Why the English do not impoverish the French language

In French is fine, thanks (Tracts, Gallimard), eighteen French-speaking experts decry received ideas surrounding the French language, particularly the use of English words. Refreshing and guilt-free.

dating app, Slut shamingof Gas lighting, spam, e-mails, a spoiler… to describe a few things, we sometimes prefer English to French. Some readers are irritated by it, and the French Academy is worried about it. But should we be prevented from doing so at the risk of impoverishing our language? Well no, answer Les Linguistes Atterées, a panel of 18 experts. In French is fine, thanks (Callimard Tracts, May 2023), they extracted ideas about the French language. In particular, the French would be “invaded”, threatened and, according to some purists, damaged by the English. In Speak whiteA book from the same collection is by travel writer Alain Borer For example, he was alarmed that his language was “on the verge of collapsing into a kind of dialect of the Anglo-Saxon Empire”. Questioned in various media, he calls for non-submission resistance to defend his motherland through his language.

Confused linguists oppose this view, and they have arguments. First, there is no francois, which is often used to denote the borrowing of English words. As with creole languages, there is no strictly spoken composition. “In French, lexical borrowings occur according to a slow, gradual process of appropriation,” the authors write. So put to rest the notion of imminent “collapse.” And with a new pronunciation, the association with a pronoun, French speakers make it a new word, the authors believe. For example, Le weekend has become a French noun with a masculine gender. The verb spoiler is attached to the first group.

If we use followersIt brings us something

Second Argument: French and English have coexisted since the 11th century. Also, contributions are made in both directions. Spoiler usually comes from French SpoilerLatin Spolier. If we retain words, the authors argue, it is because they bring us something. For example, a social media follower does not have the same definition as a newspaper subscriber. Shopping is different from jobs. The authors also object that there are winners and losers in the language issue. Added words do not replace old words, they provide a nuance, a context.

Another argument: languages ​​are alive and enriched by words “out of apparent need, for fun, to get along with the young, with others, with others. And sometimes words are dropped in favor of new words. And some English is stripped of words that are too French. To say, ‘It’s cool,’ young people.” Linguists refer to it as “it’s new” or “it’s stylish”. In other words: don’t panic, again, many of these borrowings are temporary. Like these trends in -ing and -core, don’t worry, it’s a little annoying, but it won’t last.

And then the pub?

This linguist’s article offended other authors and “lovers of the French language”. In a gallery Picaro Title ” French didn’t fare well, alas », the linguist Jean Bruvost and about twenty co-signatories are irritated by the observation made by bewildered linguists. As for English, they believe that English is the most ubiquitous. Source: In advertising, 80% of electronically received advertising messages use English headlines. But stunned linguists have already responded to this point about advertising in their book. “If our communicators who want to make an impression may be affected by adolescence, this excess, although visible, is not representative of the French spoken by most people (including young people), which includes only a limited number of loans. »

To dispel other preconceived notions about French, here it is.