French words in the English language
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French words in the English language
Hi everyone,
A very big percentage of English words come from the French.
I'll write more later on the subject but I'll begin with 2 little points to laugh at English.
No nasty remarks from my mouth (I think English people are very respectful and make big efforts to pronounce our words while we, French, are rather ridiculous)
So, many English words come from the French... since 1066 and since then, meanings often diverged and led to funny misunderstandings.
Sometimes, English people made mistakes, 2 points:
-1- yesterday, Krystyna pronounced the word "lingerie"; I thought she was speaking French and to me there was a mistake regarding the pronunciation, so I told her.
She explained to me sha was speaking English and her pronunciation was quite right.
The spelling is "lingerie" but the pronunciation is Br "l&nZ@ri:, US %lA:ndZ@"reI
The pronunciation is very different in British and in American English. I don't know about Hachette-Oxford symbols but Americans pronounce langeré with a long "a" in the first syllable.
... I wonder where the guy who took the word heard this... possibly, a train was passing by and they didn't hear well...
-2- I sometimes wonder if another guy was not thinking of something else when they created the word "cold"! It's exactly the opposite of the French!!
Is it the French "chaud" that he took?? In French, according to the region (Oc or Oï) , we have two roots for our words and sometimes we use "ch" and sometimes "c/k" (château/castel chataigne/castagne, chaux/calcaire...) anyway, let's take the Italian word "caldo": didn't they take either word to lead to their very close "cold"? The problem is that the meaning was not the good one!
A very big percentage of English words come from the French.
I'll write more later on the subject but I'll begin with 2 little points to laugh at English.
No nasty remarks from my mouth (I think English people are very respectful and make big efforts to pronounce our words while we, French, are rather ridiculous)
So, many English words come from the French... since 1066 and since then, meanings often diverged and led to funny misunderstandings.
Sometimes, English people made mistakes, 2 points:
-1- yesterday, Krystyna pronounced the word "lingerie"; I thought she was speaking French and to me there was a mistake regarding the pronunciation, so I told her.
She explained to me sha was speaking English and her pronunciation was quite right.
The spelling is "lingerie" but the pronunciation is Br "l&nZ@ri:, US %lA:ndZ@"reI
The pronunciation is very different in British and in American English. I don't know about Hachette-Oxford symbols but Americans pronounce langeré with a long "a" in the first syllable.
... I wonder where the guy who took the word heard this... possibly, a train was passing by and they didn't hear well...
-2- I sometimes wonder if another guy was not thinking of something else when they created the word "cold"! It's exactly the opposite of the French!!
Is it the French "chaud" that he took?? In French, according to the region (Oc or Oï) , we have two roots for our words and sometimes we use "ch" and sometimes "c/k" (château/castel chataigne/castagne, chaux/calcaire...) anyway, let's take the Italian word "caldo": didn't they take either word to lead to their very close "cold"? The problem is that the meaning was not the good one!
Dernière édition par gerardM le Dim 3 Aoû - 16:20, édité 1 fois (Raison : typo in the title)
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
What do you think regarding French words in English?
Are they numerous?
Are they properly pronounced?
Are there problems?
What about false cognates?
Aren't the Brits right sometimes? Don't they keep words that we abandoned?
Thanks for your comments and stories.
Are they numerous?
Are they properly pronounced?
Are there problems?
What about false cognates?
Aren't the Brits right sometimes? Don't they keep words that we abandoned?
Thanks for your comments and stories.
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
Hi everyone
For those of you who don't know any French words used in the English language, here is a good link
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/pronunciation-30-french-words-used-in-english-video/
I think that French words in the English language represent culture (positive aspect) but also somehow connote a form of stuffy elitism (negative aspect)
For those of you who don't know any French words used in the English language, here is a good link
http://www.englishteachermelanie.com/pronunciation-30-french-words-used-in-english-video/
I think that French words in the English language represent culture (positive aspect) but also somehow connote a form of stuffy elitism (negative aspect)
Dernière édition par MurielB le Dim 3 Aoû - 22:35, édité 1 fois
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Sprache ist die Verbindung,
Il Linguaggio è Il Legame,
La Lingvo estas La Ligilo etc.
MurielB- Admin
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Re: French words in the English language
Interesting link, thank you Muriel.
Of course, cold, close to cool and German kalt, is from an i.-e. root cognated to French geler and glace, but not to chaud.
