[lit-ideas] Re: Capel-le-Ferne
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:16:36 -0700
On Jul 13, 2010, at 2:03 PM, Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx wrote:
In a message dated 7/12/2010 5:42:25, judithevans001@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
writes:
> Isn't Capel-le-Ferne a weird name for a Kentish
> place?
not since 1066.. 'capel' is old Norman. (It's also Welsh.)
Judy Evans, Cardiff
-----
Bravo. The English who spoke French in England had a problem with
the /k/ sound, but then also did the French. In all Romance
languages, the old /k/ sound of the Latins is maintained in things
like 'capel'.
Only in French, and English, they geminate that into /tch/. Capel
becoming "Chapel" and 'camp' becoming "Champs elysees".
----"Ferne" is a French, name, too, common in Kent, as Judy notes,
since 1066.
A man who is born in Kent is called "Man of Kent". The expression,
"Woman of Kent" is also used, to distinguish her from "Kentish Woman".
Etc.
That a place in Kent was awarded a Norman name wasn't puzzling me; it
was the fact the name had remained unchanged throughout long periods
of anti-French feeling. I imagined, perhaps because I have lived too
long in America, that in the era of Martello Towers, old Mr. Swing
(a.k.a Captain Swing), Rick Burner of Kent, might have said to his
fellow villagers, "I say chaps, why don't we rename Capel-le-Ferne
something a bit more English? Hand me that handy French-English
dictionary and I'll find out what is says about 'Ferne.' Damn, the
blasted word isn't in there. Cunning devils the French, not
revealing what everything means. I bet in a couple of hundred years
they'll be trying to sell us theories to remedy the situation."
BTW in Jan of 2008 you could have bought your very own Martello
Tower: http://www.martello-towers.co.uk/news.htm
David Ritchie,
West of Half.com
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