>>>>>>>>>>>It's my understanding that the word gullible is more appropriate, since it has the same meaning as we Europeans use the word naive.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>In English gullible has a negative conotation of being stupid or easily duped. Naive is softer more like unaware or trusting.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Maybe innocent is the closest match?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>we do retain the little used word "naif" meaning a person without knowledge of evil which retains more of the original French meaning. As others have said, in current English, naive has a connotation of gullible and implies being a bit dull-witted.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Innocent is indeed the closest match for the original meaning.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>How about spoken language? I assume that naif sounds totally similar to naive.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>It is a noun rather than an adjective and frankly it is used so seldom in spoken English I'm not sure most people would have any idea how to pronounce it. I think final sound is pronounced as an f rather than a v and it is pronounce more as one syllable as opposed to naive which is distinctly two syllables.
>>>>>
>>>>>In French naif (or naïf) is the masculin version of naive (or naïve).
>>>>
>>>>I meant naif as used in English - where it is a noun. ( wonder how the masc form became the noun and the female form the verb ? Probably something lost in the 12th century )
>>>
>>>Naif as a noun? That is rare. adjective is the more common use. Never seen it as a verb.
>>
>>Look it up. Naif is used more commonly as a noun (a person who is naive) and naive as an adjective referring to such a person.
>>
>>(admittedly rare to the point of being archaic, but not uncommon in 19th cent lit. )
>
>Obviously your dictionnary differs from mine. Or I should say I speak French on a daily basis, and "naif" is rarely used as a noun, mostly an adjective to describe a person.

I'm sure it does - mine is an English dictionary. <g>

Speaking French on a daily basis hardly qualifies you to address my point - the *ENGLISH* use of the word naif. I have absolutely no doubt you are correct about the French. Please reread my post - I'm talking about English (and even speculating on just at what point the Norman French became part of the English language and how the feminine French word became the adjective and the masculine the noun in English)
<s>