How has the French language changed since the 1960s? - French bibliographies - in Harvard style

One recent example, heard in a business context, is “une to-do liste” , which appears to have entered the French language in around 2007. Words like “le shopping” or “un parking” or “le hard discount” are now so well established in modern French that many French speakers do not even realise that they are borrowed from English.

In-text: (A short guide to the French language -, 2015)

Your Bibliography: About-france.com. 2015. A short guide to the French language -. [online] Available at: <http://about-france.com/french/french-language.htm> [Accessed 14 February 2015].

The first document is the text preserved parchment letters patent of 1635. It is the same for the statutes and regulations, signed by Cardinal Richelieu.

In-text: (L’histoire | Académie française, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Academie-francaise.fr. 2015. L’histoire | Académie française. [online] Available at: <http://www.academie-francaise.fr/linstitution/lhistoire> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789 Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

In-text: (Avalon Project - Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Avalon.law.yale.edu. 2015. Avalon Project - Declaration of the Rights of Man - 1789. [online] Available at: <http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

1975 nouvelle cuisine - French 1958 baguette- French 1928 croissant- French 1922 bistro- French 1929 piste- French 1966 art deco- French (abbreviation of art décoratif) Most loan words tend to be nouns. Many of these words have arisen through military contact - a number of them relate to war, conflict or the political climate of the period. The other words have entered through cultural contact, and relate to things like food, sport, music and popular culture. This might be because of immigration, trade, fashions or foods, travellers tales, the arts (paintings, books, poetry or film), technologies, wars or colonisation.

In-text: (20th century loanwords, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Bl.uk. 2015. 20th century loanwords. [online] Available at: <http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/changlang/activities/lang/twentieth/loanwords.html> [Accessed 14 February 2015].

'Passport' is just one of the many English words of French origin that entered the English language at some point in history. Linguists estimate that between 35 and 60 percent of all English nouns are of French origin.

In-text: (Hanson, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Hanson, R., 2015. English Words of French Origin. [online] LoveToKnow. Available at: <http://french.lovetoknow.com/English_Words_of_French_Origin> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

The English language suffered as a result of the Norman Invasion as French and Latin became the new languages of the government, Church and the nobility. English was now associated with the uncivilised and uneducated. One of the most enduring cultural changes was the adoption of French names, at the expense of the more traditional Anglo-Saxon ones. In an attempt to imitate their new conquerors, many English chose to abandon the traditional names like ‘Godwin’, ‘Harold’, or ‘Ethelred’, in favour of names French names like ‘William’, ‘Henry’ or ‘Robert’. Even in the last decade, William still features in the top 10 baby names for boys in England and Wales.

In-text: (1066: The Impact and Legacy of the Norman Invasion of England, 2010)

Your Bibliography: History in an Hour. 2010. 1066: The Impact and Legacy of the Norman Invasion of England. [online] Available at: <http://www.historyinanhour.com/2010/09/18/1066-the-impact-and-legacy-of-the-norman-invasion-of-england/> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

The fact that the Normans assumed many positions of power in English society first and foremost saw the introduction of new language with the switch from Old English to Latin. Fundamentally, the fact that French men replaced English in positions of power and authority – both in society and in the church – was an important shift that would leave a legacy in the medieval period.

In-text: (The Legacy of the Norman Conquest, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Historylearningsite.co.uk. 2015. The Legacy of the Norman Conquest. [online] Available at: <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/The-Legacy-of-the-Norman-Conquest.htm> [Accessed 20 March 2015].

It is important to know that there were various dialects of French being spoken on the continent at this time and throughout the middle ages. Norman French was distinct from Parisian or Continental French Scholars refer to the particular dialect of French as spoken by England-dwelling native French speakers as Anglo-Norman or Anglo-French. Throughout the middle ages it was common for native English speakers to be fluent in French as a second language. In the 13th and early 14th centuries there was an escalation of French literature and prestige. Middle and upper class students who wanted to join the prestigious ranks of politicians, lawyers, judges, and diplomats would learn (continental) French to help secure their futures.

