The appropriate use of all these phrases and of all those that have remained unchanged from the Latin period allows the simple phrase and the various propositions that make up the complex phrase to express with great clarity the relations of meaning conceived by thought. This meaning has totally changed with the use of the negation, which is found both in the propositions that make up the complex sentence, and in the simple sentence. In Latin the negative adverb was non. The use of reinforcement words, already existing in archaic Latin, remained optional alongside the full forms of negation. Not feras? – Do not! is the usual phrase of the ant. fr. Likewise, the reduced form phonetically it from the beginning was enough; ant. fr. tu viens. But as the vowel of ne became less solid, the practice developed of specifying its negative value with an accessory word, pas, point, mie, indicating a small quantity, tu n (e) viens pas, and, in principle, it became mandatory in the seventeenth century [δ].
According to HISTORYAAH, the complex sentence results from the combination of coordinated, subordinate or, sometimes, simply juxtaposed propositions. Ancient coordination particles, si, ainz, neporquant, etc., have disappeared at various times, while new ones have been created, par conséquent, c’est pourquoi, etc. [δ, σ]. Juxtaposition, in place of subordination by means of particles, was widespread in ant. fr., je cuit plus sot de ti n’i a, ele ne puet muer ne die, etc. This use has been reduced, at least in the literary language (δ, σ). The use of subordinate particles and verb modes was gradually regulated. The conjunction que, which arose from the Latin quod, partly merged with qu ĭ d, has become very popular, and is found at the beginning of most of the subordinate clauses. Complementary propositions are generally introduced by means of que ; the mood of the verb is now the indicative, now the subjunctive. The latter has always prevailed with the verbs of volere, je veux qu’il vienne, and gradually imposed itself after the verbs of affection: je m’étonne que vous dites, which is still found in Voiture, today is je m ‘ étonne que vous disiez. After the intellectual verbs, the subjunctive, used very often in ant. fr. (see je crois que ce soit in Corneille), it is used only if the verb of the main clause is negative, je ne crois qu’il vienne, or interrogative, crois – tu qu’il vienne? The complementary clause can be represented by an infinitive, je veux faire, a form that continues the Latin volo facere, extended to many cases, je viens faire, je crois faire. The prepositions de and à – which, moreover, compete with each other – often introduce this infinitive, promettre (de) faire, penser (à) faire ; syntagmas due to the intersection of the infinitive and the gerundive: promittit facere × * promittit defaciendo (cf. * promittit de re), whence * promittit de facere [α]. In a different way, de introduced himself in front of the infinite subjects or attributes: the est bon de faire la paix comes from the type bons est faire la paix crossed with bons est de paix. The infinitive with the subject to the accusative, dead form in Galloromanzo with the unhinging of the declension, was redone (XIV-XVI century) by imitation of Latin, but has fallen into disuse again, except after certain verbs of meaning, after which seems to develop again – as it had already developed in classical Latin – due to the spontaneous action of syntagms already existing in the language: j’ai vu le soleil se lever sur l’Hymette [ν].
In the relative clauses introduced with the neuter que, the antecedent ce could be implied as well as the verb already expressed in the main clause, the fist que fols ; il est que fel.
Circumstantial propositions with the most varied meanings (time, cause, end, consequence) could be introduced in ant. fr. by means of que, The uses of que became less numerous later, at least in the literary language [σ]. Temporal propositions could begin with quand (since when), which remained, with en dementres que (in dum interim), entruesque (* inter opus quod), ainz que (* anteis quod) which are fallen and replaced by pendant que, tandis que, avant que, constructed, according to the cases and the sense, with the indicative or subjunctive. In certain given cases, avant que is also constructed with the infinite, whether pure, avant que mourir, or preceded by prepositions, avant que de mourir. The form that has prevailed since the century. XVIII, avant de mourir, was unknown until the century. XVII, and it seems to be due to the contamination of avant mourir, which was still said at the time of Vaugelas, and avant que de mourir, the most widespread form at that time. Pour ce que served in ancient times to introduce causal propositions; it has given way to parce que. Ja soit que, which indicated a concession, has disappeared in the face of competition from bien que, quoique, etc. The ant. fr. se, coming from Lat. vulg. * s ĭ (see s ĭ quidem), class. s ī, now si in fr. mod. [ϕ and α], generally introduced conditional clauses; and the hypothetical period, unreal and potential, originally appeared in the following form: si j’eusse, je fusse, continuation, at least formal, of the Latin si habuissem, fuissem, which partially replaced the classical si haberem, essem. But si j’avais, je serais appears very early: this original phrase seems to be due to the influence of the emphatic forms, in which the Latin used a past tense of the indicative to give a more pathetic tone to the hypothetical period, perierat, si fecisset ; from the main clause the indicative is passed into the subordinate * peribat, si faciebat: fr. il etait mort, s’il faisait un geste ; and the vulgar combination of the infinitive with the imperfect of avoir gave rise to the conditional mode si habebam, face r (ehab) and (b) a (m): si j’avoie, je feroie. The combination of this form with the etymological procedure has given rise to mixed forms, si j’eusse, je jeroie, si j’avais, je fisse – the latter still used in the century. XVI – but finally the original form, of French formation [ξ, σ], has triumphed, si j’avais, je serais, and of the others only fragments remain.
