Little fact about French because I just learned that
The accent circonflexe (^) exists in French words to replace the âsâ that no longer exists but used to be there in older French.
For example: fenĂŞtre used to be fenestre
It is still possible to see the âsâ at times in family words like âdĂŠfenestrerâ.
knowing this, ÂŤ ĂŞtre Âť becomes much more regular :
ĂŞtreâââ estreâ(es, est, sommes, ĂŞ[s]tes, sont ; ser-)
some French derivations become clearer :
fenĂŞtre  â dĂŠfenestrerââ L. fenestra
fĂŞte âââ festival
hĂ´pitalââ hospitaliserâ(E. hospital, ise)
intĂŠrĂŞt ââ intĂŠressantâ(E. interest, -ing)
ancĂŞtre â ancestralâ(E. ancestor, -ral)
arrĂŞt â â arrestation
ĂŠpĂŽtreâ â ĂŠpistolaireâ(E. epistle)
some English cognates become more obvious :
hĂ´telâ â hostelâ(E. âhotelâ borrowed from French)
forĂŞtâ â forestâ(tipp to remember ^ goes on the âšeâş)
bĂŞteâ â beast
cĂ´te ââ coast
honnĂŞteââ honest
pâte, pâtĂŠ â pasta, paste
quĂŞteâ ââ quest
enquĂŞteâ â inquest
tempĂŞteâ â tempest
vĂŞtements â vestments (ie. clothes)
baptĂŞmeââ baptism
sometimes, the acute replaces the circumfex for phonetic reasons :
á¸coleââ â escoleââ L. schola (E. school)
á¸tranger  â estrangierâ(E. stranger)
á¸tudier â â estudierâ(E. study)
dá¸goĂťtant â desgoustantâ(E. disgusting)
dá¸barquer â desembarquerâ(E. disembark)
rá¸pondre â respondreâ(E. respond)
rá¸publique â L. res publica
Also, where ÂŤ c â ch Âť (eg. cantareâ chanter) :
château â castelâ(E. castle)
pĂŞcher â L. piscare
and ÂŤ w â gu Âť (eg. warâ guerre ; wardenâ guardian) :
guĂŞpe â E. wasp !â(this is my n° 1 favourite cognate)
bonus etymologies :
tĂŞte âââ L. testa
fantĂ´me â L. phantasmaâ(E. âphantomâ borrowed from French)
Pâques â Gk. pĂĄsxa â Am. pĂŠsaḍâ(E. Paschal)
Also just be aware that the circumflex has some other uses too, like distinguishing ÂŤ sur â sĂťr Âť or ÂŤ dĂť Âť and the vowel quality in ÂŤ âge Âť
Where was this post when I was doing A-Level French! This is actually a really interesting language change called âsyncopeâ (the loss of a medial segment within a word) and what makes it even more interesting to me is that not only was the -s- dropped post vocalically and largely before voiceless stops, but that the circumflex was (unnecessarily but coolly) adopted as an orthographic marker of the lost -s-. Even more interesting is that syncope usually occurs in vowels. I love this.


















