French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended from Latin) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in Northern France. Dialects of the French language are spoken in France and around the world. ... Motto Égalité, Complémentarité, Solidarité Members and participants of La Francophonie. ... The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts expanded the central control of the French state The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by François I of France on August 10, 1539 in the city of Villers-Cotterêts. ... French has a grammar similar to that of the other Romance languages. ... French adverbs, like their English counterparts, are used to modify adjectives, other adverbs, and verbs or clauses. ... In French, articles and determiners are required on almost every common noun; much more so than in English. ... French pronouns are inflected to indicate their role in the sentence (subject, direct object, and so on), as well as to reflect the person, gender, and number of their referrents. ... Personal pronouns in French: The French possessive pronouns (mon, ma, mes, ton, ta, tes, son, sa, ses, notre, notre, nos, votre, votre, vos, leur, leur, leurs) are technically adjectives because they decline into masculine, feminine and plural forms and further agree with their heads (not their antecedents). ... French verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from one to five synthetic tenses), three non-finite moods, three voices, and two aspects. ... Main article: French verbs French verbs are divided into three conjugations (conjugaisons) by the ending of their infinitives: -er verbs, -ir verbs, and -re verbs. ... In French, a verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person and number. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. ... The orthography of French was already more or less fixed, and from a phonological point of view outdated, when its lexicography developed in the late 17th century and the Académie française was mandated to establish an official prescriptive norm. ... The circumflex (^) is one of the five diacritics used in the French language. ... Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In French, elision (from elide, to leave out or omit) refers to the practise of combining two logically separate words into one for the convenience of pronunication in live conversation. ... Note: This page or section contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... The Romance languages, also called Romanic languages, are a subfamily of the Italic languages, specifically the descendants of the Vulgar Latin dialects spoken by the common people evolving in different areas after the break-up of the Roman Empire. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Oïl languages, Catalan, and Occitan, among other languages. ... For dialects of programming languages, see Programming language dialect. ...

The Roman invasion of Gaul

Before the Roman invasion of what is modern-day France by Julius Cæsar (58–52 BC), France was inhabited largely by a Celtic people that the Romans referred to as Gauls, although there were also other linguistic/ethnic groups in France at this time, such as the Iberians in southern France and Spain, the Ligures on the Mediterranean coast, Greek colonies like Marseille^[1], and the Vascons on the Spanish/French border. For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Events The Ficus Ruminales begins to die (see Rumina) Start of Yongping era of the Chinese Han Dynasty. ... This article is about the year 52. ... BC may stand for: Before Christ (see Anno Domini) : an abbreviation used to refer to a year before the beginning of the year count that starts with the supposed year of the birth of Jesus. ... This article is about the European people. ... Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... The Lady of Baza, made by Iberians The Iberians were an ancient, Pre-Indo-European people who inhabited the east and southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in prehistoric and historic times. ... The Ligures (Ligurians) were an ancient people who gave their name to Liguria, which once stretched from Northern Italy into southern Gaul. ... Mediterranean redirects here. ... City flag Coat of arms Motto: By her great deeds, the city of Massilia shines The Old Port of Marseille Location Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Coordinates Administration Country Region Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur Department Bouches-du-Rhône (13) Subdivisions 16 arrondissements (in 8 secteurs) Intercommunality Urban... The Vascons (Latin : Vascones) were an ancient people who, before the arrival of the Romans, inhabited the region in what is now Spain, north of the Ebro river (present day Navarre). ...

However, the population was largely Celtic, with about 10 million Gauls. Although the French like to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors (nos ancêtres les Gaulois), perhaps fewer than 200 words with a Celtic etymology remain in French today, largely places (ber, lande, grève 'sandy bank), plant names (berle 'water parsnip', chêne 'oak', if 'yew', baume 'balsa(m)') and words dealing with rural life and the earth (notably: mouton, tonne, crème, charrue, charriot, barde, bouc, boue, brosse, caillou, cervoise, druide, magouille, orteil, souche)^[2]. It should be noted that other Gallic words were imported in French through Latin, in particular words for Gallic objects and customs which were new to the Romans and for which there were no equivalent in Latin (e.g. braies, ambassade, matras). Latin quickly became a lingua franca across the entire Gallic region for both mercantile, official and educational reasons, yet it should be remembered that this was Vulgar Latin, the colloquial dialect spoken by the Roman army and its agents and not the literary dialect of Cicero. Latin was first adopted in the South and then spread to the main Northern cities. However, it was not accepted by the majority of Gauls until as late as the 4th century AD.^{[citation needed]} Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... Vulgar Latin, as in this political graffito at Pompeii, was the speech of ordinary people of the Roman Empire — different from the classical Latin used by the Roman elite. ... For other uses, see Cicero (disambiguation). ...

