{"id":31312,"date":"2019-04-24T21:56:19","date_gmt":"2019-04-24T19:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31312"},"modified":"2019-04-24T21:56:19","modified_gmt":"2019-04-24T19:56:19","slug":"notre-pere-who-art-in-heaven-our-father-in-french","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/notre-pere-who-art-in-heaven-our-father-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Notre P\u00e8re Who Art In Heaven – Our Father In French"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sad news in Paris last week left thoughts of Notre-Dame<\/strong><\/em><\/a> in everyone’s head all week. The incredible cathedral and all its art and history also made me realize an interesting connection it has to language.<\/p>\n

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Image<\/a> from Pixabay. Licensed under CC0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Notre-Dame de Paris<\/strong> <\/em>is renowned for its beauty and solid place in European history<\/a>. Over the last millennium, Notre-Dame<\/strong> <\/em>has proven its importance because of its connection to l’\u00c9glise catholique<\/strong> (the Catholic Church).<\/p>\n

Now it’s interesting to note that after la Revolution fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> (the French Revolution), the grand cathedral was no longer owned by le pape<\/strong> (the Pope). Despite that disconnection, it has remained an important and impressive place for la religion<\/strong> (the religion).<\/p>\n

Similarly, even for me, someone not really connected to the church or religion, I can understand the importance of l’histoire de l’\u00c9glise catholique<\/strong> (the history of the Catholic Church) in relation to Notre-Dame<\/strong><\/em>. That history<\/a> can be felt, read, and heard very strongly in what is probably the most well-known prayer connected to le catholicisme<\/strong> (Catholicism):<\/p>\n

Notre P\u00e8re<\/a><\/strong> – The Lord’s Prayer, Our Father<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Even if religion was never a big part of your life, it’s hard not to recognize the first few lines<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Notre P\u00e8re, qui es aux cieux, que ton nom soit sanctifi\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For language learners, Notre P\u00e8re<\/strong> <\/em>is also very useful as it is one of the most widely translated works across all languages on Earth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are also a few interesting historical bits<\/a> specifically for French learners hiding in the history of la pri\u00e8re<\/strong> (the prayer).<\/p>\n

Par exemple<\/strong> (for example), up until the late 19th century, Notre P\u00e8re<\/strong> <\/em>was only really ever recited en latin<\/strong> (in latin) in la francophonie<\/strong><\/a> (the French speaking world). That’s actually somewhat understandable since, after all, le fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> is a direct descendant of le latin<\/strong><\/a>!<\/p>\n

As the millennia passed the prayer slowly became less and less understandable to le francophone lambda<\/strong> (the common French speaker). However, it wasn’t until the 1960s that an official version fran\u00e7aise<\/strong><\/a> (French version) of la pri\u00e8re<\/strong> was adopted by the church, but not without an interesting twist – especially for les anglophones<\/strong> (English speakers).<\/p>\n

Before the shift in the 60s, the common version fran\u00e7aise<\/strong><\/a> used le vouvoiement<\/strong> (the “vous”<\/strong><\/em> form). To better reflect the history of the text that changed to the now official tutoiement<\/strong> (the “tu”<\/strong><\/em> form) used today.<\/p>\n

This is particularly interesting for les anglophones<\/strong> because Notre P\u00e8re<\/strong> <\/em>is one of the only places that such a distinction still exits in English<\/em><\/a> today. The seemingly odd use of “art thy name”<\/em> is meant to reflect a close relationship like “tu”<\/strong><\/em> does en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

It may still be hard to understand all the intricacies of being polite and knowing when to use “vous”<\/strong><\/em> and “tu”<\/strong><\/em>, but finding English equivalents definitley makes it more relatable<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Notre-Dame de Paris<\/strong><\/a> and all the history of l’\u00c9glise catholique<\/strong> recently in the news, take a moment to practice your French and listen to Notre P\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em> en fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>:<\/p>\n