The French language has strongly influenced English. During the Norman occupation, around 10,000 words were incorporated into English and more than half of them are still in use today. This influence extends not only to vocabulary, but also to pronunciation and word order.
Many French words and words of French origin are used in English. Here is a small list:
beef
brunette
carte blanche
cordon bleu
deja vu
double entendre
encore
fondue
genre
haute cuisine
je ne sais quoi
joie de vivre
laissez-faire
mutton
noblesse oblige
nouveau riche
pirouette
pork
puree
rapport
rendez-vous
veal
venison
vis-a-vis
vol-au-vent
French has also influenced English pronunciation. Words such as vol-au-vent have a nasalized vowel not present in native English words. Old English had the voiceless fricatives of for, she, sit and three, but French added the voiced counterparts of mirage, the, valley and zone.
Another area of French influence is word order. The compounnds secretary-general and surgeon general retain the word order typical of French rather than the adjective + noun sequence used in English.
The English language exhibits many signs of French influence. These can be seen in many words as well as word order and pronunciation. Despite this reality, many English speakers are not fully aware of the extent to which French has influenced English.
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