False Gallicisms in the English Language

Due to cross-cultural dynamics inherent in globalization, lexical exchanges among languages have become routine. Consequently, the phenomenon of borrowing, one of the most relevant outcomes within language maintenance, has impacted on the lexical stocks of both recipient and donor languages. In particular, the mixed nature of English lexis mirrors its multi-cultural essence, as attested by the presence of borrowings from other languages such as, for instance, French. Moreover, it is worth mentioning that speakers are often confronted not on-ly with borrowings sensu stricto but also with false borrowings. This article focuses on false Gallicisms in English, which, alongside real Gallicisms, reflect the French cultural imprint on English-speaking societies. The aim of this article is to examine the influence of false borrowings from French on present-day English. The analysis is mostly based on monolingual dic-tionaries and corpora of British English and American English. French monolingual dictionaries are also consulted in order to confirm the ‘falseness’ of the Gallicisms considered.