My favorite French borrowing into English is a word that was borrowed twice: Hostel and Hotel, with the former coming before the S was dropped, and the latter being a more modern loanword of Hôtel
3 months ago | 5
I did not know about this channel!! Let's go for some binge watching
3 months ago (edited)
| 11
I actually discovered this when i was studying french in highschool. Not even the teacher knew about it, i felt so smart 😅 I never knew the reason why this was the case though, so thank you very much for both confirming and explaining this phenomenon in the episode
3 months ago | 3
A very enjoyable episode! I listened to it as a podcast from the RSS feed while commuting 🚉
3 months ago
| 4
I believe the evolution of the first examples is that vulgar Latin speakers in modern France and the Iberian Peninsula started adding an E sound before consonant clusters beginning with S. English dropped the E when words with those clusters were introduced from Old/Norman French, while French dropped the S later.
3 months ago
| 7
Worked in Finland recently and was surprised to find it was totally different from Sweden, Norway and Denmark.. What language heritage is Finnish .. Thanks Rob.. Brill Channel keep going 🙂
2 months ago | 0
I learned those "rules" nearly forty-five years ago in French 101.
3 months ago | 5
What is the email address for you guys? There are some things I think might be easier by email rather than the random chance you of Jess might see on the bottom of a vlog. Thanks Geoff 🏳🌈🏴
1 month ago | 0
RobWords
You can often swap the É at the start of a French word with an S and get closer to the English equivalent:
🇫🇷 État 🇬🇧 State
🇫🇷 Étude 🇬🇧 Study
🇫🇷 Étrange 🇬🇧 Strange
🇫🇷 Écoute 🇬🇧 Scout (seriously, they're related)
🇫🇷 Écureuil 🇬🇧 Squirrel (my favourite)
🇫🇷 Écume 🇬🇧 Scum (my least favourite)
Likewise, popping an S after a French letter with a circumflex (^) on it does the same.
🇫🇷 Forêt 🇬🇧 Forest
🇫🇷 Hôpital 🇬🇧 Hospital
🇫🇷 Bête 🇬🇧 Beast
🇫🇷 Côte 🇬🇧 Coast
If understanding the enormous French influence on English is your "sac" (...bag) check out my latest video with fellow word nerd Jess Zafarris on our @WordsUnravelled channel.
3 months ago | [YT] | 346