French influence on English

[GreatSpirit]

As we were taught in school, 1066 was the year that changed English forever. Old English had already taken heavy Norse influence, but Old Norse and Old English at that time were still very similar and were probably mutually intelligible in basic conversation at that time as were most of the Germanic languages.

However, French comes from the Romance family (Latin), so it would make sense that we wouldn't understand it. Well, you come across MANY MANY MANY French derived words everyday. Here is an article in French from Wikipedia. Just look at how many words we would immediately recognize as opposed to German, Dutch, and even Frisian, but not Scots since Scots and Modern English both derive from Middle English:

"Les fonctions pharaoniques sont les diverses activités religieuses et gouvernementales exercées par le roi d'Égypte durant l'Antiquité (entre les années 3150 et 30 av. J.-C.). Personnage central de l'État, Pharaon est l'intercesseur obligé entre les dieux et les humains. Aux premiers, il assure le bon accomplissement des rituels dans les temples ; aux seconds, il garantit la prospérité agricole, la défense du territoire et une justice impartiale.



Dans les sanctuaires, l'image du souverain est omniprésente par l'entremise des scènes pariétales et des statues. Dans cette iconographie, Pharaon est invariablement figuré comme l'égal des dieux. Dans le discours religieux, il n'est cependant que leur humble serviteur, un desservant zélé qui accomplit de multiples offrandes. Cette piété exprime l'espoir d'un juste retour de service. Comblés de biens, les dieux se doivent d'actionner favorablement les forces de la nature pour un bénéfice commun à tous les Égyptiens. Seul humain admis à dialoguer avec les dieux sur un plan d'égalité, Pharaon est l'officiant suprême ; le premier des prêtres du pays. Plus largement, la gestuelle pharaonique recouvre tous les champs d'activité du collectif et ignore la séparation des pouvoirs. Aussi, tout membre de l'administration n'agit qu'au nom de la seule personne royale, par délégation de pouvoir."

[APeacefulWarrior]

As I see it, English is basically a bastard tongue that never developed too much culture/personality of its own because English-speakers spent roughly a millennia either invading or being invaded nonstop, taking aspects of every other language that English came into contact with. (Just look at how many Arabic words entered the vocabulary following the Crusades.) It's somewhat Borg-like in that fashion. Unlike other languages -like French- where there's a body that attempts to define what is or is not officially part of the language, English is simply whatever English-speakers say.

Even the OED recognizes that it's always playing catch-up and trying to document a consistently evolving language, rather than taking any sort of controlling role.

And I tend to think this is precisely why English is quickly becoming the global language. Beyond things like media outreach, there's really no wrong way to speak English as long as other English-speakers can figure out what you're saying, and there are dozens of pidgen versions (like Creole) which are mashups between English and other languages. There's relatively little built-in cultural baggage that causes it to reject new ideas. The willingness of English to glom onto any and all "foreign" words the moment they seem useful makes it highly adaptable and flexible, which is needed in a fast-changing world, especially in business matters.

[Spaced]

Part of the reason for English becoming a universal language is the sheer volume of cultural output in English by the powerful media engines in the English speaking world (Hollywood, the English speaking music industry, etc.), but yeah English is a very adaptable and syncretic language, able to integrate concepts from other languages easily. French on the other hand (especially where I live in Canada) tends to have a lot of formal grammatical rules and there is much effort to conserve the language (i.e. the Office Québécois de la Langue Française).

I remember having weird experience working with some Belgian people in Greece. Half of them spoke French, the other half spoke Flemish (similar to Dutch), some of the people there spoke Greek as a first language too but neither group spoke each other's language, instead they all spoke English to each other.

[The_Tired_Philosopher]

I noticed this while watching Archer Fx, I understand French quicker than most other languages.

I thought I might've had a past life where I spoke French.

But now I see it is purely a logic based part on my brain! Thank you for the thread

I now know what language I definitely want to learn first.

C'est French!!  Or whatever French is in French . . .

[Minyatur]

I noticed this while watching Archer Fx, I understand French quicker than most other languages.

I thought I might've had a past life where I spoke French.

But now I see it is purely a logic based part on my brain! Thank you for the thread

I now know what language I definitely want to learn first.

C'est French!!  Or whatever French is in French . . .

Français.

[Minyatur]

I noticed writing french has always been a pain in the ass. Writing english came naturally and without effort. I don't think I've ever learned any grammar rule, was always just a feeling about how it's written and trying this with french has never yielded as great results.

[Patrick]

I noticed writing french has always been a pain in the ass. Writing english came naturally and without effort. I don't think I've ever learned any grammar rule, was always just a feeling about how it's written and trying this with french has never yielded as great results.

Well I must say that I agree with you, even though French is actually my primary language and although I did not know much English before my teenage years.  English is SO much easier to write in.