When John Calvin translated his magnus opus The Institutes of the Christian Religion into French, he regularly used, for example:
1) snake-like 'f' for today's French 's' (like in 'Chrestienne,' title below)
2) 'v' for today's French 'u' (like in 'un,' line 6 below)
3) 'y' for today's French 'i' (like in 'vraye,' line 2 below)
Baumgartner translated Calvin's Latin text into French in 1888. Compare the changes:
1) no more snake-like 'f' for 's'
2) no more 'v' for 'u'
3) still occasional use of 'y' for 'i' (like 'vraye,' line 3 below)
For an English comparison, notice the occasional use of the snake-like 'f' for todays 's' in this 1739 George Whitefield letter and in 1758 Jonathan Edwards' Original Sin.
To do for Chris: Find a more recent translation in French of Calvin's Institutes.




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