French influence on English

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Introduction

Language is a living and constantly changing concept. In this regard, there is a lot of material that is subject to consideration. I propose to consider all these aspects for a more accurate investigation.

Borrowings in different languages ​​affect the enrichment of vocabulary in different ways. In some languages, they have not had such an impact that could significantly affect the vocabulary of the language or enrich it. In other languages, borrowings in different historical epochs had such a significant impact on the vocabulary of the language that even official words, such as pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions borrowed from other languages, replaced the original official words. Since borrowing as a process is inherent in every language and is embedded in the lexical composition of the English language in particular, this topic is always important and relevant, it contains enough interesting material for consideration.

The Norman conquest

The Norman conquest of England in 1066 had a huge impact not only on the country, but on the English language as a whole. William the Conqueror and his swaggering team of Normans brought with them Norman French, which became the language of the royal court, government, and the upper classes over the next three centuries.The common people continued to speak English, and Latin remained the dominant

language of the English Church. The Norman conquest of England led to a rapid and dramatic change in the composition of the secular elite in England. Due to the confiscation of the lands of the Anglo-Saxons who fought against him at Hastings and during the recent uprisings, William concentrated in his hands huge possessions, which he actively distributed to all his entourage. However, they, as a rule, received land in different parts of the country, therefore, in England, unlike France, extensive territorial baronies did not develop and an important consequence of the conquest was the loss of Old English as the language of the official state.

Change and restoration of the English language

By 1200, only 0.6% of all French loanwords had been translated into English and usage.In the late 12th century, bilingualism was fairly common due to mergers and marriages.Between 1250 and 1400, people again turned to English.

In 1204, King John loses Normandy, which is both a change and restoration of the English language. In the 13th century, nobles spoke English as their own mother tongue, and French is the language of law and prestige. French loanwords are introduced into English through translations from French into English. In 1272 Edward I becomes the first English king after 1066. At the end of the 13th century, all classes again speak English, and many nobles do not know French. In 1349, the school begins to speak English. In 1362, English becomes the language of law and parliament ("Statutes of the Kingdom"). Since the 15th century, Latin has been replaced by English already in writing.

Borrowings

Borrowed French words from this period can be classified according to specific spheres of use. For the most part, these are words that express concepts related to government, such as: government, royal, condemn, judge, judgment, judgment, justice, prince, acquittal.

1) Words expressing concepts related to the army and military life, for example: army, regiment, siege (siege), banner, victory, chain mail (chain mail), harness (harness).

2) Words expressing concepts related to science, art: art, college, experiment, medicine, science.

3) Words related to trade and other activities of society: money, profit, merchant, profit, purchase, amount, value, profession.

4) Words expressing general concepts: despair, imagination, mention, spirit, example, imitation

5) Words related to everyday life, morality and tastes of the aristocracy: pleasure, leisure, lightness, fashion, gift, feast, delicacy.

6) Words expressing concepts related to religion, church: religion, saint, prayer, priest, sermon, chapel.

Splitting borrowings into periods

Most of the borrowings have undergone assimilation, as a result of which only experienced linguists can determine their foreign language origin. These borrowings express vital concepts.

Some linguists point out that early French borrowings, as a rule, were completely mastered by the English language. As an example, we can take words such as: angle, convey, reproach, rehearse, their foreign language origin is forgotten.

French borrowing is divided into 3 periods:

I. Words borrowed before 1350 that do not differ from the original vocabulary and are used in the same way as before.

II. Central French words borrowed from 1350 to 1660

III. Late French borrowings that entered English after 1660.

The words of the latter group are less valuable for the English language compared to the vocabulary of the first two words. this is not due to the relative value of early and late borrowings, but with the varying degrees of their lexical assimilation.

Most English words are stressed on the first syllable. Only in ancient derivative verbs with unbreakable prefixes, the stress was not on the prefix, but on the root syllable.

The assimilation of French borrowings that have passed into English is manifested in the so-called hybrid formations (hybridisms). For example: around, besiege because underestimate, overturn and others.

The combination of primordial prefixes and suffixes with Romanic roots indicates a close connection between foreign and original elements, for example, in words like naughty, shy, inappropriate, superior, protest, overpriced, outline, excess, by-product, best, strong. napkin, beautiful, painting, false, priesthood, impolite, overturn, undermine.

All fully assimilated grammatical words borrowed from the French language almost lost the grammatical features of their language and obeyed the English language system that borrowed them.

