French Borrowings in modern english
A great number of words of French origin have entered the English language to the extent that many Latin words have come to the English language.
According to different sources, nearly 30% of all English words have a French origin.[1] This fact suggests that 80,000 words should appear in this list. However, this list does not include derivatives formed in English, but only the ones imported as such directly from French (for instance joy and joyous, but not joyful, joyfulness, nor partisanship, parenthood, …). It does not include either combinations of words of French origin with words of origin other than French (e.g. ice cream, sunray, jellyfish, killjoy, lifeguard, passageway). It also excludes English-made combinations of words of French origin (e.g. grapefruit is made of grape + fruit but has been coined in English, layperson: lay + person, consider also mailorder, magpie, marketplace, petticoat, straitjacket).
This list does not include words that come from French but were introduced into the English language via another language than French (e.g. domineer, ketone, loggia, lotto, mariachi, monsignor, oboe, paella, panzer, picayune, ranch, vendue, veneer).
Although French is mainly from Latin (which accounts for about 60% of English vocabulary either directly or via a Romance language), it also includes words from Gaulish and Germanic languages (especially Old Frankish). Since English is of Germanic origin, words that have entered English from the Germanic elements in French might not strike the eye as distinctively from French. Conversely, as Latin gave many derivatives to both the English and the French languages, ascertaining that a given Latinate derivative did not come to the English language via French can be difficult in a few cases.
Most of the French vocabulary now appearing in English was imported over the centuries following the Norman Conquest of 1066, when England came under the administration of Norman-speaking peoples. The majority of the population of England continued to use their Anglo-Saxon language but it was influenced by the language of the ruling elite, resulting in doublets. Consider for example the words for the meats eaten by the Anglo-Norman nobility and the corresponding animals grown by the Anglo-Saxon peasants: beef / ox, mutton / sheep, veal / calf, pork / pig, or pairs of words pertaining to different registers of language: commence / start, continue / go on, disengage / withdraw, encounter / meet, vend / sell, purchase / buy. Words of French origin often refer to more abstract or elaborate notions than their Anglo-Saxon equivalents (e.g. liberty / freedom, justice / fairness), and are therefore of less frequent use in everyday language. It may not be the case of all English words of French origin though. Consider for instance: able, car, chair, city, country, fine, fruit, journey, juice, just, part, people, real, stay, table, travel, use, very, wait.
After the rise of Henry Plantagenet to the throne of England, other forms of dialectal French may have gained in influence to the detriment of Norman French (notably the variants of Anjou where the House of Plantagenet came from, and possibly Poitevin, the tongue of Eleanor of Aquitaine). With the English claim to the throne of France, the influence of the language in use at the royal court of France in Paris increased. The cultural influence of France remained strong in the following centuries and from the Renaissance onward borrowings were mainly made from Parisian French, which became the de facto standard language of France.
Norman rule of England had a lasting impact on British society. Words from Anglo-Norman or Old French include terms related to feudalism (chivalry, homage, liege, peasant, suzerain, vassal, villain) and other institutions (bailiff, chancellor, council, government, mayor, minister, parliament), the organisation of religion (abbey, clergy, cloister, diocese, friar, mass, parish, prayer, preach, priest), the nobility (baron, count, dame, duke, marquis, prince, sir), and the art of war (armour, baldric, dungeon, hauberk, mail, portcullis, surcoat). Many of these words related to the feudal system or medieval warfare have a Germanic origin (mainly through Old Frankish) (see also French words of Germanic origin).
The Norman origin of the British monarchy is still visible in expressions like Prince Regent, heir apparent, Princess Royal where the adjective is placed after the noun, like in French.
The vocabulary of heraldry has been heavily influenced by French (blazon, or, argent, sable, gules, passant), for more details see tinctures, attitudes, and charges of heraldry.
Sometimes used in heraldry, some mythological beasts (dragon, griffin, hippogriff, phoenix) or exotic animals (lion, leopard, antelope, giraffe, camel, zebu, elephant, baboon, dolphin, ocelot, ostrich, chameleon) draw their name from French. It is also the case of some animals native of Europe (via Anglo-Norman: eagle, buzzard, falcon, squirrel, coney, rabbit, leveret, marten, ferret, salmon).
