french is a romance language that specifically is classified under the gallo romance languages the discussion of the history of a language is typically divided into external history describing the ethnic political social technological and other changes that affected the languages and internal history describing the phonological and grammatical changes undergone by the language itself external social and political history roman gaul before the roman conquest of what is now france by julius caesar much of present france was inhabited by celtic speaking people referred to by the romans as gauls and belgae southern france was also home to a number of other remnant linguistic and ethnic groups including ibirans along the eastern part of the pyrenees and western mediterranean coast the remnant ligures on the eastern mediterranean coast and in the alpine areas greek colonials in places such as marseille and antibes and vascons and aquitani in much of the southwest the gaulish-speaking population is held to have continued speaking gaulish even as considerable romanization of the local material culture occurred with gaulish and latin coexisting for centuries under roman rule and the last attestation of gaulish to be deemed credible having been written in the second half of the sixth century about the destruction of a pagan shrine in overn the celtic population of gaul had spoken gallis which is moderately well attested and appears to have wide dialectal variation including one distinctive variety lepantic the french language evolved from vulgar latin but it was influenced by gaulish examples include sandy phenomena the loss of unstressed syllables and the vowel system syntactic oddities attributable to gaulish include the intensive prefix r o tilde re emphatic structures prepositional paraphrastic phrases to render verbal aspect and the semantic development of we yes avenue goal blind some sound changes are attested ps right pointing arrow xs and pt right pointing arrow xt appears in a pottery inscription from la graffazenke in which the word peroxide is written for peroxides similarly the development cs right pointing arrow xs right pointing arrow is and court right pointing arrow xt right pointing arrow it the latter being common to much of western romance languages also appears in inscriptions divikta tilda divixta rektuginus tilda rekstuginus tilda rytujinus and is present in welsh eg se chi tan right pointing arrow seth 7 ekai tamos right pointing arrow eth extreme for romance compare latin fraxinus ash right-pointing arrow ofr frain occitan phrase catalan freaks portuguese frey show romance freisen-frapson spanish fresno latin lactum milk right pointing arrow french lay welsh la eth portuguese leat catalan llet pimantes lei leguerolite both changes sometimes had a cumulative effect in french latin caps a right-pointing arrow kakay saw right-pointing arrow kess or captivus right-pointing-arrow ka-kai tivis right-pointing arrow occitan katyu ofr chadif in french and the adjoining folk dialects and closely related languages some 200 words of galish origin have been retained most of which pertaining to folklife they include land features plant names wildlife rural and farm life most notably boue mud servoize ale charou palau glez lome ward kittel stake net jashir phallo field javel sheef bundel faggo marn marl mouton sheep rey lynchit cylin furro soosh tree stump tree bass tarrier auger gimlet tun barrel some common verbs and lone translations avinugal blind from latin ave achilles eyeless calc of gaulish exops blind literally eyeless other celtic words were not borrowed directly but brought in through latin some of which had become common in latin brays knee-length pants chains tunic char dre wagon dame roe deer ayton tin glaive broad sword manto coat vasil surf nave latin quickly took hold among the urban aristocracy for mercantile official and educational reasons but did not prevail in the countryside until some four or five centuries later since latin was of little or no social value to the landed gentry and peasantry the eventual spread of latin can be attributed to social factors in the late empire such as the movement from urban-focused power to village-centered economies and legal serfdom franks in the 3rd century western europe started to be invaded by germanic tribes from the north and the east and some of the groups settled in gaul in the history of the french language the most important groups are the franks in northern france the alimony in the modern german french border area the burgundians in the rhone valley and the visigoths in the aquitaine region and spain the frankish language had a profound influence on the latin spoken in their respective regions by altering both the pronunciation and the syntax it also introduced a number of new words sources disagree on how much of the vocabulary of modern french comes from germanic words and range from just 500 words to 15 of the modern vocabulary to even higher if germanic words coming from latin and other romance languages are taken into account changes in lexicon morphology syntax the name of the language itself francais comes from old french francis francis from the germanic frankisk french frankish from frank the franks referred to their land as franco which became francia in latin in the third century the name gaul was also taken from the frankish asterisk walhelant several terms and expressions associated with their social structure military terms colors derived from frankish and other germanic languages other examples among common words are abandoner arranger attacher oberge van dae banquit batir bassan bile blesser wah bonnet ward bouquet bowder brayes rotary bras chagrin schwa chic cliche clankante khoif kororoyer krech danser ashifo engage effroy apartner epaler atal atyre etiquette fotoy flan flatter flotter forber phrase frapper guy gallant galloper gant gatto glisser grapp gratter gredden