Perhaps one of the biggest ways overlapping cultures influence each other over time is through the assimilation of each other's words. About 40% of English is derived from French. (This along with the Norman conquest in 1066 are my favorite things to think about when confronted with Francophobia.)
The French government is working hard to single out English words that have seeped into French culture (le mail, le spam, le cowboy) and then replace them with truly French words. The post linked below offers a nice little discussion of this initiative, the French language, and the realities intersecting it past and present. Personally, I got a nice little chuckle at the part describing how tact is originally from French.
It's a long post, but really worth the investment:
Charles Bremner on the eve of International Day of the French-speaking World.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
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