Say Au Revoir To French ( Translation into English : Say Farewell to French) By Chung Wai Yee, Minnie

   

 

  Dear all, I am not teaching French here. It is only because we recently learn the concept that language is not only a tool for communication, but also a carrier of a certain culture, an important component of the identity of a nation, it can also be an indicator of power that I have decided to share this little piece of tabloid news with you here.

     Nowadays, when we think of the international language, we immediately think of English, it seems to us that English has been playing this role forever. But this  definitely is NOT the case. English has only become the language for diplomacy for no more than a century. Than  what was being used as the  universal tongue before English took charge, the answer is french. Throughout the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, French was  the language of the elite, the language representing culture and art , the language that every educated person had at least a  decent command of. You see. French certainly has had it glory days. And  its impact on all other European languages has been profound. Take English as the example,

   Here is the list of English words borrowed from French 

Words from French: Government, Law and Warfare

attorney from the Old French atourné
fee from the original French word fie, 14th Century
finance from finer to end or settle by payment
guard from garde, 15th Century
inherit from Old French enheriter, 14th Century
jail from Old French jaiole (meaning cage), 13th Century
jury from Old French juree, originally from jurer (meaning to swear), 14th Century
lieutenant from Old French, literally (meaning place-holding), 14th Century
march from Old French, from Latin Martius (month) of Mars
medal from French médaille, probably from Italian medaglia, ultimately from Latin metallum (meaning METAL), 16th Century
mutiny from obsolete mutine, from Old French mutin (meaning rebellious), from meute (meaning mutiny), ultimately from Latin movēre (meaning to move), 16th Century
parliament from Anglo-Latin parliamentum, from Old French parlement, from parler to speak, 13th Century
LINK:http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/royal|CAPTION:royal] from Old French roial , from Latin rēgālis, (meaning fit for a king), from rēx (meaning king), 14th Century.
soldier from Old French soudier, from soude (army) pay, from Late Latin solidus (a gold coin), 13th Century
treaty from Old French traité, from Medieval Latin tractātus (meaning treaty), 14th Century

Words from French: Cooking and Cuisine

aperitif from French, from Medieval Latin aperitīvus, from Latin aperīre (meaning to open), 19th Century
bacon from Old French bacon , from Old High Germanbahho, 12th Century
beef from Old French boef, 13th Century
café from French: COFFEE, 19th Century
courgette from French, diminutive of courge
grape from Old French grape, 13th Century
juice from Old French jus, 13th Century
larder from Old French lardier, 14 Century
mackerel from Anglo-French, from Old French maquerel, 13th Century
menu from French menu , meaning small, detailed (list), 19th Century
nutmeg from Old French nois muguede, 13th Century
omelette from French omelette, changed from alumette, from alumelle (meaning sword blade), changed by mistaken division from la lemelle, from Latin; apparently from the flat shape of the omelette
picnic from French piquenique, 18th Century
poultry from Old French pouletrie, from pouletier (meaning poultry-dealer), 14th Century
quiche from French, from German Kuchen (meaning cake)
restaurant from French, from restaurer (meaning to restore), 19th Century
salad from Old French salade, from Old Provençal salada, from salar (meaning to season with salt), from Latin sal (meaning salt), from 15th Century
sausage from Old Norman French saussiche, from Late Latin salsīcia, from Latin salsus (meaning salted), 15th Century
soup from Old French soupe, from Late Latin suppa, 17th Century
spice from Old French espice, from Late Latin speciēs (plural) (meaning spices), 13th Century

   Even French has ceased to be the lingua franca , it has still maintained a fairly high status among  all modern languages on earth.

French shares with English the distinction of being taught as a foreign language in the education systems of most countries around the world. French is thus the second most widely learned foreign language in the world, with almost 120 million students and 500,000 teachers.

It  is one of the working languages of the United Nationsalongside English, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese.

French is one of the three procedural languages of the European Union, along with English and German, and the sole language used for the deliberations of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

It would seem that  French is still doing pretty well right? But it cannot be further from the truth. The reality is, English has so dominated the world that the stature of French has been shrinking. English might not have crushed all the other languages on earth, but it has certainly crushed French. Let me tell you the truths behind all those rosy statements above,.

Yes, French is still the second most widely taught foreign language around the globe, but the French teachers have started to out number students.

Yes, it is one of the three procedural languages of EU,  but it is just the say-so officially. Inside, English has long become the de facto working language in the EU.

   So, the status of French is now just a pretty courtesy. What does it all tell us, the rise and fall of a language. The decline of French, the rapid triumph of English. It tells us that the success or failure of a language is usually not based on the merits of the language itself, it is more based on the "power " behind it. After the second world war, US has become the biggest powerhouse on earth, since US people speak English, the whole world follows. It is not because English is by anyway superior than French, it is because US is now, unquestionably much more powerful than France.

   We can learn history, sociology and politics from languages, surprise?