11
МИНИСТЕРСТВО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ РЕСПУБЛИКИ БЕЛАРУСЬ
Учреждение образования
"Гомельский государственный университет
имени Франциска Скорины"
Факультет иностранных языков
Кафедра теории и практики английского языка
French Borrowings in the Modern English Language
Курсовая работа
Исполнитель:
студент группы Векшин П.А.
Научный руководитель: Лобанкова Т.А.
Гомель 2006
Contents
French
English
close
shut
reply
answer
odour
smell
annual
yearly
demand
ask
chamber
room
desire
wish
power
might
ire
wrath / anger
Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman upper class, the words for most domestic animals are English (ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine, deer) while the words for the meats derived from them are French (beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, venison).
The Germanic form of plurals (house, housen; shoe, shoen) was eventually displaced by the French method of making plurals: adding an s (house, houses; shoe, shoes). Only a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: men, oxen, feet, teeth, children.
It wasn't till the 14th Century that English became dominant in Britain again. In 1399, King Henry IV became the first king of England since the Norman Conquest whose mother tongue was English. By the end of the 14th Century, the dialect of London had emerged as the standard dialect of what we now call Middle English. Chaucer wrote in this language.
Modern English began around the 16th Century and, like all languages, is still changing. One change occurred when the suffix of some verb forms became s (loveth, loves; hath, has). Auxiliary verbs also changed (he is risen, he has risen).
Norman French is the 11th century language of France and England. It is an Indo-European language.
In 1066, the Norman king, William the Conqueror, invaded England. Many Norman French words entered the language after this. In general, the Normans were the nobility, while the native English were their servants. The names of domestic animals and their meats show this relationship. The animal name is English ("cow", "sheep", "pig") while the names of the meats derived from these animals is French ("beef", "mutton", "pork").
Table 2. English - A Historical Summary
Many words have been borrowed from Norman French. These can be grouped into several types:
legal terms ("adultery", "slander"),
military words ("surrender", "occupy"),
names of meats ("bacon", "venison"),
words from the royal court ("chivalry", "majesty").
the non-metric unit of volume (the "gallon") is Norman French. There are many other words.
The Normans introduced the QU spelling for words containing KW ("question").
Table 3. French borrowings
Word
Meaning
Notes
accuse
One of many legal words from Norman French.
adultery
archer
One of several military words from Norman French.
arson
Crime of deliberate burning.
assault
asset
enough
bacon
Cured pig's meat. One of many names for meats from Norman French.
bail
to take charge
Security for a prisoner's appearance.
bailiff
carrier
Officer who executes writs.
beef
Meat of ox or cow.
butcher
seller of goat flesh
A dealer in meat.
button
chivalry
horseman
One of many words used in royal life from Norman French.
comfort
strengthen
courtesy
cricket
A ball game played in the UK, Caribbean, parts of Africa and Asia, Australia, New Zealand.
crime
judgment
curfew
cover fire
Period to be off the streets.
custard
Baked mixture of eggs and milk.
defeat
dungeon
Underground prison.
duty
eagle
Large bird of prey.
elope
run away
embezzle
ravage
enemy
non friend
error
evidence
exchequer
A national treasury.
fashion
make
felony
A serious crime.
fraud
gallon
jug
A unit of liquid volume (= 4.546 Ч 10-3 m3 in UK; = 3.785 Ч 10-3 m3 in USA)
goblin
gourd
grammar
art of letters
grease
fat
grief
grocer
Food dealer. Originally "one who deals in the gross".
gutter
drop
Track for water.
haddock
A type of fish.
havoc
hogmanay
Now a Scottish festival at New Year.
honour
injury
wrong
Wrongful action or damage.
jettison
throw overboard
joy
judge
right speaking
jury
swear
justice
larceny
The crime of theft.
lavender
Perfumed shrub.
launch
hurl
lease
leave
leisure
allowed
Free time.
lever
to raise
liable
may be bound
libel
little book
liberty
free
liquorice
sweet root
Originally from a Greek root, "glico riza".