Assimilation of French borrowings

The language, borrowing foreign words, relying on the above facts, does not leave them unchanged over a long period of time. These words are gradually transformed in accordance with its phonetic, morphological and lexical laws, and brought into line with the system of the language as a whole, respectively, undergoes the process of assimilation , namely assimilation.

As a result of this process, borrowings lose their foreign-language character and cease to stand out against the background of vocabulary specific for the borrowed language, that is, they become its integral part.

Proceeding from the fact that borrowed words are transformed according to the internal laws of the language in their grammatical structure, sound appearance and semantic content, linguistics has established three types of assimilation of borrowings: phonetic, morphological and lexical assimilation. These three types of assimilation are very closely related, and have their own characteristics, their own specificity.

Examples based on literature

In the novel by Walter Scott Ivanhoe, the Norman period in the history of England is described in an incredibly interesting and captivating manner. This book talks about how people lived and behaved at that time, about how the common people did not want to accept a foreign language and kept their native language. For example, words such as court, servant, guard, prince, vassal, government, serf, village religion army, battle, banner, victory, chapel, prayer, to confess city, merchant came into English from French. The villagers tried to keep the English names, while the townspeople were already adopting the French words: butcher, mason, tailor. For example, animals were called English words, but their meat was called French: beef, mutton, pork, veal.

W. Teckeray has 82 words borrowed by English from French at various periods of its development in his literature.

Nouns

Adjectives

Adverbs

Verbs

1.chaussure

2.tête-à-tête

3.aides-de-camp

4. billet-doux

5.gourmand

6.potage

7.pas

8. émigré

9.bel-espit

10.repertoir

11.garçon

12.engoûement

13.tableau

14.tendre

15.protégée

16.éclaricissement

17.ménage

18.chambre

19.poulet

20.dam

21.soireé

22.chaussée

23.debut

24.tartine

25.bonne

26.conretemp

27.monsieur

28.dejeûner

29.fête

30.écarté

31.mésalliance

32.appartement

33.cortège

34.pate-de fois gras

35.costume de cour

36.demagogue

37.partie

38.ennui

39.encore

40.avenue

41.situation

42.permanence

43.place

44.disappointment

45.agrément

46.afaire

47.coup

48. debutante

49. enfant

50. rendez-vous

51.coquette

52. pavé

53. abbé

54. tailldouce

55. émployé

56. canaille

57. marquise

58. gamin

59. mousseline

60. monde

61. pincêtte

62. port-cochère

63. salon

64. cordon

65. matinée

66. roulette

67. fade

68. petit

69. distingué

70.corbleau

71. spirituel

72. humble

73.décolletée

74. retenue

75. miserable

76. blasé

77. passé

78. apropos

79. au revoir

80. parbleau

81. infame

82. amuser

As for the works of O. Huxley and R. Aldington, it should be noted that they use much less French words in their works. 25 borrowings were identified. Of these, 84% are nouns, 16% are adjectives. Not a single verb and other parts of speech were found.

Nouns

Adjectives

1. fond

2. exaltation

3. movement

4. bon mot

5. bête novie

6. métier

7. permanence

8. peignoir

9. maisonette

10.terrible enfant

11.femme

12.nobless

13.roturier

14.ordure

15.infection

16.detachment

18.materiel

19.tension

20.solitude

21.rapport

22.détour

23.petite

24.invisible

25.farouche 

Conclusion

As a result of my research, the following conclusions can be drawn:

Most of the French loanwords appeared in English during the Middle English period, and the Norman conquest was the main event that influenced the penetration of French words into English.

almost all French borrowings can be classified according to the area of ​​concepts to which they relate, for example: trade, art, government, church, but there are also words that cannot be attributed to any area of ​​activity

- the majority of French loanwords were almost completely assimilated into English, changing not only phonetic and grammatical properties. Only a few words have retained their characteristic French stress and pronunciation, which is not characteristic of the English language.

Resources

• https://www.yescenter.ru/blog/articles/yazykovye-interesnosti/to_english_from_french/
• https://otherreferats.allbest.ru/languages/00523664_0.html
  • https://englishfull.ru/znat/francuzskie-korni.html
  • https://doc4web.ru/literatura/francuzskie-zaimstvovaniya-v-proizvedeniyah-angliyskih-pisateley.html
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Norman_language
• Ж. Багана, Е. В. Бондаренко Ассимиляция заимствований из французского языка в среднеанглийских диалектах
• Наталия Курашкина: Основы фонетики английского языка. Учебное пособие