French Words: Past, Present, and Future

Using an original mode of presentation -- the 'textbite' -- this book seeks to approach the French vocabulary from as many angles as possible. It begins by showing how French words are constructed -- concentrating on the concept of the morpheme. It then moves on to examine the difficulties inherent in defining a word and the relationships words enter into (relationships of synonymy and homonymy in particular). A sizeable section of the book is devoted to charting the origins of French words. One chapter is devoted to looking at the contribution of Latin, Gaulish and Frankish to the evolving language, and provides simple charts showing how sounds, word forms and meanings have changed in the passage from Latin to modern French. Another chapter assesses the contributions which other languages have made to French over the centuries. Taking families of languages and geographical groups in turn, and providing examples of their contributions, the chapter provides a panoramic view of the diversity of donor languages to French. A final chapter treats recent trends in word formation and speculates on ways in which the language is changing at present. Examples and exercises are provided throughout the book, and the reader is constantly called upon to respond to questions relating to the points under discussion. Book jacket.