The French language is a cousin of English!

Did you know that a lot of English is based on French? It's true.

Almost a thousand years ago, in 1066, a brave knight named William the Conqueror made a journey from France to England and took over from the tribes that had fought over the island we now call England. William spoke French. The tribes spoke an old form of English.

You wouldn't recognize it today. Here is the first line in a story about a hero, Beowulf, defeating a monster named Grendel in “Old English”:

HWÆT, WE GAR-DEna in geardagum, 
þeodcyninga þrym gefrunon, 
hu ða æþelingas ellen fremedon!

Pretty different than the way we speak today!

William and his relatives continued to speak French, while their subjects generally spoke old English. Because in the Middle Ages, nobles rarely talked to the workers (except to collect taxes) it didn't matter much and gradually, over about 300 years, the languages blended together and people started writing down what we know today as English. At least, we can recognize most of the words they are saying:

Over hill, over dale,

Thorough bush, thorough brier,

Over park, over pale,

Thorough flood, thorough fire,

I do wander everywhere.

About 300 years after William, there were more than 10,000 French words in the English language and today there are still about 7,000 words that we use every day that have French roots. Can you think of words that are also French? Hint: You may have to cerche for it. Another Hint: French people actually call French Fries pommes frites!

All languages change over time, because we add new words for things like computers and GPS and other words become out of date, like icebox and horseless carriage. But because of William the conqueror, our language made a relatively rapid transmission into a cousin of French.