Difference between revisions of "Language/French/History"
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'''History of French language''' | '''History of French language''' | ||
Revision as of 13:37, 22 March 2016
History of French language
Gallo Romance: 2nd BC - 8th AD
French is known as one of the romance languages coming from Latin, the language of ancient Rome. It was referred to as "Vulgar Latin".
Old French: 9th - 13th Centuries
A new language began to immerge. It was a mixture of Gaulish/Celtic and Germanic words with a strong Latin basis. This French was know as "Old French" which developped into regional dialects: Langue d'Oïl and Langue d'Oc. These dialects included "Le Francien" (around Paris), "Breton" (Brittany), "Le Picard" (Picardie) and "Occitan" (Southern France). The dialect of Paris actually became the law during the French Revolution and Le Francien soon became the standard for French. The first record of Old French is Le Serment de Strasbourg (the Oaths of Strasbourg) in 842 telling the story of Louis le Germanique and Charles Le Chauve. It 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.
Middle French: 14th - 16th Centuries
"Old French" evolved into "Middle French". It was a more refined language, with many words and expressions borrowed from Italian, Greek or Latin. French was also beginning to replace Latin in the publications of administration.
Modern French: 17th Century - Modern Day
By the 17th century, "Modern French" began to grow. Cardinal Richelieu created "l'Académie Française" (the French Academy) in 1635 with the aim of preserving the language from foreign influences and to encourage people to develop French literature. The Academy will create the first dictionary of the French language as well as grammar books. The French language started to flourish and started to be spoken all over the world until becoming the language of international diplomacy. However English quickly gained its place in the international arena and still is the international language of communication. Nowedays, French however continues to play an important role as the language of international institutions.
French Today
In today's world, French is considered as the second "Global Language" after English.