4 ms·
English partly developed out of French (specifically Anglo-Norman French) following the Norman invasion in 1066. Besides, it was French that shamelessly ripped
by FreakLegion 15y ago
English partly developed out of French (specifically Anglo-Norman French) following the Norman invasion in 1066.
Besides, it was French that shamelessly ripped off Vulgar Latin (re + portare, "to carry back")!
- sp332 15y agoSure, some of English is based on French, and there are a few words taken unmodified. But when it comes to legal terms, Norman French was used by lawyers in English-speaking countries for centuries. As a result, ideas and terms from French law are just taken wholesale by English-speaking legal systems (including grammar and syntax very foreign to English). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_French#Survivals_in_modern_legal_terminology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_French#Survivals_in_modern_...
- FreakLegion 15y ago'S what I just said. From your link: "It [French] was used in the law courts of England, beginning with the Norman Conquest." If the average person habitually used legal terminology the way they use words like, say, "toilet," the Frenchness of those words would be completely inconspicuous.