#booswings_47142
eager crow
warm spire
In inversion, when vowels would clash (only before il/elle), you add a -t-
Basically, if the verb does not directly end in -t or -d, you add -t- to make it nicer to pronounce (this happens because most third person singular (il/elle) verb conjugations end in -t, so it gets thrown on the rest by default if they don't have it)
crisp mica
ohh ty!
vernal current
In inversion, when vowels would clash (only before il/elle), you add a -t-
Basic...
It's also before on, ils and elles
And it has nothing to do with vowels clashing, at least not in the modern language.
3rd person pronouns actually always cause a /t/ sound to be inserted betweem them and the verb when they are inverted: the only thing that changes is how that /t/ is represented orthographically: if the verb happens to end in a silent t or d, then great, let's use that. If not, an additional -t- must be added.
warm spire
It's also before on, ils and elles
And it has nothing to do with vowels clashing...
Oops, forgot on
Do you have an example with ils/elles? They're typically -ent so I can't think of any
vernal current
Oops, forgot on
Do you have an example with ils/elles? They're typically -ent so...
Right, this -t- never shows up before elles and ils because the corresponding verb forms always end in -t, still they follow the same pronunciation and orthographical rules
warm spire
I still consider it to be related to vowels clashing, as it just sounds better, even though obviously it's a complex rule with complex motivations behind it
It's not the same level of "clash" as things like je étudie, but still
vernal current
Well, consider "achète-t-il", where a /t/ sounds is added directly after another /t/ sound
Things "sound better" because your brain knows the underlying rule and like when they are followed, not generally because of the sounds being any aesthetically more pleasing that way than another
warm spire
There is still the schwa, even if it isn't typically pronounced in modern day
I just find it misleading to imply it has nothing to do with the vowels, even if it's not always the same kind of clash as "je étudie", and even if some of it is more historical
vernal current
I'm not exactly sure why you're holding this view. Sure some people do say a schwa at the end of achète without an inverted pronoun after it, though that is rare even in the good old South.
A /t/ sound gets added no matter what, even with no sign of two vowels ever clashing, as in part /par/ > part-il /par.til/.
warm spire
Is that not just a liaison?
vernal current
That question of yours has made me fall into a mental rabbit hole far removed from OP's original question. What is a liaison, exactly? I mean, you can think of it as an orthographical thing where the silent letter of a word that gets pronounced before a vowel in some cases, but in this case there's a twist: a verb form pronounced /par/ will get that extra t no matter how it's actually spelled, be it part, part or even a hypothetical parc (cf convainc -> convainc**-t-**il).
So is this a liaison that only occurs in those cases where there happens to be an orthographical t even though it yields precisely the same output as the absence of an t, or is it a grammaticalized phenomenon that an overly historical spelling caused to be represented in inconsistent ways? Are those two even mutually exclusive?
stiff quarry
icy warren