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Is French a language of precision

  Tags: French
 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages Post Reply
MichaelBland
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United States
Joined 2554 days ago

2 posts - 2 votes

 
 Message 1 of 1
01 April 2017 at 8:13am | IP Logged 
I read the following on an article:

"A language of precision, French won favor with Danish monarchy, czarist Russia and the Ottoman Empire for
drafting treaties. Until recent times, it remained the language of diplomacy."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-
dyn/content/article/2005/09/13/AR2005091301756.html


Did the courts of Denmark, Russia, and Ottoman Empire all choose French to draft treaties because of its precision?
Or was it because it was the lingua franca?

Another person says English is the language of precision while French is a language of feeling:


"As others have alluded, English is a language of precision and is excellent for science, commerce and other concrete
forms, French is a language of feeling, shades of emotion, of self and of the spirit, besides being the most beautiful
of all languages when spoken well. I believe its been said the the region of the Loire has the most “correct” accent
(like Nebraska in the US) and certainly the most mellifluous."
http://www.davidlebovitz.com/the-french-dictionary/


Along the same lines, someone says English is the language of precision while Turkish is a language of emotion:

It was a choice motivated more by her passion for language, by the search for new modes of expression. "There are
certain things I'd rather write in English, certain others I'd rather write in Turkish," she explains. "English, to me, is a
more mathematical language, it is the language of precision. It embodies an amazing vocabulary and if you are
looking for the 'precise word', it is right out there. Turkish, to me, is more sentimental, more emotional." English
seems more suited for philosophy, analytical writing or humour, "but if I am writing on sorrow I'd rather use Turkish."

This is something that nationalists fail to understand, she says. "It is always us versus them, this or that. Nationalists
cannot understand that one can be multilingual, multicultural, cosmopolitan ... without feeling obliged to make a
choice between them once and for all."
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jul/24/fiction.voices ofprotest



Edited by MichaelBland on 01 April 2017 at 8:14am



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