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Generally, words coming from French often retain a higher register than words of Old English origin, and they are considered by some to be more posh, elaborate, sophisticated, or pretentious. However, there are exceptions: weep, groom and stone (from Old English) occupy a slightly higher register than cry, brush and rock (from French).
English words of French origin should be distinguished from French words and expressions in English. Although French is mostly derived from Latin, important other word sources are Gaulish and some Germanic languages, especially Old Frankish. Since English is of Germanic origin, words that have entered English from French borrowings of Germanic ...
French phrases used by English speakers; Law French; Glossary of fencing, (predominantly from French). Glossary of ballet (predominantly from French) Lists of English loanwords by country or language of origin; List of English words of Gaulish origin; List of English words of Latin origin; List of English Latinates of Germanic origin
The American spelling is from French, and American speakers generally approximate the French pronunciation as / n ɑː ˈ iː v (ə) t eɪ /, whereas the British spelling conforms to English norms, as also the pronunciation / n ɑː ˈ iː v (ə) t i / [121] [122].
Pages in category "Lists of English words of French origin" The following 8 pages are in this category, out of 8 total. This list may not reflect recent changes .
Many words in the English vocabulary are of French origin, most coming from the Anglo-Norman spoken by the upper classes in England for several hundred years after the Norman Conquest, before the language settled into what became Modern English. English words of French origin, such as art, competition, force, money, and table are pronounced ...
The regular spelling system of Old English was swept away by the Norman Conquest, and English itself was supplanted in some spheres by Norman French for three centuries, eventually emerging with its spelling much influenced by French. English had also borrowed large numbers of words from French, and kept their French spellings.
The period from 1250 to 1400 was the most prolific for borrowed words from French. Forty percent of all the French words in English appear for the first time between these two dates. [12] After this period, the scale of the lexical borrowing decreased sharply, though French loan words have continued to enter English even into the modern era.