gripper beret guys hage hare halle hanch harasser aaron herter jardin jogger jolie lade lambeau leyet letcher lippy listae maint machinyan mask massacrer movay moose or gill park pathwa pincer pleige rat raider regarder remarker rich brashes rime robe rober sezir salon savon soup tampon tombe tui trepidener tropp tu-yau and many words starting with a hard g or with an aspired h endings in aard a-u-d and and all very common family name affixes for french names endings in age diminutive on many verbs ending in ir such as a francier ahurier schwazier garrier hair honier jaleer lotier nanter refrachier ragulardir taurir etc the prefix may the prefix 4 four as in four banner forsenae forlonger fourvoyer etc from frankish fur fur merged with old french fewers outside beyond from latin forest latin forest was not used as a prefix in classical latin but appears as a prefix in medieval latin following the germanic invasions the prefix n m was extended to fit new formations not previously found in latin influenced or calced from frankish in and asteriskin usually with an intensive or perfective sense emballer emblaver endosser enharder in jolivere enricher enveloper the syntax shows the systematic presence of a subject pronoun in front of the verb as in the germanic languages je voice to voice il voit the subject pronoun is optional function of the parameter prodrop in most other romance languages the inversion of subject verb to verb subject to form the interrogative is characteristic of the germanic languages but is not found in any major romance language except french the adjective placed in front of the noun is typical of germanic languages the word order is more frequent in french than in the other major romance languages and is occasionally compulsory when it is optional it can change the meaning grand um and la plus grand um verses um grand and lumla plus grand certain chose verses chose certain in walloon the order adjective plus noun is the general rule as an old french and north cotent in norman several words are calct or modeled on corresponding terms from germanic languages frankish had a determining influence on the birth of old french which partly explains that old french is the earliest attested romance language such as in the oaths of strasbourg and sequence of saint eulalia the new speech diverged so markedly from the latin that it was no longer mutually intelligible the old low frankish influence is also primarily responsible for the differences between the long d oil and long dioc since different parts of northern france remained bilingual in latin and germanic for several centuries which correspond exactly to the places in which the first documents in old french were written frankish shaped the popular latin spoken there and gave it a very distinctive character compared to the other future romance languages the very first noticeable influence is the substitution of a germanic stress accent for the latin melodic accent which resulted in diphthonization distinction between long and short vowels and the loss of the unaccentuated syllable and of final vowels latin de chima greater than f dime vulgar latin dignitate greater than of daintier b el catina greater than of chain on the other hand a common word like latin aqua occitan egu became old french u greater than f o water and was likely influenced by the os or ohg word pronunciation aha in addition two new phonemes that no longer existed in vulgar latin returned and onf wcf picard w e g v l altu greater than of halt high v l vespa greater than f geppe wasp l viscous greater than f gway mistletoe l l vulpikulu little fox greater than of duple italian and spanish words of germanic origin borrowed from french or directly from germanic also retained and it s p guerra war thigh's example show a clear result of bilingualism which frequently altered the initial syllable of the latin there is also the converse example in which the latin word influenced the germanic word framboise raspberry from olf asterisk brambassie conflated with ll froga or a frey strawberry which explains the shift to from and in turn the final say of framboise turned frey into phrase philologists such as pope estimate that perhaps 15 of the vocabulary of modern french still derives from germanic sources but the proportion was larger in old french as the language was re-latinized and partly italianized by clerics and grammarians in the middle ages and later nevertheless maybe such words like hair to hate and hante shame remain common urban tea holmes jr estimated that german was spoken as a second language by public officials in western australia and nustria as late as the 850s and that it had completely disappeared as a spoken language from those regions only in the 10th century but some traces of germanic elements still survive especially in dialectal french normans and terms from the low countries in 1204 a.d the duchy of normandy was integrated into the crown lands of france and many words were introduced into french from norman of which about 150 words of scandinavian origin are still in use most of the words are about the sea and seafaring a bracker alk baggage bit singular eckeeper flot fringale girouet guichet hauban hoole hoon mare marswing muette quill raz siller tower tracker turbot vague varang varick others pertain to farming and daily life akropor amadour bedone bigot breyer brett cottage pottery crochet duvet embrasure phi flauner giche horus harfang harne hauspiller marmanur miyev nabot meek quenat rackroacher reconner rinser rogue likewise most words borrowed from dutch deal with trade or are nautical in nature a faller amarra anspecht barr bastringer bier blaus bot bouie bouffer boulevard bocan kagu cahute khakidore choker digger droll dune ekeeper freelater fret grueller haring here lemanier leijae mann mannequin matiere matalot merang makker plaque segnau triboard bakarme as are words from low german bibuwak buday homard