| Linguistic borrowing has gone both ways in the history | | | | has had limited success.Latin has also been a |
| of French-English relations. As English has gained | | | | significant source of borrowing throughout the history |
| ground as the international lingua franca of science and | | | | of the English language. Before relocating to the British |
| business, many English words have been borrowed | | | | Isles, the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons fought and |
| directly into French. Along with most Western | | | | bartered with the Romans; they had thus already |
| European languages, English and French derive from | | | | acquired some Latin words prior to the melding of their |
| proto-Indo-European. French — like Spanish, | | | | languages into Old English. Christian missionaries to |
| Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, and Catalan — is | | | | England brought with them Latin terms for their religion |
| a Romance language, which descends from proto-Italic | | | | and more words were borrowed during the English |
| via Latin; English — like Dutch, German, and | | | | Renaissance. From the Industrial Age and up to |
| Yiddish — is a Teutonic language, which | | | | modern times, English tends to give Latin names to |
| descends from proto-Germanic via West Germanic. | | | | new knowledge and technology names, these names |
| French and English branched off the Indo-European | | | | being either direct borrowings or neologisms created |
| family tree a long time ago, but the complicated history | | | | from Latinate roots. This has led to the famous |
| of English and French's role in this history create some | | | | doubles in English: a native Germanic noun and a |
| interesting issues in French/English translation. English is | | | | Latinate adjective, for example: spider and arachnids, |
| often described as a Germanic language with a | | | | eye and ocular/visual. One fourth of English words are |
| Romance vocabulary. Old English began as the | | | | Latin derivatives.The unusual history of the English |
| language of several northern European tribes — | | | | language and its interrelationship with French facilitates |
| the Angles, Jutes, and Saxons — who drifted to | | | | French/English translation as their many cognates |
| the British Isles and displaced the Celts. When the | | | | require little to no change, for instance: direct |
| Normans conquered England in 1066, Norman French | | | | borrowings from French into English (ballet, moustache); |
| became the language of the court and English was | | | | direct borrowings from English into French (weekend, |
| relegated to the vernacular of the common people. | | | | marketing); and Latin derivatives common to both |
| Only used for quotidian affairs, English became simpler | | | | languages (allusion, molecule). Those dealing in French |
| and thus turned into Middle English, the language of | | | | English translation do need, however, to watch out for |
| Chaucer. The Normans controlled England for over | | | | the many false cognates in the two languages, called |
| 300 years; during this period, many French words | | | | 'false friends.' Some are homographs that look the |
| drifted into English. By the time English came back into | | | | same but whose meaning is unrelated, such as coin (a |
| favor as the primary language of the Isles, it had | | | | form of money in English, 'neighborhood' in French) or |
| transformed into Early Modern English, Shakespeare's | | | | chair (a place to sit in English, 'flesh' in French). Similar |
| language. It is estimated that between one fourth and | | | | words that have evolved easily mistakable meanings |
| one third of modern English vocabulary is derived from | | | | are trickier and often mistranslated, such as actually |
| French.Linguistic borrowing has gone both ways in the | | | | actuellement ('currently'), eventually/eventuellement |
| history of French-English relations. As English has | | | | ('possibly'), or to attend/attendre ('to wait').In short, due |
| gained ground as the international lingua franca of | | | | to the vagaries of history, French/English translation is |
| science and business, many English words have been | | | | generally less complicated than translation between |
| borrowed directly into French. Though the French | | | | other language pairs. The vast body of cognates and |
| Academy, the watch-dog body that polices the French | | | | common Indo-European ancestry make the two |
| language, has tried to limit the number of borrowings, it | | | | languages more easily compatible for translation. |