This reminds me of the Spanish word aceite which always brings to my mind the French word acétique, and thus vinegar, while it means ... oil. Rather confusing.gerardM a écrit: I sometimes wonder if another guy was not thinking of something else when they created the word "cold"! It's exactly the opposite of the French!!
Is it the French "chaud" that he took?? In French, according to the region (Oc or Oï) , we have two roots for our words and sometimes we use "ch" and sometimes "c/k" (château/castel chataigne/castagne, chaux/calcaire...) anyway, let's take the Italian word "caldo": didn't they take either word to lead to their very close "cold"? The problem is that the meaning was not the good one!
Of course, cold, close to cool and German kalt, is from an i.-e. root cognated to French geler and glace, but not to chaud.
Didier B- Messages : 10
Lieu : Paris
Langues : Fr (Langue maternelle), Gb(Us),De, Ar, Ru
Re: French words in the English language
Hi everyone,
I opened this thread thinking of all the English words coming from the French.
I don't remember the percentage but it is very high.
Words were picked up all along history but especially around 1066.
It's not surprising that after a thousand years, a word diverged both in French and English so that nowadays similar words can be tricky with very different meanings.
False cognates can be embarrassing for example when a Frenchman thinks that "to annoy" is something soft like "to bother" while it's rather strong; same situation with "to demand" which is not "demander".
I opened this thread thinking of all the English words coming from the French.
I don't remember the percentage but it is very high.
Words were picked up all along history but especially around 1066.
It's not surprising that after a thousand years, a word diverged both in French and English so that nowadays similar words can be tricky with very different meanings.
False cognates can be embarrassing for example when a Frenchman thinks that "to annoy" is something soft like "to bother" while it's rather strong; same situation with "to demand" which is not "demander".
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
To illustrate false cognates, here's an article from the blog "Franglish": Faux Amis
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
Thanks Gérard for that very interesting link ! I will read it again to remember !
_________________
La langue c'est Le Lien,
Language is The Link,
La Lengua es el Nexo de unión,
Sprache ist die Verbindung,
Il Linguaggio è Il Legame,
La Lingvo estas La Ligilo etc.
MurielB- Admin
- Messages : 18649
Lieu : Calais
Langues : Français (Langue maternelle), Espéranto, Gb, De, It, Es, chinois
Re: French words in the English language
You're very welcome Muriel.
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
(désolé, je ne sais pas pourquoi je me suis mis à écrire en Français)
Rebonjour à tous,
En 1066, tous les Anglais ne parlaient pas Français mais il y avait certainement tous les lettrés (il s'agissait d'un très grand pourcentage de Normands et d'un petit pourcentage d'autochtones).
Regardez les devises de la Royauté Britannique :
- "Dieu et mon droit"
- "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (sic - un seul "n")
- d'autres
Une chose qui me touche beaucoup est qu'à l'époque, les langues (de l'aristocratie anglaise et des Français de Normandie) étaient les mêmes et le sens des mots a divergé inévitablement dans chacune des 2 parties en 1.000 ans.
En cherchant un peu, on imagine la racine et l'origine du mot...
Par exemple, lorsqu'on s'arrête sur "to expect", ça semble bien loin de "s'attendre à" mais si nous considérons notre expression un peu sophistiquée "dans l'expectative", les choses deviennent plus évidentes, non ? Il semblerait que nous ayions oublié certains mots !
De manière semblable, c'est grâce à l'Anglais que j'ai appris le mot Français "procrastination" ; l'Anglais a conservé plusieurs mots avec cette racine Française quand le Français les a supprimés.
De très nombreux mots Anglais semblent différents du Français mais c'est parfois parce que ce n'est pas la langue Normande qui est devenue la langue Française : ainsi, "castle" est-il loin de "château" ? peut-être mais pas tant que ça si on pense qu'à l'époque, on disait "castel" et donc, c'est peut-être nous -Français- qui "avons tort"
Il y a de nombreux exemples de ce genre !
L'Anglais est encore plus près de notre langue qu'on le pense parfois et, de mémoire, les linguistes considèrent que ce sont 75 % des mots Anglais qui sont d'origine Française (ils disent bien origine Française et pas origine latine).
Apprendre l'Anglais, c'est par certains côtés, mieux apprendre, mieux comprendre notre langue !
Rebonjour à tous,
En 1066, tous les Anglais ne parlaient pas Français mais il y avait certainement tous les lettrés (il s'agissait d'un très grand pourcentage de Normands et d'un petit pourcentage d'autochtones).
