Is English just badly pronounced French?

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  • čas přidán 6. 05. 2024
  • Enjoy this exploration of the French-ness of English. And join the Lingoda Language Sprint to let your language skills bloom this spring. Click my link and use my code ROBWORDS20 for 20€ off! try.lingoda.com/RobWords20
    In this video I respond to the claim that English does not exist, but is instead merely badly pronounced French. I explain just how much the French have influenced our language, but why it is still a distinct, Germanic language.
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    #english #french #etymology
    ==CHAPTERS==
    0:00 Does English exist?
    0:26 Where English comes from
    1:14 England’s French kings
    2:12 French words in English
    4:46 Lingoda
    6:01 More French words
    6:49 Different dialects
    8:41 After the French kings
    10:42 English words in French
    12:27 French grammar
    13:52 H dropping
    15:19 Poetry
    17:12 Conclusion
  • Zábava

Komentáře • 7K

  • @RobWords
    @RobWords  Před měsícem +352

    Are we speaking more French than you thought? Let me know below. And join the Lingoda Language Sprint to let your language skills bloom this spring. Click my link and use my code ROBWORDS20 for 20€ off! try.lingoda.com/RobWords20

    • @efretheim
      @efretheim Před měsícem +23

      English is Frisian baked together with Norwegian, then given a French frosting.

    • @CAP198462
      @CAP198462 Před měsícem +20

      French does have a certain je ne c’est quoi.

    • @davidsturm7706
      @davidsturm7706 Před měsícem +4

      Very doubleplus real!

    • @philipcurnow7990
      @philipcurnow7990 Před měsícem +1

      More Lingoda less Duolingo. Spot on. I recommend it as well.

    • @mortitiaadams5545
      @mortitiaadams5545 Před měsícem +12

      English is indeed bad German... 🙃🙃🙃

  • @JimFortune
    @JimFortune Před měsícem +8974

    Isn't French just poorly pronounced Latin?

    • @GreenGibbon
      @GreenGibbon Před měsícem +192

      Ha ha! 😄

    • @JeanChordeiles
      @JeanChordeiles Před měsícem +602

      It is ! Absolutely !
      (I'm French)

    • @CelestinWIDMER
      @CelestinWIDMER Před měsícem +1294

      according to French linguists, French is actually better pronounced Latin.

    • @radadadadee
      @radadadadee Před měsícem +195

      ha ha! touché

    • @CyprienArmand
      @CyprienArmand Před měsícem +326

      French is actually Parisian that all other French people mispronounce, but I'm no linguist.

  • @knightrider585
    @knightrider585 Před měsícem +3893

    A Frenchman saying the English should be grateful to France for English's popularity is one of the most French things I have heard in a while.

    • @MHDebidour
      @MHDebidour Před měsícem +139

      Oui ^^

    • @merc340sr
      @merc340sr Před měsícem +77

      Too funny! You're VERY British! ...loll...

    • @Thomas-uu9ex
      @Thomas-uu9ex Před měsícem +60

      So British ! 😊

    • @harpo345
      @harpo345 Před měsícem +64

      @@merc340sr And the French should be grateful for all the English words we've generously given them.

    • @user-ry2om8wu5f
      @user-ry2om8wu5f Před měsícem

      Remember how many we given to you... ​@@harpo345

  • @stevenwarne69
    @stevenwarne69 Před 13 dny +170

    everything is just badly pronounced caveman grunts

  • @lecontroleurdepeagetresdem7581

    I also noticed that a majority of the words ending by « tion »
    Are the same in English and in French
    Obligation
    Formation
    Alliteration
    Aviation
    Civilisation
    Transformation
    Abolition
    Mécanisation
    Accélération
    Condition
    Fabrication
    Fonction
    Inscription
    Interdiction
    Invention
    Innovation
    Traduction
    Solution
    Émotion
    Discrétion

    • @moonshine7053
      @moonshine7053 Před 25 dny +24

      and a lot of them seems very well known for a german native speaker as well!

    • @rebeccaturkey7303
      @rebeccaturkey7303 Před 25 dny +47

      Most of the words that end in -tion, -cion, sion are derived from latin. German was influenced by Latin and English is ultimately a Germanic languag. French is a descendent of Latin, and English was influenced by French vocabulary. Words ending in -tion, sion, cion are often of the same or similar meaning across the three languages and across other Indo-European languages. Take the word communication and look it up in a translator for most Indo-European languages it is nearly the same word.

    • @jinlin8641
      @jinlin8641 Před 24 dny +7

      Yeah 1/3 of English vocab comes from old French. Somme words are juste the same and some are 1 letter different such as hospital is hôpital in French, in old French it was like English but modern French kicked one letter to put accent on the previous letter. Cream is crème in French, etc you got the idea (we say idée in French).

    • @EcoAku
      @EcoAku Před 24 dny +4

      More strikingly*, almost all adverbs; same word as French but ending in "ly" instead of "ment"/"ement". But as they aren't mentioned in the video, I guess they derive directly from Latin.
      * : except this one, of course ^^

    • @lewiitoons4227
      @lewiitoons4227 Před 23 dny +2

      @@EcoAku not quite but almost, the romance suffic mente or ment comes from the latin epression claramente meaning with a clear mind and began to be used to modify the initial word into an adverb
      english done this but with the word lyke or ġelīċe in OE meaning "to be alike/to have the likeness of" so when we typically use it as a suffix it takes on the meaning of for example , clearly is "with a clear likeness" but it is a pretty good analougous rule to the romance languages

  • @douglasstemke2444
    @douglasstemke2444 Před měsícem +1962

    French was my worst class in grade school. Now, thanks to this little piece, I can now say that I am fluent in bad French. Merci!

    • @user-aero68
      @user-aero68 Před měsícem +49

      Maladroitly pronounced French - even better!

    • @jayhache5609
      @jayhache5609 Před měsícem +27

      @@user-aero68Français prononcé maladroitement! Même meilleur! ; )

    • @tygrkhat4087
      @tygrkhat4087 Před měsícem +44

      I studied German for many years through high school and college. In college, I took a semester of French, just as a change of pace. My teacher told me I spoke French like a German. I don't think it was a compliment.

    • @AlbertaGeek
      @AlbertaGeek Před měsícem +26

      @@tygrkhat4087 _"My teacher told me I spoke French like a German"_
      ...Like you were invading it?

    • @mariemacfhionghuin11
      @mariemacfhionghuin11 Před měsícem +10

      @@AlbertaGeek Oh no...

  • @bricc9964
    @bricc9964 Před měsícem +650

    “The flesh-monger” sounds like some secret boss from a fantasy game, not someone you buy your lunch meat from.

    • @rmdodsonbills
      @rmdodsonbills Před měsícem +32

      It's certainly got some more ominous connotations :)

    • @Aspen7780
      @Aspen7780 Před měsícem +16

      Sounds to me like a horror movie.

    • @jaidee9570
      @jaidee9570 Před měsícem +19

      If you check out some of Rob's other video's you can learn the various types of Fleisch-monger. A white fleisch-monger, which could upset vegetarians everywhere, was a seller of vegetables.

    • @geminiblue6677
      @geminiblue6677 Před měsícem +7

      Fresh meat !

    • @KPA78
      @KPA78 Před měsícem +31

      yet 'fishmonger' is certainly still in use.

  • @thesarcasticsettler252
    @thesarcasticsettler252 Před 21 dnem +107

    Why am I not seeing this chap in his own tv series on language? Guy deserves more recognition for his informative and, most importantly, interesting style

  • @paulbonnard4151
    @paulbonnard4151 Před 28 dny +61

    As a frenchman, i just came across your video by chance and it was a real pleasure to learn all these stuff.

    • @CAMRA_GUY
      @CAMRA_GUY Před 3 dny +1

      It wasn’t by “chance” it was by whatever French word “algorithm” derives from 😅😂❤

  • @juanitadudley4788
    @juanitadudley4788 Před měsícem +282

    Fun fact: American Sign Language is more similar to French Sign Language than spoken English, because it was directly derived from French Sign Language. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (yes the guy Gallaudet University is named after) went to Europe to learn to teach deaf students. He actually went to a school in England first, but left because they wanted him to stay for a while. That was important, because they taught deaf people to speak and speechread and not sign. He visited other nations and eventually ended up in France. They used sign language. Eager to get back, he brought back a teacher named Laurent Clerc and they established the first permanent school for the deaf in the US. It has changed names and locations a few times, but still exists. They bought over French Sign Language, which has obviously been altered and is the basis for ASL. His son, Edward Miner Gallaudet, was the first president of what we know today as Gallaudet University.

    • @nonnayobiznus573
      @nonnayobiznus573 Před 27 dny +8

      Fun fact: French sounds like deaf English

    • @ryxem4771
      @ryxem4771 Před 25 dny +12

      @@nonnayobiznus573 Well. no.

    • @professeurjumeau8410
      @professeurjumeau8410 Před 25 dny +7

      And then France started to fight against FSL, because political power was uneasy with an alternative language inside the french republic. FSL was forbidden, even by doctors and specialists who claimed that Sign Language was too "animal". If you can read french, you can read "Le cri de la Mouette", an autobiography of a french actress, that shows how hard it was to be deaf in France before the 80's...

