The anglicism in the French language

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyse the phenomenon known as Anglicism – a loan made from the English language to another language, in this case to French. The causes of existence of anglicisms in the French language are different: one of the causes is the incorrect or word-by-word translation from English into French, the dominant status of English in the world, the creation of new and contemporary technologies and their development and finally the desire of French young people to look trendier. Sometimes anglicisms existing in the French language are used so often that are absolutely adopted in the language and even appear in the dictionaries as complete French words. There are several cases when anglicisms are used more in the language than the already existing French equivalents.

In this article we also analyse the phenomenon called “Frenglish” that has appeared recently and is mainly encouraged by French young people. We also come to prove that anglicisms are current in such areas as sport, in the judicial and parliamentary system, in the commercial spheres and more recently in film industry. Anglicisms continue to grow in French, expanding the circles in which they are used.