Regardez les devises de la Royauté Britannique :
- "Dieu et mon droit"
- "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (sic - un seul "n")
- d'autres
Une chose qui me touche beaucoup est qu'à l'époque, les langues (de l'aristocratie anglaise et des Français de Normandie) étaient les mêmes et le sens des mots a divergé inévitablement dans chacune des 2 parties en 1.000 ans.
En cherchant un peu, on imagine la racine et l'origine du mot...
Par exemple, lorsqu'on s'arrête sur "to expect", ça semble bien loin de "s'attendre à" mais si nous considérons notre expression un peu sophistiquée "dans l'expectative", les choses deviennent plus évidentes, non ? Il semblerait que nous ayions oublié certains mots !
De manière semblable, c'est grâce à l'Anglais que j'ai appris le mot Français "procrastination" ; l'Anglais a conservé plusieurs mots avec cette racine Française quand le Français les a supprimés.
De très nombreux mots Anglais semblent différents du Français mais c'est parfois parce que ce n'est pas la langue Normande qui est devenue la langue Française : ainsi, "castle" est-il loin de "château" ? peut-être mais pas tant que ça si on pense qu'à l'époque, on disait "castel" et donc, c'est peut-être nous -Français- qui "avons tort"
Il y a de nombreux exemples de ce genre !
L'Anglais est encore plus près de notre langue qu'on le pense parfois et, de mémoire, les linguistes considèrent que ce sont 75 % des mots Anglais qui sont d'origine Française (ils disent bien origine Française et pas origine latine).
Apprendre l'Anglais, c'est par certains côtés, mieux apprendre, mieux comprendre notre langue !
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
Re: French words in the English language
Hi Gérard, everyone.
Yes the "faux amis" teach us a lot. I have found more and I am sure there are a lot more.
http://www.expression-anglaise.com/les-faux-amis-nom/
Yes the "faux amis" teach us a lot. I have found more and I am sure there are a lot more.
http://www.expression-anglaise.com/les-faux-amis-nom/
[th][/th][th][/th][th][/th] a tissue un mouchoir en papier Et non pas un tissu qui se dit "fabric" Agenda Ordre du jour Et non pas un agenda qui se traduit généralement par "Diary" an apology (to apologise) une excuse (s'excuser) et non pas une apologie an appointment un rendez vous Et non pas un appointements an arm un bras Et non pas une arme affluence une richesse Et non pas une affluence camera appareil photos delay retard Et non pas un délai an engine un moteur Et non pas un engin grapes raisin Et non pas une grappe de raisin qui se dit "bunch of grapes" a journey un voyage Et non pas une journée a library une bibliothèque a medicine un medicament Et non pas un medecin qui se traduit par doctor a bachelor un célibataire Et non pas un bachelier qui se traduit par graduated a date un rencard a Disagreement un désaccord et non pas un désaagrément an agreement un accord, ou une convention de stage a hazard danger et non pas hasard qui se dit chance en anglais Eventually finalement Et non pas eventuellement qui se dit posibly Fortunate Chanceux Et non pas fortuné qui se dit "Wealthy" a habit une habitude et non pas un habit qui se dit "clothe" a phrase une expression Et non pas une phrase qui se dit "a sentence". On peut également dire an expression en anglais pour désigner une expressiosn A route un itinéraire et non pas une route qui se dit "road" Sensible raisonnable Et non pas sensible qui se dit "sensitive" a tour a voyage, un circuit et non pas un tour a vacation vacance Et non pas une vacation et encore moins une vocation a store un magasin Et non pas un store qui se dit "blind" a suit un costume Et non pas une suite delay retard délai = time limit / deadline an evidence une preuve une evidence = an obviousness Eventually Finalement Rude impoli, grossier a pain une douleur pain = bread
_________________
La langue c'est Le Lien,
Language is The Link,
La Lengua es el Nexo de unión,
Sprache ist die Verbindung,
Il Linguaggio è Il Legame,
La Lingvo estas La Ligilo etc.
MurielB- Admin
- Messages : 18649
Lieu : Calais
Langues : Français (Langue maternelle), Espéranto, Gb, De, It, Es, chinois
Re: French words in the English language
Thanks for your list Muriel.
Yes there are far more.
Yes there are far more.
_________________
Please feel free to point out big mistakes in my messages in a foreign language. Thanks to your remarks, I'll be able to improve my level.
PS: Pls note that I chose American English for my vocabulary, grammar, spelling, culture, etc.
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