This class takes place over a series of 5 sessions throughout which we will discuss how words have developed into their current forms in Modern French and how interested students might successfully pursue further etymological research on their own.

The series is tought by Dr. Andrew Clark will be held in English, so regardless of your level in French, you will be able to enjoy this class.

Nearly everything in French is thousands of years old: from Latin, Greek, Frankish Germanic, and other Indo-European and even Semitic languages, the adoption and evolution of words, syntax, and grammatical structures follow specific rules that can easily be understood with the basic instruction of a few starting principles.

Since with respect to the changing of individual words over time – in addition to the omnipresent historical, geopolitical, and cultural influences – the physiology of the human body plays the most important role, we will thus begin with the exciting fundamentals of phonetics and train our minds to understand how the mouth produces the sounds of language. We will then move on to the composition of word forms (Morphology), the principles of spelling (Orthography), and the relationship of parent languages to their daughters (Comparative and Historical Linguistics).

Course Highlights 

1. Session 1: Introduction
   Phonetics, Morphology (Roots and Affixes), and how the French language emerges out of Latin; Modern French words case studies
2. Session 2: Orthography, Phonetics and Syntax
   Principles of spelling, sound, and grammar; Modern French word case studies
3. Session 3: The logic of verb conjugation
   Present and "passé composé"; Modern French words case studies
4. Session 4: Modern French words case studies
   Seeing how some words have evolved to become what they are in Modern French  
5. Lesson 5: “How to do your own Etymology”
   Interactive workshop day – work backward and forward through time to guess either the origin or outcome of both ancient and modern words; bring a list of interesting words to do etymology together in real time

Pace: 2hrs per week for 5 weeks
Saturdays: 1 pm-3pm

👉Classes start on Saturday February 14, 2026