Long ago I read something about this, in relation to the names we still use for meat foods. Those that were eaten by the Norman overlords still carry names derived from the French [beef from boef, etc], while the food of the Saxons and peasants still carry English or Germanic names. Nancy ------- I was never lost, but I was bewildered once for three days. --Daniel Boone On Jan 6, 2007, at 11:52 AM, Debra Jackson/Harold Forsythe wrote: > It makes sense that when the Saxon barons were demoted by the > French-speaking Normans that the language of the former feudal > rulers would > demoted along with the lords themselves. Law French replaced > Anglish as the > language of the courts. I think it was the poet Robert Graves in his > handbook on writing, The Reader Over Your Shoulder, who stated that > the bulk > of Romance vocabulary imported into English came from the French of > the > Normans during their initial 2-3 centuries of occupation. > > On the history of languages--vocabulary, grammar, and scripts-- > there is a > encyclopedic new work. See Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word: A > Language History of the World (Harper-Collins, NY, 2005, paperback > 2006) > > Harold S. Forsythe > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Bruce Terrell" <[log in to unmask]> > To: <[log in to unmask]> > Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2007 11:42 AM > Subject: Re: origin of the eff-word > > >> I can't recall the source but I recall reading something about the >> relegation of Anglo Saxon >> words for bodily functions, etc. to profanity while the Latin- >> based words became preferred. I'm not sure what the instigation was, >> possibly w/the rise of >> the church in Rome during the Dark Ages. It made sense >> and seems worth further research. >> >> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the >> instructions >> at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html > > To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the > instructions > at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe, please see the instructions at http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html