Core semantic spheres of loanwords from French

We should expect that English would owe many of its words dealing with government and administration to the language of those who for more than 200 years made public affairs their chief concern. The words government, govern, administer might appropriately introduce a list of such words. It would include such fundamental terms as crown, state, empire, realm, reign, royal, prerogative, authority, sovereign, majesty, scepter, record, repeal, adjourn, tax, subsidy, revenue, tally, exchequer. The word office and the titles of many offices are likewise French. Except for the words king and queen, lord, lady, and earl, most designations of rank are French: noble, nobility, peer, prince, princess, duke, duchess, count, countess, marquis, baron, squire, page, as well as such words as courtier, retinue, and titles of respect like sir, madam, mistress.

The church was scarcely second to the government as an object of Norman interest and ambition. The higher clergy, occupying positions of wealth and power, were, as we have seen, practically all Normans. Ecclesiastical preferment opened the way to a career that often led to the highest political offices at court. In monasteries and religious houses French was for a long time the usual language. Accordingly in English it is possible to find such French words as religion, theology, sermon, homily, sacramen, prayer, orison, lesson, passion, psalmody; such indications of rank or class as clergy, clerk, prelate, cardinal, legate, dean, chaplain, parson, pastor, vicar, sexton, abbess, novice, friar, hermit; the names of objects associated with the service or with the religious life, such as crucifix, crosier, miter, surplice, censer, incense, lectern, image, chancel, chantry, chapter, abbey, convent, priory, hermitage, cloister, sanctuary; words expressing such fundamental religious or theological concepts as creator, savior, trinity, virgin, saint, miracle, mystery, faith, heresy, schism, reverence, devotion, salvation, immortality, and the more general virtues of piety, sanctity, charity mercy pity, obedience, as well as the word virtue itself. Also a number of adjectives, like solemn, divine, reverend, devout, and verbs, such as preach, pray, chant, repent, confess, adore, sacrifice, convert, anoint, ordain should be included.

French was so long the language of the law courts in England that the greater part of the English legal vocabulary comes from the language of the conquerors. The fact that we speak of justice and equity instead of gerihte, judgment rather than dom ‘doom’, crime in place of synn, gylt, undæd, etc., shows how completely the terminology of French law was adopted. Even where the Old English word survives it has lost its technical sense. In the same way we say bar, assize, eyre, plea, suit, plaintiff, defendant, juror, panel, felon, evidence, proof, bail, ransom, mainpernor, judgment, verdict, sentence, decree, award, fine, forfeit, punishment, prison, gaol, pillory.

The large part that war played in English affairs in the Middle Ages, the fact that the control of the army and navy was in the hands of those who spoke French, and the circumstance that much of English fighting was done in France all resulted in the introduction into English of a number of French military terms. The art of war has undergone such changes since the days of Hastings and Lewes and Agincourt that many words once common are now obsolete or only in historical use. Their places have been taken by later borrowings, often likewise from French, many of them being words acquired by the French in the course of their wars in Italy during the sixteenth century. Nevertheless, medieval French words are used when it comes to the army and the navy, to peace, enemy, arms, battle, combat, skirmish, siege, defense, ambush, stratagem, retreat, guard, spy, and the names of officers such as captain, lieutenant, sergeant are preserved. It is possible to recognize as once having had greater significance words like dart, lance, banner, mail, buckler, hauberk, archer, chieftain, portcullis, barbican, and moat. Sometimes a word has been retained while its original military significance is forgotten.

That the upper classes should have set the standard in fashion and dress is so obvious an assumption that the number of French words belonging to this class occasions no surprise. The words fashion and dress are themselves French, as are apparel, habit, gown, robe, garment, attire, cape, cloak, coat, frock, collar, veil, train, chemise, petticoat. So too are lace, embroidery, pleat, gusset, buckle, button, tassel, plume, and the names of such articles as kerchief, mitten, garter, galoshes, and boots. Verbs like embellish and adorn often occur in contexts which suggest the word luxury, and this in turn carries with it satin, taffeta, fur, sable, beaver, ermine. The colors blue, brown, vermilion, scarlet, saffron, russet, and tawny are French borrowings of this period. Jewel, ornament, brooch, chaplet, ivory, and enamel point to the luxuries of the wealthy and it is significant that the names of all the more familiar precious stones are French: turquoise, amethyst, topaz, garnet, ruby, emerald, sapphire, pearl, diamond, not to mention crystal, coral, and beryl.

