In this video blog post, I explain how and why French influenced the English language. To understand this, we take a trip back in time to the days of the Vikings and William I. Check out my video, click on the image below:
or this link: https://youtu.be/0BWpp0mcSF0
Have you ever noticed that certain words in English, while they may mean the same thing, sound fancier or more formal? Why is an animal a “cow” or “bull” in the farmyard, but “beef” cooked and on the table? Think about the following word synonym pairs:
Bring/Carry
Hearty/Cordial
Wonder/Ponder
Weird/Strange
Wild/Savage
Kingship/Monarchy
Can you tell that the first word is Anglo-Saxon (English) based, while the second is French based? Now you know why fancier or more formal sounding words have French roots, and more common, plain or everyday words are Anglo-Saxon based. It’s all about the rich history of the English language. (Note: Rolo should be Rollo. Sorry for the error in editing!)
Aaron's English Page 