Legacy

[DanaC]

I was reading up on Parliamentary procedures the other day and discovered that when the Queen of England gives her assent to a Parliamentary bill she does so in Norman French. *chuckles* almost a thousand years after the Normans invaded

[lumberjim]

Hasn't French been the language used by aristocrats all over Europe ?

[tw]

Originally Posted by lumberjim

Hasn't French been the language used by aristocrats all over Europe ?

French was once the language of international diplomacy. That is only recently been supplemented by English. I don't think the French have still gotten over their loss.

[Beestie]

Originally Posted by tw

French was once the language of international diplomacy.

French is unchallenged in its ability to allow the speaker/writer to communicate subtle and sophisticated subject matter. It should have stayed French. As much as I hate French - French is vastly superior to English as an international (a common language) language.

All American students should learn French.

[DanaC]

Yes French was the International language of diplomacy, but I said Norman French which was slightly different. Norman French has survived in a little anachronistic ceremony of acceptance ....Spoken by the Monarch to her Parliament. Nearly a millenium after the Normans took the throne and ended the Anglo Saxon era in Britain

[DanaC]

"French is unchallenged in its ability to allow the speaker/writer to communicate subtle and sophisticated subject matter. It should have stayed French. As much as I hate French - French is vastly superior to English as an international (a common language) language."

I love the French language ( though I am horribly rusty on it )but I have to disagree. I think the English language has much more malleability, though that is in part because it draws so much from French and Latin. The hybrid nature of the language gives it a flexibility which is imo almost unique

[elSicomoro]

Monarchies are overrated anyway...the British should do away with theirs once and for all.

[jaguar]

DanaC, i think you don't know enough french. Most international bodies still have french as an offical language.

[wolf]

Consider, however, that English is the international language of air traffic control.

[Happy Monkey]

Originally Posted by jaguar

DanaC, i think you don't know enough french. Most international bodies still have french as an offical language.

And English as another.

[DanaC]

Jaguar you are absolutely right, I do not know enough French :P I still disagree that French is vastly superior to the Englih language.

[jaguar]

But of course HM, my french is nothing wonderful and I avoid doing any serious business in French - I fear my lack of knowloedge of the minute could result in some awful faux pas best avoided. Superior is a funny word to use, there are some things I find are great about french, some annoy me, words do however, on the whole carry more information. A verb can gives you far more temporal information, a preposition can describe something. You can do it in England, sure, we've all had those conversations that border on verbal stenography but French feels made for it.

[DanaC]

*nods* fair enough Jag, that makes sense. I just disagreed that English is in someway inferior, or less useful when dealing with subtle concepts. French may have much more contained within a word, often entire concepts which in English would require a sentence ( for instance the word ennui) That doesnt mean that those concepts are more difficult to express merely that it requires a different method. Instead of using a single word and it's dative form to get across a concept in English one would construct a sentence which employs several words to express the same. Does that make English inferior whne dealing with subtle concepts? I think not, I think it merely leads to a stylistic difference. The way in which component words interract in English is extremely flexible, allowing the speaker to express concepts in a variety of ways. It also of course marries well with French. In the english language there are many concept words adopted from French and absorbed so fully into the language as to be readily understood by non french speaking english speakers. Those concept words are now a part of the English language and enrich it further.

[DanaC]

"Hasn't French been the language used by aristocrats all over Europe ?"
At one time that was the case yes. Primarily that was due to the "French era" a time when much of Europe was in effect a French hegemony. ( 11th century - 13 century)

"Monarchies are overrated anyway...the British should do away with theirs once and for all."

I so agree. I find it slightly ridiculous that we still have this outdated institution at the head of our nation. Did you know by the way that Elizabeth ii can trace her lineage back all the way to Alfred the Great?

[elSicomoro]

Wow...that's way better than me (mid 19th century).