The French-speaking classes, it would seem, must also be credited with a considerable adornment of the English table. Not only are the words dinner and supper French, but also the words feast, repast, collation, and mess (now military). So, too, are appetite, taste, victuals, viand, and sustenance. One could have found on the medieval menu, had there been one, among the fish, mackerel, sole, perch, bream, sturgeon, salmon, sardine, oyster, porpoise; among meats, venison, beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, sausage, tripe, with a choice of loin, chine, haunch, or brawn, and with gravy included; among fowl, poultry, pullet, pigeon, and various game birds mentioned below. One could have pottage, gruel, toast, biscuit, cream, sugar, olives, salad, lettuce, endive, and for dessert almonds, and many fruits, including raisin, fig, date, grape, orange, lemon, pomegranate, cherry1 peach, or a confection, pasty, tart, jelly, treacle. Among seasoning and condiments we find spice, clove, thyme, herb, mustard, vinegar, marjoram, cinnamon, nutmeg. The verbs roast, boil, parboil, stew, fry, broach, blanch, grate, and mince describe various culinary processes, and goblet, saucer, cruet, plate, platter suggest French refinements in the serving of meals. It is melancholy to think what the English dinner table would have been like had there been no Norman Conquest.

A variety of new words suggests the innovations made by the French in domestic economy and social life. Arras, curtain, couch, chair, cushion, screen, lamp, lantern, sconce, chandelier, blanket, and basin indicate articles of comfort or convenience, while dais, parlor, wardrobe, closet, pantry, scullery, and garner (storehouse) imply improvements in domestic arrangements. Recreation, solace, jollity, leisure, dance, carol, revel, minstrel, juggler, fool, ribald, lute, tabor, melody, music, chess, checkers, dalliance, and conversation reveal various aspects of entertainment in a baronial hall, while numerous words associated with hunting and riding are a reflection of the principal outdoor pastime of the nobility: ambler, courser, hackney palfrey, stallion for various types of horse, together with rein, curb, mallard, partridge, pheasant, quail, plover, heron, squirrel; forest, park, covert, warren. One might extend the list to include other activities, with terms like joust, tournament, pavilion, but those given are sufficient to show how much the English vocabulary owes to French in matters of domestic and social life.

The cultural and intellectual interests of the ruling class are reflected in words pertaining to the arts, architecture, literature, learning, and science, especially medicine. Such words as art, painting, sculpture, music, beauty, color, figure, image, tone are typical of the first class, while architecture and building have given us cathedral, palace, tower, pinnacle, turret, porch, bay, choir, cloister, baptistry, column, pillar, base, and many similar words. Literature is represented by the word itself and by poet, rime, prose, romance, lay, story, chronicle, tragedy, prologue, preface, title, paper, and pen, and learning by treatise, compilation, study, logic, geometry, grammar, noun, clause, gender, together with verbs like copy, expound, and compile. Among the sciences, medicine has brought in the largest number of early French words still in common use, among them the word medicine itself, physician, surgeon, apothecary, malady, debility, distemper, pain, ague, pals, poison. It is clear that the arts and sciences, being largely cultivated or patronized by the higher classes, owe an important part of their vocabulary to French.

There can be little doubt that a large proportion of the words borrowed from French were thoroughly popular in character, that is, words current in the everyday French spoken in England. At the same time the importance of literature is not to be underestimated as a means of transfer. So much of Middle English literature was based directly on French originals that it would have been rather exceptional if English writers had consistently resisted the temptation to carry French words over into their adaptations. Layamon resisted, but most others did not, and when in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries French words were being taken by the hundreds into the popular speech, the way was made easier for the entrance of literary words as well. Although literature was one of the channels by which French words entered English all through the Middle English period, in the 15th century it became the principal source. Words like adolescence, affability, appellation, cohort, combustion, destitution ingenious, pacification, representation, sumptuous betray their learned or bookish origin, and in the works of Caxton at the end of the century new words like aggravation, diversify furtive, prolongation, and ravishment abound. The number of such words entering the language at this time is probably no greater than in the preceding century, but they are more prominent because the adoption of popular words was now greatly curtailed by the practical disappearance of French as a spoken language in England (for the details, see Appendix 3, p. 69) [20; 24; 28; 54].