Is ENGLISH Just Badly Pronounced FRENCH?

Link to the original episode

English is fundamentally a Germanic language, though its vocabulary has been profoundly influenced by French and other Romance languages throughout its history. This unique linguistic heritage reflects England's complex political and cultural history, particularly the Norman Conquest of 1066, which initiated centuries of French influence on the English language.
The Germanic foundation of English is evident in its most basic structural elements. Its grammar, syntax, and core vocabulary derive from the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, sharing common ancestry with German, Dutch, and Frisian. The most frequently used words in English—articles, pronouns, prepositions, and basic verbs like "be," "have," and "do"—are overwhelmingly Germanic in origin. These fundamental building blocks of the language reveal its true genetic classification.
However, English vocabulary tells a different story of extensive French influence. Following the Norman Conquest, French became the language of the ruling class in England for several centuries. During this period, English absorbed thousands of French words, particularly in domains like government, law, cuisine, and culture. Words like "government," "justice," "beef," and "art" all entered English from French. Estimates suggest that around 29% of English vocabulary comes from French, while another 29% comes from Latin—many of these Latin words entering through French.
Despite this substantial Romance influence on its vocabulary, English retains its Germanic character in several crucial ways. The language's inflectional system, though simplified compared to Old English, follows Germanic patterns. Word order, verb conjugation, and the formation of compound words all reflect English's Germanic origins. Furthermore, the most commonly used words in everyday speech remain predominantly Germanic.
The extensive French influence on English vocabulary has created a fascinating linguistic phenomenon: the presence of doublets—pairs of words with the same ultimate origin but different evolutionary paths. For example, "shirt" (Germanic) and "skirt" (Norse), or "cattle" (Norman French) and "chattel" (Central French) demonstrate how English often preserves multiple versions of essentially the same word, each with its own subtle variations in meaning and usage.
This dual heritage has given English exceptional richness and flexibility. The coexistence of Germanic and Romance vocabulary often provides English speakers with multiple ways to express similar concepts, allowing for fine gradations of meaning and register. The ability to shift between more casual Germanic-derived words and more formal French-derived ones contributes to English's remarkable versatility as a medium of expression.
Understanding English as a Germanic language with substantial French influence helps explain both its basic structure and its complex vocabulary. This linguistic heritage reflects broader historical patterns of cultural contact and change, making English a living testament to the ways languages evolve through both inheritance and adaptation.

#french #english #languages

[sir_rektsalot]

You should totally see the video on Anglish, it's really interesting too!

[Kardia_of_Rhodes]

"Old English is when you get a Norwegian drunk and ask him to speak German."

[robf]

RobWords is great. His stuff is also well-cited, which isn't always the case with his type of videos. You're in for a treat!

[freeenergymachineforsale]

5:42 Wiktionary says "abate" comes from Late Latin "abbattere". A Germanic synonym for "diminish" would be "lessen".

[barcaninesenpai]

rob words is a fantastic channel especially when it comes to english history and quirks

[NightOwl_]

I love Rob. He has an etymology podcast that is amaaaazing. It's called Words Unravelled. Every episode has a theme and he and Jess Zafarris go through several words related to that theme and explain their etymology.

[tarvos_trigaranvs]

I think this is the only channel to which I subscribed when it was only a few k subs, and I could witness its (quite rapid) growth. (Rightly deserved, because it's a good channel)

[DarthWinterMadness]

I've seen this video a while ago, it was really interesting.

I mean I've noticed some of it as I'm a Frenchman, and I've been learning English.

Yet this video taught me a lot, and your commentary added even more value I knew I'd get with you.


I'm subbed to your main channel, so I should also be with this one.

Cheers from France! 🍻

[kirwynxciv]

Rob's video on Proto-Indo-European is pretty sweet.

[BramVanhooydonck]

Since you are reviewing language history and have seen the French influence in English, I can't recommend this enough.

"Why French sounds so unlike other Romance languages" by Nativlang

[garymiller]

I love that you’ve found Rob. 2 of my favorite channels collide and I’m happier for it.

[thezengei]

His video on Shavian ("There's a better English alphabet.") is pretty interesting.

[xenotypos]

4:31 Not really, from the Normans to the Angevins, you could argue the English kings became even more French (both culturally and ethnically). Richard the Lionheart had more lands in France than in England and saw England as a secondary territory. His dynasty (the Angevins/Plantagenets) freshly founded by his father was from the west of France.

It's only after the Plantagenets lost most of their lands in France, and put their court in England, that they'll become more and more English culturally (and ethnically), gradually.

[norbertzillatron]

It's one of the channels I love to follow. He also has a great episode about the vowel shift(s).
(Not to be confused with bowel movement. ;) )

[BGM]

Yes, Rob is pretty amazing, really good videos on YT, nice to see Metatron commenting, I always learn from both a lot.

[oleksandrbyelyenko]

Rob Words is amazing. Subscribed for years

[coffeemachtspass]

Angles and Saxons half learning the half-learned Latin of some Vikings.

That’s a plan for success if I’ve ever heard one.

[MannyBrum]

He's incorrect that there was no rhyming poetry before the Norman Conquest. There is at least one 10th century poem that has rhyme throughout, called the Rhyming Poem. It's in the Exeter Book, which gives us a lot of great poetry. It was hard to rhyme in Old English because the word endings changed based on their context in the sentence, so even if you found two words that rhymed, if you put them into the sentence you wanted they might not rhyme anymore. Thus, they had to construct the sentences so that the nouns would be in the same case etc. This is an excerpt:

Swā mec hyhtgiefu heold,   hygedryht befeold,
staþol ǣhtum steald,   stepegongum wēold
swylce eorþe ōl,   āhte ic ealdorstōl,
galdorwordum gōl.  Gomel sibbe ne ofōll,
āc wæs gefest gēar,   gellende snēr,
wuniendo wǣr  wilbec bescǣr.

[simonbutterfield]

This channel also did a Anglish version of the American Independence Declaration as there is a movement to find out what English would've sounded like without the events of 1066. For example the speech by Winston Churchill that talks about fighting on the oceans, hills, streets and beaches is pure Anglo-Saxon until the last word 'surrender' which comes from Norman-French.

[LovePikaMusic]

Can we all just appreciate the "I could go on... and I will"