    • @antoine4419
      @antoine4419 Před 24 dny

      C'est incroyable d'entendre ca de la part des gens du XXe quand tu sais que le language des signes est né dans les monastères francais sous la période Carolingienne.
      ​@@professeurjumeau8410

    • @rayzimmerman6740
      @rayzimmerman6740 Před 23 dny

      trivia - trust the Americans to conjure a phrase - a poor alliteration, for an accurate word!! "Fun fact" (followed by a dismissive snort)

  • @TheClintonio
    @TheClintonio Před měsícem +721

    English recently added katsu, a Japanese word to the dictionary and it refers to a cutlet (katsu curry = cutlet curry). The irony is both the word katsu AND the dish itself were given to the Japanese by the British.
    Katsu, aka カツ was originally katsuretsu/ カツレツ from the English "cutlet". The curry dish itself was introduced by our sailors to the Japanese who took it and made it a local cuisine. It's no wonder katsu curry rose in popularity in the UK so fast over the last decade.
    So just like the French reimporting their old words from English we have done that with Japanese once, and given how distant the two languages and places are I find it more interesting.

    • @user-vv8ci5je7c
      @user-vv8ci5je7c Před měsícem +167

      And "cutlet" comes from the French word "côtelette", meaning "little rib". Coming full circle!

    • @BillGreenAZ
      @BillGreenAZ Před měsícem +28

      It's amazing how curry has taken over the Japanese diet. It's now a more frequently eaten food than sushi or tempura.

    • @slook7094
      @slook7094 Před měsícem +34

      We do the same with Japanese. コスプレイヤー (Cosplayer) has officially entered the English lexicon, which is based on the Japanese abbreviation for "costume player," or as we know it, "dressing up in a costume." It used to be restricted to just anime conventions as cosplaying your favorite character, but now it's reached beyond that and it can be dressing up as, say, your favorite rock star at a concert. Others include anime, drifting, karaoke ("oke" is short for orchestra), NEET, love hotel, lolicon, and salaryman.

    • @nnsqutr
      @nnsqutr Před měsícem +7

      I would have guessed cutlet would become "katoreto".
      I lived in London for a month in 2004 and loved katsu curry, but I haven't found it in the States. (I've never been to Japan.)

    • @TheClintonio
      @TheClintonio Před měsícem +16

      ​@@nnsqutrThe word entered Japanese some time ago and for reasons I don't yet understand the words that entered longer ago ended up sounding quite different to how modern Japanese would interpret them.

  • @KevinRibelMusic
    @KevinRibelMusic Před 27 dny +138

    As a French who lived for 3 years in Ireland and 8 years in the UK this is really interesting! Thanks for the quality content!

  • @malaakalabri978
    @malaakalabri978 Před 3 dny +3

    What a lovely video. Such smooth transitions and interesting facts. Your passion is palpable and the scene is majestic ✨

  • @andred728
    @andred728 Před měsícem +298

    Peu importe le langage, qu'il est plaisant d'écouter des propos lorsqu'ils sont exprimés avec autant de clarté et d'intelligence ! Félicitations

    • @hugokana6425
      @hugokana6425 Před měsícem +58

      No matter the language (fr) , it's a pleasure (fr) to listen to ideas (fr) expressed (fr) with such clarity (fr) and intelligence (fr) ! Congratulations (fr / latin)

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +5

      And english is romanic creole as french your founding normative father 😅😅😅😅

    • @mariekuijkenhistoricallyaw2598
      @mariekuijkenhistoricallyaw2598 Před měsícem +3

      ​@@hugokana6425😂🎉

    • @gabrielbalbec883
      @gabrielbalbec883 Před měsícem +14

      Voilà des propos tenus dans un français fort élégant, ce qui ne gâche rien.

    • @BernhardSchwarz-xs8kp
      @BernhardSchwarz-xs8kp Před 26 dny +2

      Wow - an Irish dude speaking fluently French.

  • @andeeanko7079
    @andeeanko7079 Před měsícem +470

    It absolutely blows my mind how complex this whole tapestry of the English language is! Thank you Rob for unravelling a bit of it so we can better understand it!

    • @RobWords
      @RobWords  Před měsícem +52

      My pleasure

    • @samroberts7404
      @samroberts7404 Před měsícem +11

      If you want to go a bit more in depth on the journey English has taken to get to where we are, you should also give Simon Roper a look (sorry rob). He's more in to the linguistics than the etymology, but it is fascinating...

    • @mitchblank
      @mitchblank Před měsícem +12

      @@RobWords I think you'll find it's pronounced "plaisir"

    • @embreis2257
      @embreis2257 Před měsícem +12

      we are all neighbours in Europe. quite a lot of the French words in English Rob attributed to the Normans, Angevins and their influence can be found in German as well. you can find Germanic words in French too. ofc, Rob has a point and English seems to be the most affected

    • @volebonin
      @volebonin Před měsícem +6

      ​@@embreis2257 There are so many Serbian words in english language.
      Sir = cheese in Serbian
      Drug = friend
      So = salt
      Police = shelves
      Sat = clock
      look ( luk ) = onion
      luck ( lak ) = easy
      luck at ( lakat ) = elbow
      To = that
      Do = to
      Sun ( san ) = dream
      Much ( mac ) = sword
      Boss ( bos ) = barefoot
      Sin = son
      Go = naked
      brat = brother
      On = he
      Sad = now
      Pet = five
      Most = bridge

  • @BethBarany
    @BethBarany Před 9 dny +5

    merci!! i love the english french relationship! A la prochaine!

  • @qerfqbAZRE
    @qerfqbAZRE Před 6 dny +3

    Maybe la meilleure video I've seen so far qui parle de ce sujet !

  • @vinopacino2423
    @vinopacino2423 Před měsícem +430

    Never knew 'chapman' meant 'merchant', but you can see the link to the German 'Kaufmann' there

    • @auldfouter8661
      @auldfouter8661 Před měsícem +17

      " When chapman billies leave the street... " Burns in Tam O Shanter.

    • @viktor8552
      @viktor8552 Před měsícem +55

      It’s köpman in swedish, exactly the same but a different vowel.

    • @treeaboo
      @treeaboo Před měsícem +52

      The 'chap' in 'chapman' is the origin of the modern English word 'cheap'.

    • @maythesciencebewithyou
      @maythesciencebewithyou Před měsícem +10

      As a German, I don't see the Kaufmann in Chapman. Only the man part obviously comes from Mann.

    • @vinopacino2423
      @vinopacino2423 Před měsícem +61

      'Ch' in English is sometimes reflected by a 'k' in German, e.g. (chamber/Kammer) and 'p' is sometimes an 'f' (sleep/Schlaf) - I'm sure there are more examples. The clues are there.

  • @danielimmortuos666
    @danielimmortuos666 Před měsícem +463

    English is really just Dutch dressing up as French 😂
    Edit: guys, relax. It’s just a joke

    • @fsinjin60
      @fsinjin60 Před měsícem +16

      Wouldn’t that require pickles with mayonnaise & ketchup?

    • @jgreen2015
      @jgreen2015 Před měsícem +69

      But then Dutch is just German. And french is just Latin.
      I don't get this obsession people have with English not being a real language because it's based on other languages when every language is based on other languages.
      Every European language and indian 'is just' indo-european.
      Indo-european 'is just' proto-indo-european
      Ad infinitum

    • @AdZS848
      @AdZS848 Před měsícem +4

      Love that!

    • @dr.victorvs
      @dr.victorvs Před měsícem +27

      ​@@jgreen2015 Dutch is drunk German.

    • @rais1953
      @rais1953 Před měsícem +17

      ​​@@fsinjin60 You do know that 'ketchup' came to English in the late 17th century apparently from Chinese (Hokkien) kê-chiap ‘brine of pickled fish or shellfish’, perhaps partly via Malay kecap, kicap ‘soy sauce’?

  • @GuitarMan22
    @GuitarMan22 Před 20 dny +17

    Die Präsentation war sehr informativ! Toll!🙂

  • @murraycampbell4043
    @murraycampbell4043 Před 3 dny +2

    Bravo! Great videos! You sir, may very well be the most interesting man on the internet! Do keep up the excellent work. Regards from Cape Town

  • @AmidalaEmma
    @AmidalaEmma Před měsícem +588

    As an anglophone Canadian who seriously studied French as an adult I was so happy that so much of English comes from French. We had a joke in my French class that if you don’t know the French word just say it in English with a French accent and you might get it right!

    • @jean-claudewallard9309
      @jean-claudewallard9309 Před měsícem +66

      Frenchman here. I do the same with English all the time. English is easy, the only difficulties are in the spelling with words of germanic origin and pronunciations in general which make me crazy sometimes. German is much easier for this reason.

    • @jillp1840
      @jillp1840 Před měsícem +38

      When we had a French au pair who didn't understand something in English (and we couldn't think what it would be in French either), we'd just try pronouncing the English word with a French accent. Worked surprisingly well!