vogue yule and english of this period arlaquin bateau beve bull bullin bausan cambusi cliver schiff chiffon drag drain est groom ella merlin muet nord west potass raid rum sonde sud turf yacht long deoil the medieval italian poet dante in his latin de vulgari eloquentia classify the romance languages into three groups by their respective words for yes namali o c alii c ali vero dikhant oil for some say oc others say see others say oil the oil languages from latin hawk ill that is it occupied northern france the oc languages from latin hawk that southern france and the c languages from latin sick thus the italian and iberian peninsulas modern linguists typically add a third group within france around leone the arpeton or franco-provencal language whose modern word for yes is o the gallo romance group in the north of france the long d oil like picard walloon and francion were influenced by the germanic languages spoken by the frankish invaders from the time period of clovis the first the franks extended their rule over northern gaul over time the french language developed from either the oil language found around paris and ilda france or from a standard administrative language based on common characteristics found in all oil languages long dioc used oc or ak for yes and is the language group in the south of france and northernmost spain the languages such as gascon and provencal have relatively little frankish influence the middle ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects of france modern french which was derived mainly from the long d oil acquired the word c to contradict negative statements or respond to negative questions from cognate forms of yes in spanish and catalan portuguese and italian from the 4th to the 7th centuries brethonic-speaking peoples from cornwall devon and wales traveled across the english channel for reasons of trade and of flight from the anglo-saxon invasions of england they established themselves in armorica and their language became breton in more recent centuries which gave french bijou jewel and manhir attested since the time of julius caesar a non-celtic people who spoke of basque-related language inhabited the novempopulania in southwestern france but the language gradually lost ground to the expanding romance during a period spanning most of the early middle ages proto-basque influenced the emerging latin-based language spoken in the area between the garan and the pyrenees which eventually resulted in the dialect of occitan called gascon its influence is seen in words like bulbine and cargasen vikings from scandinavia invaded france from the 9th century onwards and established themselves mostly in what would be called normandy the normans took up the long d oil spoken there but norman french remained heavily influenced by old norse and its dialects they also contributed many words to french related to sailing and farming after the 1066 norman conquest of england the norman's language developed into anglo-norman which served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in england until the hundred years war when the use of french-influenced english had spread throughout english society around then many words from arabic entered french mainly indirectly through medieval latin italian and spanish there are words for luxury goods spices trade goods sciences and mathematics it was only after the 19th century development of french colonies in north africa that french borrowed words directly from arabic modern french for the period until around 1300 some linguists refer to the oil languages collectively as old french the earliest extant text in french is the oaths of strasbourg from 842. old french became a literary language with the chansons digest that told tales of the paladins of charlemagne and the heroes of the crusades the first government authority to adopt modern french as official was the aeosta valley in 1536 three years before france itself by the ordinance of viller's caterers in 1539 king francis the first made french the official language of administration and court proceedings in france which ousted latin which had been used earlier with the imposition of a standardized chancery dialect and the loss of the declension system the dialect is referred to as middle french the first grammatical description of french the trete de la gramer francaise by louis may gray was published in 1550.
many of the 700 words of modern french that originate from italian were introduced in this period including several denoting artistic concepts luxury items and food the earliest history of the french language and its literature was also written in this period the requell de l'origine de la lung at posey francoise by claude foshea published in 1581 following a period of unification regulation and purification the french of the 17th and the 18th centuries is sometimes referred to as classical french but many linguists simply refer to french language from the 17th century to today as modern french the foundation of the akademi frances in 1634 by cardinal richelieu created an official body whose goal has been the purification and preservation of the french language the group of forty members is known as the immortals not as some erroneously believe because they are chosen to serve for the extent of their lives but because of the inscription engraved on the official seal given to them by their founder rishilu ella mortality the foundation still exists and contributes to the policing of the language and to the adaptation of foreign words and expressions some recent modifications include the change from software to logical packet boat to pekibot and writing code to reading goat the word ordinator for computer however was created not by the academy but by a linguist appointed by ibm from the 17th to the 19th centuries france was the leading power of europe together with the influence of the enlightenment french was therefore