Besides the above-mentioned terms, the vocabulary of warfare and the military include many words of French origin (battalion, dragoon, infantry, cavalry, army, artillery, corvette, musketeer, carabineer, pistol, fusilier, squad, squadron, platoon, brigade, corps, sortie, reconnaissance/reconnoitre, surveillance, rendezvous, espionage, volley, siege, terrain, troop, camouflage, logistics, accoutrements, bivouac, aide-de-camp, legionnaire, morale, esprit de corps. See also military ranks: sergeant, lieutenant, captain, colonel, general, admiral). Many fencing terms are also from French.
The political lexicon include many words of French origin like liberalism, capitalism, materialism, nationalism, plebiscite, coup d'état, regime, sovereignty. The judicial lexicon has also been heavily influenced by French (justice, judge, jury, attorney, court, case). (See also Law French). It is also the case in the domain of diplomacy (attaché, chargé d'affaires, envoy, embassy, chancery, diplomacy, démarche, communiqué, aide-mémoire, détente, entente, rapprochement, accord, treaty, alliance, passport, protocol).
The influence of the French language has also marked the domain of the arts: surrealism, impressionism, fauvism, cubism, symbolism, art nouveau, gouache, aquarelle, collage, grisaille …; Architecture : aisle, arcade, arch, vault, belfry, arc-boutant, buttress, bay, estrade, facade, balustrade, terrace, lunette, niche, pavilion, pilaster, porte cochère ; Cuisine: petit four, soufflé, mille-feuille, croissant, pastry, gateau, baba au rhum, cream, caramel, custard, marmalade, meringue, clafoutis, flognarde, beef bourguignon, cassoulet, casserole, confit, gratin, mustard, mayonnaise, sauce, pâté, foie gras, terrine, navarin …
Other examples include color names (ecru, mauve, beige, carmine, maroon, blue, orange, violet, vermilion, turquoise, lilac, perse, scarlet) ; vegetables or fruits (courgette, aubergine, cabbage, carrot, nutmeg, quince, lemon, orange, apricot); months of the year (January, March, May, July, November, December).
Some of the French words that made their way into the English language were coined by French inventors, discoverers or pioneers, or scientists: cinema, television, helicopter, aviation, parachute, bathyscaphe, lactose, bacteriophage, mastodon, oxygen, hydrogen, photography, stethoscope, thermometer, troposphere.
Some French words were named after French people (from their family name), especially in the fields of science (ampere, baud, becquerel, coulomb, curie, daguerreotype, pascal, pasteurise, vernier), botany and mineralogy (begonia, bougainvillea, magnolia, dolomite, nicotine), fashion and style or any other cultural aspect (leotard, recamier, mansard, chauvinism, kir, praline, saxophone, silhouette).
Some words from Old French have been imported again from Middle French or Modern French, but have generally taken a more restrictive or specialised meaning the second time. Consider for instance : luminary / luminaire, liquor / liqueur, castle / château, hostel / hotel, mask / masque, necessary / nécessaire, petty / petit, ticket / etiquette, troop / troupe, vanguard / avant-garde. Note that the word in French has kept the general meaning: e.g. château in French means castle. Even when not imported several times in different forms, loanwords from French generally have a more restrictive or specialised meaning than in French: e.g. legume (in Fr. légume means vegetable), gateau (in Fr. gâteau means cake).
In some cases, the English language has been more conservative than the French one with Old French words (at least in spelling) (e.g. castle, vessel, forest). Other Old French words have even disappeared from Modern French: dandelion.
On the other hand, a move to restore the classical roots (Latin or Ancient Greek) occurred in the 16th and 17th centuries. Thus words from Old French saw their spelling re-Latinized. Although in most cases this did not affect their pronunciation (e.g. debt, doubt, indict, mayor), in some cases it did (e.g. abnormal, adventure, benefit). The ph transcription of words of Greek etymology was restored in lieu of the f. Thus fantosme became phantom, fesan became pheasant. This move occurred also in French, although less systematically (Old French farmacie became pharmacie ("pharmacy"), fenix became phénix ("phoenix"), but fantosme became fantôme ("phantom, ghost") and fesan became faisan ("pheasant").
Beside re-Latinization that blurred the French origin of some words (e.g. peradventure), other modifications in spelling have included folk etymology alterations (see crayfish, penthouse, pickaxe).