Nonetheless, a number of features can be attributed to Gaulish.

Phonological changes include:

• the raising of [o:] to [u:] (as in all Celtic languages)
• the fronting of open [o:] to /eu/ [ø] or [œ] (as in Cornish and Breton; cf. Proto-Celtic *brâtu "judgement" > Brythonic *brotu > * C bres, Br breut "pleader")
• the fronting and raising of [a] to [æ] to [e] (as before nasals in Goidelic)
• ct > xt > it; lactem > lait (in all Brythonic languages)
• the frication and deletion of voiced intervocalic consonants (g, d, b)
• the palatalization of jod [j] to [dj] to [ž]; ego > je (as Brythonic turned jod into [ð]; ex: PC *novíjo > W newydd, Corn nowyth, newyth, Br nevez)
• the diphthongization of closed long /e/ to /oi/ (as in the Brythonic languages [ui])
• the use of liaisons and enchaînement (as in all Celtic languages)
• nasalization (as in Breton and Gaelic)
• the insertion of epenthetic homorganic consonants between nasals and liquids; simulare > sembler, *venira > viendra (as in Welsh and Manx)

Other linguistic changes include: The Celtic languages are the languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. ... Palatalization means pronouncing a sound nearer to the hard palate, making it more like a palatal consonant; this is towards the front of the mouth for a velar or uvular consonant, but towards the back of the mouth for a front (e. ... This article should be translated from material at fr:Liaison. ... Breton (Brezhoneg) is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany (Breizh) in France. ... The Goidelic languages (also sometimes called, particularly in colloquial situations, the Gaelic languages or collectively Gaelic) have historically been part of a dialect continuum stretching from the south of Ireland, the Isle of Man, to the north of Scotland. ... In poetry and phonetics, epenthesis (Greek epi on + en in + thesis putting) is the insertion of a consonant, a vowel, or a whole syllable into a word, usually to facilitate pronunciation. ... (adj. ...

• possession using à instead of de (ce livre est à moi) (as in all Celtic languages)
• the gallicism c'est...qui, que used in emphasis
• counting by twenties; quatre-vingts and in Old French treis vingts, cinq vingts (cf. Welsh ugain "twenty", deugain "forty", pedwar ugain "eighty, lit. four-twenties")
• the 1st person plural verb ending -ons (cf. Breton caromp, Welsh aethom)
• the influence of meaning and form on avec, car, oui, chez, aise, aveugle, tête, huitaine and quinzaine, fleur de farine, fois, and monde "people"
• the use of periphrastic phrases to denote aspect; i.e. en train de, venir de, après + verb, etc. (as in all Celtic languages)
• the adoption of the intensive prefix ro-, having become modern re- (compare: luire "to glisten" vs. reluire "to shine"; tirer "to pull" vs. retirer "to withdraw, take away")

Aspect is a piece of information about a topic, usually on look and appearance. ...

The Franks

From the third century on, Western Europe was invaded by Germanic tribes from the east, and some of these groups settled in Gaul. For the history of the French language, the most important of these groups are the Franks in northern France, the Alemanni in the German/French border, the Burgundians in the Rhône valley and the Visigoths in the Aquitaine region and Spain. Their language had a profound effect on the Latin spoken in their respective regions, altering both the pronunciation and the syntax. They also introduced a number of new words. Sources disagree on how much vocabulary of modern French comes from Germanic words, ranging from just 400 words ^[3] to 2% of modern vocabulary ^[4]. A current understanding of Western Europe. ... Gaul (Latin: ) was the name given, in ancient times, to the region of Western Europe comprising present-day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. ... This article is about the Frankish people and society. ... The Alamanni, Allemanni or Alemanni, are a Germanic tribe, first mentioned by Dio Cassius, under the year 213. ... This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The Rhône River, or the Rhône (French Rhône, Arpitan Rôno, Occitan Ròse, standard German Rhone, Valais German Rotten), is one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France. ... Migrations The Visigoths were one of two main branches of the Goths, an East Germanic tribe (the Ostrogoths being the other). ... (Region flag) (Region logo) Location Administration Capital Regional President Departments Dordogne Gironde Landes Lot-et-Garonne Pyrénées-Atlantiques Arrondissements 18 Cantons 235 Communes 2,296 Statistics Land area1 41,308 km² Population (Ranked 6th)  - January 1, 2006 est. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Syntax (disambiguation). ...