    • @wavydavy9816
      @wavydavy9816 Před měsícem +31

      I was working for a haulage company and we went to Paris, so we are surrounded by French trucks.
      The battery was dead after sitting for a week so the boss grabbed a pair of jump-leads and say's we'll ask someone for assistance.
      'Do you speak any French?' I ask 🤔 'A bit.' he replies 👍
      He knocked on the first truck we came to and when the driver opened the door my boss waved the leads at him and said 'Le jump-start?' 😂

    • @dzymslizzy3641
      @dzymslizzy3641 Před měsícem

      🤣

    • @jollyrodgers7272
      @jollyrodgers7272 Před měsícem +6

      I did the same thing with my 5 years of French when I was stuck in Panama - I just pronounced it with a Spanish accent - and things went amazingly well!

  • @iPodGOTH
    @iPodGOTH Před měsícem +132

    As a french, I have always noticed that french people who are struggling with english very often use those english words with french origin, instead of the more english sounding words (sometimes even inventing words that in my opinion could have existed in english honhonhon 😂)
    Et merci pour la vidéo ❤

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +6

      😅😅😅😅strategy of trick player of celtic family 😅😅😅😅❤❤❤❤

    • @DoYouSeeBananaManTH
      @DoYouSeeBananaManTH Před 14 dny +9

      For me i do the opposite, I use the French word similar to English (I’m learning french)

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 14 dny +3

      It's sex and stilish charming and elevated this technique when a french buddy wanna love and care of english they use equal or similar french word or sentence and anglicize this word and sentence in english and the result of learning is obtained.
      When a english, irish, canadian, statenian buddy wanna learn french they do the inverse of frenches to love french's idiom, they take a english phrase or word, frenchified this sentence or word learn and love french for life.
      The relation of french and english it's like a railway road 🛣️🛣️🛣️ with double hand.💙🫂🆒♾️💎🌄🛣️🥂🍾🔤📐🍻.
      French and English are lovers and brothers in fact.
      In the same sentece and word English and French shares commons phonems and graphems too between them 🌎 deep intense relation.

    • @xavierkreiss8394
      @xavierkreiss8394 Před 12 dny +3

      Tout à fait! Ce Monsieur Rob est d'une érudition époustouflante.

    • @DSAhmed
      @DSAhmed Před 12 dny +3

      And mercy to pour your video too.

  • @No1sonuk
    @No1sonuk Před 5 dny +2

    OK. When I saw the title of this video in my recommendations, my immediate thought was "You should look up Melvin Bragg's series 'The Adventure of English'".
    Now I'm 2:49 in and my impression is that this person HAS seen it - the presentation style is VERY similar.

  • @PhilippeMarchand-xw1zp
    @PhilippeMarchand-xw1zp Před 27 dny +7

    Very interesting video, thanks a lot. As a Frenchman trying hard to improve my English accent by emphasizing "h" it’s funny to hear that some English were trying to make English words sounds French by dropping the h sound!
    Also, wanted to mention that to remember some Franch spelling rule such as using the ^ sign (the “accent circonflexe”) which often come from dropping the “s” letter between old and modern French, sometime I use the English translation that still use old French wording. For instance in French word “forêt” the ^ comes from the forgotten s that still exist in the English word “foreSt” (same for “batârd”/“bastard”, “hôpital”/”hospital”).
    "Honni soit qui mal y pense"

  • @smarterray
    @smarterray Před měsícem +261

    Dammit Rob, you've done it again. Another video with nonstop information that I will try desperately to absorb and poorly retell at cocktail parties. Fact after fact. Another excellent video.

    • @RobWords
      @RobWords  Před měsícem +17

      Why, thank you!

    • @SierraNovemberKilo
      @SierraNovemberKilo Před měsícem +1

      ​@@RobWords We understand your meaning here Rob, but could you unpack the "why!" before the "thank you". ? Thank you.

    • @OliverTwist-vv4xh
      @OliverTwist-vv4xh Před měsícem +1

      You sound fun

    • @jeandixon586
      @jeandixon586 Před měsícem +2

      ​@@SierraNovemberKiloI'll skim the surface of your question by suggesting that the "why" here indicates modest surprise at an extravagant compliment - almost like asking why it's deserved.

    • @teesman61
      @teesman61 Před měsícem +3

      Do cocktail parties actually exist?

  • @garyblenkinsopp815
    @garyblenkinsopp815 Před měsícem +97

    I like how enthusiastic he is. Clearly loves language. Can't fake it.

  • @KristiinaStCroix
    @KristiinaStCroix Před 8 dny +3

    I truly enjoyed this video. Thank you.

  • @user-jp1ge5nb2f
    @user-jp1ge5nb2f Před 26 dny +4

    Great show sir, as always. Nice balance of good explanations and facts with humour. The wonderful ways of words!

  • @CreepersNeedHugs
    @CreepersNeedHugs Před měsícem +240

    Here's another French word that became two English words: hôtel. The circumflex indicates it used to be spelled _hostel._ English took "hostel" from the old word, and "hotel" from the new word.

    • @jmayuk
      @jmayuk Před měsícem +31

      Chief and chef are similar. One from before the great shift in French pronunciation and the other from after.

    • @jack8n
      @jack8n Před měsícem +27

      We also got the word "host" and "hostile" from the same french root. "Hostile" literally used to mean, basically: to interact with someone, but to do so with suspicion and a business-like emotional distance, as you would if you were hosting a complete stranger in your house

    • @pierremassines4981
      @pierremassines4981 Před měsícem +28

      There is also:
      Forêt Forest
      Hôpital Hospital
      And many others 😊

    • @AWSMcube
      @AWSMcube Před měsícem +2

      ​@@pierremassines4981 💯

    • @rsabinioan
      @rsabinioan Před měsícem +18

      Bâtard>Bastard 😂

  • @fsinjin60
    @fsinjin60 Před měsícem +177

    I tell my Francophone friends and relatives when they are unsure of the English vocabulary just use the French word & pronounce it like it was German. There is always an English cognate but sometimes we surprise them by pronouncing it like the French.
    Changed (Germanized) pronunciation:
    Quarter - quartier
    Niece - niece
    People - peuple
    Meme Exactement (en mode de XVIIIe siècle):
    Banking terms - banque, cheque
    Hors d’ouvres, (American) filet of beef, …

    • @davidwise1302
      @davidwise1302 Před měsícem +14

      When I was still current with French (four or five decades ago), I used to use it to spell English words, especially the ones with troublesome suffixes like -ble or -nce. English pronunciation always reduces the preceding vowel to an indistinct "uh", whereas French kept the vowel's distinct sound. Therefore, by saying the word to myself in French, I knew how to write it in English.

    • @rhysastewart796
      @rhysastewart796 Před měsícem +13

      i only thing i disliked about this video was that while not the focus, the main argument to disband the romance language accusations is that old norse didn't just influence english, it changed *it's sentence structure*. old norse is the reason we say things in the order we do today.

    • @fsinjin60
      @fsinjin60 Před měsícem +13

      @@rhysastewart796 What I feel Rob should have implied that English swallowed the French tongue whole. There are few words in French that are not understood by English speakers with a large vocabulary. By the same token, there are few German words that are not understood by English speakers. English adds words, does not discriminate against bad declension and conjugation and welcomes the borrowings.
      The cowboys lassoed the cattle from the veranda.
      American English, American Spanish, Old Germanic, and Hindi/Malayalam words in an understandable 'Western' movie

    • @huyxiun2085
      @huyxiun2085 Před měsícem

      Super astuce, merci beaucoup !
      That's a nice trick, thank you very much!

    • @amerikawoche8243
      @amerikawoche8243 Před měsícem +1

      And “change” as well ?

  • @cool007zqw
    @cool007zqw Před 9 dny +2

    Fascinating. Thank you for making such a high quality video!

    • @RobWords
      @RobWords  Před 9 dny +1

      Wow, thanks Enzo! And thanks for watching.

  • @katherinewelling6026
    @katherinewelling6026 Před 11 dny +2

    I find your videos fascinating. Thanks for posting!

  • @Barril820
    @Barril820 Před měsícem +149

    I don't comment on the main topic. Just want to say how good is this video. This is by far one of the best short video you regulary watch on CZcams to learn something not getting bored.
    Congratulations from France to you sir. C'est rythmé, riche, intéressant, bien monté et votre voix est très agréable.
    I wish the french CZcamsrs take exemple from you.

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před 29 dny +5

      Et moi aussi.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 29 dny +5

      More than frenches all world anglophone and non anglophone will follow this energy and truth❤❤❤❤

    • @thomaslacornette1282
      @thomaslacornette1282 Před 28 dny +3

      Yes excellent video. Strait to the point, entertaining and you learn things.

    • @Paddy-von-Sanchez
      @Paddy-von-Sanchez Před 28 dny +6

      Yes. We take this for granted but we are getting extremely well conceived, beautifully produced, extensively researched content for free. This guy is great and his channel is the gold standard for informative CZcams content. Thanks so much Rob.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 27 dny +4

      True my bros and sis I agree with all of you.❤

  • @YorranKlees
    @YorranKlees Před měsícem +217

    I'm astounded. I knew French was about 30% of English, but I was nowhere near considering all the ramifications that it meant.

