French is one of the most influential languages in world history. It is native to about 80 million people and has approximately 270 million speakers worldwide.
Its history starts with the Roman invasion of the Gaul lands in the 1st century BC and spans thousands of years.
Let’s have a look at a short history of this beautiful language.
The Roman period
The constantly expanding Roman Empire waged war on the Gauls in 58-50 BC. As a result of this war, today’s territory of France became subjugated to the Ceasar’s power.
The native Gauls spoke a Celtic language called Gaulish.
The Romans established their administration and Latin became the dominant language of the state officials.
Towards the decline of the Roman empire the local Gaul elites started to abandon Gaulish and shift to Vulgar Latin, which was shaped by Gaulish in the Gaul territories.
Old French
During the fall of the Roman Empire, a significant amount of Germanic tribesmen flooded into Gaul, most notably the Franks. They established their rule and named the region “Francie” in their honor. By the 9th century, Old French was born, which was essentially a collection of dialects.
All of those dialects had influences from Vulgar Latin, Gaulish, and Frankish. The old French got solidified by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which separated the Romance and Germanic-speaking regions.
Around the 14th century, the shift from Old French to Middle French began to unfold. The language started to break free from the complexities of its past – noun declensions became a thing of the past, and verb conjugations were streamlined, making the language simpler. Meanwhile, the 14th and 15th centuries served as a vibrant canvas painted with Latin and Greek influences, particularly in the world of science, philosophy, and the arts. These influences didn’t just seep in; they flooded the language as the Renaissance blossomed in the 16th century, infusing French with a rich array of borrowed words from these ancient languages.
Middle Ages and The Renaissance
During the Middle Ages, French emerged as the ‘langue d’oïl’ in the North and Occitan in the South. The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 marked a significant turning point, declaring French the official language of law and administration, which solidified its position and led to further standardization. The Renaissance brought about a renewed interest in arts and sciences, enriching French with borrowings from Greek, Latin, and the emerging Italian humanist culture.
Enlightenment Language
The Enlightenment era brought a profound impact on the French language. As philosophers like Voltaire and Diderot promoted reason and individual thought, French became the international language of the enlightened, disseminating ideas of democracy, human rights, and science. Efforts were made to regulate and purify the language, with the establishment of the French Academy, the first regulatory body for a language.
Modern Times
In the 19th and 20th centuries, France underwent massive colonial expansion and industrial revolution. With its colonies, French spread to Africa, Asia, and the Americas, becoming a global language. Innovations and societal changes brought new terminology, while two world wars introduced military and anglicized terms. In recent decades, French has grappled with issues like the influence of English, particularly in technology and media, sparking debates about language preservation and ‘francization’.
Conclusion
From the tongues of Roman conquerors to the medium of Enlightenment philosophers, and onto the digital screens of the modern world, the French language has navigated through centuries of change. Its rich history is not only a tale of linguistic evolution, but also a mirror reflecting the cultural, political, and intellectual transformations of societies that speak it. As we move forward, the French language continues its journey, remaining a dynamic and living testament to its storied past.