Furthermore, the spelling of some words was changed to keep the pronunciation as close to the original as possible (e.g. leaven), whereas in other cases the French spelling was kept and resulted in totally different pronunciation than French (e.g. leopard, levee). Terms that most recently entered the English language have kept French pronunciation and spelling (aplomb, barrage, brochure, bureau, dossier, garage, machine, mirage, panache, café, décor, bourgeoisie, ennui, espionage, élite, expertise, intrigue, liaison, lingerie, armoire, critique, genre, ambiance, collage, montage, plaque, penchant, repertoire, entourage, terrain, glacier, debris, tranche, entrepreneur, financier), though this may change with time (e.g. the initial h in hotel is not silent anymore, consider also the evolving pronunciation of herb, or garage). Expressions like femme fatale, bête noire, enfant terrible are still recognisably French.
Borrowings are not a one-way process (See Reborrowing), some words of French origin ultimately come from Old English (Anglo-Saxon words) : e.g. : bateau, chiffon, gourmet. While conversely English words of French origin made their way "back" into Modern French : interview, jury, management, budget, challenge, pedigree, record, tunnel, vintage, humour, mess, sport, squat, standard, suspense, tennis, ticket, toast, toboggan
The category of tense.
Time vs Tense
Time = a form of the existence of matter
Tense = gram. category which indicates the time of an action by means of the form of a
verb.
Main divisions of time: present, past, future. Tense divisions in different Ls are different.
Number of tenses?
In English: 2 tenses/3 tenses
The present tense
Actions that take place at the moment of speaking or occupy a prolonged period of time or timeless actions.
/ hear a noise, I'm speaking English, We live in Moscow, The Volga flows into the Caspian sea
By means of Present tense we can describe:
- Past=> historical/dramatic present: / enter the room and who do you think I see?!
- Future=>I'm leaving next week
Structurally dependent use: clauses of time, condition and concession; in certain object clauses present instead of future (I’ll do what you say)
=> meaning of the present tense is hard to define; it's better understood from the opposition with past (some grammarians prefer ''non-past' to 'present').
The past tense
Бархударов: denotes an action prior to the moment of speaking and not correlated to this moment.
The form is marked (marked member = phonologically conditioned allomorphs in regular forms: - ed => [t],[d],[id] and morphologically conditioned in irregular: sing- sang)
The future tense
Traditional grammar: 3-fold division of tenses => the future tense is an analytical form which is made up of the auxiliary verbs shall/will + the stem of the infinitive (Смирницкий, Ильиш)
Arguments:
1. an analytical form is always some auxiliary verb (grammatical meaning) + main part (lexical meaning of the form).
2. shall&will originated from modal verbs but lost their modal meaning (prove: 'will' is freely used with the 1st person sg & pl without modal colouring). Modal meanings -in some sentences (Will you join us? - Присоединяйтесь!; Who shall answer the phone -> duty).
3. shall/will still have some shade of modality; describing the form ‘shall/will + infinitive'sometimes speak about the modality of uncertainty => we can never be sure about the future, so uncertainty is always present in prospective utterances (shall/will + infinitive can have the modalitv of futurity).
Jespersen, Allen, Qwerk&компания, Бархударов => 2 tenses.
Бархударов: shall/will + infinitive is not a tense form:
1. formal point of view: shall/will + infinitive = may/might + infinitive
modal verbs create free word-combinations + we can come across different forms of
infinitive:
can/may be working/have worked/have been working, etc
2. The modal meaning of shall/will + mf is always present in the utterance (a future action is always treated as necessary, possible or desirable)
3.shall/will + 'mf- no discontinuous morpheme => doesn't answer requirements for an analytical form.
4. shall/will + inf= not the only form to express a future action; there are
- certain verbs which refer to future (e.g. intend)
- several word-combinations (to be going to, to be about to)
- some verbs in their modal meaning
- present tenses
• Purely analytical forms are usually the only means of the language to convey a certain grammatical meaning (ср. с формой past)
5.shall/will like other modal verbs have their special past forms (should/would)
the combination should/would +inf can express both future and past (future-in-the-past), which hardly makes any sense in terms of a grammatical category (the principle of identification of any grammatical category demands that the forms of the category in normal use should be mutually exclusive. The category is constituted by the opposition of its forms, not by their co-position).
