English is the result of Norman men-at-arms attempting to pick up Saxon barmaids and is no more legitimate than any of the other results. H. Beam Piper (Little Fuzzy or Fuzzy Sapiens)
For “Norman” read “French-speaking” and for “Saxon” read “Germanic-language-speaking.” I’m told that English is now a Germanic language with a more-than-half Latinate (mostly French) vocabulary. Here’s a quote which evokes a time in which the two languages had not fully mixed, at least not in every context—it is a record from a court of criminal law:
[A judge] fuit assault per Prisoner la condemne pur Felony; que puis son condemnation ject un Brickbat a le dit Justice que narrowly mist, & pur ceo immediately fuit Indictment drawn per Noy envers le prisoner, & son dexter manus ampute et fix al Gibbet, sur que luy mesme immédiatement hangé in presence de Court.
P.S. Originally copied and pasted this quote from the web. Later, looked it up in a dead trees copy of “The Language of the Law” by Mellinkoff. The book cited a passage with spelling that was further from standard French...updated to reflect.
I’m told that English is now a Germanic language with a more-than-half Latinate (mostly French) vocabulary.
That’s true only for highbrow written English (and even then, I’m not sure if French words would outnumber those coming directly from Latin). Everyday spoken English still overwhelmingly consists of Germanic words.
Also, that sample you cite is Law French, a very peculiar historical sort of formal legal language. Nobody ever used anything like that as everyday spoken language.
For “Norman” read “French-speaking” and for “Saxon” read “Germanic-language-speaking.” I’m told that English is now a Germanic language with a more-than-half Latinate (mostly French) vocabulary. Here’s a quote which evokes a time in which the two languages had not fully mixed, at least not in every context—it is a record from a court of criminal law:
P.S. Originally copied and pasted this quote from the web. Later, looked it up in a dead trees copy of “The Language of the Law” by Mellinkoff. The book cited a passage with spelling that was further from standard French...updated to reflect.
Costanza:
That’s true only for highbrow written English (and even then, I’m not sure if French words would outnumber those coming directly from Latin). Everyday spoken English still overwhelmingly consists of Germanic words.
Also, that sample you cite is Law French, a very peculiar historical sort of formal legal language. Nobody ever used anything like that as everyday spoken language.