Tutor HuntResources French Resources

A Brief History Of The French Language

Looking at the origins of the French language.

Date : 14/04/2022

Author Information

Louisa Jane

Uploaded by : Louisa Jane
Uploaded on : 14/04/2022
Subject : French

The French language dates back to the 8th Century AD, which makes it even older than English. English is actually derived from French, Germanic languages and Latin. The history of how language develops is an incredibly fascinating topic as a lot depends on historical, social and cultural contexts, as well as migratory influences. We know that the Gauls were significantly influential in Northern France in developing French as a language, as well as later Celtic and Germanic influences.

Why should we be interested in the history of language? Europe is a large continent containing many different countries, borders and languages. Where there have been positive historic relations between countries, we can see more evidence of their influence in the present day, as they haven t felt the need to erase any part of their history. Learning a language is not simply just about learning some words it is about understanding an entire civilisation, society, culture and history.

What is behind the meaning of words? Etymology is all about understanding the roots of words. Once we begin to comprehend French verbs, nouns and adjectives, we can begin to grasp their context and grammatical rules, and also form word families for words that have had a similar meaning, prefix or suffix.

Where did French originate from? As we all know, Latin was the foundation of most European languages. We know that French also originated from Latin, but did you know that there is also a fascinating history behind the development of Latin?

Old LatinClassical LatinVulgar LatinOld FrenchMiddle FrenchOld French (franceis, fran ois, romanz Modern French: ancien fran ais) was the language spoken in Northern France from the 8th to the 14th century. The French language originated from the vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all the Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, more specifically in Northern Gaul. Given its Northern France influence, French was also influenced by the Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul such as Gallia Belgica.

The French language is regulated by L Acad mie Fran aise, who are fiercely protective of not anglicising the French language. France is split up into regions where there is a strong assertion of regional identity through dialect. Inevitably, French as both a language and society has changed and evolved overtime due to expansion of overseas territories. There are diverse and populous communities who have developed French language in the Carribean islands and Haiti. Over time, we have seen a significant increase in French-Creole languages. There can be a somewhat snobbish attitude between French spoken in metropolitan France (Le M tropole) and countries in the Indian Ocean (La R union). Even French spoken in Belgium and Switzerland is different, both in terms of dialect and vocabulary.

What is the future of the French language? There is no doubt that revisions will continue to take place by the academy regarding cultural association, and whether some words are appropriate to use in today s society. There is fear in the academy that French will be downgraded in the European un ion and United Nations as English continues to be the favoured language for business. Words can also disappear from language in response to cultural change. We can see this in the debate around gender. In French, most words are masculine dominant, which obviously raises an interesting question concerning pronouns. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out in the future.

Written by Lou 16th August 2021.

This resource was uploaded by: Louisa Jane