Блох believes that shall/will + inf belongs to a new specific temporal category -the category of prospective time. This category is built on the opposition of forms with s/)3///w///-marker and forms without this marker. As to the difference in meaning the forms with sha/l/witl-marker express an AFTER-ACTION whereas the forms without this marker express NON-AFTER-ACTION.
The prospective time is relative - the future action is relative to the present or the past time. If they are relative to the present time we speak of the form of the FUTURE. If they are relative to the past time we speak of the FUTURE-IN-THE-PAST.
The category of aspect
Aspect(A)-a gr. cat-ry, characterizes the way in which the actionexpressed by the pred-te v is carried out. Russian aspects:perfective и inperfective. A=вид (я читал-я прочитал). In the Rus. l-ge A is a gr. cat-ry, opp-tion of v f-s, in which peculiar suffixes&prefixes ( делать-сделать). In Eng the situation is complicated. Ling-sts still have no uniform opinion concerning the status, the number of A-s&the inventory of f-s. Gram-ns of the avoided A&spoke about Ind, Cont, Perf, Perf. Cont tenses(T). Now eng V has the gr. Cat-ry of A &A can be expressed in 2 ways: 1)Lexically: We speak about the lex. character of the v. Eng.v-s can be terminative (imply a limit beyond which an action can’t continue (to nod, to jump)&non-terminat.-durative(not imply any limit of that kind (to live). Polysemantic v-s can be termin. in 1 m-g,& non-termin. in another (to see-видеть, увидеть). The.distinction b/n dur & term is purely lex-l m-g is clear fr the context. 2)Gramat-ly: A is expressed in opp-tion of Cont&Common A f-s. Foreign ling-ts say 2 A Progressive&Perfective A . Martin Joos :Generic& Temporary A. Cont is marked: marker is discontin-s morph ( to be+ ing). The diff-ce b/n Cont&non~ is not the temporal one. I take-I’m taking – time is the same - pr. Cont denotes an action: a)incomplete b)in progress at the mom under consideration. (E.g.We r taking up psychology this year). The common A describes an action in 1)a general way 2)a complete or in~ (I did my homework yesterday). Бархудар.:´’Common A f-s r to be termed negatively as non-Cont.’’ The exact m-g of Common A is determined by the context. M-gs: 1)a momentary action (She dropped the plate) 2)recurrent actions (I get up at 7 o’clock) 3)actions occupy a period of time (He lived in Moscow) 4)unlimited duration (The Volga flows into the Caspian sea) Ther’s no direct correspondence b/n the Rus&Eng. A.En Com A=Russian perfective & inperfec A. (The girl played играла the piano well. The girl played сыграла a waltz& everybody applauded.En cont A = Russian inperf A. But: The girl was playing играла the piano when I entered-Девушка играла, когда я вошел)
12. The category of number
The cat of № is presented by the opposition sing (grammatically unmarked) & pl (grammatically marked by the morphemes of plurality). The 2 opposed forms denote whether the n denotes one object or more than 1 object. The forms show whether we deal with the grammatical meaning of oneness or more than oneness.Formally, the category of number is expressed by 2 morphemes:
1) the zero morpheme (=the morpheme of singularity)
2) the morpheme of plurality
is represented by a number of variants. The preoductive allomorph here is the morpheme “-s” in its variants:[s], [z], [iz] and the non-productive morphemes “-en” (oxen) and some other variants.
Regular formation of PL: base+-s [s], [z], [iz] (boy-s). irregular.form-n: -en (oxen); zero (deer, fish); alternates of the base (man-men); phonemic alteration of the bs (wife-wives); borrowd alteratons: a/ae, on/a.
!!the variant [z] of the morpheme “-s” has the highest frequency of occurrence, as it is found after all phonemes except sibilants (свистящие) and voiceless consonants.
The meaning of the category of number.
In many grammars it is defined as oneness – more than oneness. However, not all grammarians find the definition convincive.
The meaning of the plural form is more than oneness. But a singular form not always denote one object.
~Silence fell in the room.
~He doesn’t like tea.
~The phone was invented by Alexander Bel.
