EXPLORING THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
Un peu d’histoire-
1. French is a Romance language, derived principally from the popularly used Latin of the Romans. Over
2,000 years ago, the Romans, under Julius Caesar, invaded the country, then known as Gaul, leaving its
inhabitants to adopt the language of the conquérants.
2. Numerous dialects developed in the various regions of France. The dialect spoken in Île-de-France,
where the kings held court, became the official language of France.
3. Other Romance languages, remember-derived from Latin, are Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and
Romanian.
4. French has exerted a strong influence on the ENGLISH language, mainly through the invasion of
England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, known as Guillaume le Conquérant or William the
Conqueror. After the conquest, French became the official language of the royal court- OF ENGLAND,
the educated classes, and the law courts. Thus, a vast number of French words became part of what
evolved into the English language.
Through exploration and practice of the language, you will find an innumerable amount of words that are
known as COGNATES. Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same source. They
are often spelled the same, but not always, and they generally have the same meaning, but they are always
pronounced differently. In many words that are cognates, the only difference between the French and the
English is that the French may have accented letters that the English version does not retain. A clue to look for
when trying to identify cognates is the accent circonflex, which looks like a ^ over a vowel that, in English, is
followed by s: such as hôpital = hospital, fôret = forest. Also, words ending in –er in English frequently end in
-re in French: centre = center, décembre = December. Words ending in –y in English often end in é in French:
nationalité = nationality, réalité = reality.
ActivitésCan you find two cognates (French and English) for each letter of the alphabet?
A _______________ _______________
N _______________ _______________
B _______________ _______________
O _______________ _______________
C _______________ _______________
P _______________ _______________
D _______________ _______________
Q _______________ _______________
E _______________ _______________
R _______________ _______________
F _______________ _______________
S _______________ _______________
G _______________ _______________
T _______________ _______________
H _______________ _______________
U _______________ _______________
I _______________ _______________
V _______________ _______________
J _______________ _______________
W _______________ _______________
K _______________ _______________
X _______________ _______________
L _______________ _______________
Y _______________ _______________
M _______________ _______________
Z _______________ _______________
In addition to cognates, there are also many false cognates (faux amis), which appear like they would mean
one thing (the obvious thing), but actually mean something completely different.
Can you find at least 10 faux amis and explain why they are false cognates?
French
English
Reason for being false cognates
1. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
2. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
3. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
4. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
5. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
6. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
7. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
8. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
9. _______________
_______________
___________________________________________
10. _______________
_______________
__________________________________________
English has borrowed and incorporated into the language a number of French words and expressions.
How many of the following commonly used French words or expressions are you able to identify:
1. fiancé(e) __________________________________________________
2. avenue ___________________________________________________
3. chaise lounge ______________________________________________
4. camouflage ________________________________________________
5. faux pas ___________________________________________________
6. laissez faire ________________________________________________
7. bourgeois _________________________________________________
8. début ____________________________________________________
9. à la carte __________________________________________________
10. bon voyage _______________________________________________
11. coup d’état _______________________________________________
12. Répondez, s’il vous plaît _____________________________________
13. nom de plume _____________________________________________
14. connaisseur _______________________________________________
15. tête à tête ________________________________________________