In-text: (French as a mother-tongue in Medieval England, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Homes.chass.utoronto.ca. 2015. French as a mother-tongue in Medieval England. [online] Available at: <http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/6361Heys.htm> [Accessed 20 March 2015].

The French Academy was not the first language academy – that distinction belongs to the Italian Accademia della Crusca, which was founded in 1583. The linguistic program of the French Academy was influenced by the linguistic purism of Francois de Malherbe (1555-1628), who sought to purify the French language by proscribing obsolete words, dialectisms and neologisms (internal “impurities”) as well as those of foreign and Latin origins (external “impurities”) (Thomas 109). “We have resolved to begin the Dictionary also; but inasmuch as it is a work of the whole body, the members bent themselves to it but slackly, for the reason that they expected from it neither individual honour or profit, and three fourths of them looked upon the work as a task. It has therefore remained suspended until a more favourable season” (qtd. in Robertson 203). It would take a series of “favourable seasons” – nearly sixty, in fact – before the dictionary was published in 1694. The dictionary shows the influence of Malherbe’s purism, as well as a preference for literary usage over scientific and commercial terminology; omitted were “entirely obsolete words, vulgar expletives, and words offensive to modesty […] [as well as] purely technical and scientific terms” (Robertson 210). In seventeenth century France, French was not yet the official national language, but simply a vernacular – and, importantly, a literary one – among several other competing languages, including Breton, Germanic dialects and Occitan (Cohen 167). By targeting its publications exclusively at French speakers and refusing to adjudicate on non-literary matters, the French Academy helped to cultivate the image of French as an elite, and, therefore, desirable language.

In-text: (L�Academie Francaise, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Homes.chass.utoronto.ca. 2015. L�Academie Francaise. [online] Available at: <http://homes.chass.utoronto.ca/~cpercy/courses/6362-RabyMichael.htm> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

There are some French words I find particularly amusing and difficult for French learners of English – words that seem to come from the English language, but which actually do not even exist in English or are used in a completely different way! For instance, a French person could easily believe that a tracksuit is a “jogging” in English, or that the word dealer only means drug-dealer. Indeed, it is not simple; many English words have been introduced in the French language and have not kept their original English meaning. Jogging The French word “jogging” means a tracksuit. Thus, do not be surprised if a French person uses this word as a noun and asks you where you bought your “jogging”! Parking « Un parking » in French is a car park, or parking lot, a place where to park one’s car. Therefore, a French person saying there is a big parking in front of the supermarket just means there is a lot of room to park your car. Camping The noun « camping » in French means a campsite. To go camping is translated by “faire du camping” Smoking In French, the word smoking has nothing to do with smoke or cigarettes. Indeed, a French « smoking » is a dinner jacket.

In-text: (member, 2010)

Your Bibliography: member, b., 2010. French words that seem to come from the English language. [online] Lexiophiles. Available at: <http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/french-words-that-seem-to-come-from-the-english-language> [Accessed 14 February 2015].

What the language would have been like if William the Conqueror had not succeeded in making good his claim to the English throne can only be a matter of conjecture. It would probably have pursued much the same course as the other Germanic languages, retaining perhaps more of its inflections and preserving a preponderantly Germanic vocabulary. The most important factor in the continued use of French by the English upper class until the beginning of the thirteenth century was the close connection that existed through all these years between England and the continent. Not only was he buried there, but in dividing his possessions at his death he gave Normandy to his eldest son, and England to William, his second son. Nearly all the great English landowners had possessions likewise on the continent, frequently contracted continental marriages, and spent much time in France, either in pursuance of their own interests or those of the king.

In-text: (The Domination of French in England, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Orbilat.com. 2015. The Domination of French in England. [online] Available at: <http://www.orbilat.com/Influences_of_Romance/English/RIFL-English-French-The_Domination_of_French.html> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

When the members of the Philological Society of London decided, in 1857, that existing English language dictionaries were incomplete and deficient, and called for a complete re-examination of the language from Anglo-Saxon times onward, they knew they were embarking on an ambitious project. Murray and his team did manage to publish the first part (or ‘fascicle’, to use the technical term) in 1884, but it was clear by this point that a much more comprehensive work was required than had been imagined by the Philological Society almost thirty years earlier. Not only are the complexities of the English language formidable, but it also never stops evolving. Murray and his Dictionary colleagues had to keep track of new words and new meanings of existing words at the same time that they were trying to examine the previous seven centuries of the language’s development. Instead of 6,400 pages in four volumes, the Dictionary published under the imposing name A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles – contained over 400,000 words and phrases in ten volumes.