    • @babboon5764
      @babboon5764 Před měsícem +10

      But never mind the proposition 'English might just badly pronounced French?'
      Think of it this way .....Chunks of it were conveniently available
      *AND ENGLISH SORTED THE PRONOUNCIATION PROPERLY FOR THEM* 😋

    • @jeandixon586
      @jeandixon586 Před měsícem +1

      ​@@babboon5764😂

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +8

      Its more than 30% it's the double 60% only French.

    • @YorranKlees
      @YorranKlees Před měsícem +1

      @@Lampchuanungang Unlikely. 30% French, 30%Latin, 30% the rest including anglo-saxon.

    • @YorranKlees
      @YorranKlees Před měsícem +1

      @@babboon5764 Considering English isn't even using the proper alphabet (sources can be found on this very channel), English just just did what it could, with what it had.

  • @philippelaine7726
    @philippelaine7726 Před 14 dny +1

    Thanks for this very interesting video.
    You didn't fall into the partial trap and just shared great knowledge with us. I'm happy to stumble upon your video and I'll watch others from you. Great job!

  • @user-hp7gz3dj2t
    @user-hp7gz3dj2t Před 2 dny +2

    Wonderful! Very good presentation, excellent open-mindedness, and very well researched. My first experience with your videos will not be my last!

  • @kelliatlarge
    @kelliatlarge Před měsícem +154

    14:59 I'm an American from the deep south, from an area settled predominantly by the Scots-Irish, and I also pronounce the 'h' in 'what' and 'where,' albeit not as strongly as in the video here. But it is especially pronounced if I'm saying the word with extra emphasis, or asking with a sense of incredulity, like, "She said _what_ ?!"

    • @drssexy2142
      @drssexy2142 Před měsícem +14

      as long as u dont pull a Stewie and say 'Whhhip'

    • @anglewoden
      @anglewoden Před měsícem +5

      'ello I'm English and I dropped the 'H' when I was a nipper.

    • @simontay4851
      @simontay4851 Před měsícem +3

      I just pronounce it "Wot".

    • @nicholasvinen
      @nicholasvinen Před měsícem

      You say whhhhhat?

    • @kelliatlarge
      @kelliatlarge Před měsícem +5

      @@nicholasvinen It's just sort of an aspirated version of w. Say the word "what." Now act like you're going to say "what" again, but this time stop while your lips are rounded for the "w." Now just before you start to say the "w" sound, breathe out through your lips and immediately finish saying the word.

  • @bobbysox897
    @bobbysox897 Před měsícem +139

    Actually modern French is just badly pronounced French.

    • @David-tn9lg
      @David-tn9lg Před 27 dny +24

      Actually english is just badly pronounced english that is actually badly pronounced french that is actyally badly pronounced latin that is actually badly pronounced ooga booga

    • @Thoyn
      @Thoyn Před 27 dny +2

      Your mispelling ooga booga (and im mispellin the next language)

    • @hoplitletroisieme8502
      @hoplitletroisieme8502 Před 25 dny +2

      Haha i'm french and i confirm

    • @gillesblanchard1699
      @gillesblanchard1699 Před 25 dny +1

      Frightful to see ignorance in action!

    • @notng
      @notng Před 23 dny +1

      C'est malheureusement vraie 🫡

  • @UN1TYMusic
    @UN1TYMusic Před 26 dny +4

    Watching from Montenegro and this blew my mind..Very cool dive into history here and top notch content,very rare I watch an entire video but this had me glued!!Keep em coming!!

  • @dibaldgyfm9933
    @dibaldgyfm9933 Před 5 dny +1

    You deliver the lecture so well spoken ... I love that. ❤

  • @violenceislife1987
    @violenceislife1987 Před měsícem +180

    As a member of the peoples of Acadianna, i would like to invite yall to listen to the Cajun language, an archaic remnant of 1700s rural French.

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před měsícem +13

      It might be fun to compare "proper" French, Cajun and Acadian. The Acadians use words like "face" (French pronunciation "fahs") for the proper "visage". They both mean "face" (English). Not sure what it is in Cajun. It might help to mention that Acadian is a corruption of proper French, and that Cajun is a corruption of Acadian French, with corrupt Spanish thrown in for more confusion. I've always loved the phrase "Fait do-do" (wait til the kids are asleep before we start the party).My credentials? I am a French speaking Acadian/American.

    • @craphead9842
      @craphead9842 Před 29 dny +1

      Thats BS.. Gracias...

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před 29 dny

      You just proved that you *are* your handle.@@craphead9842

    • @jgarbo3541
      @jgarbo3541 Před 29 dny

      Or go to Quebec...

    • @TheRealMycanthrope
      @TheRealMycanthrope Před 28 dny +3

      ​@@craphead9842what is?

  • @christianhohenstein1422
    @christianhohenstein1422 Před měsícem +96

    There are a lot of words you presented as French origin we use here in Germany, too. Just made me realize that we may have adapted much more words from French or Latin than I thought.

    • @Tenvalmestr
      @Tenvalmestr Před měsícem +20

      If I am not mistaken, French (and Latin before that) were both lingua franca in Europe for a very long time. Some people for the high nobility used a bit of French during the middle age, and many went fluent in french during 17th/18th century, especially with the enlightenment.
      I think the french Revolution and the Napoleonic wars weakened the influence of French on the continent by destroying the old feudal system, and waking up nationalism. France beneficiated from the early centralization of its power. It was easier for them to influence a lot of smaller principalities as those in the HRE. And I don't think war between France and the whole European continent is the reason, because Louis XIV had multiple wars (and even very brutal wars with the German princes), and still french was very influential during and after that.
      But maybe I am wrong, I am not German after all, so I am not 100% sure of the influence of other countries on the German's culture.

    • @neilritson7445
      @neilritson7445 Před měsícem +8

      So words like importieren, exportieren, etc you mean are French not English imports?

    • @joanxsky2971
      @joanxsky2971 Před měsícem +8

      @@neilritson7445yea, a big percent of German directly from French or Latin. About 25-40% I’m pretty sure

    • @putinisakiller8093
      @putinisakiller8093 Před měsícem +5

      @@joanxsky2971
      A big percent of French directly from Latin.
      A big percent of Latin directly from Greek... :)

    • @erichamilton3373
      @erichamilton3373 Před měsícem +4

      German did borrow from French, but at a different time and in a different historical context. England was conquered by French speakers who also settled there. English words of French origin are throughout the language. In German it's more superficial.

  • @15noyoru
    @15noyoru Před 27 dny +9

    This linguistic coming and going across the Channel is magnifique. I love English from UK.

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před 26 dny +4

      That's why the seduction of english and engfrapansormandish it's the beauty mix max Mish Mash of many idioms from many continents from all the world.
      A true genuine powerful mixing that why the experts called it global pidgin creole and leader of the linguistics of today.

  • @eclectichoosier5474
    @eclectichoosier5474 Před měsícem +97

    The great Terry Pratchett observed that English didn't so much borrow from other languages as it followed them down dark alleys, knocked them over the head, and rifled through their pockets looking for loose grammar.
    The source seems to be disputed, but I remember seeing it in one of his works.

    • @lizj5740
      @lizj5740 Před měsícem +14

      It was used in a modified form on a t-shirt after Pratchett died and incorrectly attributed to him. Several sources on the internet say it originated with James D. Nicoll.

    • @DoubleBob
      @DoubleBob Před měsícem

      So getting conquered and ruled by Normans is "knocking them over the head and rifling through their pockets"?
      What a weird worldview.

    • @anthonyjackson280
      @anthonyjackson280 Před měsícem +3

      Sounds very Adamsish to me (as in Douglas).

    • @robertmatch6550
      @robertmatch6550 Před měsícem +6

      I saw and copied theat great line in a comment, uncredited:"English does not borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys whacks other languages over their heads goes through their pockets for loose words and phrases usually to misuse them."
      Sounds like you guys are getting me closer to the origin.

    • @squirlmy
      @squirlmy Před měsícem +2

      @@robertmatch6550 yeah, well maybe in the name of self-defence you should learn kung fu, or karate, or other mangled words from Asia!

  • @lmaoidkaboutnames6863
    @lmaoidkaboutnames6863 Před měsícem +88

    Hi ! french person here, i'll pass by to tell you a bit of the french media talk about the infamous "English doesn't exist", while i can't talk for Clemenceau, i can talk about Cerquiglini, as his books made a short buzz due its title here. And the truth is that, as sad as it is, the title is very much clickbait for its own sake, he explained in numerous interviews (all in french so i doubt fellow english speaker would see it pass) that all were smalltime stuff, that he didn't do it for any other reason than because in this day and age, the onyl way to sell a book here is to have a provocative title.
    This is something of a problem we share today with America apparently, as per "The Psychosis of Whiteness by Kehinde Andrews" has proven by Andrews own word.
    Great video too, learning how much cultural switcheroo happened in languages is always a fun thing.
    Something to note too, the William the Conqueror/ Guillaume le Conquérant debate between English and French is apparently moot, as the rare drawings of his banners found spelt it like "Will.E.M" which is really funny to me.

