Can you guess the meanings of the following words?

Au pair   

Blond/Blonde  

Déja Vu

Fiancé/Fiancée 

Souvenir  
 FRENCH
BORROWINGS
IN ENGLISH
Group: Dang Thi Ngoc Anh
Mai Hai Anh
            Tran Thi Hong Hai
       Nguyen Dai Loc
 450– 1150
OE French Borrowings  (Anglo-Norman)

1100 - 1500
ME French Borrowings  (Central French)
CONTENTS
1450- nowadays
ModE French Borrowings

INFLUENCES OF FRENCH
BORROWINGS 
ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
 OE FRENCH
BORROWINGS

Presented by 
Nguyễn Đạ i Lộ c
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Norman Conquest of 1066 left England as a

bilingual country

The language spoken by the Normans (Norman

French) was the language of the King’s court, the
nobles’ castles and the courts of law
while English was the language of the common folk.

Matthew of Westminster said: Whoever was unable

to speak French was considered a vile and
contemptible person by the common people (1263).
  When the Normans took over England, they changed the language of
government and the court almost overnight and disregarded existing
institutions. Instead, they took on almost wholesale institutions derived from
France, including the feudal system which guaranteed strong control by the
king.
 Features

•  Over 1000 words were borrowed during this phase, with most of them showing
the effects of Anglo-Norman phonology.
•   The borrowings were mainly about:
(1) Social terms: baron, noble, dame, servant, messenger, feast, minstrel, juggler,
largess.
(2) Literary: story, rime, lay, douzepers
(3) Church: charity, confessor, preacher, saint, abbey, bible, absolution; procession,
parish, praise
 The Wife's Lament
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I draw these dark words from deep wells of wild grief,

dredged up from my heart, regretful & sad.
I recount wrenching seizures I've suffered since birth,
both ancient and recent, that drove my mind mad.
I have reaped, from my exile-paths, only pain
here on earth.

First, my Lord forsook his kinfolk―left,

crossed the seas' strange expanse, deserted our tribe.
Since then, I've known only loneliness:
wrenching dawn-griefs, despair in wild tides ...
Where, oh where can he be?
 The Wife's Lament
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch

I draw these dark words from deep wells of wild grief,

dredged up from my heart, regretful & sad.
I recount wrenching seizures I've suffered since birth,
both ancient and recent, that drove my mind mad.
I have reaped, from my exile-paths, only pain
here on earth.

First, my Lord forsook his kinfolk―left,

crossed the seas' strange expanse, deserted our tribe.
Since then, I've known only loneliness:
wrenching dawn-griefs, despair in wild tides ...
Where, oh where can he be?
M.E FRENCH BORROWINGS
Presented by
Trầ n Thị Hồ ng Hả i
Historical background
• In England, as in all European countries, this
period was the Early Renaissance period
marked by significant developments in
science, art and culture.
• It was only natural that new words also
entered the English vocabulary from other
European languages.
• The most significant once more were
French borrowings. This time they came from
the Parisian dialect of French and are known
as Parisian borrowings.
 Features

• Thousands of French loans were adopted by English in the Middle

English period; 75 % of these are in use up to this day
•  The number of French loans was escalating until the end of the 14th
century when it reached its peak and after that it declined, but the
borrowing continued.
  The borrowings were mainly about:
(1)  Ecclesiastical terms: confession, clergy, cardinal, friar, crucifix
(2)  Law: attorney, petition, inquest, felon, evidence, sue
(3)  Military - Navy: spy, combat, siege, defense, ambush, soldier, guard
(4)  Clothing: taffeta, fur, sable, blue, brown, vermilion, russet
(5)  Food:  sardine, venison, beef, veal, mutton, port, bacon
(6)  Art: painting, sculpture, music, beauty, romance
(7) Government and Administrative: parliament, tax, rebel, traitor, treason, exile, chancellor
 Summary: extracted from The Knight’s Tale Part One by Geoffrey Chaucer

Long ago in Ancient Greece, a great conqueror and duke named Theseus ruled the city
of Athens. One day, four women kneel in front of Theseus’s horse and weep, halting his
passage into the city. The eldest woman informs him that they are grieving the loss of
their husbands, who were killed at the siege of the city of Thebes. Creon, the lord of
Thebes, has dishonored them by refusing to bury or cremate their bodies. Enraged at
the ladies’ plight, Theseus marches on Thebes, which he easily conquers. After
returning the bones of their husbands to the four women for the funeral rites, Theseus
discovers two wounded enemy soldiers lying on the battlefield, nearing death. Rather
than kill them, he mercifully heals the Theban soldiers’ injuries, but condemns them to
a life of imprisonment in an Athenian tower.
 Summary: extracted from The Knight’s Tale Part One by Geoffrey Chaucer

Long ago in Ancient Greece, a great conqueror and duke named Theseus ruled the
city of Athens. One day, four women kneel in front of Theseus’s horse and weep,
halting his passage into the city. The eldest woman informs him that they are grieving
the loss of their husbands, who were killed at the siege of the city of Thebes. Creon, the
lord of Thebes, has dishonored them by refusing to bury or cremate their bodies.
Enraged at the ladies’ plight, Theseus marches on Thebes, which he easily conquers.
After returning the bones of their husbands to the four women for the funeral rites,
Theseus discovers two wounded enemy soldiers lying on the battlefield, nearing death.
Rather than kill them, he mercifully heals the Theban soldiers’ injuries, but condemns
them to a life of imprisonment in an Athenian tower.
ModE FRENCH BORROWINGS

Presented by 
Đặ ng Thị Ngọ c Anh
 Historical background

• The circumstances leading to borrowing during this period were very much
different from those during the Middle English period. 