In-text: (History of the OED - Oxford English Dictionary, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Oxford English Dictionary. 2015. History of the OED - Oxford English Dictionary. [online] Available at: <http://public.oed.com/history-of-the-oed/> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

In-text: (Reynolds and Kidd, 2000)

Your Bibliography: Reynolds, S. and Kidd, W., 2000. Contemporary French cultural studies. London: Arnold.

One of its tasks is to come up with French equivalents to unwanted English words that slip into French – for example turning “email” into “courriel”. Now, the body has decided to further embrace the 21st century with a section of its website called “Dire, Ne pas dire” (To say, Not to Say”). The site aims to be interactive, with visitors invited to exchange views on points of language and even campaign to “rehabilitate” French words fallen out of common usage.

In-text: (Samuel, 2011)

Your Bibliography: Samuel, H., 2011. France's Académie française battles to protect language from English. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8820304/Frances-Academie-francaise-battles-to-protect-language-from-English.html> [Accessed 28 March 2015].

Throughout the 20th century and up to the 1960s, French governments adopted no fewer than 40 laws on education, the press, administration, and spelling. In France, anti-dialect views still ran deep among political leaders. In 1972, for example, then French president Georges Pompidou declared, "There is no place for regional languages and culture in a France that must leave its mark on Europe." The situation has not changed much since; during the debates on the Treaty of Maastricht, Robert Pandraud (a deputy and former minister) declared on May 13, 1992... But this was no longer the 1950s—it was the 1990s! An examination of language legislation in France shows that the country adopted an impressive number of laws on regional cultures and languages, territorial communities, and the French language. Most of these legal texts—including the law of August 4, 1994, regarding the use of the French language, also known as the Toubon law—deal mainly with the language of instruction and French terminology. Down through the years, Canada has clearly had to fall in line with French linguistic policy. With no regional dialects to contend with, the French Canadian elite condemned varieties too removed from the French of France, notably joual. Although the number of French speakers and countries interested in French has never been greater, no one appears to wield any kind of traditional authority over the language anymore. The Académie française has lost much of its credibility and seems like a throwback to another era. Today, the new "masters" of the language are more the media and advertisers, whose influence is much greater than that of academicians and terminologists. In each region of the world where French is spoken, awareness of the language as an instrument of national identity has also grown. While contemporary French speakers are more concerned than they have ever been about their shared linguistic heritage, they are no longer haunted by questions of "purity," "distinction," and "quality." Spontaneity and functionality matter more, and do not put communication in danger.

In-text: (History of the French Language, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Slmc.uottawa.ca. 2015. History of the French Language. [online] Available at: <http://www.slmc.uottawa.ca/?q=french_history#s4c> [Accessed 14 April 2015].

The conjugation of French verbs can be tricky for English speakers. French verbs fall into two main categories: regular verbs and irregular verbs. Regular French verbs are usually conjugated in a consistent way. The stem is not changed and the endings are regular. Irregular French verbs have inconsistent tense formation with changes in both the stem and ending. The conjugation of each irregular French verb needs to be memorized individually.

In-text: (Learning French: Overview - Transparent Language, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Transparent.com. 2015. Learning French: Overview - Transparent Language. [online] Available at: <http://www.transparent.com/learn-french/overview.html> [Accessed 14 February 2015].

The French call French mixed with English words "Franglais". The best book about it was written in the 1960s by French academic Etiemble ("Parlez vous franglais"), a very funny and very wise book.

In-text: (Glossary ; the French and their language ; learning French in Paris, 2015)

Your Bibliography: Understandfrance.org. 2015. Glossary ; the French and their language ; learning French in Paris. [online] Available at: <http://www.understandfrance.org/France/Glossary.html> [Accessed 28 March 2015].