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Aurorae Posted 20 years ago
Culture
Unequal 'Halves' of English
Hello everybody,
As background I'm sure most of you know that English has a more formal latin/french derivative side (contracts, legal documents, sophisticated company etc.) as opposed to the more everyday less 'pretentious' saxon/germanic side. This is a generalisation, but is largely true.
When I was at secondary school, we had reasonably frequent visits from French schools on exchanges. Obviously their English teachers (French nationals) were there to shepherd the children about and make sure they were learning English etc. What I found very noticeable was that the teacher who I spoke to most had a preference for using saxon/germanic words over the latin/french alternatives. For example she would have preferred 'big' to 'large', 'get off' to 'dismount', 'top up' to 'replenish' and so forth (for want of better examples).
I remember that at the time (in this case) that although technically correct, it came across as slightly simplistic and informal, yet I now understand that she was probably performing some impressive lingual gymnastics to a French ear, and may have even been showing off. For the record her class preferred to use the french-like words. A German exchange teacher had the opposite effect prevalent - he even occasionally rolled his Rs deliberately, which is something I've only ever heard from people jokingly impersonating the upper classes.
The question is then; for Romance/Germanic speakers: do you try and use the most dissimilar 'half of english' to your own language, and what are your reasons?
Thanks
As background I'm sure most of you know that English has a more formal latin/french derivative side (contracts, legal documents, sophisticated company etc.) as opposed to the more everyday less 'pretentious' saxon/germanic side. This is a generalisation, but is largely true.
When I was at secondary school, we had reasonably frequent visits from French schools on exchanges. Obviously their English teachers (French nationals) were there to shepherd the children about and make sure they were learning English etc. What I found very noticeable was that the teacher who I spoke to most had a preference for using saxon/germanic words over the latin/french alternatives. For example she would have preferred 'big' to 'large', 'get off' to 'dismount', 'top up' to 'replenish' and so forth (for want of better examples).
I remember that at the time (in this case) that although technically correct, it came across as slightly simplistic and informal, yet I now understand that she was probably performing some impressive lingual gymnastics to a French ear, and may have even been showing off. For the record her class preferred to use the french-like words. A German exchange teacher had the opposite effect prevalent - he even occasionally rolled his Rs deliberately, which is something I've only ever heard from people jokingly impersonating the upper classes.
The question is then; for Romance/Germanic speakers: do you try and use the most dissimilar 'half of english' to your own language, and what are your reasons?
Thanks
Top answer
Hi Aurorae, It was very interesting to read your post; you have brought up an issue which is, without a doubt, worthy of further discussion and scrutiny. I suppose French/German teachers are eager to choose words of Anglo-Saxon origin rather than words of French origin as they are seen as more typical of 'native English'. As I am sure you're aware of, English originated from Anglo-Saxon languages, and was later influenced by French (the language of the upper classes).
- Hi Aurorae, It was very interesting to read your post; you have brought up an issue which is, without a doubt, worthy of further discussion and scrutiny.
- I suppose French/German teachers are eager to choose words of Anglo-Saxon origin rather than words of French origin as they are seen as more typical of 'native English'.
- As I am sure you're aware of, English originated from Anglo-Saxon languages, and was later influenced by French (the language of the upper classes).
- Besides that, teachers talking to students might have felt it was more context-appropriate to choose less formal words.
- The 'rolling' or 'tapped' r-sound you describe probably has to do with the fact that, until very recently, RP was the pronunciation recorded on many good ESL-tapes.
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1 Answers
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Hi Aurorae,
It was very interesting to read your post; you have brought up an issue which is, without a doubt, worthy of further discussion and scrutiny.
I suppose French/German teachers are eager to choose words of Anglo-Saxon origin rather than words of French origin as they are seen as more typical of 'native English'. As I am sure you're aware of, English originated from Ang
It was very interesting to read your post; you have brought up an issue which is, without a doubt, worthy of further discussion and scrutiny.
I suppose French/German teachers are eager to choose words of Anglo-Saxon origin rather than words of French origin as they are seen as more typical of 'native English'. As I am sure you're aware of, English originated from Ang
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