
Episode 31: Saxons, Franks and Other West Germans
The History of English Podcast
00:00
What Are the Frankish Words in Modern English?
The Germanic language of the Franks did influence Latin as it evolved into Old French. In fact about 500 Frankish words were adopted into French and when the Norman French conquered England in 1066 quite a few of those Frankish words passed into English too. One intriguing word which was borrowed from the Franks is the word spy and its related term espionage. It isn't entirely clear what the circumstances were which led to the adoption of the term but it definitely came from the Franks.
Transcript
Play full episode