Transcript
0:00So, in pourquoi, the word for why, we have pour, which is for, and quoi, what,
0:08for what.
0:09For and pour are actually the same word.
0:12So, in the evolution of languages, some words share a root, but that root
0:17changes sound in one language and not in the other, or in different ways in the
0:21two languages.
0:22This is why we have many Fs in English, which are Ps in French.
0:26If you look out for this, you will notice many words which don't look at all
0:31similar, but are actually the same word, which has just undergone a consonant
0:36shift.
0:37So, for example, we have for and pour, and peu, a little, is connected to few
0:43in English, especially if you pronounce peu as it's written, I mean, if you
0:48were to read P-E-U in English, how would you pronounce that?
0:52P-E-U, just like few, no?
0:54So, you can really see the connection there.
0:57And pour, few, we have the English F to a French P.
1:01So, when we have a P in a French word which looks unfamiliar and unconnected to
1:05English words we know, we can give this a try and see if we find a related word
1:10with an F in English, rather than just trying to memorise the new word.
1:14So, maybe you look up or ask somebody for the word foot, and they tell you that
1:19foot in French is pied, P-I-E-D, pied.
1:24So, you could just try to remember it, remember that, memorise it, whatever
1:28that means, or you can notice how we have an F in English, foot, which is a P
1:34in French, and the D, which isn't pronounced now, P-I-E-D, D and T are two very
1:40similar sounds, so we can easily see, we can clearly see how foot and pied, as
1:45different as they sound, are actually the same word.
1:48To speak.
1:49To speak in French is parler, parler.
1:52Parler.
1:53How would you say I speak?
1:57Je parle, je parle.
1:59Well, you kind of half hear the E here, because it's quite hard to finish on an
2:03L, so it's je parle.
2:05Je parle.
2:06So, you know, you can fall into the E, it depends on the speed you're speaking,
2:11what comes afterwards, so you could hear je parle, or je parle.
2:15He speaks.
2:17Il parle.
2:18Il parle.
2:20She speaks.
2:23Elle parle.
2:24Elle parle.
2:25You speak.
2:28Tu parles.
2:29Tu parles.
2:30Parler is actually related to fable, you know this word in English, no?
2:34A fable is a told story, an oral story, and there we get parler, to speak.
2:41And fairy, and also fate, are also related to this root that parler comes from.
2:47A fairy is a speakee, it's a messenger.
2:50And fate literally means something like the spoken thing, in Latin.
2:55Interestingly, fate, in Arabic, is the written thing, if you translate the word
3:00directly.
3:01So, we have two very close ideas there.
3:04Give me again what was the word for what, or the words for what?
3:10Que.
3:11Quoi.
3:11Good.
3:12We have que, or quoi, if we will put the word at the end, and then we have why,
3:17built from quoi.
3:20Pourquoi.
3:20Pourquoi.
3:21Why are you speaking?
3:24Pourquoi parles-tu?
3:28Pourquoi tu parles?
3:31So, pourquoi is literally for what, because of what.
3:35About what is de quoi.
3:38These are two words.
3:39Pourquoi is one word, but de quoi, these are two words.
3:42So, about what is literally of what, de quoi.
3:46So, if you want to say, for example, what are you talking about, what are you
3:49speaking about, you will say, of what are you speaking?
3:54De quoi parles-tu?
3:56De quoi parles-tu?
3:58De quoi tu parles?
4:00You could also say, tu parles de quoi?
4:03It's quite flexible.
4:05And like with pourquoi, we don't have an obligatory inversion when we use de
4:09quoi.
4:10We can think that the question is contained in that de quoi bit.
4:14So, we can have, de quoi tu parles?
4:16De quoi parles-tu?
4:19So, we said, for and pour, no, are the same word, just with our F to P shift.
4:25Father in French is père.
4:30Again, our F to P shift, which also exists within English.
4:34We have father and then paternal, again from the same root, père.
4:39My father?
4:42Mon père.
4:43Very good, mon père.
4:45Our father, you can think of the hunchback of...
4:51Notre père.
4:52Very good, notre père.
4:54French, in French, is le français.
4:57Le français.
4:58The French.
4:59So, you could say, our father doesn't speak French.
5:03You could say it either way, our father doesn't speak French or our father
5:06doesn't speak the French.
5:08Not very acceptable.
5:11Notre père ne parle pas le français.
5:15Very good.
5:16Notre père ne parle pas le français.
5:20Notre père ne parle pas le français.
5:23What was again the word for foot?
5:27Pied.
5:28Pied.
5:28Pied.
5:29The D on the end, we don't pronounce it, no?
5:31Pied.
5:32To go, in French, was aller.
5:34And to go on foot is aller à pied.
5:37Aller à pied.
5:38Aller à pied.
5:39Do you remember how was the house?
5:43La maison.
5:45La maison.
5:46La maison.
5:47I do not want to go to the house on foot.
5:50I do not want to go to the house on foot.
5:54Je ne veux pas aller à la maison à pied.
5:59Very good.
6:00Je ne veux pas aller à la maison à pied.
6:03Oh, the order is flexible here.
6:05We could have, je ne veux pas aller à pied à la maison.
6:10And also we have an optional liaison here.
6:13Pas aller could become pas aller.
6:15Now, this liaison is optional and dialect and age and idiolect, the personal
6:20individual dialect, will influence what is considered normal.
6:25So, we could also have, je ne veux pas aller à la maison à pied.
6:29Very good.
Etymology
Etymology connections will appear here as they are discussed