Changes in morphology: For other uses, see Morphology. ...

• the name of the language itself, français, comes from the Germanic Frank ('freeman'). The Franks referred to their land as Franko(n) which became Francia in Latin in the 3rd century (then an area in Gallia belgica, somewhere in modern-day Belgium or the Netherlands).
• several terms and expressions associated with their social structure (gars/garçon, maréchal) and military tactics (fief, flanc).
• a few colors derived from Frankish and other German languages (blanc, bleu, blond, brun, gris).
• other examples among the most usual words include auberge, fauteuil, laid, tuyau and many words starting with a hard g (like gagner, guerre) or with an aspired h (haine, hâte) ^[5]

Changes in pronunciation: Look up pronunciation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

• reintroduction of the vowel [y]
• reintroduction of consonant h (that no longer exists in modern French, however a Germanic h usually disallows liaison: les halles /lɛ'al/, les haies /lɛ'ɛ/, les haltes /lɛ'alt/, whereas a Latin h allows liaison: les herbes /lɛzɛrb/, les hôtels /lɛzotɛl/.
• reintroduction of consonant [w], probably pronounced as in Dutch between /v/ and /w/, and developing into /gw/ and then /g/ in modern French (hence French guerre whereas the English form keeps the /w/: war).
• loss of final vowels
• endings in -ard (from Frankish hard : bâtard), -and, -aud, -ais, -er, -ier and many verb endings in -ir ( choisir, jaillir).

Changes in syntax: This article should be translated from material at fr:Liaison. ... For other uses, see Syntax (disambiguation). ...

• maintenance of cases (compared to Spanish or Italian): hence Old French had li murs (the wall) or li fils (the son) (Modern French le mur, le fils), respectively from Latin murus, filius.
• subject pronoun: always present before the verb, whereas it is not necessary in Spanish or Italian. The pronoun on (from hom/homme) is an adaptation of Germanic pronoun man(n)- (one, general you, singular they).
• adjective before the noun: pauvre homme, belle femme, vieil homme, grande table, petite table (however most adjectives are placed after the noun).

Langue d'oïl

See also: Old French

The medieval Italian poet Dante, writing in Latin in his De vulgari eloquentia, classified the Romance languages into three groups: "nam alii oc, alii si, alii vero dicunt oil" ("some say oc, others say si, others say oïl"), thereby defining oïl languages (in northern France); oc languages (in southern France) and si languages (in Italy and Iberia). Modern linguists typically divide the languages spoken in medieval France into three geographical subgroups: Langue d'oïl and Langue d'oc are the two major groups; the third group, Franco-Provençal, displays features in common with both other groups, without belonging to either. The Oïl–Oc divide may be broadly compared to the divide illustrated by the use of "yes" in English and "aye" in Scots. Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300. ... Italian ( , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people,[1] primarily in Italy and Switzerland. ... Dante redirects here. ... De vulgari eloquentia (On Vernacular Speech) is the title of an important essay by Dante Alighieri, written in Latin and initially meant to consist in four books, but aborted after the second. ... The Iberian Peninsula, or Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe, and includes modern day Spain, Portugal, Andorra and Gibraltar. ... During the latter years of the elderly Charlemagnes rule, the Vikings made advances along the northern and western perimeters of his kingdom. ... The langue doïl language family in linguistics comprises Romance languages originating in territories now occupied by northern France, part of Belgium and the Channel Islands. ... Occitan (IPA AmE: ), known also as Lenga dòc or Langue doc (native name: occitan [1], lenga dòc [2]; native nickname: la lenga nòstra [3] i. ... Franco-Provençal (Francoprovençal) or Arpitan (in vernacular: patouès) (in Italian: francoprovenzale, provenzale alpina, arpitano, patois; French: francoprovençal, arpitan, patois) is a Romance language with several dialects in a linguistic sub-group separate from Langue dOïl and Langue dOc. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... This article is about the Anglic language of Scotland. ...