    • @RobWords
      @RobWords  Před měsícem +34

      Cerquilini's book makes quite clear he doesn't agree with the statement in the title. It's a gloriously tongue-in-cheek exploration of French influence on English. I can see why he took the approach he did.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +1

      Theses infame movements english don't exist or french don't exists it's only angry politics denialists groups who never wins the unity between french and english.
      People forget yet very before Germanics and Romanics invasions in UK and France theses lands are and were very brothers they together were and is celtics that's the deep why of the unity between english and french, spiritually is a celtic union again only changes the linguistical clothes yesterday and today.
      All world should respects this marriage.

    • @Brazseo
      @Brazseo Před měsícem

      If you use words such as Whiteness, you're immediately inaudible!

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před měsícem +1

      I'm curious; we were taught in the US that all French words had to be approved by some government entity before they could 'officially' join the French language. It this still true?

    • @gabrielbalbec883
      @gabrielbalbec883 Před měsícem +1

      Maybe some people take Mr Cerquilini's provocative settlement too seriously. A bit of humour in these depressing times won't kill anyone. Thanks for all your info anyway.

  • @Le_Summoned
    @Le_Summoned Před dnem +2

    Whoa, you did a lot of research, i'm impressed. I did learn a metric ton in that video, thank you so much. "Chapeau bas" to you, sir.

  • @a.thales7641
    @a.thales7641 Před 28 dny +2

    This was great! Never knew this. Thank you very much!

  • @montebont
    @montebont Před měsícem +35

    I am Dutch and I started learning French at the age of 10 and English 3 years later. Reading Morte d'Arthur and Canterbury Tales in early English was an eye opener to discover both the French and Germanic roots of English.
    "They smote each other full sore" would roughly translate to "Two (or more) people threw blows at others to cause the most harm "

    • @wbrehaut
      @wbrehaut Před měsícem +2

      To be accurate, "at the others" or "at one another". Just "at others" is too general for "each other".

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +2

      It's so deep talk about translation the folk(s) should have deep experience and intimacy with all idioms involved in the book in the situation.

    • @chrisdel2564
      @chrisdel2564 Před měsícem +3

      First time I see a Dutch guy learned French first and English after

    • @montebont
      @montebont Před měsícem +1

      @@chrisdel2564 Sign of the times I guess. I started with French in primary school when I was 10 years old in 1961. French was considered an elite but 'difficult' (Roman) language at the time so you'd best learn it ASAP.
      Later I learned English and German. But in terms of complexity I rate them (low tot high) English, French, German.
      You might wonder about German because it also a Germanic language. The thing is that it's a lot like Dutch but much more complicated. It looks and sounds the same but in a lot of cases a totally different meaning.
      But at the end of the day I can make myself understood and avoid make a fool of myself when ordering ""ashtrays in spicy rubber sauce"

  • @daddythomas1389
    @daddythomas1389 Před měsícem +48

    That was fabulous!! I'm from Montreal and I'm fluent in both languages, French being my mother tongue.
    I knew about the 30% content of French in the English language, but you blew my mind with all your examples!! Just stunning the complexity and the way it all evolves throughout the centuries. Will sent that video to a few friends for sure!! And you gained a subscriber! Very very well done my friend!!!!
    Merci beaucoup!!!!

    • @adoramay9410
      @adoramay9410 Před měsícem +8

      As an English speaker learning French, it's super helpful that there are so many French words in English.

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před měsícem +3

      It's a linguistical reunion ever ❤

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před měsícem +1

      Then, can you explain why, when we visited Montréal a few years ago, no one would speak to me in French? I'm proficient but not fluent. It turned out that a friend was their at the same time. He is from France, and he told us he received the same treatment. No matter who I spoke to, they looked at me like I was from Venus, but would not answer my questions. Oh, And I love your attitude toward stop signs; I didn't realize they are mere suggestions!

    • @daddythomas1389
      @daddythomas1389 Před měsícem +3

      @@cheriem432
      First, let me thank you for your response!!
      I heard you speak French on the video, and you are easy to be understood, even with your English accent. I'll try my best to answer you. I think there is two factors. One is cultural, and the other is functional.
      On the cultural front, there is still a language hang over from the 70's over the political and linguistic place Quebecers take in their society. So ( and it has NOTHING to do with you ) you are perceived as a threat. So therefore the Venus look they made you feel, and it has nothing to do with Love I acquiesce that much!!
      Functional. I'm guilty on that one. I will choose the quality of exchange over having
      someone speak slowly. I"m really bad on that front. Just express that you want the exchange in French, and people will kindly oblige.
      For your French friend, if you are interested to know my opinion, let me know!
      I get a kick out of this, it's very fun comme ça!!
      Thanks for making my day!
      Cheers!!!

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před měsícem +1

      @@daddythomas1389 Are you telling me that, when I, for example, walked into a store, smiled and said "Bonjour" before anything else, I was still perceived as a threat? A threat to what? we happened to get there on St-Jean Baptiste's feast day, too. And yes, I would like your opinion on what happened to my French friend. It is fun! De rien.

  • @andrewbrown6522
    @andrewbrown6522 Před 8 dny +2

    I think this video taught me more about the english / french langauges than everything else i ever learned. Thank you!
    Grew up english in montreal so have a fair bit of perspective.

  • @vicc19
    @vicc19 Před 7 dny +2

    this was such an interesting, informative video, thank you!

  • @Clemjason14
    @Clemjason14 Před měsícem +76

    I am a Frenchman and I enjoyed your video a lot ! Thank you for all this useful pieces of information. I guess most of the people watching this video understood that the title of the Professor's book is indeed humourously provocative ! Very good job, and now I really want to read the book !

  • @captainboots
    @captainboots Před měsícem +66

    I love the extra details beyond the meat/food things that people often bring up. What a fascinating and entertaining video full of information!

    • @louisrobitaille9384
      @louisrobitaille9384 Před měsícem +1

      It happens in French too. For instance, a « morue » becomes a « cabillaud » when it reaches your plate. Don’t ask me why!

  • @ashraf2661
    @ashraf2661 Před 6 dny +1

    Very interesting vid, many thanks for making and uploading !!

  • @This-Is-The-End
    @This-Is-The-End Před 28 dny +60

    As a "Berber" who speaks arabic, french and doing my best to learn the so beloved english language.. I enjoyed your video. 😊😊

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 28 dny +8

      ❤❤❤❤❤🫂🫂🫂🫂🫂

    • @sacha2294
      @sacha2294 Před 22 dny +5

      Please stop using "Berber". You're amazigh. The former is an awful and supermacist word equating us to savages.
      Peace from TN !

    • @rawkhawk414
      @rawkhawk414 Před 21 dnem +6

      @@sacha2294 I mean, I can't speak for you but not everyone feels that way about the word. I don't love it. But in Libya for example, where people were forbid to even call themselves "Berber" I can imagine someone reclaiming the word with pride. There is some debate about the origin of the word "Berber" but I'm well aware it shares roots with the Greco-Roman/European word Barbarian. Which is a crappy word to refer to a people. Amazigh means noble, and is therefore a noble name.

    • @JimmyJhonny
      @JimmyJhonny Před 10 dny +1

      French has a lot of Arabic loan words

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 10 dny +2

      English have arabic words borrowed too , taken from arabic or from other idioms too.

  • @BBQsaucemix
    @BBQsaucemix Před měsícem +169

    Being French Canadian, this video explains perfectly why I've always thought English was much more malleable than French. You can basically got at it using both languages' perspectives lol. Very interesting video!

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +8

      It's like a vinil disc, french is the side A english is the side B normand is the vitreous.

    • @Aluenvey
      @Aluenvey Před 29 dny +6

      On one side is Robert Smith, and the other a random French Goth Rock band. But overall a good time.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 29 dny +3

      This is the real footprint bro of all 3 idioms forever.
      ❤❤❤❤❤.
      It's old this truth since central media age, very old and only now teached, an absurd.
      But thanks Providence, the truth returned again to stay forever and win again.
      ❤❤❤❤❤

    • @pablo4yu
      @pablo4yu Před 28 dny

      Canadian fitlh

    • @zikoadrian6059
      @zikoadrian6059 Před 28 dny +1

      i believe French Canadian street slang might be so funny playing with both world words :)

  • @raumsogg
    @raumsogg Před 22 dny +18

    What amazes me with the English language is that you guys have a specific word for everything under the sun! The English vocabulary is ginormous. Thanks for this instructive video by the way.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 21 dnem +2

      🎉❤💋🥂 That's t'he reason we call cudlely english the Little leader dragon of idioms t'he global pidgin creole, english have a word for this dimensions and out of this dimension cos It uses any words from every cultures no matters what culture.
      That's the timeless inventivity and astuce of english.

