@jayles:

It would be wrong to say that the Norman-French bearing on the English was a bit of "froth." Right?

English words folks don't likely know....

frore: adj. frozen; frosty; Middle English froren

"Again, romance and germanic tongues it is often possible to guess at meanings: that just doesn't seem to work once one moves east"

I don't understand what you mean here.

"Of this word-stock over 4000 would be "French", and about the same again from Latin."

With lots of frenchified Germanic rooted words akin to English. Truly, they are hardly all "French".

" the meaningful word-stock is French - this is quite normal in business and half-scholarly writing. For a born and bred English wight, after the ground-framework, French is hardly a fremd tongue."

The 'meaningful' word-stock? Like what? Business folks don't speak like that unless the were taught Globalish.

"Salut, comment allez-vous ?" is nothing like "How are you?" -- One cannot see enough kinship to guess the meaning. Even when writing with an Englished French word, it is not readily manifest > "J'avais la chirurgie" = "I had surgery"

French is most fremd when matched against English.

"SANS" is in the English wordbook, but it is not an English word. It was borrowed Funny enough, the root of 'sans' (L. sine) does share PIE root as E. sunder.

"My loue to thee is ſound, ſans cracke or flaw." -- about 1590; William Shaespeare, Love's Labour's Lost, act v, scene 2

@jayles: "Never ceases to amaze me how close French is to English...."

What do you mean here? English and French to me are not alike at all. The only thing that is alike are some of the borrowed words.

Anglo-Fr violent < L. vīs "strength, might" + L. -ulent "full of..."(< L. -ulentus); see FECULENT for a good laugh.

Sskt. ahiṃsā = "no harm" < a- "no, not, un-" + himsa "harm" (< Sskt. hims "to hit, strike")

See G. Gewalt "violence" < Ge- "to do something over and over again without end" (< PGmc. *ga- "wholeness") + walt, wald (see O.E. weald > E. wield) "strength, might, to rule"

O.E. ġe- = a-/i- in today's English >> a- + wield = awield < same as G. Gewalt.

There are many, many English words of today and yesteryear that can be said instead of L. violence.

consensus > shared understanding, like-mindedness, fellowship of the mind, kinship of thought, kindred mind/thought, oneness, one-mindedness/ one-mind, sameness, wholeness, togetherness... of mind.

Belgium's co-founder, Charles Rogier (a Francophone), wrote in 1832 to Jean-Joseph Raikem, the minister of justice:

Les premiers principes d'une bonne administration sont basés sur l'emploi exclusif d'une langue, et il est évident que la seule langue des Belges doit être le français. Pour arriver à ce résultat, il est nécessaire que toutes les fonctions civiles et militaires soient confiées à des Wallons et à des Luxembourgeois; de cette manière, les Flamands, privés temporairement des avantages attachés à ces emplois, seront contraints d'apprendre le français, et l'on détruira ainsi peu à peu l'élément germanique en Belgique.

In English > "The first principles of a good administration are based upon the exclusive use of one language, and it is evident that the only language of the Belgians should be French. In order to achieve this result, it is necessary that all civil and military functions are entrusted to Walloons and Luxemburgers; this way, the Flemish, temporarily deprived of the advantages of these offices, will be constrained to learn French, and we will hence destroy bit by bit the Germanic element in Belgium."

Hmmm? Does anyone else think that thoughts like these were only found in the 1800's? Maybe we can apply this seemingly Francophonic mindset to Ænglisc?