Re: [OT] Is English just badly pronounced French?

On Sat, 30 Mar 2024 23:06:45 -0700
anim8rfsk <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

I apologize in advance to Americans who are inevitably aggrieved by
all things French just on principle but this video actually makes a
pretty good case for saying that English is badly-pronounced French
to a large extent.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUL29y0vJ8Q [18 minutes]
 
When he explains all the English words that are borrowed from French
with only slight spelling and pronunciation changes, you may well be
persuaded by his argument.
 

 
Once again, Cecil Adams had the answer:
 
https://www.straightdope.com/21341920/what-s-the-international-language-of-business-french-or-english
 
What’s the international language of business, French or English?
By  Cecil Adams    Aug 3, 1989, 11:00pm MST
 
Dear Cecil: Our high school French teacher always insisted learning
French was important because it was going to become the international
language of business. Now I hear English is mandatory in
international aviation, and the Chinese students in Beijing spoke
English to the international media. Was our French teacher shucking
us? Merde! Les Petites, South Boston
 
Cecil replies:
 
Now, now. He/she probably just didn’t know any better. French
teachers lead such empty lives as it is that no one has the heart to
tell them the awful truth, which is that French is a language on the
way down, not up. Once the language of diplomacy, French was used in
the royal courts of Germany, Russia, and Italy during the 19th
century. Fifty years ago Somerset Maugham called it “the common
language of educated men” (women too, one presumes). But it’s been in
a state of decline since World War II, having long ago been
supplanted by — you guessed it — English.
 
English is the primary language of more than 400 million people and
is the second language of hundreds of millions more. It’s essential
in science, technology, economics, and finance. It’s the official
language of airport control towers, might as well be the official
language of computer software, and of course is vital to a perfect
comprehension of MTV, Madonna, and other pillars of modern culture.
French is the primary language of maybe 114 million, including such
outposts of world commerce as Haiti, Cameroon, and Burkina Faso, and
is essential chiefly to reading menus at Le Cirque.
 

Haiti may have French as an official language but I've heard Haitians
speak and I can hardly make out a single word of so-called Metropolitan
French (the language as spoken in France) despite several years of
French. I think the Haitians actually speak a Creole with only tiny
bits of French in it.

Mind you, I have a co-worker who is from Haiti and every time he
speaks English, I'd swear he just got off a plane from Paris: his
accent is pure Parisian!

 
The French have been desperately attempting to reverse this trend. In
addition to hosting international conferences of “Francophone”
(French-speaking) nations, France as of 1986 was spending $750
million per year to support 20,000 French teachers in 155 countries.
It also employs language police to guard against un-Gallic intrusions
such as le compact-disc. But all in vain.
 

Quebec goes them one better: they have TWO organizations dedicated to
keeping Quebec French pure! Seriously. They have the power to fine the
use of improper French and aren't afraid to use it. (I *think* they
confine themselves mostly to signage and publications; I've never heard
of them fining someone for *speaking* French improperly.)

Not that French doesn’t have its uses. Au contraire. It remains the
language of international pretension par excellence, having a certain
je ne sais quoi that appeals irresistibly to the nouveaux riches.
Also, let’s face it, je t’aime sounds infinitely classier than “luv
ya, babe.” But French is more likely to come in handy in the intimate
hours after the business meeting than during.
 
Cecil Adams
 
 
 

--
Rhino