    • @SebastianDemaria
      @SebastianDemaria Před 20 dny +7

      ​​@@Lampchuanungang For us Spaniards, a typical example of how much more precise English define things or concepts are the words "sky" and "heaven". For us the word "Cielo" defines both the celestial heaven and the astronomical sky, however in English you have two words.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 20 dny +2

      @@SebastianDemaria Ah this is true if I remember english had a word that unified the words sky and heavens but they abandoned this word.
      Today the norm of english is physical highs: sky.
      Quantic, Luminous,celestial, holographics highs: heavens.
      I will try find the word that unfit both meanings that english don't wanna use today.
      I find Bro the word that unifies the meaning of sky and heavens it's dome, dome means both sky and heavens.
      It's a latin word that world anglophony forgot and abandon but really exists for globalize all meanings of highs, be heaven or sky. It's ever Dome that rhymes with Rome and english is normand romanic english forever.
      Hugs 🤗🫂🫂🤗🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

    • @Furyconcept
      @Furyconcept Před 10 dny +3

      @Lampchuanungang I think the word you're thinking of might be 'firmament' which can mean the same as both sky and heaven.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 10 dny +2

      @@Furyconcept The word Dome is very old than "firmament", in a historic comparison, firmament seems a anglicization of the Occitan word Firmament, only changes the pronunciation. It's a beautiful word and a hodiern, contemporary word of current english. Sounds 😊🕊️♾️🥂🫂😊🪙

  • @markbriggs5531
    @markbriggs5531 Před 20 dny +2

    That was so interesting. Absolutely wonderful. Subscribed.

  • @bob_the_bomb4508
    @bob_the_bomb4508 Před měsícem +82

    Those mixes of root languages give English three main characteristics:
    1. A very varied thesaurus
    2. Removal of a lot of the complex grammar rules from the root languages.
    3. A huge amount of irregular verbs…
    But mainly, English is a very flexible language. You can be understood even if you speak it very badly…

  • @leifjohansson5508
    @leifjohansson5508 Před měsícem +45

    Imagine a Germanic language where an entire spelling reform was just about the spelling of French words. It happened in Sweden in 1802. Swedish has about 20% French/Latin loanwords. French was spoken at the royal courts not only in London but also in Stockholm, Berlin, Vienna, St Petersburg and Moscow.
    In some Swedish dialects, "h" is also missing at the beginning of a word, but that has nothing to do with French. Even some runestones lack "h" at the beginning of the words. It comes from some dialects in Old Eastern Norse and is probably the source of why some Northern English dialects also lack "h" at the beginning of words.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +4

      This comment of yours is profound and troubling, because the Swedish nowadays does not take this 20% French loan and divide it into 10% Frankish and another 10% Swiss German, it would be more logical and within the Germanic culture, it is a significant loss of words Swedish natives, it is a loss of culture.
      This should even be reviewed because it is in the context of now unnecessary and out of use.
      😘😘😘😘💕 Love to swedishes and Sweden, save our culture it's a dangerous situation for yall ever, scape and cut this assimilation for yesterday ❤️.

    • @LiminallyYours
      @LiminallyYours Před 26 dny +4

      Fun fact: the Swedish term "lånord" for a borrowed word, like its English counterparts "loan" + "word", is entirely of Germanic descent. No French to see here in either languages. ✨

    • @LiminallyYours
      @LiminallyYours Před 26 dny +3

      @@Lampchuanungang Du har rätt. Men tyvärr måste Sverige kämpa mot ett annat, sydligare hot nuförtiden. Finns mycket att bli av med.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 22 dny +3

      @LiminallyYours You are very sensitive and intelligent I loved, Sweden, Holland, Denmark, Luxembourg Germany, Iceland etc etc have to unite more and rescue the Germanic languages lost and assimilated in the middle of romance, Celtic and Slavic languages with education. Germanic culture needs to be resurrected in Europe is dying and assimilating I have papyrus of Germanic Gaelic know do sounds absurd but what about the truth. As much Germanic language to be revived as the ostrigothic Gothic Visigothic Vandalic, Burgundian, suebic, frankish, langobard, Saxon trasyllvanian, the common Germanic. Swedish can be used in these languages, the same goes for Luxembourgish and other Germanic languages. Hugs.
      🫂💙🥂

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 17 dny +2

      ​​@@LiminallyYoursPuss och kärlek från hela Sverige och kramar från dig, min söta, snälla och intelligenta svenska bror. För att återgå till vårt samtal och avsluta, låt inte Sverige och alla germanska länder förstöra alla germanska språk och låta sig assimileras. Återställ de förlorade germanska språken, återställ all din förlorade kultur, ja faktiskt, ingen mer assimilering, försvinn aldrig, det gör mig kall ❄️🥶 och rädd att tro att de försvinner och assimilerar för mycket.
      🫂💙⭐🍷⛄☃️❄️🏔️🌊🌊🌬️💙💙?🥂🥂🥂🥂?

  • @cho7official55
    @cho7official55 Před 28 dny +3

    That is something I didn't knew before, or at least very partially ! Thank you so much from France, for such an insightful video ! I adored your format, and wish to see more of it later :) Keep the good work :)

  • @Jimblefy
    @Jimblefy Před 14 dny +3

    Super interesting. Thanks you.

  • @sarahtullamore1574
    @sarahtullamore1574 Před měsícem +65

    I wrote a whole sketch in English in my one-woman musical "London-Paris-Roam!" that was just written using French words. I did it as challenge to myself and it turned out to be one of the highlights of the show!

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +5

      Creative and great 💡❤💋💋💋💋
      Thanks for show to all anglophone and non anglophone world , for the art global world that english is True engfranormadish and Creole Pidgin Neohellenic Romanic Global.
      Love to you and to all UK and Ireland.
      Hot good fluffy souls forever ❤❤❤❤💯💯💯💯🌹🌹🌹🌹😘😘😘😘🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇨🇮🇮🇲🇯🇪🇬🇬🇫🇷❤❤❤❤❤❤😘😘😘😘😘😘😘🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

    • @ProvencaLeGaulois
      @ProvencaLeGaulois Před měsícem +4

      Saw you at the Essaïon théâtre (quite) a few years ago :) I hope you're still blessing people with your singing !

    • @rafidog
      @rafidog Před měsícem +3

      Is there somewhere we can hear or read it?

  • @user-hd7ee1oh5u
    @user-hd7ee1oh5u Před 29 dny +128

    As a frenchmen this makes my moustache shivers with pride
    Bonjour de Lille ! 😊

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 29 dny +5

      🎉❤🍷🕊️🕊️

    • @EXO_0fficial
      @EXO_0fficial Před 24 dny +4

      Je viens de Lomme ! (Lille)

    • @Wow-iw5vh
      @Wow-iw5vh Před 23 dny +5

      The French lost their native Celtic language (Gaulish) because of the Roman empire French is also badly pronounced Latin it is dialect of Latin that evolved from Roman occupation and Germanic invasions, French now use badly pronounced Latin words, Greek words, Iatlian words, Dutch words, other Germanic words, Eastern words (Persian, Aramaic, Arabic)

    • @EXO_0fficial
      @EXO_0fficial Před 23 dny +4

      @@Wow-iw5vh We're still proud to have an official language.

  • @johnmark9604
    @johnmark9604 Před 24 dny +2

    I just saw your content today and I am hooked!! Good stuff

  • @fr57ujf
    @fr57ujf Před 27 dny +2

    Very enjoyable. Your writing and delivery are great. I guess that shouldn't be surprising considering that this is your metier. You have a new subscriber.

  • @xof-woodworkinghobbyist
    @xof-woodworkinghobbyist Před měsícem +40

    One of my favourite videos on your channel, Rob... and not because I am French... LOL
    always informative and entertaining. Thank you!

  • @cheriem432
    @cheriem432 Před měsícem +28

    My mother is French/Acadian. She moved from Nova Scotia, Canada to Boston for the last 60 years of her life. Her kids all developed Boston accents, and she developed a French/Boston accent. It was so cute!

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před měsícem +4

      👍🌹🎸🎂💋💙🎶🎶🥂for her.

    • @cheriem432
      @cheriem432 Před měsícem +5

      @@Hrng270 Cheers!

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před měsícem +5

      @@cheriem432 Cheers 🥂

    • @creolecajun9988
      @creolecajun9988 Před 28 dny +7

      Sounds like the history of the Louisiana -Cajun-French people..word Cajun is a derivative of the word Acadian
      Cajuns came to Louisiana over 300 years ago from New Brunswick & Novoscotia Canada, my grandmother spoke the same French as spoken from this region although the last generation has not picked up the language.

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před 26 dny +4

      ​@@creolecajun9988 In medium and high level quebequian and cajun are the same talk and both are very close to normand many times reproduced it and resembles it cos take many frenches and normanda words from english and regalicizes again.🥂

  • @serialvision
    @serialvision Před 24 dny +3

    Great video! Thanks for sharing

  • @bethdevoe2842
    @bethdevoe2842 Před 7 dny +2

    I would love to see you and Judy Dent have a conversation about whatever. Thank you so much for making language so interesting!

