French different from other Latin languages?

Colette von Hessen   Mon Dec 24, 2007 11:57 pm GMT
French sounds much different from other romance languages, and the people of France seem did NOT like to be called a "Latin people" when I lived in France. They seemed to want to disassociate themselves from other Latin countries (they claim that France is not even a "Latin" country). They were also quick to remind anyone who thought of France as a "Latin" country that their beautiful country is named for a tribe of Germanic peoples, after all. What are your thoughts on the French language and its relation to other Romance languages?
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:25 am GMT
no French does NOT sound "different" from any other Romance language and French are mostly Latin. STOP this f**ing matter once for all. If they are not German, they are not Latin where do they come from? Mars?
Your question has a simple answer: the ones who claim these things are the usual bunch of idiotic overpatriotic French loosers who want to re-write history inventing things that are not true, just to be different. French love to be different and they try to built a different country history from teh real one. They made a comics too with this aim, aren't they pathetic?
They always denied the truth even when they seemed comical too.
Stop tis thread once for all, everyone know the reasons.
Any other stupid thread?
Go Poland   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:28 am GMT
I ask moderators to wipe away all the German shit on this forum, we have enough of this bunch of Germanichen idiots.
They must be banned, they overpassed the limit. You can bet we won't see any German words here after this invasion.
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:33 am GMT
Uh, if you would care to speak to me with respect instead of lunacy and hatred, I'd be happy to talk to you. I was shocked that French people didn't consider themselves to be a "Latin people." My ex-boyfriend was a professor from France, so not an ignorant person by any means, and he kept "correcting" me and reminding me about the reason France is called France (and Frankreich in German, meaning "the kingdom of the Franks)." He got quite upset with me when I told him that in my country we call France a "Latin country" because their language stems from the Latin language. And by the way: French definitely, definitely sounds VERY different from all other Latin languages (to someone whose native language is Germanic, anyway). It is very pretty and soft and doesn't grate on the ear, for example. It is not like "cha, cha, cha" like Spanish or the strong way that Italian sounds. I do hear a slight resemblance between French and Portuguese, because Portuguese sounds soft and feminine as well, and not harsh and loud like Spanish and Italian.
mac   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:57 am GMT
What exactly is the ethnic definition of ''Latin'' anyways?
furrykef   Tue Dec 25, 2007 1:58 am GMT
<< no French does NOT sound "different" from any other Romance language >>

Nonsense. France is special in its lack of phonemic stress and its very extensive elision and liaison. I wouldn't go so far as to say it doesn't sound like it came from Latin, but languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian sound a lot more like each other than they sound like French, although some of the more minor Romance languages like Catalan may indeed sound like French. (I've never heard actual spoken Catalan, so I wouldn't really know...)

Anyway, it doesn't terribly surprise me that the French want to distance themselves from Latin culture. They take a lot of pride in being, well, *French*. The stereotype of French being cultural snobs, while it is a stereotype, is founded in a grain of truth. And they also have a point: there's much more to their culture than the language, and the Romans only had so much to do with the other things.

- Kef
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 2:57 am GMT
Yes, French has a heavy Germanic and Celtic influence, so the phonology is quite different. I too have experienced that French people do not like to be called Latin. They consider their culture to be very different from Spain and Italy and perhaps more sophisticated.
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:04 am GMT
<<Yes, French has a heavy Germanic and Celtic influence, so the phonology is quite different. I too have experienced that French people do not like to be called Latin. They consider their culture to be very different from Spain and Italy and perhaps more sophisticated.>>

After having lived in France for three months, I can see why. Even though I was shocked by how short French people were (I lived in Celtic Bretagne), I was equally shocked at how many Germanic-looking people there were. Again, I lived on the northern coast of France, so this is probably why. They seemed annoyed that people would consider them to be like Spain or Portugal or even Italy, though I noticed they seemed slightly less hesitant to be linked to Italy. Still, though, the whole experience was eye-opening. We all know the French are a fiercely proud people, and frankly (no pun intended) I really do see them as a kind of cultural and linguistic crossroads between the northern (i.e., Germanic) and southern (i.e., Latin) European peoples.

Thanks for clarifying, JLK. Glad to know I'm not the only one exposed to this sentiment while in France.
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 3:58 am GMT
Yeah, the people in the north of France look much like the English and Germans. Bretagne is of course Celtic, but is also heavily Scandinavian. Vikings settled the northern coast of France for centuries. The Normans, who invaded England, were vikings who had adopted the French language and culture. Most modern Frenchmen look very different from their Frankish ancestors, though the Frankish lineage can still be seen in the aristocracy. French aristocrats are typically quite fair and tall. <De Gaulle stood at 6'5.> The ethnic characteristics of modern day France were largely developed as a result of the Napoleonic Wars. The military census at the time revealed that 1/2 of the men in French military had blue eyes, which are unusual in today's France. Napoleon's army was later wiped out and most of the men died childless.

There you go, a brief history of France's demographics.
Guest   Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:17 am GMT
Then they are not latin. they are to be ashamed.
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:32 am GMT
<<Then they are not latin. they are to be ashamed.>>

I can imagine you saying that in a very serious manner, but I wonder, are you really serious? Thank you for providing me with a big laugh on my otherwise quiet, unassuming Christmas Eve.
Colette de Normandie   Tue Dec 25, 2007 4:41 am GMT
Hi JLK,

This is also what I have found in my research and studies. I didn't know about de Gaulle being so tall, though! That's very cool, and not exactly what you think of as "Latin," I guess... Yes, my French ancestors were aristocratic on one side, mercantile on the other. Both were from Normandie and all had blue eyes (we have surviving portraits). My grandmother of French ancestry married my grandfather of German ancestry, that's why I wanted to study the languages (besides English) of my family. If I may ask, do you have Norman ancestry as well? Or anything non-Angle/Saxon? Also, do y ou think of the Nornans as French or Scandinavian? It's a tough call, isn't it?

Colette
JLK   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:14 am GMT
Well, I'm English/American. My mum is American, but of Swedish ancestry. My Dad is English and his family is directly descended from the Norman aristocracy, including William the Conqueror. I'm not sure how to group the Normans. Interesting enough, the Norman language is still spoken in Normandy today and one can see the heavy Norse influence in the vocabulary.
Colette von Hessen   Tue Dec 25, 2007 5:25 am GMT
That's cool, JLK. I could only trace my French ancestry back to the 1700s -- when they came over. My ggggg grandmother and her brother escaped the French Revolution and my great uncle still has her original passport from France at that time and her brother's bibles. She had to lie and say she couldn't read so she wouldn't get executed and fled France to upstate New York with her brother, who was a priest. She wrote that she witnessed Marie Antoinette get executed and she shuddered every time she thought about it. She married a well-to-do but nonetheless common Frenchman, even though she made him sign a marriage contract which was the norm for nobility back then. It's here at the French consulate in NYC, but I never think to go take a look at it. Thanks for reminding me. :)

Do you study Swedish as well?
K. T.   Tue Dec 25, 2007 6:07 am GMT
Colette,

I don't mean to be funny, but one in twelve Europeans is descended from royalty. I'm not kidding. That's because one in twelve is descended from Charlemagne.