Hyphenation oftragi-comédies

Analysis of "tragi-comédies"

1. Pronunciation Considerations:

The word "tragi-comédies" presents a few challenges due to the presence of the silent 's' at the end, the liaison possibilities, and the stress pattern typical of French. The 'é' indicates a closed mid-back vowel /e/.

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize vowel sounds and avoid breaking consonant clusters unless they are complex, the division will be as follows.

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: tragi- (from Latin trago- meaning 'goat', originally related to tragedy, denoting seriousness or sorrow).
• Root: coméd- (from Latin comoedia, meaning 'comedy').
• Suffix: -ies (French plural marker for feminine nouns, derived from Latin -es).

4. Stress Identification:

In French, stress generally falls on the last syllable of a word or phrase, unless that syllable contains a schwa (ə). In this case, the stress falls on the final syllable "-dies".

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/tʁa.ʒi.kɔ.me.di/

6. Syllable Breakdown & Rule Application:

• tra-: /tʁa/ - Open syllable. Rule: Syllables are formed around vowel sounds. The 'r' is part of the onset. No exceptions.
• -gi-: /ʒi/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel following a consonant forms a new syllable. The 'g' is palatalized before 'i'. No exceptions.
• -co-: /kɔ/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel following a consonant forms a new syllable. No exceptions.
• -mé-: /me/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel following a consonant forms a new syllable. The acute accent on 'é' indicates a closed syllable, but doesn't affect syllabification. No exceptions.
• -dies: /di/ - Open syllable. Rule: Vowel following a consonant forms a new syllable. The final 's' is silent, but influences the preceding vowel's quality. No exceptions.

7. Edge Case Review:

The silent 's' at the end is a common feature of French and doesn't affect syllabification, but it does affect pronunciation and liaison possibilities.

8. Grammatical Role:

"Tragi-comédies" functions as a feminine plural noun. Syllabification remains consistent regardless of grammatical role.

9. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: Plays that combine elements of both tragedy and comedy.
• Translation: Tragi-comedies
• Grammatical Category: Noun (feminine plural)
• Synonyms: pièces tragicomiques
• Antonyms: tragédies, comédies
• Examples: "Les tragi-comédies de Shakespeare sont célèbres." (Shakespeare's tragi-comedies are famous.)

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

Pronunciation is relatively standard. However, some regional accents might slightly alter vowel qualities. These variations wouldn't significantly impact syllabification.

11. Phonological Comparison:

• amitié: a-mi-tié - Similar structure with vowel-consonant-vowel patterns.
• université: u-ni-ver-si-té - More complex consonant clusters, but still follows the vowel-centric syllabification.
• comédie: co-mé-die - Shares the root "coméd-" and demonstrates the same syllabification pattern.