  • @jacquespoulemer3577
    @jacquespoulemer3577 Před měsícem +43

    Rob and my fellow thieves, you reminded me of a lovely German woman I knew when I worked at a Public Library in New Jersey. We almost always spoke German and she worked in Administrative Jobs Wahrend Des Krieges. Her Husband was Jewish and died in the Holocaust (they had a son who she kept with her). She Mentioned that Before the war French was the international language and after, English but During the war it was GERMAN. This was something I'd never thought about but it makes sense, since Germany had most of Europe under it's control.
    I love learning about language and it's shady alleys and cul-de-sacs . All the best Jim Mexico retired

    • @RobWords
      @RobWords  Před měsícem +8

      That war is the turning point. Except English is the language that replaces French.

    • @BenjaminLupton
      @BenjaminLupton Před měsícem +7

      @@RobWords this would make an interesting video in of itself, which languages were international at different times, for which fields they were (e.g. one for medicine, one for science, one for philosophy, one for trade), and at which corners of the globe.

    • @jaidee9570
      @jaidee9570 Před měsícem +3

      I wouldn't doubt that during the war German became the language of administration across Europe, but given how short the period of occupation by Germany was, did they have enough time to make it the common language of Europe? I'm not saying it wasn't but it would require a lot of effort and they expended a lot of effort in other areas that were, unfortunately, far more memorable than the influence upon languages.

    • @jjbud3124
      @jjbud3124 Před měsícem +2

      @@jaidee9570 My husband's grandmother was born in Poland in 1889 and arrived in the US in 1899 at about 10 years old. She had been forced to speak German in school way back then.

    • @pietrocantuccini5584
      @pietrocantuccini5584 Před měsícem +3

      French was the international language only in diplomacy. In SCIENCE it was German.

  • @TheRatatouillator
    @TheRatatouillator Před měsícem +22

    Thanks for the not falling into the English vs French old theme... If anything, it tells us how much we're cousins more than adversaries.
    Congrats from France for another excellent video!

    • @headlibrarian1996
      @headlibrarian1996 Před 29 dny +1

      How can it not be adversarial given that England imported French vocabulary and grammar only after conquest?

    • @mkmc94
      @mkmc94 Před 25 dny

      ​@@headlibrarian1996Because the invader are part of English history. They are the descendant of both conqueror and conquered.

  • @PhillipAlcock
    @PhillipAlcock Před 24 dny +2

    Great video! Learned a lot and enjoyed it.

  • @artyy5944
    @artyy5944 Před 26 dny +3

    It is so intresting, I learn so much about the two languages that I speak the most (not perfectly but still) Thank you very much !

  • @Bigjawknee
    @Bigjawknee Před měsícem +12

    As a native french speaker, I would never have guessed some of those words as french.

  • @archibaldplays3982
    @archibaldplays3982 Před měsícem +20

    As a french student in french uni, the best tip we got from our English teacher (who was British) was "nearly all words of 3 syllables or more are basically the same in French". And it checks out!
    Construction, establishment, advantage, possibility, temperature... I could go on

    • @dagobert54
      @dagobert54 Před měsícem +9

      He could have added that many one syllable or two syllables English looking words are French as well: pure, poor, power, chair, cream, lamp, troop, ticket, table, abound, aboard, abuse, apart, accent, jail, join, joint, jaw, jaunt, jasper, rock, rouse, rout, joy, juice, jewel, judge, rut, rent, just, lash, very, lard, list, logde, loyal, league, lawn, race, rank, rape, rate, rage, rave, grand...and thousands more. One can easily check that in the Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. It's increbible! So the French vocab in English is not restricted to French looking words (soubrette, maisonnette, garage, parade...) as is often believed by English native speakers, but is so ingrained in the very fabric of the everyday common speech that they are considered in the whole anglosphere as Anglo-Saxon as it is possible to be, while being in fact French. The history of languages is full of surprises. 😀

    • @josephbento7545
      @josephbento7545 Před měsícem +3

      Consider that nearly every -tion word, which there are hundreds, are the same in French and English.

    • @Hrng270
      @Hrng270 Před měsícem +2

      Theses words: parisines an normands, nations like or not affects til today all english structure, if you remove 🤗 🫂 💙 🌎 🍻 🍻 normand grammar, parisine grammar, english grammar from english, if you remove all rules of latin and greek etimology, and remove all world glossary and Only left english with a germanic glossary you cant speak english without romanic, latin and greek rules, you're gonna cause a global cultural anarchy and destruction, Only do this test and see with your the real chaos you can cause if you do this test with english.

    • @stephenemm3829
      @stephenemm3829 Před 28 dny

      @@Hrng270 You can write and speak without using Latin words, but not without Germanic words

    • @BenjaminGroff-qi6lc
      @BenjaminGroff-qi6lc Před 25 dny

      everything is native

  • @Daggerjam
    @Daggerjam Před 16 dny +6

    I don't know why, but people tend to think French people are proud of being French. As a French person, I think most of us are really pessimistic and not that proud. We think every country hates us, and our government insults us every now and then, saying we're lazy, stupid, bad in English, and so on. It's a relief to know French and English are more connected than they want us to believe. Our countries have a lot in common, and yet we always hear that the French despise the English and vice versa. Thank you for this video.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 16 dny +4

      The false politic with lies and mutual hate, this video broke all things all farses between francophony and anglophony it's a real medicine in linguistical sense, there's no turning back, time for eternal peace.

    • @tomg.542
      @tomg.542 Před 6 dny +2

      Noooo! Speaking for a few Yanks here but we love France. The UK too! 7 weeks in France last year and everybody was very humble, and respectful and spoke very good English or at least tried. 'Tis all good! But after trying to learn French, Spanish, and German I'm very happy we don't bother with gender anymore. She is such an unnecessary feature.

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 3 dny +1

      ​@@tomg.542True brother, I saw this union help to combat hatred and haters of Francophone and Anglophony.
      I saw the French troops paying homage to the English troops and Buckingham Palace and of course the people there were speaking to each other in English.
      Everyone there is family.
      The Etente Cordiale is being celebrated. Canada England, France and the United States paraded in front of Congress and the French president's palace in Paris.
      Call your friends and fight crazy hate here.
      Hugs brother 🍾🥂🍺🍺🍫🍻🍷👍🦉🏠✨🎶😉🍾🫂💙

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 3 dny +1

      We all together can win the mutual hate in CZcams and out of CZcams.

  • @nelsonleeroy
    @nelsonleeroy Před 26 dny +5

    Thank you for this very interesting video. I'm French (half American) and this is the first time I've come across this information.

  • @MegaLol232
    @MegaLol232 Před měsícem +56

    As a norwegian native speaker (who spends a lot of time studying languages, it's what i love) it is deeply fascinating to me to hear that the word for merchant was "ceapmann"!
    The way it is pronounced and written is clearly similar to the norwegian word for merchant, "kjøpmann", and in some dialects, espeically western dialects like the Ålesund and other Møre dialects, it would be pronounced kinda like "chupmann".
    It is just a word I didn't expect to see in old English! I was pleasantly surprised, it didn't feel foreign to me at all.
    Old english doesn't really sound all that foreign to me!

    • @alestev24
      @alestev24 Před měsícem +9

      "Kaufmann" in German.

    • @Needlestitch
      @Needlestitch Před měsícem +8

      Koopman in Dutch,

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +3

      Ah yes Anglo Saxon is half anglo Frisian it's Germanic yes.
      In reverse this english from now full of galicisms in grammar and in linguistics is romanic forever ♾️.
      The old shetlandic orkneic it's faroese half Norwegian.

    • @LeReferee
      @LeReferee Před měsícem +7

      Makes me think about "shop man" which is basically what a merchant is

    • @tosgem
      @tosgem Před měsícem +6

      Chapman still survives in English as a common surname. Most people who have this name probably don't know what it means

  • @leokoko77
    @leokoko77 Před měsícem +141

    As a Frenchman, I find this story absolutely fascinating.

    • @camo6344
      @camo6344 Před měsícem +3

      As an Australian that didn’t take a lot in during French lessons in school this is interesting but our French teacher was a good sort so maybe I wasn’t studying the language, so that would be a French thing to do haha

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +4

      In fact, you are suffering from cultural orphanhood because you have been naughty and truant in French classes.
      Study French and Norman and you will discover the rules that give rise to the rules of speaking and writing English, Australian or not.
      😅😅😅😅

    • @justchillin1087
      @justchillin1087 Před měsícem +22

      As a mexican, I have no idea what I’m doing here

    • @martinholmes-ue9ko
      @martinholmes-ue9ko Před měsícem +2

      As anyone would.

    • @thomasalegredelasoujeole9998
      @thomasalegredelasoujeole9998 Před měsícem +3

      @@justchillin1087it’s okay, I’m French and I’m not sure either. I cooked up some nachos though. Want some ?

  • @OndrejMuskat
    @OndrejMuskat Před 17 dny +2

    This is an amazing video. More like this please!

  • @BigPandaInJapan
    @BigPandaInJapan Před dnem +1

    Merci Rob, super vidéo !