The area of langue d'oïl

The Romance language group in the north of France is that of the langue d'oïl, the languages which use oïl (in modern usage, oui) for "yes". These languages, like Picard, Walloon, and Francien, were influenced by the Germanic languages spoken by the Frankish invaders; Norman was later also heavily influenced by the Norse settlers who founded the Norman state. From the time period Clovis I on, the Franks extended their rule over northern Gaul. Over time, the French language developed from either the Oïl language found around Paris (the Francien theory) or from a standard administrative language based on common characteristics found in all Oïl languages (the lingua franca theory). Oïl derives from the Latin hoc ille ("that is it"). Image File history File links Size of this preview: 603 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (654 × 650 pixels, file size: 46 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 603 × 599 pixelsFull resolution‎ (654 × 650 pixels, file size: 46 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. ... Walloon (Walon) is a regional Romance language spoken as a second language by some in Wallonia (Belgium). ... Francien is a term applied to the langue doïl spoken in the Paris region (Île-de-France) before the establishment of the French language as a standard language. ... The Germanic languages are a group of related languages constituting a branch of the Indo-European (IE) language family. ... Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. ... Clovis I (variously spelled Chlodowech or Chlodwig, giving modern French Louis and modern German Ludwig) (c. ... This article is about the capital of France. ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ...

Langue d'oc, the languages which use oc for "yes", is the language group in the south of France and northern Spain. These languages, such as Gascon and Provençal, have relatively little Frankish influence. Oc/òc derive from the Latin hoc. Gascon (Gascon, ; French, ) is a dialect of the Occitan language. ... Provençal (Provençau in Provençal language) is one of several dialects spoken by a minority of people in southern France and other areas of France and Italy. ...

Modern French has two words for "yes", oui and si; the latter is used to contradict negative statements or respond to negative questions, at least in Modern France itself. Si derives from Latin sic ("thus"), and is cognate to the word for "yes" in Spanish (sí), Portuguese (sim), Italian (sì), and Catalan (sí).

Foreign language groups

The early middle ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects of France:

From the 5th to the 8th centuries, Celtic-speaking peoples from southwestern Britain (Wales, Cornwall, Devon) travelled across the English Channel, both for reasons of trade and as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England. They established themselves in Brittany. Their language was a dialect of the Brythonic languages, which has been named Breton in more recent centuries. This language gave notably bijou and menhir to French. It is part of the larger Celtic language family, though the modern dialects reflect a noticeable influence from French in their vocabulary (aven, a Breton word that French incorporated, is itself derived from the French word havre). Europe in 450 The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ... This article is about the country. ... For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation). ... Part of the seafront of Torquay, south Devon, at high tide Devon is a large county in South West England, bordered by Cornwall to the west, and Dorset and Somerset to the east. ... For the Thoroughbred racehorse of the same name, see English Channel (horse). ... For other uses, see Anglo-Saxon. ... Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family. ... Breton (Brezhoneg) is a Celtic language spoken by some of the inhabitants of Brittany (Breizh) in France. ... Proto-Indo-European Indo-European studies Celtic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages. ...

From the 6th to the 7th centuries, the Vascons crossed over the Pyrenees, a mountain range in the south of France. Their presence influenced the Occitan language spoken in southwestern France, resulting in the dialect called Gascon. Its influence is seen in words like boulbène, cargaison. The 6th century is the period from 501 - 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Pic de Bugatetin the Néouvielle Natural Reserve Central Pyrenees For the mountains in Victoria, Australia, see Pyrenees (Victoria). ... Occitan (IPA AmE: ), known also as Lenga dòc or Langue doc (native name: occitan [1], lenga dòc [2]; native nickname: la lenga nòstra [3] i. ... Gascon (Gascon, ; French, ) is a dialect of the Occitan language. ...

Scandinavian Vikings invaded France from the 9th century onwards and established themselves in what would come to be called Normandie (Normandy). They took up the langue d'oïl spoken there and contributed many words to French related to maritime environment (crabe, crique, falaise), amongst other things. The name Viking is a loan from the native Scandinavian term for the Norse seafaring warriors who raided the coasts of Scandinavia, Europe and the British Isles from the late 8th century to the 11th century, the period of European history referred to as the Viking Age. ... As a means of recording the passage of time the 9th century was the century that lasted from 801 to 900. ... For other uses, see Normandy (disambiguation). ... The langue doïl language family in linguistics comprises Romance languages originating in territories now occupied by northern France, part of Belgium and the Channel Islands. ...

