4 ms·
Yeah, the history of English is waaay more complex than that. But one thing is pretty clear, it isn't a Romance language, and isn't derived from French; it does
by pacaro 14y ago
Yeah, the history of English is waaay more complex than that. But one thing is pretty clear, it isn't a Romance language, and isn't derived from French; it does have a huge French influence, but almost entirely in the form of loan words.
- rmc 14y agoWhat's interesting is how the upper class words are the french words. This is due to the Norman invasion. So the germanic word "cow" which the farmer deals with gets turned into "beef" for the lord. The lowly germanic "chicken" becomes a french "poultry". A simple germanic "house" is not as grand as a french "mansion" or "manor".