• Only during the period between 1500 and 1700 its role of donor language was
taken over by Latin, but in next two centuries it again became the main source
of loanwords in English

• 16th was the Renaissance Peak

 Features 

• The number of loanwords penetrating every day speech was much lower
than the number of earlier borrowings

• The Modern English loans were rather restricted to certain variety or

stylistic level

• At that time France had a leading role in social and cultural spheres,
therefore the adopted vocabulary reflected its influence in these fields (the
period between 1500 and 1700).
The borrowings were mainly about:
(1) Artistic and cultural terms tie with France: artist, baroque,
renaissance, rococo, ballet, burlesque
(2) Politics, trade and industry terms: patriot, republic, regime,
aristocrat, democrat, dissident
(3) Cuisine and fashion: champagne, cutlet, picnic, canteen, tricot, vogue
(4) Geological terms (In 18th century an interest in mountains (especially
the Alps) grew in England): glacier, moraine, plateau, debris, avalanche
 The Longest Days
by Cornelius Ryan
Colonel Eugene Caffey and Sergeant Harry Brown for their portrayals of Brigadier
General Theodore Roosevelt on Utah Beach; Major General Raymond O. Barton, the
4th Division's Commanding Officer on D Day, for his guidance and for loaning me
his maps and official papers; Brigadier E.E.E. Cass, whose 8th British Brigade led
the assault on Sword Beach, for his detailed memorandums and papers and his kind
efforts in trying to research the British casualty figures; Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt
for her many kindnesses, thoughtful suggestions and criticisms; William Walton,
formerly of Time and Life, the only war correspondent to jump with the 82nd, for
digging through his trunks and finding his old notebooks and then over a two-day
session recreating the atmosphere of the assault; Captain Daniel J. Flunder and
Lieutenant Michael Aldworth of the 48th Royal Marine Commandos for painting
the scene on Juno; and Piper Bill Millin of Lord Lovat's Commandos for his diligent
search to find the list of tunes that he played throughout the day.
INFLUENCES OF FRENCH BORROWINGS
ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Presented by 
Mai Hả i Anh
 A. VOCABULARY
 
• 1. They enrich the vocabulary of english language
• About 10,000 French words were incorporated into English during the Norman occupation
• About 75% of which are still in use today
• There are more than 1,700 true cognates, words that are identical in the two languages

2. The  process of  language  intermingling  resulted in  different kinds  of  changes in  the  vocabulary.  
• Some  native  English  words  were  substituted  by  French  equivalents
• Examples: OE cempa – F warrior,  sibb - peace, leod - people, lyft - air 
• Many of native English words changed their meanings
• Example: hærfest in OE meant “autumn”, and hervest in ME began  to denote  “the process  of 
gathering crops”  
• The  meaning  of  some  English words  simply  narrowed
• Example: in OE æppel meant any kind of fruit; in Middle English it acquired a specific  meaning since
the word fruit (< OF fruit) appeared.  
• In  modern  English  native  and  borrowed  words  still  coexist,  each  with  a slightly different shade
of meaning
• Example: freedom - liberty, answer - respond,  begin - commence, hide – conceal.
 B. AFFIXES

 Evidence for the strong influence of French on Middle English is  in the area
of hybridisation by which is meant that a word consists of two elements - one
of Germanic and the other of Romance origin
1. The formation of verbal nouns from a French stem and the Germanic
ending 
Examples: French stem and Germanic ending {ing}: preaching, serving. 
2. The formation of nouns by the addition of Germanic suffixes to French root
Examples: French stem and Germanic suffix {ness}: faintness, secretiveness;
{ship}: companionship, relationship. 
3. The addition of the Germanic ending to French loanwords
Example: the addition of Germanic engding {ly} to French borrowings:
courtly, princely; {ful}: beautiful, powerful; {less}: colourless, pitiless,
noiseless.
 C. IDIOMS AND PHRASES

 1. The English language has also borrowed some French idioms. 

Examples: force majeure, à la mode, vis à vis, repondez s'il vous plait.

2. The other borrowed idioms are translated into English. 

Examples: How do you do - comment fait vous, It's me - c'est moi

 D. ETYMOLOGICAL DOUBLETS

1. Definition: Etymological doublet is one of two or more words in

a language that are derived from the same source, especially when
one is learned while the other is popular (source: Dictionary.com) 

2. In some cases words with the same or similar meanings were

borrowed from both Norman French and Parisian French at
different times. 
Examples: warden (Norman French) - guardian (Parisian French)'
Travel (NF) – travail (PF), hostel (NF) – hotel (PF)
 450– 1150
OE French Borrowings  (Anglo-Norman)

1100 - 1500
ME French Borrowings  (Central French)
CONTENTS
1450- nowadays
ModE French Borrowings

INFLUENCES OF FRENCH BORROWINGS 

ON ENGLISH LANGUAGE
 REFRENCES
Anonym. (2013). French loan words in the english language. Place of publication not
identified: Grin Verlag.
Answers Ltd. (2019, April 17). The UK System of Government. Retrieved from
https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/constitutional-law/the-uk-system-of-
government-constitutional-law-essay.php
Contact with French: The two periods. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.uni-
due.de/SHE/SHE_Vocabulary_French.htm
Department of Applied Linguistics and British-American Studies. (2018). English
Lexicology. Hanoi.
Frawley, W., & Bright, W. (2003). International encyclopedia of linguistics. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
Walter, H., & Fawcett, P. D. (2003). French inside out: The worldwide development of the
French language in the past, the present and the future. London: Routledge.
Ikalyuk, L., & Tatsakovych, U. (2015). Middle English: English or Frenglish? Journal of
Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University, 2(2-3), 22-28. doi:10.15330/jpnu.2.2-
3.22-28
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING