Linguistics scholars think
that over 25% of English vocabulary has origins in the French language, most of which are due to the William the Conqueror's Norman Conquest in 1066. Following this event, most of the elites of Medieval
England spoke French while only lower classes continued to speak Middle English.
English again became the dominant language in the 14th century, but many French
words remained in the lexicon and survive today. Some of these became more anglicized over time like“advertisement,” “politics,” and even “jacket,” while other words like “cliché”
and “résumé” retained a spelling and pronunciation that more closely resemble
their French origins.
Take a look at Wikipedia’s
entry on the subject to see how many French words and phrases you already
know and use—and to learn new ones you can easily incorporate into your French
and English!
To learn more about the history
of the English language and the role of French in it, take a look at EnglishClub.com.
Learning second language would give one self confidence to look the world in a different perspective. You have made me to realize that in a moment on reading this article. Thanks for sharing this in here. By the way you are running a great blog.
ReplyDeleteGerman Training Institutes in Chennai | French Language Classes in Chennai