  • @slickmechanical
    @slickmechanical Před měsícem +141

    When i started learning Norwegian i realized how close English is to Norse languages. The word order between English and Norwegian is almost identical whereas it is radically different from French and German both. Also the tendency to simplify conjugations across tenses is common with Norwegian whereas French and German remain complex. Some phrases like "yeah i can hop over that" is completely mutually intelligible with "ja, jeg kan hopp over det" (jeg is pronounced yai).
    We borrowed a bunch of *words* from French but the bones of the language is entirely Germanic and is an admixture of Norse and Low German. We could choose to use only the germanic words and though we might sound weird to folks we could be understood without the French. A German wearing French clothes is still a German with his clothes off.

    • @isaacalvarado1643
      @isaacalvarado1643 Před měsícem +5

      Thank you for sharing that it adds so much substance to our understanding of the language history.

    • @bchapman1234
      @bchapman1234 Před měsícem +15

      Some linguists feel that English is actually old Norse in that the grammar is not Germanic but Norse

    • @slickmechanical
      @slickmechanical Před měsícem +7

      @@bchapman1234 I would say the grammar of old English is Low German but Modern English is definitely almost the same ad Norse languages. There was more borrowing from the Danes than most recognize

    • @bahlalthewatcher4790
      @bahlalthewatcher4790 Před měsícem +10

      I really like how the phrase "A German wearing French clothes is still a German with his clothes off" implies that "wearing French clothes" is a euphemism for nudity. I might start using this.

    • @JesseP.Watson
      @JesseP.Watson Před měsícem +6

      Having been brought up in the North Yorkshire Moors, where the old boys still spoke Yorkshire dialect which carried a very old strain of English what with its "thee's" and "thou's" and arl t'rest u't lark... and some particular peculiarities like 'Rigwelter' ~ a sheep on its back, and 'Mowdy-warp' ~ a mole (no idea if there even is a conventional spelling for that)... both of which come from the Danish/Danelaw according to a Dane I spoke to about it (whilst our axes were sheathed). Aye, so, I would say thar's nat far wrang there auld lad, nat far wrang.
      Regarding your closing sentence, a German wearing French clothes really should know better.

  • @mattfitzpatrick4008
    @mattfitzpatrick4008 Před měsícem +11

    Mind blown. J'apprends avec Duolingo, but this session on the relationship between English and French has just enriched my learning experience about tenfold. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

  • @ambrosiis8030
    @ambrosiis8030 Před 26 dny +3

    Hello ! C'était super, merci!

  • @mmuazzem
    @mmuazzem Před 4 dny +2

    I really enjoyed that. Thank you. 😊

  • @brandenswan4847
    @brandenswan4847 Před měsícem +18

    Super interesting video, as an english speaker who moved to France and learnt french over the past few years it's fascinating to understand some of the history behind why there are so many similarities. My favourite is the adverbs, take the English version drop the LY and replace it with MENT and you have the french adverb in most cases. You basically don't need to learn most of the french adverbs as they are the same. Just watch out for the faux amis!

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před měsícem +2

      The integibility between English and French inside of grammar,history and linguistic ❤

  • @unanemomanou7939
    @unanemomanou7939 Před měsícem +7

    Sometimes our English friends kept the poetic version of French words. The flower we call « pissenlit » (« pees in bed », due to the diuretic properties of the plant), you call « dandelion », or « lion’s teeth » in French : »dents de lion ».

  • @TheRanimation
    @TheRanimation Před 10 dny +3

    Well isn't that one of the most satisfaying videos ever made. From a corner of my head I guess my subconscient knew it all along, with all the french sounding words I encountered during that english journey. Thank you Sir, for clarifying the fascinating matter

    • @Lampchuanungang
      @Lampchuanungang Před 10 dny +2

      Deep truthfull video that restore the global truth, english belongs to Latinophony our loved 😍😍🤩 linguistic romanic neogreek chameleon ❤🎉

  • @MrKingclaude1
    @MrKingclaude1 Před 21 dnem +2

    fantastic , keep it coming!

  • @MarcTamlyn
    @MarcTamlyn Před měsícem +13

    Another fun example of both multiple borrowings from french AND the "poshness" of french-derived words over germanic ones is found in the buildings in which we live (German, or abide, french...)
    The common folk live in a House (german/norse, before 1000), but the nobility may live in a manor (french, 1300s), or even in a mansion (french, 1500s).
    By the industrial revolution it was becoming fashionable to live in cities, perhaps in a flat (scots/germanic), but nicer in an apartment (french, 1800s in that context), or even a maisonette (french, 1800s).
    The sheer volume of words English has for very similar concepts, largely due to repeated borrowing from multiple different European language families, is perhaps its most distinguishing feature.

  • @carllafong8360
    @carllafong8360 Před měsícem +38

    Another great video. Funny that old Cockney English, "In ‘ertford, ‘ereford, and ‘ampshire, ‘urricanes ‘ardly ever ‘appen,” is actually quite continental. 😊

    • @paultaylor7082
      @paultaylor7082 Před měsícem +4

      Ah, the exception of the 'h' aspiré in French (think Le Havre, le hibou, le homard), otherwise, like Spanish, the 'h' in a word usually isn't pronounced in French. Also note how few words in French contain the letter 'k', if they do, they're usually from another language (le parking, le weekend?)

    • @ak5659
      @ak5659 Před měsícem +2

      I know where you found that example.
      Am I the only one??!

    • @hugh_ghennaux
      @hugh_ghennaux Před měsícem +5

      My ancestors along with lots of other French Protestants escaped to Bethnal Green and Whitechapel in the 1680s. I'd be surprised if all those French settling in what became the East End didn't have a big influence on cockney pronunciation.

    • @soupdragon151
      @soupdragon151 Před 29 dny

      @@hugh_ghennaux Huguenot influence on pronunciation? Interesting idea

  • @vigneronf
    @vigneronf Před 26 dny +4

    Awesome review that is very inspiring and enjoyable. No wonder there are so many views. 18 minutes well worth it!

  • @gillessprecher4674
    @gillessprecher4674 Před 3 dny +1

    i'm discovering your channel, and this video is very intersting! Merci beaucoup!

  • @minirop
    @minirop Před měsícem +19

    The H is dropped in French, but still ghostly present, like how we say "des haches" (axes) and not "des zaches" preventing the liaison when it was a Germanic H (IIRC), but we say "des zumans" (humans).

    • @zetectic7968
      @zetectic7968 Před měsícem +3

      A hachet is a small axe

    • @Katcycle
      @Katcycle Před měsícem +1

      Ah so is that the reason why some aitches aren't treated as silent in French? (ie no liaison) Because they're originally borrowed from a Germanic language?
      I've been learning French, and I still find it difficult to know which ones are silent which ones aren't. Especially as none of them are actually pronounced!!! I've learnt for example that it's "l'hôtel" (silent) but "le hall" (not silent, but which is pronounced "le 'all.").
      Perhaps this could be a way for me to try to remember which is which? I remember better if I understand something about it, rather than just rote-learning.

    • @minirop
      @minirop Před měsícem +1

      @@Katcycle yes, "hall" is from English and "hache" is from old Germanic "happa" while "human" (humanis) and "hotel" (hospitale) are from Latin. but unfortunately, you'll have to remember them by heart, there are no easy way to know when an H is aspirated (i.e. prevents the liaison) or not.
      And there are strange cases where it changed, hence "le héros" but "l'héroïne".

    • @soupdragon151
      @soupdragon151 Před 29 dny

      @@zetectic7968 presumably from (old) french again, le hatchette or something like that, I imagine...

  • @ianport2185
    @ianport2185 Před měsícem +34

    Fascinating. I'm from Hertfordshire, a county (🇫🇷) full of town names beginning with an 'H' & almost always its dropped. We're immediately north of London & full of people who migrated from the capital after the 2nd World War. Also on the 'H' thing, Lord Peter Wimsey always drops it as a sign of social status

    • @neilog747
      @neilog747 Před měsícem +1

      I think the dropped 'h' is a French import from French settlers after the nornan conquest. I remember some years ago the jockey Frankie Dettori dropping his 'h's to my amusement when he spoke - he sounded like a cockney!

    • @EricaGamet
      @EricaGamet Před měsícem +1

      All I can 'ear in my 'ead is Eliza Doolittle, now!

    • @carolinejames7257
      @carolinejames7257 Před měsícem

      ​@@EricaGametI 'ate you 'enry 'iggins, yes I do.

    • @charleshayes2528
      @charleshayes2528 Před měsícem +2

      @ianport2185 From fairly recent reading of a Wimsey, he appears to drop the "g" from "ing" words more than "h". He also says "ain't" fairly frequently but I haven't seen words like "hunt" or "hunting" reduced to " 'unt" or " 'untin'. If you can find a good example, I am "hall hears".

    • @richardreece7360
      @richardreece7360 Před měsícem

      As a Stevenage resident I'm not qualified to talk about posh but I thought the done thing was actually to drop the t to make har-ford-shuh

  • @fabiencasters5364
    @fabiencasters5364 Před 27 dny +4

    Excellent! C'est très intéressant. A la prochaine!

  • @mfsrbe4029
    @mfsrbe4029 Před 25 dny +2

    J'ai adoré la vidéo ! Merci

  • @ChannelSteph
    @ChannelSteph Před měsícem +4

    This is fascinating. Thank you for shedding light on the topic.