has the french 'j' sound always been in English?
I'm talking about the soft 'j' sound in words like mirage, measure, television etc.

Question

Answer

I think the consensus is that they had something similar in Old English - the voiced palato-alveolar affricate dʒ, which you see in French as 'dj'. They didn't have the j/ʒ, however.

Obviously, after the Norman conquest, the two languages merged to some extent and the ʒ found its way in through loan words.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology

Answer

Many English words were derived from the French.  English has evolved from many languages.  I believe mirage is based in French.  It may help you to find the origins of the words. Best of luck.

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