French derivational Affixes in English.

Alongside words,English also adopted some French derivational affixes (both suffixes and prefixes).This was the way it happened.If English had adopted a certain number of words containing the same affix,the affix could now be used to derive new words from French (and occasionally Scandinavian) stems.

A few examples of French derivational affixes used in English to derive new words are already found in ME:husbandry,goddess.However,a wider spread of the procedure is a fact of the MnE period.

Suffixes.

A number of French substantives were derived by means of the suffix ?ance,ence; ?ignorance, arrogance, entrance, repentance, innocence, excellence,

dependence,etc?.The meaning of the suffix became clear to English speakers,and this made possible derivation of new substantives from native English stems,such as hindrance from the stem of the native English verb ?hinder?.

Both Dalton-Puffer and Miller propose that French derivational suffixes became productive in Late Middle English.

-esse- is employed to form feminine nouns from other nouns. The suffix appears

in fairly large number of loans dating from 1160 onwards.The first attested borrowings are ?countesse? the wife of a count or an earl is emperice ?the consort of an empera? from the Peterborough Chronicle.Later loans are,e.g,clergesse ?a learned woman?,grateresse ?a female grater?.

According to Jespersen and Marchand ?esse was a profilic formative occurring on English bases in the 14^th century,or even the latter part of this century,judging by the examples they quote.The suffux did appear,however,in hybrids already in the early 13^th century and in a variety of instances in the late 13^th and the first half of the 14^th century MED records it in ?bolleresse? a woman who makes bowls; disheresse ?a woman who makes or sells dishes? ; clerkesse ?a learned woman?,

breuresse ?a female brewer?and shepherdesse ?a female keeper of sheep;also ?the

wife of a shepherd,gloveresse ?a female glove maker;prioresse ?prioress and maistresse,governess?.

-age ?is employed to form nouns denoting state or rank from other nouns or to convert verbs into nouns of various meaning.The French loan-words with-age are also numerous and started to appear at the beginning of the ME period.The first borrowing according to MED is pilgrimage ?a pilgrimage originally found in Kentish Serionons (1275) and later in the South English Legendary(1300),Guy of Warwick (1300).Early borrowings with date of their first occurance are ?hermitage? ?a hermitage? (The place-names of the East Riding of Yorkshire and York 1280) pelrinage ? a pilgrimage?,servage ?servitudes, bondage, slavery

and taillage ?a royal land tax,barnage ?the nobility and passage? the act of crossing or passing from one place to another.

-erie-is a suffix forming nouns which denote professions or crafts,as well as the collectivity of their members or products or ?quality of behavior?,sometimes also rank or conditions.The suffix may be added to nouns,verbs and adjectives.

The French loan-words containing the suffix are abundant and the first is ?druerie?

love between God and man or affection.Other examples: daierie ?a pantry?,reverie ?robbery,portmanrie ?the rank of portman or free citizen.

-ment had penetrated into English as part of such substantives as ?government?, ?treatment?, ?agreement? and was used to derive new substantives from native stems fulfillment, bereavement, amazement, bewilderment,etc.The suffix forms

mostly nouns of action,result,state or condition from verbs.The first loan-words from French were found in Ancrene Wisse,e.g,amendement ?improvement or chastisement?,admonition,judgement ?discernment?,amonestement ?temptation? and commencement?beginning?,corounement?the reign of a sovereign?,enchaunte-

ment ?magic power and amendement?,improvement;comberment ?trouble,distress,

etc.According to Jespersen the ending ?ment did not come to be considered as an E formation till the latter part of the 13^th century.Dalton-Puffer claims that the suffix

-ment is unusual in the sense that it shows an abrupt growth in productivity already in the subperiod of ME from 1250 to 1350.

A number of French substantives contained the diminutive suffix ?et,such as coronet ?small crown?,cabinet.In some words the final consonant of the stem was

-l,as in islet,circlet . It is from words of this type that the suffix ?let was formed,

which was eventually joined on to native stems to derive the substantives streamlet

ringlet,leaflet,booklet,etc.

