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THE FRENCH INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The influence of French on English, which took place immediately after the
Scandinavian influence had subsided, is more important of the two for more
than one reasons
...
The
Normans were considered to be a more alien race and they ruled over England
for a sufficiently long period to influence the language considerably
...
After the Norman Conquest of 1066 A
...
, English was enriched in all
the possible ways by the influence of French
...
Its grammar would not have been simplified as it is now, and it
would not have been an omnivorous language with a rich vocabulary
...
Earlier, they had migrated from Scandinavia
...
D
...
Normandy then
was a self-governed province under the patronage of the French Emperor
...
D
...
His victory brought a radical change in English
social and cultural life
...

The ruling class was sufficiently dominant to continue all administrative work in
French
...
The English language remained the language of the inferior
class of English people until the English Renaissance
...
The plain, bare and simple Old English devoured as many
French words as possible, —some for dire necessity of expression, others for
snobbery
...
It also throws light on the impact of a superior culture on an inferior one
...
Some
of the key words of administration, however, remained English in origin, such
as: king, queen, lord, lady and earl
...
Com = sharer, panis -bread), champion, lieutenant, sergeant, dart,
lance, banner, ensign, mail, buckler, archer, moat, chieftain, havoc, array, harness,
brandish, vanquish and so on
...
The legal
codes were written in French
...

French law terms are as follow : justice (the OE counterpart is gerihte, Modern
English “right”), judgment (OE dom, Modern English “doom”), crime (OE synn,
Modern English “sin”), just, judge, assize, bar, plea, suit, sue, plaintiff, defendant,
advocate, attorney, bill, petition, complaint, summons, indictment, jury, panel, felony,
evidence, proof, bail, ransom, verdict, sentence, decree, martial, award, fine, forfeit,
punishment, prison, gaol, plead, accuse, pledge, depose, blame, arrest, warrant, assail,
condemn, convict, banish, acquit, pardon, trespass, assault, larceny, libel, slander,
perjury, adultery, property, estate, tenant, dower, legacy, patrimony, heritage, heir,
executor, entail, innocent, culpable and many more
...
For example, burglary is a French contribution, though an
Anglo-Saxon knew how to steal and commit a theft
...
Puisne legally

means younger or inferior in rank
...
In many law
terms adjectives are invariably placed after their corresponding nouns in the
usual French manner though in English the normal position of an adjective is
always before its noun
...

Religious Terms
The churches of England were moulded in the French manner and all important
ecclesiastical positions were occupied by French clergy
...

Moral Terms
Religion is not very far from moral values and French words of moral ideas also
found entry in English
...

Terms of Art and Literature
Anglo-Saxons borrowed words in different areas of art, culture and learning
from the French who had a rich cultural heritage
...
Such terms of painting as art, paint, sculpture, music, colour,
beauty, figure, image, tone, picture ( ...

Terms of Science and Architecture
Words like study, logic, geometry, grammar, gender, compound, copy, clause and
phrase will indicate the high water mark of French learning in the field of
grammar and mathematics
...

Medical Terms
Many medical terms from French origin found entry in English such as medicine,
physician, surgeon, apothecary, malady, pain, distemper, ague, palsy, pleurisy, gout,
jaundice, leprosy, paralysis, plague, pestilence, contagion, anatomy, stomach, pulse,
ointment, balm, alum, arsenic, nitre, sulphur, alkali, poison, etc
...
Household words like curtain, chair, couch, cushion, screen, lamp, lantern,
chandelier, blanket, quilt, coverlet, towel, table, basin, dais, parlour, wardrobe, closet,
pantry, scullery, battery and so on will prove it
...
These
words along with their ideas enticed the English people such as recreation, solace,
jollity, leisure, dance, carol, revel, minstrel, juglar, fool, ribald, lute, tabor, melody,
music, chess, chequer, conversation etc
...

French technical terms in horse-riding and hunting, names of different kinds of
horses, dogs and other pets open up a new area in the life-style of the English
people, such as amber, hackney, stallion, palfrey, rein, curb, trot, stable, harness,
mastiff, terrier, spaniel, kennel, scent, falcon, marlin, partridge, mallard, pheasant,
squirrel, park and so on
...
Budget from Fr
...


