History of the French Language
The modern French language spoken today is one of the many
Romance Languages descending from Latin. Prior to the
Roman conquest by Julius Cesar's armies, of what we now regard as
modern day France,
France was inhabited by many different ethnic groups all speaking
their own language. Most of France was inhabited by the Gauls who
spoke Gaulish, the Iberians down the western Mediterranean coast
who spoke Iberian and Ligurs on the eastern Mediterranean
coast.
The ancient Gaulish influence can still be seen today with words
such as mouton - sheep, charrue - plough,
chêne - oak, bouleau, - birch, all coming
from Gaulish origin.
Roman rule led to the spread of Latin throughout much of
modern-day France until Western Europe was invaded by Germanic
Tribes from the North and East, who began to settle in around the
4th century AD.
Different Germanic tribes settled in different areas of Northern
France and each had their own dialect, the Franks being one of the
most important. This Old French had many standards including the
French of Paris, the Burgundian of Burgundy, the Picard language of
Picardy, Old Norman spoken in Normandy, the Walloon language and
the Gallo language of Brittany.
The early middle ages saw the movement of different tribes into
France, such as the Celtic people from the Southwest of Britain,
the Vascons from over the Pyrenees and the Vikings from
Scandinavia, which all had an influence on the language.
French was finally made the official language of France in 1539
by King Francis I. This was followed in 1634 by the foundation of
the Académie Française, an official body set up for
the purification and preservation of the French language.
French Colonization
The French colonization of the Americas and Africa beginning in
the 17th century, helped spread the French language throughout the
world. This began in 1605 when Port Royal was established in what
is now Nova Scotia and the foundation of Quebec in 1608, which soon
became the capital of New France. Quebec French is now the most
spoken form of Canadian
French.
Elsewhere in the Americas, the French established a permanent
settlement in French
Guiana, South America in 1664 and French has remained an
official language there ever since.
The French influence on Africa was extensive, with each of the
following African nations coming under French control at one point
or another:
- Morocco
- Algeria
- Tunisia
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Ivory Coast
- Guinea
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Niger
- Senegal
- Togo
- Cameroon
- Chad
- Gabon
- Republic of the Congo
The Romance Language Family