the lingua franca of educated europe especially with regards to the arts literature and diplomacy monarchs like frederick ii of prussia and catherine the great of russia spoke and wrote in most excellent french the russian german and scandinavian courts spoke french as their main or official language and regarded their national languages as the language of the peasants the spread of french to other european countries was also aided by emigration of persecuted huguenots in the 17th and the 18th centuries french established itself permanently in the americas there is an academic debate about how fluent in french the colonists of new france were less than 15 percent of colonists were from the paris region and presumably spoke french but most of the rest came from northwestern and western regions of france in which french was not the usual first language it is not clearly known how many among those colonists understood french as a second language and how many among them nearly all of whom natively spoke an oil language could understand and be understood by those who spoke french because of interlinguistic similarity in any case such a linguistic unification of all the groups coming from france happened that many sources noted that all canadians spoke french natively by the end of the 17th century well before the unification was complete in france canada had a reputation of speaking french as well as in paris today french is the language of about 10 million people in the americas through the academie public education centuries of official control in the media a unified official french language has been forged but there remains a great deal of diversity today in terms of regional accents and words for some critics the best pronunciation of the french language is considered to be the one used in terrain but such value judgments are fraught with problems and with the ever-increasing loss of lifelong attachments to a specific region and the growing importance of the national media the future of specific regional accents is often difficult to predict the french nation-state which appeared after the 1789 french revolution and napoleon the first empire unified the french people in particular through the consolidation of the use of the french language hence according to the historian eric hobb's bomb the french language has been essential to the concept of france although in 1789 50 of the french people did not speak it at all and only 12 to 13 percent spoke it fairly in fact even in oil language zones out of a central region it was not usually spoken except in cities and even there not always in the foburs in the north as in the south of france almost nobody spoke french hobb's bomb highlighted the role of conscription invented by napoleon and of the 1880s public instruction laws which allowed to mix the various groups of france into a nationalist mold which created the french citizen and his consciousness of membership to a common nation and the various patois were progressively eradicated issues there is some debate in today's france about the preservation of the french language and the influence of english especially with regard to international business the sciences and popular culture there have been laws enacted to require all print ads and billboards with foreign expressions to include a french translation and to require quotas of french language songs on the radio there is also pressure in differing degrees from some regions as well as minority political or cultural groups for a measure of recognition and support for their regional languages once the key international language in europe being the language of diplomacy from the 17th to the mid-20th centuries french lost most of its international significance to english in the 20th century especially after world war ii with the rise of the united states as a dominant global superpower a watershed was the treaty of versailles which ended world war one and was written in both french and english a small but increasing number of large multinational firms headquartered in france use english as their working language even in their french operations also to gain international recognition french scientists often publish their work in english those trends have met some resistance in march 2006 president jacques chirac briefly walked out of an eu summit after ernest antoin cellier began addressing the summit in english in february 2007 forum francophone international began organizing protests against the linguistic hegemony of english and france and in support of the right of french workers to use french as their working language french remains the second most studied foreign language in the world after english and as a lingua franca in some regions notably in africa the legacy of french as a living language outside europe is mixed it is nearly extinct in some former french colonies but the language has changed to creoles dialects or pigeons in the french departments in the west indies even though its people are educated in standard french on the other hand many former french colonies have adopted french as an official language and the total number of french speakers has increased especially in africa in the canadian province of quebec different laws have promoted the use of french in administration business and education since the 1970s bill 101 for example obliges most children whose parents did not attend an english-speaking school to be educated in french efforts are also made such as by the office quebecois de le long frances to reduce the variation of french spoken in quebec and to preserve the distinctiveness of quebec french there has been french emigration to the united states australia and south america but the descendants of those immigrants have been so assimilated that few of them still speak french in the united states efforts are ongoing in louisiana and parts of new england to preserve french there
2021-09-18