The Love of Words, the Love of Language
Etymology & multilingualism
For Anglophones, the nativist avowal of monolingualism is a relatively modern phenomenon.1 In England, as far back as the 1300s, French and Latin were the favored languages of literature, bureaucracy, and the literati, and English limped along after.2 Chaucer’s prioress’ less-than-elite education is marked by her study of French in England rather than Par…