An Attempt to Date
the influence of the French Language on the English Language
G.D.O'Bradovich III
September, 2012
The following are from the Oxford English Dictionary arbitrarily divide into three sections-before 1500, 1501 to 1600 and after 1601.
The following are dated before 1500.
The following are dated before 1500.
French man (1)
French (A1) French (B-Language) French (2 French like) Frenchman (B) |
1205 c
1225 c 1300 a 1300 1387 |
The following are dated from 1501 to 1600.
French pox -a venereal disease Frenchly
French hood French broume French leko French mallowe French marigoulde French onyon French like French beanes French roses Frenche pannel French lavender French nutties French sleeves French marbles Frenchify Frenchery French peire Frenchwoman French (2 French people) French cowslips French lavender French lungwort French mercurie French oke French sage French wheat fleur Frenchified French disease French herring bones French Crown -a coin |
1503
1513 1541 1548 1548 1548 1548 1548 1550 c 1552 1552 1556 1578 1578 1592 1592 1592 1593 1593 1593 1595 1597 1597 1597 1597 1597 1597 1597 1597 1598 1599 1599 |
The following are dated after 1600. The list is not exhaustive. At a certain point in the research, I stopped adding words after 1600. Therefore, the majority of the words are from before 1600.
French green flies
French French eves French barly French roofe French salt |
1601
1602 1634 1661 1669 1670 |
Conclusion
It seems that before the year 1500 there were words to describe the people (1205,1387) and the language (1300). We infer that there was not much commercial involvement since "French Crown" does not appear until 1599. Of the 32 words dating from 1501 to 1600, 23 words date after the year 1550. We can infer that before 1550 there was little influence upon English from the centuries old rivalry with France.
In fact, if we did not know that "French" can mean either the language or the people, we could erroneously conclude interactions between the French and the English did not commence until the 1540's. Although the words dating after the year 1600 are not exhaustive, the lack of words dating before 1550 strongly indicates minimal actual influence.
Once trade or travel commences around 1540, there is an explosion of the use of "French" as an adjective describing various food (beans,onion,nuts), clothing (hood,sleeves,herring bones,lavender), flowers (sage,marigold) and architecture (panel). This indicates that all things French became fashionable in the last half of the 16th Century. Frenchify (1592), Frenchery (1593) and Frenchified (1597) support this conclusion.
Supplement added 2014
It seems that before the year 1500 there were words to describe the people (1205,1387) and the language (1300). We infer that there was not much commercial involvement since "French Crown" does not appear until 1599. Of the 32 words dating from 1501 to 1600, 23 words date after the year 1550. We can infer that before 1550 there was little influence upon English from the centuries old rivalry with France.
In fact, if we did not know that "French" can mean either the language or the people, we could erroneously conclude interactions between the French and the English did not commence until the 1540's. Although the words dating after the year 1600 are not exhaustive, the lack of words dating before 1550 strongly indicates minimal actual influence.
Once trade or travel commences around 1540, there is an explosion of the use of "French" as an adjective describing various food (beans,onion,nuts), clothing (hood,sleeves,herring bones,lavender), flowers (sage,marigold) and architecture (panel). This indicates that all things French became fashionable in the last half of the 16th Century. Frenchify (1592), Frenchery (1593) and Frenchified (1597) support this conclusion.
Supplement added 2014