The Englishing of French Words; the Dialectal Words in Blunden's Poems Society for Pure English, Tract 05

** "The Englishing of French Words; the Dialectal Words in Blunden's Poems" by Brander Matthews is a literary exploration regarding the incorporation of French vocabulary into the English language, while also looking closely at the regional words used in Edmund Blunden's poems. Matthews looks at how English absorbs words from different languages, especially French, sometimes changing how they sound or are spelled. Matthews thinks it's important to change foreign words to fit English rules, and he isn't fond of keeping French pronunciations and spellings because he believed it hurts the English language. He gives examples of words that have been fully changed and those that haven't, while reflecting on what this means for clearly expressing ideas in English. The book also examines particular regional words in Blunden's poems, judging how well they work to express meaning. All together, the book thinks about the relationships between languages and why it's important to be aware of how we use language in English. **