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The “Gaulois” Legacy in French Part 1 Posted by on Feb 8, 2011 in Culture, Music, Vocabulary

Long before that the hexagonal land that we know today as France was invaded by foreign German tribes called the Franks, who went as far as changing its original language and name, it was known to its inhabitants as La Gaule.

Those native inhabitants, who were of Celtic “souche“(a Gaulish word meaning “stock”, “origin”), were known as les Gaulois.

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Jean-Michel Thibaux’s “To Understand the Celtcs and the Gauls
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In spite of the Franks invasion of la Gaule, the Gaulish language (or language of the Gauls) was not completely wiped out.
Loin de là (Far from that)!
In fact, even today, many French people do not seem to suspect that a lot of the mots communs (common words) they use on a daily basis have une origine gauloise.
So, quels sont ces mots au juste ? (What are these words, precisely?)
Here they are to you, accompanied here and there with des exemples of how they can be used in le langage courant (informal language.)
Allez, c’est parti !
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* Aller: Did we just say “allez“? Allez, of course, comes from “aller“, “to go”—As in “Allez les Bleus!
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* Alouette: Lark—As in “alouette, gentille alouette!

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* Ambassade: Embassy
As in manifestations devant l’ambassade d’Egypte

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* Ardoise: Slate

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* Balai: Groom

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* Bassin: BasinAs in the beautiful bassin d’Arcachon, not too far from Bordeaux!

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* Battre: to Beat

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* Bec: Beak

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* Belette: Weasel—As in “Qui est la Belette?” by Manau!

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* Béret: Beret

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* Berceau: Cradle

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* Branche: Branch

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Native Canadian Rap—in French!
* Brave: Brave—Even before the failed attempt of le General de Gaulle at quelling the Algerian Revolution, the term “Paix des Braves” (“Peace of the Braves”) was used to denote the “Great Peace of Montreal”, between what was known back then as “New France” and the native nations “amérindiennes” in Canada

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* Bribe: Parcel

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* Briser: To break—Like “briser la glace” (“Breaking the ice”)
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* Budget: Budget (Crossed the manche twice! Originally from the Gauloisbulga“, a leather bag.)

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* Cabane: Cabin
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* Cagoule: Hood—As in “Fous ta cagoule!” (“Put on your hood!”)
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Comments:

  1. Html Counter:

    Hiermit mal ein Dank für Deinen Thread!

  2. Renard:

    Let’s add the slang word “bagnole” for an automobile, which came to us for some obscure reasons, may because of it was often used to carry deads to the cemetary.

    • Hichem:

      @Renard Thank you Renard!

      Dated as back as 1840, “bagnole” is a word creation based on “carriole” (a cart), from the word “banne“, equivalent of “tombereau” (a sort of a truck, or a “dumper.”)
      For les Gaulois, a banne is a panier d’osier (a wicker basket.) When it was big enough it served as a tombereau.

      It is important to note, however, that tombereau, despite its similarity with the word “tomb”, its usage was not reserved to carry dead people to the cemetary!