I always forget the actual meaning of the little French words...then I find expressions I can't suss* because I can't remember the exact meanings of the individual little words. This is partly because of the French convention of smushing all the little words together with apostrophes, but mostly because of my recent lax attitude towards improving my French and Latin.
Anyway, the big mystery word of the day is the Medieval French/English law word "CESTUI", found in the legal expression "cestui que use" an expression which has a long an storied history buried in the arcana of Roman and Medieval French and English law but which we would today call the 'beneficiary' of a trust. I've read through entire histories on the origins of the expression "cestui que..." which contain a great deal of information, but most of the info is about the legal history of the expression and I've found none so far which can divine the most inscrutable of words..."CESTUI".
I have a problem because it is Medieval French...I have enough problems with Medieval English. Now, most first year French students could tell you that it looks a little bit like the word "c'est" in modern French which translates to "it is" or "that", but it is here that I encountered my problem. I could remember so many expressions containing "c'est", "ce", "est", "qu'est que c'est", "celui" etc... but I couldn't remember the exact meaning of 'ce', 'est'...I mean I could but it always seems to lead to more expressions and since French isn't an exact reproduction of English the words and phrases are used in different ways, which lead to ancient tomes on French etymology which started confusing me even more.
THEREFORE...for my own memory and peace of mind I making myself copy the most basic words and their individual meanings. For this purpose I am using Google Translate, which is a good tool for basic individual word translation.
THE "FORGETTABLE" WORDS:
ce - this
est - is
lui - him, it, he (can also mean she as 'he, him, his' considered the generic in French)
c'est - this is or that
celui - that
celui-ci - this one
celui-là - that one
que - as pronoun that, which, what, whom; adj. what; adv. how; prep. than; conj. than, whether
quelle - as adj. what, which, whichever; pron. which, whoever
Des exemples de Que et Quelle:
Qu'est-ce que c'est? - What is it? In this phrase is 'What" the adjective "QUELLE" or the prounoun "QUE"? I initially thought it was "QUE" because it appears "What" can be used by itself and refers to someone or something else in the discourse...(PRONOUN: A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g., I, you) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse)...but see the example and definition below. Also, I suss* the literal translation of this sentence to be "What is it that it is?"
Quelle heure est-il? - What time is it? or What hour is it?
This lead me to question how the word "WHAT" functions in a sentence. In the previous example "Qu'est-ce que..." I thought "Qu' " was "Que" and therefore a pronoun, but in the sentence "Quelle heure..." the word "What" is an adjective since, according to Google Translate, "Quelle" means "What" as an adjective. However, in both sentences it seems to me that "What..." basically means the same thing. Also, I can see how "What" could be an adjective since "What" is a description of time if the answer was "It is six o'clock"..."six o'clock" being equal to "what". It sort of makes sense. In "What is it?" if the answer was "A Bunny" than "What" equals "A Bunny" therefore "A Bunny" is a description of "...it?". ??? This is confusing and I am obviously going to need to research this issue. Right now I'm too tired and have too much to do to stay up researching, so I will finish with the examples I've already prepared, then tomorrow I will pursue this quest. I've also decided to officially stop searching for "CESTUI" as that can also be researched tomorrow.
Qu'est-ce que vous appelez-vous? - "What is your name?" or direct translation "What is it that you call you?"
Je préfère être chaud que froid. - "I'd rather be hot than cold." or "I prefer to be hot than cold." I included this example because it showed how "que" is used in the French language has a preposition or conjunction in comparative sentences. Since I am going to research grammar tomorrow I'll wait until then to include better examples and to finally decide whether (whether would be "que" in French!) "que" is a preposition or conjunction in this case. Currently my money is on conjunction since it can also be used as "whether" in similar instances.
; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; ) : ) ; )
FOR TOMORROW: Research and try to actually LEARN grammar (years and years of me begging myself to do this) my specific goal being to uncover how the word "What" functions in both the English and French languages. Also pursue to ancient hidden meaning of the Medieval French/English Law Word "CESTUI".
...AND FINALLY
*SUSS - (yes, my "British English" is actively improving : )) "to understand" or "to divine the meaning of"
<3 ALE <3
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