛ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel nuclei. The 'è' vowel acts as a single vowel nucleus. No special cases.
• rent: /ʁɛ̃/ - Closed syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel nuclei. The 'en' nasal vowel acts as a single vowel nucleus, and the 't' closes the syllable. No special cases.

7. Edge Case Review:

The nasal vowel /ɛ̃/ in "rent" is a common feature of French and doesn't present a specific syllabification challenge. The verb conjugation is regular, so no morphological anomalies affect the syllable division.

8. Grammatical Role:

"Toussaillèrent" is exclusively a verb form (3rd person plural past historic of "tousser"). As such, the syllabification remains consistent regardless of its grammatical function within a sentence.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• Part of Speech: Verb
• Definitions:
  • "They coughed."
  • "They were coughing."
• Translation: English: They coughed.
• Synonyms: None particularly close, as "tousser" is a specific action.
• Antonyms: None directly applicable.
• Examples:
  • "Les enfants toussaillèrent pendant la nuit." (The children coughed during the night.)
  • "Ils toussaillèrent à cause du froid." (They coughed because of the cold.)

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

There are no significant regional variations in the pronunciation or syllabification of this word. The pronunciation is fairly standard across French-speaking regions.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• parlèrent: pa-rlè-rent (similar syllable structure, stress on the final syllable)
• chantèrent: chan-tè-rent (similar syllable structure, stress on the final syllable)
• aimèrent: ai-mè-rent (similar syllable structure, stress on the final syllable)

These words all follow the same pattern of verb conjugation in the past historic, resulting in similar syllable divisions and stress patterns. The key difference lies in the vowel sounds within each syllable, dictated by the root verb. The consistent stress on the final syllable is a hallmark of this verb tense.