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“Some 40 per cent of the 15,000 words in Shakespeare’s works were of French origin. The same percentage can be found in the current English version of the Bible. Évidemment, I make no bones about that. This is a book written in bad faith. It’s a French book. So (it is) arrogant. English, full of French, Norman and Latin, is more of a Romance language than a Germanic one. Its Saxon backbone is clothed in a luxuriant and precious Roman flesh.” — Bernard Cerquiglini
Some 40 per cent of the 15,000 words in Shakespeare’s works were of French origin. The same percentage can be found in the current English version of the Bible.
Évidemment, I make no bones about that. This is a book written in bad faith. It’s a French book. So (it is) arrogant.
English, full of French, Norman and Latin, is more of a Romance language than a Germanic one. Its Saxon backbone is clothed in a luxuriant and precious Roman flesh.