Anton Redman Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 One of my emergency sources of French conversation is to ask French people how many words there are in in French which changing their meaning when they change gender - Le Livre = book but Le Livre = Pound. F Oranges are fruit M Oranges are colours etc.Sheer desperation last week but remembered 'Clavier' as keyboard but remarked that I expected them to 'well tempered but German and spelt with a K' . French lady to whom I was speaking then said that almost words beginning with 'K' in French are foreign and probably non latin in origin :Kaki,Kangerou,Karate,Karting,KascherKermese,Kipnapper,Kilo,Kiosque,Kiwi,Klaxon,K.O., kraft,Anybody know anywords which are definitely French in origin and start with K ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 As far as I recall from my undergrad days, the French alphabet only had 24 letters - no 'k' or 'w'. Therefore any words you see which contain either k or w ('le weekend'!) are not French in origin.regards,Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mysfloss Posted January 27, 2005 Share Posted January 27, 2005 Kir Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 Kir Mmmm, yes please, royal preferably! Did you know it was named after a certain Canon Kir who was a mayor of Dijon? No, neither did I but that's what my Robert is telling me. And you're right for it does appear to be the only word beginning with K that doesn't have foreign origins. For looking through the rest (there aren't many) every word has either "mot japonais, d'une region des Balkans, mot Breton, mot novegien, probabit du suedois, mot russe", etc. after it. Absolutely fascinating, not a daft question at all. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 I didn't know about 'a certain Canon Kir who was a mayor of Dijon' - but if we assume he was of non-French extraction, that doesn't invalidate what I said about letters k and w. Have you tried a kir made with pêche? MMMMMM!Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SaligoBay Posted January 28, 2005 Share Posted January 28, 2005 <<One of my emergency sources of French conversation is to ask French people how many words there are in in French which changing their meaning when they change gender >>Bet you get invited to LOTS of parties, Anton! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted January 29, 2005 Share Posted January 29, 2005 Have you tried a kir made with pêche? Of course! A Bellini, peach juice and bubbly, de-licious. And a new discovery in Italy recently, a Rossini, strawberry liqueur and bubbly, also irresistible. Still prefer a good old kir though. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted January 30, 2005 Author Share Posted January 30, 2005 [quote]<<One of my emergency sources of French conversation is to ask French people how many words there are in in French which changing their meaning when they change gender >> Bet you get inv...[/quote]The emergency is normally a French Lady commenting on how large my feet are, and then remarking that my ears appear to be in proportion. If you haven't worked out where that leads you have not lived and if Isabel worked out what was being said I suspect I would regard M. Bobbit's fate as preferable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clair Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 [quote]As far as I recall from my undergrad days, the French alphabet only had 24 letters - no 'k' or 'w'. Therefore any words you see which contain either k or w ('le weekend'!) are not French in origin. r...[/quote]Mmmm it must be a different alphabet from the one I was taught when at school in France... Mine had 26 letters... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 I'm going back a long way (and I don't mean to my university days - even further back!). 24 letters originally, which is why 'qu' sounds like ''k' and 'ou' sounds like 'w'. So French words have the 2-letter phonemes 'qu' and 'ou', non-French loan words have the single letters 'k' and 'w'.Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Of course, Brittany's part of France, and full of Ks ... (daft answer, I know, quite a few bretons don't consider themselves french!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Yes, of course Brittany is part of France - but Breton is not like French. It's a completely different language, related to Cornish and Welsh, with very different roots. Hence the abundance of Ks.Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 M,I was only having a french (breton) joke ...Kenavo ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Posted February 16, 2005 Share Posted February 16, 2005 oops, sorry Scarlett - I'm having a dim day or two!m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Anybody know anywords which are definitely French in origin and start with K ?K7? Sounds french to me Liz (29) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 "Anybody know anywords which are definitely French in origin and start with K ?"K7? Sounds french to me Liz (29) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anton Redman Posted February 19, 2005 Author Share Posted February 19, 2005 K7 is the French phononim for Cassette as in C30,C60, C90 and going wild in the country for everybody who is as confused as me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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