dialect change?

[James A. Landau]

In French there is a strong convention that when the last word in a line of a
song  ends in a final "e" that is silent in speech, that "e" is pronounced as
a schwa and has a separate note when sung.

Example: "alouette" (skylark) is three syllables in spoken French: /a loo et/
but is four syllables in the folk song: /a loo et t@/.

(Transcription note: I am not sure if the first syllable is pronounced like
English "short a" or "short o".)

Other well-known folk songs in which this can be heard (a hyphen inserted to
show the sung-only syllable) include "Au Clair de la Lun-e" and "J'ai perdu
le do de ma clarinett-e".   In "Frer-e Jacqu-es" a pair of words that in
speech are monosyllables are sung as two syllables each.

Two Christmas carols

     (English version is "Oh Holy Night")
"Minuit Chretian
 c'est l'heure solonell-e"

and

      (English version is "Now is born the Divine Christ Child")
"Il est ne le divine enfant
 Jouez hautbois, resonnez musett-es"

      - Jim Landau