In France today,
the tendency is to protect the French language, especially in the face of the
omnipresence of English words in everyday life. The French language is a
very beautiful language and this can be understood. But we can regain
confidence by remembering that a large part of the English language is in fact
derived from French.
Two out of three English words come from French
It is interesting to learn that, in order to build,
English borrowed a lot from French,and aprofessional English translator knows this well. Indeed, about two thirds of all English words
would derive directly or indirectly from French.
It is generally accepted that this process began in the
Middle Ages, in 1066, when William the Conquerorconquered England, then King of England. French then became the
official language of the court, administration and culture. This is the
origin of theinfluence of French on English.
For about three
centuries, the French language greatly influenced and permeated
English. Thus, in the English language, we find many words close to the
old French (example: forest or honest).
Watch out for false friends
From the 15th century on, English asserted itself and
freed itself from French. At the end of the 17th century, the process was
reversed with a rich, constant and considerable contribution of English
words in the French language. What is often unknown is that in
these English words we find French (example: the English word tennis, which
entered the French language in the middle of the 19th century, actually comes
from French hold (exclamation related to the game of palm (ancestor of
tennis) , a game that the English had also adopted.
There are,
however, a few false friends. Some words, originally borrowed from French,
have evolved into a different meaning in English (example: to achieve which
means to achieve and not to complete).
We see that French and
English have a lot in common. Historically, these languages are intimately
linked and this also makes them rich. check our new blog here: Importance of localization