The French suffix ?é, used to derive the past participle of French group I verbs (from Latin ?atum) penetrated into English as a part of some substantives denoting ?a person taking a possessive part in some action or agreement?,such as lesse,

employee. Eventually the suffix was joined on to a Scandinavian stem to derive the substantive trustee.

The suffix ?ard(of German origin) penetrated into English as a part of the substantives coward,bastard. Joined on to native English stems it yielded the substantives ?wizard? (from the stem of the adjective wīs),drunkard,dullard;joined on to a Scandinavian stem,it yielded the substantive ?niggard?.

The suffix ?al(from French ?aille),used to derive abstract substantives from verb stems,penetrated into English as part of the substantives funeral,refusal,arrival

proposal.Eventually it was joined on to an English stem to derive the substantive burial.

The suffix ?able,-ible, deriving adjectives which mean ?capable of undergoing the action denoted by the verb stem?, came into English as of the adjectivesadmirable,tolerable,legible,flexible. Eventually it was joined on to native stems to derive the adjectives readable,unbearable,understandable,etc.

Prefixes.

Some French prefixes also became productive in English. Thus, the prefix dis-,

des- with a negative meaning,came into English as part of the French verbs disappoint,disdain,disagree and was eventually used to derive verbs from native stems:disown,disburden, and from a Scandinavian stem:distrust .

The French prefix en-(from Latin in-), familiar from such words as encompass,

encircle,encage, was joined on to native stems to derive to verbs endear, embed

(enb->emb-).

3.2.The French Influence on English Phrasing .

Aside from borrowing and word formation,French considerably influenced Eng phrasing. While A. Prins dates the peak of this influence to late ME,Nevalainen points out that it continues to be felt in EModE. The loan translations range from polite turns of speech,such as at your service,do me the favour,to engage somebody in a quarrel, to make (later: pay) a visit, to idiomatic phrases like by occasion, in detail, in favour of, in the last resort, in particular, to the contrary.

Though the number of French loans in the EModE period is relatively minor in comparison to M.E, the contribution is most important.The EModE French loans

were primarily borrowed to provide richness to the language.Whilst it was arguable during the Restoration whether the loans were corrupting or enriching the language, today there is no doubt or disputable grounds to argue that the loans did anything but enrich the English language

CONCLUSION.

Since the Norman Conquest in 1066 the French language became more and more important. The Normans (North-man) were descendants of the Danes and spoke French influenced by a Germanic dialect. They inhabited some parts in the north of France and adapted not only to the language, but also to the French culture. They had a talent for building churches, cathedrals, castles and proved the English their rank of military quality.

Yet, that does not mean the English culture was inferior to the French one. The Anglo- Saxons were excellent writers, artists and craftsmen. They did not lack in civilization. ?French became the language of the upper classes in England simply because it was the language of the conquerors, not because of any cultural superiority on their part.?By this time, the French and English language existed side by side and French took over to be the language of the court and ?royaltyof England throughout the twelfth,thirteenth and (diminishingly) fourteenth centuries.?The kings of England spoke French, took French wives and lived mostly in France. The Normans became the new upper class. They dominated all high positions like the church, education, aristocracy, administration etc.. So, many other people, particularly among the gentry whose native language was English had to acquire French, if they ?wanted to get on in the world.?

References

Alexander, Henry. The Story of Our Language. New York: Dolphin Books Edition,
1962.

Barber, Charles. Early Modern English. London: Andre Deutsch Ltd., 1976.

Baugh, Albert, and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language 4^th edition.
London: Routledge, 1993.

Blake, N. F. A History of the English Language. London: Macmillan Press Ltd., 1996.

Coleman, Julie. ?The Chronology of French and Latin Loan Words in English?. The
Philological Society Vol. 93:2 (1995): 95-124.

Jespersen, Otto. Growth and Structure of the English Language. Toronto:
Collier-Macmillan, Ltd., 1968.

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 667