Terms of Food Items

English food-menu was considerably changed and improved under the French
influence as is evident from such loan words as : dinner, dainty, supper, feast,
repast, mess, appetite, taste, victuals, viande, sustenance, sole, mackerel, salmon, sardine,
oyster, perch, cream, venison, beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, sausage, tripe, gravy,
pigeon, gruel, toast, biscuit, sugar, olive, salad, lettuce, almonds, fruit, resin, fig, date,
grape, orange, lemon, pomegranate, peach, confection, pastry, jelly, treacle, spice, clove,
mustard, vinegar, cinnamon, nutmeg, roast, boil, stew, fry, mince, sauce, plate, cherry
(Fr
...

Social Superiority of the French
A comparison between the French loans and the original English words throws
light on social classification in the medieval period: the names of several animals
are English, while their meats have French names, indicating obviously that the
animals were tended and looked after by the English shepherds, and their meat
was cooked by French chef, the prepared food was enjoyed by the French
noblemen:
English
French
ox, cow, calf
beef
ram, ship, lamb
mutton
swine, pig, hog
pork, ham
deer
venison
More homely and elementary occupations bear English names, such as baker,
miller, smith, weaver, saddler, shepherd, shoemaker, cowherd, wheelwright, fisherman
and so on
...
The
occupations which had direct contact with the French ruling class were taken by
the French people and therefore bore French names such as : tailor, butcher,
painter, mason, carpenter, joiner and so on
...
In
case of using French exclamatory words like certes, adieu, sure, very, alas, the
English people's snobbery is manifest
...
So when French words were borrowed, of which
the native English counterparts existed they used both the words, not as mere
synonyms for decorative purpose, but as two different words with a little
difference of meaning as in the following cases:
English
French

hut
to clothe
friendship
help
folk
hearty
darling
love

cottage
to dress
amity
aid
people, nation
cordial
favourite
charity, amour (meaning “illicit love” in
English)
kingly
royal
manly
male
womanly
female
Sometimes the French counterparts are used as literary form while the English
one as colloquial:
English
French
begin
commence
hide
conceal
feed
nourish
hinder
prevent
inner
interior
outer
exterior
deed
action
Double Borrowing
Sometimes, the same French word is borrowed twice
...
The general tendency of the
journalists today is to use French phrases, even full sentence, to ornate the
language, without any awareness, of course, that bare simplicity is the very
strength of English
...
Jespersen
...

These words can be traced in the native source as well as in the foreign:
Modern English
OE
French
rich
rice
riche
choice
ceosan
choix
harry
hergian
harier
hay
hege
haie
main
maegen
maine
(strength)
gain
gain (noun)
gagner
gain (verb-meaning
“to avail”)
island
iegland
isle
Formation of Hybrid Words
Apart from loan words, English is immensely benefited by French hybrid words
...

First, the most natural kind of hybrid in which native affixes are added to the
foreign root-words: native prefixes un-, be-, for- in hybrid words unnatural,
unpardonable, bedeck, forswear; native suffixes -dom, -ship, -fill, -ly in dukedom,
courtship, beautiful, finally, stately, fruitful, cowardly and so on
...
This type of Anglo-French hybrids
are numerous in English: French suffixes like -ment in bewilderment,
wonderment; -ess in shepherdess, goddess; -age in breakage, leakage, shrinkage; -ry in
fishery, bakery, hatchery, brewery; -ty in oddity, thrifty (both odd and thrift are
assimilated into OE from ON), -ee in loanee, trustee (trust from ON); -fy in uglify,
fishify, mummify and so on
...
The

major aspects of change in grammar are:
(i) Introduction of phrasal genitive (possessive): Before French influence, English
genitive form was simplified under Scandinavian influence as ‘s which was
placed immediately after the noun as in Shelley’s, Shakespeare’s and so on
...
), which
are placed immediately before the nouns as in le livre de poesie (a book of poetry),
la robe de la fille (the dress of the girl)
...
French de had a parallel in English of
...
But tense aspects, like
simple past, past continuous, past perfect, and so on were not still introduced
...

(iii) French had a rigid word order in each sentence
...
But in a
French sentence, the position of a word is indicative of its meaning
...

(iv) French is the source of inspiration and model of modern English literature
...
In the beginning of English drama, we observe three kinds of play:
Mystery, Miracle and Morality—all of which bear French names, though the play
themselves are of native origin
...
OE poetry was rich in alliterative and stressed
rhythm
...




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Title: French Influence On English Language
Description: This contains a detailed description of the French influence on the English Language and vocabulary

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