S.P.E. Tract No. VII. (Clarendon Press. 3s. 6d.)—The seventh of
the excellent S.P.E. Tracts is a monograph on English influence on the French Vocabulary, by M. Paul Barbier. It is surprising to learn that in the sixteenth century this influence was non-existent, and that the first beginnings were consequent upon the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and the flight of Huguenots into England. M. Barbier has collected 623 English words which have been utilized or actually taken over by the French language, and has classified them under appropriate categories. The result is not only extremely interesting and instructive, but also often highly entertaining. Especially delightful are those words—most of them familiar— which take on the dress of their new nationality. The familiar bulldog becomes even more grotesque when disguised as boule- dogue, and bowling-green, riding-coat, packet boat and pancake are irresistibly funny in their French fancy dress as boulingrin, redingote, paquebot and pannequet. Many words are, of course, place names which have become common nouns, such as maryland (tobacco and card game), ranelagh, vauxhall and bedlam ; and there are words like parlour, rout and gallon, which appear to be old debts of English to French reclaimed in coin which in France is no longer current. A fine array of the less dignified kinds of beverage appears on the list : gin, grog, porter, punch, toddy, whiskey and it is amusing to find Baculard d'Arnaud in 1782 writing of une eau-de-vie de grain nommee dans le memo jargon, usgue-baugh," for d'Arnaud was probably unaware that the meaning of usguebaugh is precisely eau-de-vie.
Previous page
