Mais où est donc Ornicar ?, or Mais où est donc Carnior ? in Quebec, is a French-language mnemonic that aids in remembering the language's coordinating conjunctions. The sentence literally translates as "But where, therefore, is Ornicar?", or "But where is Ornicar, then?", and is a phonetic juxtaposition of the words mais (but), ou (or), et (and), donc (therefore), or (now), ni (nor), and car (for).
The phrase is often learned by French school children, and has had an impact on French culture, including having a satellite named after it and inspiring the titles of numerous cinematic and literary works.
Composition
edit| Mnemonic in English | but | where | is | therefore | Ornicar [name] | ? | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mnemonic | mais | où | est | donc | Ornicar | ? | ||
| Conjunctions | ou | et | or | ni | car | |||
| Conjunctions in English | but | or | and | therefore | now | nor | for | |
Of the seven coordinating conjunctions included in the mnemonic, four (et, ou, ni and mais) are universally recognised as such in French. Car is usually classified as one, although it has more restricted use: it can only introduce a clause. Or is sometimes considered a coordinating conjunction, but can also be treated as an adverb.[1] The grammatical reference work Le Bon Usage classes these six as conjunctions, but donc as an adverb—it also notes that other constructions such as puis, aussi and seulement have some characteristics of coordinating conjunctions.[2]
Although two of the words in the sentence, mais and donc, have both the same spelling and meaning as the conjunctions they represent, it relies on homophones of other French words. The French relative pronoun où (where) is used because it sounds the same as ou (or); the presence of a grave accent differentiates their orthography.[3] Est, a third-person present tense form of the verb être (to be), is used instead of the conjunction et (and); again, in this context, they are pronounced the same. Ornicar, which sounds like a French given name, is used as a proper noun to represent the three conjunctions or (now/yet), ni (nor) and car (for).
Use
editThe phrase is used by French children to help them remember their language's most common coordinating conjunctions.[4] In Quebec, the version Mais où est donc Carnior ? (with the words or and car swapped) is used.[5] In English, the similar mnemonic acronym "FANBOYS" may be used to remember its coordinating conjunctions.[6]
Cultural influence
edit
The journal of the Freudian field published by the University of Paris's Department of Psychoanalysis was called Ornicar ?.[7] The 1979 French film Mais où et donc Ornicar uses this mnemonic as its title.[8] An asteroid, 17777 Ornicar, was named after the phrase after it was discovered by the OCA-DLR Asteroid Survey at Caussols on 24 March 1998. According to the JPL Small-Body Database, the naming "honor[ed] French teachers around the world".[9] In 2000, Gérald Stehr and Willi Glasauer published a children's book titled Mais où est donc Ornicar ?—it features Ornicar as a platypus (ornithorynque in French).[10] In 2009, the Quebec rock group Les Dales Hawerchuk released a song with the title "Mais où est donc Carnior ?". The mnemonic became the subject of a satirical "Chuck Norris fact" in France: "Chuck Norris knows where Ornicar is".[11]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Price, Glanville (17 December 2007). A Comprehensive French Grammar (6th ed.). Blackwell Publishing. pp. 540–541. ISBN 978-1-4051-5385-0.
- ^ Grevisse, Maurice. Le Bon Usage (15th ed.). Brussels: De Boeck. §1082. ISBN 978-2801116425.
- ^ Mazet, Veronique (29 March 2013). French Grammar For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. p. 26. ISBN 978-1-118-50250-1. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Lawless, Laura K. "French Coordinating Conjunctions". French Language. About.com. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ "L'erreur que je ne ferai plus – Capsule no 93". Activités et services aux étudiants. Cégep du Vieux Montréal. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Day, Robert A.; Sakaduski, Nancy (30 June 2011). Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals (3rd ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-313-39174-3.
- ^ Miller, Jacques-Alain (January 1975). Ornicar ? (1).
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ "1988". Previous Years. Canterbury Film Society. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ "17777 Ornicar (1998 FV9)". JPL Small-Body Database. NASA. Retrieved 14 August 2013.
- ^ Stehr, Gérald; Glasauer, Willi (2000). Mais où est donc Ornicar ?. Archimède. ISBN 978-2-211-05637-3.
- ^ "Les 100 meilleurs Chuck Norris Facts !". Goeland.fr. Retrieved 14 August 2013. (Original French: "Chuck Norris sait ou [sic] se trouve Ornicar.")
External links
edit