Difference between revisions of "Language/French/History"

Revision as of 23:03, 21 March 2016

The History of French Language

The origins of French

In the first century AD, after 800 years of war, the Roman Empire stretched from Egypt to England, from Asia Minor to Spain and Germany to North Africa.

Latin was the official language and all the logistical and human resources were used to carry the Latin language deep into the empire. After a long period of bilingualism, the defeated nations adopted the Latin.

During the first century, the Latin spoken by the officials, the soldiers and the Roman colonists gradually changed. This new Latin with its regional colorations gradually became the most important language and was then used for writing official religious and civil documents. It defeated the classical Latin which was kept for the aristocracy and schools.

Over the centuries written Latin remained, while spoken languages which were about to become French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, etc... slowly developed. It is in this sense we talk about the Romance languages.

In Gaul ttwo dialects were found:

- The language of oïl: dialects spoken at the north of the Loire

- The language of oc: dialects spoken at the south of the Loire

Then those Romance languages became more and more distinct while retaining many common elements.

The French language did not exist before the ninth century. It was then called the "rustic language (or vulgar language, vulgus: meaning "people") at the Council of Tours in 813.

The Oaths of Strasbourg (842) telling the story of Louis le Germanique et Charles Le chauve is the birth of the French language because all written documents previously were written only in Latin. The Oaths had to be written in a language all soldiers could understand.

This document can be considered "French" although we find this name applied to the language only to the twelfth century.

For political reasons in the 10th century, Hugues Capet, King of France imposes its dialect French as a national language but the language of administration and religious remains Latin.

It was only in 1539 that François the 1st impose French as the legal and administrative language. Latin remains a religious language

In the 17th century, in 1634, Cardinal Richelieu will create the French Academy which will create the first dictionary of the French language as well as grammar books.

@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 In Gaul ttwo dialects were found:
-- The language of oil: dialects of northern Loire
+- The language of oïl: dialects spoken at the north of the Loire
-- The Occitan language: dialects southern Loire
+- The language of oc: dialects spoken at the south of the Loire
 Then those Romance languages became more and more distinct while retaining many common elements.
-The French language did not exist before the ninth century when it was called the "rustic language (or vulgar language, vulgus: meaning "people") at the Council of Tours in 813.
+The French language did not exist before the ninth century. It was then called the "rustic language (or vulgar language, vulgus: meaning "people") at the Council of Tours in 813.
-Arguably the Oaths of Strasbourg (842) recounting the story of Louis the German and Charles the Bald alliance against Lothair (their brother) are the birth of the French (or Frankish) because all written documents previously were written only in Latin. The Oaths, they were written and for all the soldiers could understand that language.
+The Oaths of Strasbourg (842) telling the story of Louis le Germanique et Charles Le chauve is the birth of the French language because all written documents previously were written only in Latin. The Oaths had to be written in a language all soldiers could understand.
-The document can be considered "French" although we find this name applied to the language only to the twelfth century.
+This document can be considered "French" although we find this name applied to the language only to the twelfth century.
-For political reasons in the 10th century, Hugues Capet, King of France imposes its dialect French as a national language but the language of administration and religious remains Latin
+For political reasons in the 10th century, Hugues Capet, King of France imposes its dialect French as a national language but the language of administration and religious remains Latin.
-It was only in 1539 that François 1st impose French as the legal and administrative language. Latin remains to religious language
+It was only in 1539 that François the 1st impose French as the legal and administrative language. Latin remains a religious language
-In the 17th century, in 1634 Cardinal Richelieu will base the French Academy who will create the first dictionary of the French language as well as grammar books.
+In the 17th century, in 1634, Cardinal Richelieu will create the French Academy which will create the first dictionary of the French language as well as grammar books.
----
-Les origines du français
-Au Ier siècle de notre ère, après 800 ans de guerre, l’empire romain s’étendait de l’Egypte à l’Angleterre, de l’Asie mineure à l’Espagne et de la Germanie à l’Afrique du nord.
-Le latin  de César et de Cicéron était la langue officielle et tous les moyens logistiques et humains  étaient utilisés pour le porter jusqu’au fin fond de l’empire. Après une longue période de bilinguisme, les nations vaincues adoptèrent la langue latine.
-Mais ce latin parlé par les fonctionnaires, les soldats, les colons romains au contact des autochtones assimilés, se différencia peu à peu du latin classique du premier siècle. Progressivement ce latin populaire dont les colorations régionales étaient très importantes fut employé pour la rédaction des actes publics et d'une foule de documents religieux ou civils. Il allait triompher définitivement du latin classique qui restait réservé à l'aristocratie et aux écoles.
-Au cours des siècles le mixage des langues continua d’évoluer et pendant que le latin écrit restait intact, les langues parlées, qui allaient devenir le français, l'italien, l'espagnol, le catalan, etc., se formaient lentement. C'est en ce sens qu'on parle des langues romanes.
-En Gaule on les trouvait sous forme de deux dialectes:
--la langue d'oïl : dialectes parlés au nord de la Loire
--la langue d'oc : dialectes parlés au sud de la Loire
-Puis ces langues romanes se sont distinguées de plus en plus pour devenir  réellement distinctes tout en conservant de nombreux éléments communs.
-La langue française n'existait pas encore. Elle ne fut attestée qu'au IXe siècle et portait alors le nom de «langue rustique» (ou langue vulgaire, de vulgus : qui signifiait «peuple»). C'est ainsi qu'elle était appelée lors du Concile de Tours en 813.
-On peut affirmer que les Serments de Strasbourg (842) relatant L'histoire de Louis le Germanique et Charles Le chauve s'alliant contre Lothaire (leur frère) constituent l'acte de naissance du français (ou francien) parce que tous les documents écrits antérieurement étaient rédigés uniquement en latin. Les Serments, eux, furent écrits ainsi car tous les soldats pouvaient comprendre cette langue.
-Le document peut donc être considéré comme du «français», bien que l'on trouvera ce nom appliqué à la langue seulement vers le XIIe siècle.
-Pour des raisons politiques au 10e siècle, Hugues Capet, roi de France impose son dialecte le français  comme langue nationale mais la langue administrative et religieuse reste toujours le latin
-Ce n'est qu'en 1539 que François 1er imposera le français comme langue juridique et administrative. Le latin restera pour langue religieuse
-Au 17ème siècle, en l’année 1634 le Cardinal de Richelieu fondera l'Académie Française qui donnera naissance au premier dictionnaire de la langue  française ainsi qu’à des livres de grammaire.

Difference between revisions of "Language/French/History"

Revision as of 23:03, 21 March 2016

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