For those interested in language/history/class!

Wikipedia teaches many fun facts:

The English language derives mainly from

  1. Old German – the Angles and Saxons conquered Britain in the 5th century
  2. Old French – the Normans conquered England in 1066

After the Norman invasion, England was dominated by a small French aristocracy, ruling over a much larger German working class. For centuries, the rulers of England spoke a Latin-derived language, while the common person spoke a Germanic language.

The two cultural groups began to intermarry after the Black Death of the 1340s wiped out half of the population, and over time the languages slowly merged, greatly simplifying the grammar of English, but also leaving a huge combined vocabulary.

The really interesting thing is that a lot of words in English carry a CLASS connotation, based on whether they derive from French or from German. Words that mean the same thing will have either a fancy, unpleasant, upper-class connotation (French), or a down-to-earth, gut-level, working-class feeling (German) depending on the origin of the word.

Check this list out!

German French
begin commence
talk/speak discuss/converse
ask inquire
teach educate
understand comprehend
before prior
come arrive
meet encounter
hearty welcome cordial reception
feeling sentiment
help assist
mistake error
yearly annual
youth juvenile/adolescent
earth soil
cold frigid
wild savage
belly abdomen
buy purchase
eat dine

Also, meat words are almost all French-derived, which reflects that while the German working class was responsible for hunting/shepherding the animals, it was only the French rulers who could actually afford to eat meat.

German French
cow beef
pig pork
deer venison
sheep mutton
calf veal

AND most of our government/state words are all French: court, judge, jury, appeal, prison, military, parliament, president

Might this explain why our conceptions of the French are as snooty, snobbish, fancy-pants, easily-hate-able aristocrats? In occupied England, THEY WERE!

I noticed that when i use the French words, i experience a slight feeling of discomfort, as if i’m trying to impress people with my big words. And for anyone interested in a working class revolution, best way not to talk down to people: stick with the more common German words instead of bureaucratese.

towards freedom! (not mere liberty)

alex

p.s. George Orwell wrote an awesome essay called Politics of the English Language, where he breaks down how abstract, complex language is a tool for those who seek to confuse the populace, and he outlines how to make use of concrete, plain English to actually reach people. A highly recommended essay for anyone who wants to write.