The nouns are used in the sg., but they don’t have the m-ng of 1ness, as they don’t convey the idea of 1 object. They denote abstract notions that can’t be counted. Thus they essentially are uncountable. Þ m-ng opposite to pl-tyÞ non-pl-ty (Бархударов).
Бархударов: non-plurality as a categorical meaning includes several meanings:
1) oneness proper (I saw this film. Give me a pen.)
2) uncountability (see: “silence”, “tea”, “telephone”.)
3) generalization (the lion lives in Africa.)
The m-ng of the unmarked Sg form of the opp-n which represents the cat of № is broader and less definite than the meaning of the marked form. By Бархударов, it is to be defined in negative terms as opposite to the m-ng of the markd form. There are some Ns standing apart from the point of view of the category of №, they have 1 f: sg/pl® Ns of the Tantum group. The singularia tantum nouns (info, advice, hair), pl(clothes, scisors). Such nouns denote notions which are outside the meaning of the c. of №. They don’t convey any idea of number as they cannot reflect any relations of objective reality.The reference of different Ns to either group is oppotional. In various languages their equivalents can get into the opposite tantum group (outskirts – окраина, советы – advice). The reason for the existence of Tantum groups is one of the characteristic features of a language. The idea is that within a grammatical category, any noun must have number and have a morpheme of number. Thus, even those nouns whose meaning contradicts the idea of countability is referred to one of the form classes within the category. even if their m-ng contradicts the idea/m-ng of countability.
The Category of Voice.
Voice — is the category which characterizes the relations btw the doer of the action and the object of the action expressed by the form of the predicate verb
1. Sometimes the subject of the active construction can't be regarded as the doer of the action due to the lexical character : e/g He lost his father in the war.
There's a disagreement btw the grammatical form of the predicate verb and the lex meaning.
The meaning is passive.The subj of the sentence isn't the doer but the sufferer. Yet, such examples are treated among the active voice b/c of the form of the verb.
2. The verb in the Active Voice denotes an action/process that is going on in the subject itself middle passive.
e.g The concert began The door opened The book sells well
3. The Subject denotes the doer and the object of the action (they are the SAME) - reflexive passive
e.g The boy washed John shaved
4. The subject is plural and the doer and the abject are DIFFERENT persons - reciprocal passive(взаимный)
e/g They kissed
John and Nelly met in the street
We can see that the classification is based on the MEANING. BUT! The Soviet Linguistsput forward their own argumentsagainst this theory:
۷ A Gr cat — a unity of form and meaning. In all the cases the form is active. Gr-ly the subject is represented as the doer
۷Such examples aren't numerous. In majority of the sentences w/an active Voice form, the subject denotes the doer proper .
Barhudarov suggested to define the M of the Active Voice as NON-PASSIVE!
PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS:
Passive Voiceis a form of the verb which shows that the subj is the obj of the action expr-ed by the predicate verbs.
1. Direct Passive- the subj corresponds to the direct object of the predicate verb. e/g Coal is used for making fire.
Several restrictions:
۷Passive isn't used when the obj denotes the same person as the subj in an active sentence.
e.g He hurt himself
۷The Passive isn't used either if the obj in an active sentence is modified by the possessive
pronoun referring to the same person as the subj
e/g He cut his finger
۷ Passive isn't used when the obj is part of the set expression
e/g to take courage; to keep one's word
But still some set expr-s build Passive : to take care, to pay attention, to take measures
۷Passive can't be built with intransitive verbs
2.Indirect Passive— we employ the Indirect object. e/g He was told an interesting story.
In such Ss we keep the direct obj and this obj is specially termed "a retained object".
It's freely used w/the verb "to tell" only. Often w/ "to give" when it's part of the set expression
"to give a chance/choice/orders". Sometimes it's used with "to offer, to show, to prompt"
3. Prepositional Passive- the prepositional obj can also become the subj.
It can be built w/ any verb taking a prep obj. BUT: it's found w/a few Vs of everyday use: to
speak, to talk, to laugh, to set for...
The use has one restriction:
=> It's not used with verbs taking 2 objs: direct and prepositional.
The only passive costruction w/ "explain" is e/g The rule was explained to us
4.Adverbial Passive- when an Adv modifier becomes a subj of a Pass Sentence. However the number of such Ss is limited in Eng.
2 of them:
e/g The house wasn 't lived in
The bed wasn't slept in