In the French text ” De l’origine du français”, some words derive their origin from regional or foreign languages. Have you recognized them ?
The words concerned are now in colour. Below the text, you can find the solution.
1-Words coming from regional languages
Some words belonging to latin have first appreared in the occitan language or langue d’oc.
This is the case for example of cagnard, coming from the occitan : canha
We could go on explaining that canha comes from the latin « canicula », short for « canis » , the other name of the star Sirius in the constellation of the Big Dog.
The appearance of Sirius, also called canicula, took place during the summer solstice, the hottest period.
That is then not so surprising that the word canicule which means extreme heat and chien have the same origin !
Words from the occitan language in the text : tranquilou – farnac
You also have panade coming from one of its dialect called “provencal”.
farnac : travail
tranquilou : tranquille
être dans la panade : avoir de grosses difficultés
Words coming from the English
No need say that “yacht” or “speech” are English.
Words coming from other European languages
In this text, you can find a German word which is leitmotiv”, two Spanish ones : patio and sieste which comes from the Spanish word siesta, which comes itself from the Latin “sexta hora”.
Have you noticed an Italian expression which is dolce vita ? Café also comes from an Italian word “caffé” which itseld comes form Turkish.
Did you find a Portuguese word ? This is autodafé.
As the word coffee comes from Italian itself deriving from Turkish, the word “ouate” comes from the Italian ovatta but has its origin in an Arabic word !
Words coming from other languages
Some words directly come from Arabic such as “satin” or “ouate” trough Italian “ovatta” .
But the word bistro has not travelled the Mediterranean Sea but all Europe from East to West as it is a Russian word.
I hope you enjoyed this glimpse of round-the-world trip of the French language.
If so, please comment.
To read this article in French, click here.