The word
piggyback got me thinking about how much the French language has influenced modern English, dating back to William the Conqueror's invasion of England in 1066, which established 300 years of French rule there. During this period Old French and Old English were both spoken in England - French by the ruling class and English by the common folk - and about 10 000 French words were adopted into the English language. I think it's fascinating how this stratification of the two languages still influences English speakers' attitudes about English and French today. It's part of the reason why English speakers view French as sophisticated and refined; it was the language of the aristocracy. Often, English words that we consider to be of a more elevated diction are derived from French (and/or Latin), though we may not be aware of it. It's also interesting to consider the sociocultural reasons behind the adoption of certain words from French but not others. To cite a classic example, the word
cow is of Old English origin while the word
beef comes from the French
boeuf. It's probably no coincidence that the word for the live animal that had to be raised and butchered comes from the language of the servant class, while the term for the prepared food comes from the language of those who probably more frequently dined upon it!
Here are a couple of articles that summarize the French language's role in the evolution of modern English. (Germans, your great influence is also noted.) I was amazed to learn from the Wikipedia article that an estimated 30% of English words are derived from French!
http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/frenchinenglish.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_French_origin
Now we're witnessing a turnabout as French speakers struggle to minimize the adoption of English words into French. The Quebecois seem to be particularly proactive about this, perhaps understandably.
I humbly await your responses!
Kate,
ReplyDeleteI always knew that English was a Germanic language and believed that a large portion of the language was formed from this, but I had no idea that the French language had been so deeply incorporated into the English language! English is one of those languages that loves to steal from others and most of the words sound "English" to me. The other day when you said that denim came from French origin, I was shocked. "Denim" did not sound French at all to me and I couldn't believe that English took it and changed it to there pleasing. This is my absolute favorite thing about language learning! To learn the origin of a word and history behind it! Thanks for the information, I had no idea!
Ashley,
DeleteI thought that denim trivia was really interesting too, although I can't remember who originally said that. (It might have been Dr. Jones (?)) Anyway I think of English as being Germanic too, and while it technically is, it has rich and varied influences - not just from French.
Great stuff! You can see influence from several different languages when you look at the English language closely. These borrowed words or "cognates" often make our job of learning another language simpler! An example from from the German language would be the word "interessant" or interesting in English!
ReplyDeleteJason,
DeleteOnce you start paying attention and getting more in depth with the study of a language, you start making more and more connections like that, and it's one of my favorite things about learning a language. I've even noticed that helps me understand more in other languages I don't know as well, like Spanish and Italian. It's almost like strengthening a muscle, and it also makes me more aware of the deep roots we share both with other languages in our language family and even with more distantly related languages. To cite an example: Did you know that it is believed that the people who now populate Japan came from a tribe of people who also migrated to modern-day Hungary and Finland? They determined this because linguistic similarities between Japanese and Finnish. Who would have guessed? I find that fascinating.
Very Interesting Kate,
ReplyDeleteThe other day in class, I was teaching about the different forms of transportation. And I was explaining to the students that "Car" in French was for Charter Bus and not Car as in voiture. On the other hand, when I was in France my German Teacher told me I would be able to speak German if I put in a lot of practice because I could speak English. Do you guys think it's true?
Yes, I do think that's true. Consider our French students. They may think learning French is hard, but think about how much harder it would be for them to learn Chinese, or how much harder it would be for them to learn French if their native language was Chinese. Simply by already knowing English, they're much better prepared to learn French than someone who speaks a much more distantly related language. The same is true for you. Since English is in the Germanic family, you should be able to pick up German more easily than your classmates who only speak French.
DeleteI love your topic for piggyback! I say stuff like this to my students all the time! Its so easy to find connections between English and French because there ARE so many connections between English and French. English is a crazy language that borrows a lot, and of course is influenced by major historical events such as Billy the Conquerer in 1066. But it shouldn't be too hard, I think, for English speakers to pick up on quite a bit of French vocabulary at least, just because of these similarities. You pointed out that the French, and moreso the Quebecois are wanting to pare down their borrowing of English in their language. I think for the Quebecois this is a direct reflection on their desire for sovereignty from Canada. Limiting English influence I think is one way they're rejecting outside influence.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteKatie,
DeleteYes I totally agree that Quebec's efforts to regulate their language are a reflection of their desire for sovereignty. And there are indeed so many French/English cognates that I am sometimes amazed when our students don't seem to comprehend reading passages that are written with lots of cognates for a student audience. But that's another story.