mackerel
majesty
mangle
manor
remain
marriage
matrimony
From the same root as "matriarch" (mother).
mayhem
mutton
Meat of sheep.
noble
noun
name
nurse
nourish
occupy
seize
parliament
speaking
Ruling council in countries like UK.
pedigree
crane's foot
From "pe de gru". Because bird's feet marks resemble a family tree.
penthouse
perjury
False statement under oath.
pinch
As in "grip tightly".
platter
big plate
pleasure
pocket
small bag
pork
The meat of the pig.
prison
lay hold of
profound
deep
purloin
put away
purveyor
Supplier of food.
push
quarter
The Normans introduced the QU spelling for the KW sound.
question
quiet
quiver
The arrow case.
rape
take by force
reason
rebuke
Originally "to cut down wood".
rebut
recover
remedy
to heal
renown
to make famous
rent
The same root as "render".
repeal
reprieve
send back
reprisal
retail
piece cut off
reward
river
robe
royal
rummage
salary
salt
Soldiers used to be paid with salt.
salmon
scavenger
tax collector
scullery
maker of dishes
search
sermon
sewer
Originally a channel to carry off overflow from a fishpond.
share
shop
cobbler's stall
sir
From "sire".
slander
soil
sovereign
spawn
spy
squirrel
little shadow tail
stubble
grain stalks
subsidy
support
suitor
surname
Family name.
surplus
surrender
survey
survive
over live
syllable
tally
mark on a stick
Tally sticks were used to record financial transactions.
tax
to charge
toil
stir
treason
treaty
uncle
usher
door keeper
valley
veal
veil
venison
to hunt
Deer meat
vicar
assistant
vice
view
virgin
vulture
wafer
waive
warden
Same root as "guardian".
wicket
gate
Wooden sticks used in the game of cricket.
wreck
The French Language in England
1066-1200
Norman French is the native language of the nobility.
Probably not a great deal of bilingualism
Small numbers of French loans enter English: legal, administrative and military terms.
1200-1300
1204 Loss of Normandy.
French is the cultivated, prestige language.
There is a diagnostic situation, with French the high-prestige, English the low-prestige variety.
Norman French has lost its status, and Parisian French as the preferred norm.
Large numbers of French loans enter English.
State of English 1300
1300-1400
English becomes the dominant language, but French remains dominant in literature and at the court.
Increasing evidence of imperfect knowledge of French
Table 4. Norman French chronology
· 1334-1453 The Hundred Years' War with France.
· 1348-9 The Black Death.30% mortality. Labour shortage, wage rises, increasing importance of the English-speaking classes
· 1386 English accepted in the courts ('Statute of Pleading')
· Two major English poets at the end of the 14th century:
Gower writes mostly in French (but composes one long work Confessio amantis, in English)
· Chaucer writes almost entirely in English.
· Evidence of private letters:
· 1350: French is the rule.
· After 1400: English becomes common.
· After 1450: English is the rule.
· Use of English in schools.
The influence of French on English in the early modern period
Influence on English phrasing
Aside from borrowing and word formation, French considerably influenced English phrasing. The loan translations range from polite turns of speech, such as at your service, do me the favour, to engage somebody in a quarrel, to make (later: pay) a visit, to idiomatic phrases like by occasion, in detail, in favour of, in the last resort, in particular, to the contrary.
ME pronounciation
The English language of the middle ages is different from the modern one. Here are two extracts from Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to compare:
From the General Prologue Whan that April with his showres soote The droughte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veine in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flowr;
Whan Zephyrus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, And smale fowles maken melodye That sleepen al the night with open yл - (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages) - Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes To ferne halwes, couthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond to Canterbury they wende, The holy blisful martyr for to seeke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seke.
The Wife of Baths Prologue and Tale from The Canterbury Tales, by Geoffrey Chaucer, performed by Elizabeth Salter, from Geoffrey Chaucer: The Wife of Prologue and Tale (Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521635306) (p) 1976, 1998 Cambridge University Press. All Rights Reserved. /© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
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