230.--24. mon cher oncle. A detailed account of Balzac's
family can be found in E. Biré, _Honoré de Balzac_.
232.--28. bestiaux. This word is now used as the plural of
_bétail_; it is, however, etymologically not the plural of bétail, but
of the adjective _bestial_; the latter singular form is not now used as
a substantive in the literary language, although it occurs in works of
the seventeenth century and is still used in Normandy, meaning "aldquo;all the
cattle" (cf. Nyrop, _Grammaire historique de la langue française_, vol.
II, sec. 292, 2, remark).
235.--22. anachorètes. Anchorites differ from hermits in
that they live in the most absolute solitude and subject themselves to
the greatest privations.
237.--4. il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça, que la
frayeur ...That is, _quand même il ne se serait pas sacré comme ça,
la frayeur..._ (the principal clause expresses a concession, and the
_que_ clause the conclusion).
11. qu'est. A popular error already noted (see note to p. 92, l.
29).
18. qué qui te dit. For _qu'est-ce qu'il te dit_; qu'elle
répond (l. 19), an example of the superfluous que used by the
uneducated; qu'a dit (l. 21) _= qu'elle dit = dit-elle_.
31. défunt ma mère. _Défunt_, as also the adjective _feu_, does
not agree with its noun when the latter follows.
238.--5. qu'a écouté. For _qu'elle a écouté_. 22. plus
du temps. For _plus que le temps_.
239.--20. fallait des espèces. Popular omission of il.
26. mette. The dialects often other examples of the survival of
Old French words; _métal_ is the modern word for "mldquo;metal," it is
sometimes used in slang for "mldquo;money."
240.--27. des cent écus, des cent francs. For _des
centaines d'écus, des centaines de francs_.
241.--3. la fille au cadet. Popular for la _fille du
cadet_, another example of the survival of an Old French construction
among the common people.