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Signal Nine Posted 22 years ago
Culture
Norman French etymology preferred over Anglo Saxon.
I’m interested in gathering information about pairs or groups of English words with similar meanings where one word is Anglo Saxon in etymology and the other is Norman French:
Anglo French
House Mansion
Couch Sofa
The couch/sofa pair interests me in particular. There are people evaluate your “breeding” based on whether you use one or the other and it is the origins of this attitude about which I’d like to know more. I suspect it is linked to the cultural conflict that started during the eleventh century between Anglo Saxon peasants and their newly-arrived Norman conquerors.
I hope I have adequately described what I’m after. Is there a name for this? I could just Google it, but it’s hard to pin down a search phrase when I don’t know what to call it.
Thanks very much in advance.
Anglo French
House Mansion
Couch Sofa
The couch/sofa pair interests me in particular. There are people evaluate your “breeding” based on whether you use one or the other and it is the origins of this attitude about which I’d like to know more. I suspect it is linked to the cultural conflict that started during the eleventh century between Anglo Saxon peasants and their newly-arrived Norman conquerors.
I hope I have adequately described what I’m after. Is there a name for this? I could just Google it, but it’s hard to pin down a search phrase when I don’t know what to call it.
Thanks very much in advance.
Top answer
You should also look at the names of meat, in general the name of the live animal is Saxon based, the name of the actual meat on the plate is Norman. ie. Saxon pig becomes pork (French for pig - porc).
- You should also look at the names of meat, in general the name of the live animal is Saxon based, the name of the actual meat on the plate is Norman.
- ie.
- Saxon pig becomes pork (French for pig - porc).
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1 Answers
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You should also look at the names of meat, in general the name of the live animal is Saxon based, the name of the actual meat on the plate is Norman.
ie. Saxon pig becomes pork (French for pig - porc).
ie. Saxon pig becomes pork (French for pig - porc).
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