French Influence

Penetration of French loan words into English did not start immediately after the Norman Conquest. It only started in the 12^th century, and reached its climax in the 13^th and 14^th centuries.

After the conquest French was introduced as the language of the law courts, debates in Parliament (1265). Under such circumstances considerable layers of the population became bilingual. This bilinguism created preconditions for a mass entry of French words into the English language. (At the same time the opposite process took place: English words were adopted in the Anglo-Norman language).

Many words adopted at this time denoted things and notions connected with the life of the Norman aristocracy. Alongside these, everyday words penetrated into English, which denoted ideas already having names in English. As a result of borrowing, pairs of synonyms would arise, and a struggle between the synonyms would ensue. The outcome of the struggle would be different in different cases. There were three main possibilities:

1. The struggle ends in favour of the French word; its native English synonym disappears.

2. It is the native word that gets the upper hand; the French word, after existing in English for some times, disappears.

3. Both words survive, but a difference in meaning develops between them, which may be either semantic or stylistic. The table below illustrates these examples.

French loan words

When both the native word and the French word were preserved in English, there arose a differentiation of their meanings (ox –beef, calf – veal, sheep – mutton, pig – pork).

Another type of differentiation may be found in the pair of synonyms: beginnen – commencen. The native word beginnen has stayed on as a colloquial word, while the French commencen is an official term and is mainly used in documents.In other examples, work –labour, life – existence, etc. the native word acquired a more concrete meaning, while the French one is more abstract.

In some cases French words superceded the most everyday words: river (instead of OE ēa).

Sometimes the intruding French word forced its native synonym into a different semantic sphere of meaning. For instance, the OE haerfest (autumn) was superseded by the French word autumn, but survived in English with the meaning of ‘harvest’

French words penetrating into English were of different origin: from Latin, from Greek through Latin, from Celtic, from Germanic dialects.

The degree to which French words penetrated into English depended on two factors: on the geographical region and on the social layer addressed by the document.The farther North, the fewer French words; the closer to the lower strata of society, the fewer French words.

French derivational suffixes

Поиск по сайту: