French
Before You Read
English borrows from many words from French. Think of five French words in English? How did they get there?Now read this text:How many French words have entered English?
More than 33% of all English words come directly or indirectly from French. English speakers who have never studied French already know at least 10,000 French words.See 1,700 cognates (words that are identical in the French & English) here. You can use some common ones in this crossword of French words in English
Was it the Normans?
The invasion of the Normans in 1066 introduced around 10,000 French words. Of these around 7,000 have survived into modern English. The Normans introduced a legal system with its own vocabulary: words like jury and verdict.What became know as Anglo - Norman had Latin roots. Sometimes the new Anglo-Norman words existed alongside existing Anglo-Saxon ones: beef and cow for example.
What effect did this have on the structure of English?
It did not change the structure of the language in terms of grammar. But one very important development was that most anglo-saxon words lost their social status. The original language became grammatically simpler. It merged into what became known as Middle English.What was the long-term influence of the Normans on English?
Though the Norman dialect declined, French remained the language of court and learning: we still use terms like chargé d'affaires, for example.French words became associated with learning and culture. This is still the case today, though excessive use of gallic terms is often seen as snobbish and elitist.
How did French influence English pronunciation?
The introduction of French subtly modified pronunciation in English. One example is the diphthong (long ‘o’ sound) in words like ‘boy’. Another is ‘th’ sound in thin/shin.The standard pronunciation of French words these generally approximate to the original: ‘ballet’, for example, has a silent ‘t’ rather than a sounded one as in Spanish. Some of the more common nouns have been completely anglicised. The hard ‘s’ in Paris being an obvious example.
As with many other aspects of the language, custom and practice has taken precedence over formal rules.
Look at your five words again. Do you still think your guesses are correct? Check in a dictionary.
There are over 1500 French words in English. Try this crossword.
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Merriam-Webster's French-English Translation Dictionary, Kindle Edition
Larousse Student Dictionary French-English/English-French
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