With their conquest of England in 1066, the Normans brought their language. The dialect that developed there as a language of administration and literature is referred to as Anglo-Norman. Anglo-Norman served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until 1362, when the use of English became dominant again. Because of the Norman Conquest, the English language has borrowed a considerable amount of its vocabulary from French. Bayeux Tapestry depicting events leading to the Battle of Hastings The Norman Conquest of England was the conquest of the Kingdom of England by William the Conqueror (Duke of Normandy), in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and the subsequent Norman control of England. ... For the book, see 1066 And All That. ... Norman conquests in red. ... Norman is a Romance language and one of the Oïl languages. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Centuries: 13th century - 14th century - 15th century Decades: 1310s 1320s 1330s 1340s 1350s - 1360s - 1370s 1380s 1390s 1400s 1410s Years: 1357 1358 1359 1360 1361 - 1362 - 1363 1364 1365 1366 1367 See also: 1362 state leaders Events Under Edward III, English replaces French as Englands national language, for the... English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

The Arab peoples also supplied many words to French around this time period, including words for luxury goods (élixir, orange), spices (camphre, safran), trade stuffs (alcool, bougie, coton), sciences (alchimie, hasard), and mathematics (algèbre, algorithme). For other uses, see Arab (disambiguation). ... External links Wikibooks Cookbook has more about this subject: Spice Food Bacteria-Spice Survey Shows Why Some Cultures Like It Hot Citat: ...Garlic, onion, allspice and oregano, for example, were found to be the best all-around bacteria killers (they kill everything). ... For other meanings of mathematics or uses of math and maths, see Mathematics (disambiguation) and Math (disambiguation). ...

Modern French

For the period up to around 1300, some linguists refer to the oïl languages collectively as Old French (ancien français). The earliest extant text in French is the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842; Old French became a literary language with the chansons de geste that told tales of the paladins of Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades. Events February 22 - Jubilee of Pope Boniface VIII. March 10 - Wardrobe accounts of King Edward I of Englanddo (aka Edward Longshanks) include a reference to a game called creag being played at the town of Newenden in Kent. ... The langue doïl language family in linguistics comprises Romance languages originating in territories now occupied by northern France, part of Belgium and the Channel Islands. ... Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300. ... Text of the Oaths The Oaths of Strasbourg (Modern French: les serments de Strasbourg, Modern German: die Straßburger Eide) is the name by which we know the pledges of allegiance taken in 842 by Louis the German, son of Louis the Pious, and ruler of the eastern Frankish kingdom... Events Oaths of Strasbourg — alliance of Louis the German and Charles the Bald against emperor Lothar — sworn and recorded in vernacular languages. ... A literary language is a register of a language that is used in writing, and which often differs in lexicon and syntax from the language used in speech. ... The chansons de geste, Old French for songs of heroic deeds, are the epic poetry that appears at the dawn of French literature. ... For other uses, see Paladin (disambiguation). ... Charlemagne (left) and Pippin the Hunchback. ... For other uses, see Hero (disambiguation). ... This article is about the medieval crusades. ...

By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 King Francis I made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the Latin that had been used before then. With the imposition of a standardised chancery dialect and the loss of the declension system, the dialect is referred to as Middle French (moyen français). The first grammatical description of French, the Tretté de la Grammaire française by Louis Maigret, was published in 1550. Many of the 700 words ^[6] of modern French that originate from Italian were introduced in this period, including several denoting artistic concepts (scenario, piano), luxury items, and food. The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts expanded the central control of the French state The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by François I of France on August 10, 1539 in the city of Villers-Cotterêts. ... Events May 30 - In Florida, Hernando de Soto lands at Tampa Bay with 600 soldiers with the goal to find gold. ... Francis I of France (French: François Ier) (September 12, 1494 – March 31, 1547), called the Father and Restorer of Letters (le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres), was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547. ... An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in the countries, states, and other territories. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Middle French (French: ) is a historical division of the French language which covers the period from (roughly) 1340 to 1611 [1]. It is a period of transition during which: the French language becomes clearly distinguished from the other competing Oïl languages which are sometimes subsumed within the concept of... Events February 7 - Julius III becomes Pope. ...

Following a period of unification, regulation and purification, the French of the 17th to the 18th centuries is sometimes referred to as Classical French (français classique), although many linguists simply refer to French language from the 17th century to today as Modern French (français moderne). (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... French (français, spelled françois until 1835, both pronounced in standard French, but often heard pronounced ), or French language (langue française, formerly langue françoise, both pronounced ), is the third of the Romance languages in terms of number of speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese. ...

The foundation of the Académie française (French Academy) in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu created an official body whose goal has been the purification and preservation of the French language. This group of 40 members is known as the Immortals, not, as some erroneously believe, because they are chosen to serve for the extent of their lives (which they are), but because of the inscription engraved on the official seal given to them by their founder Richelieu—"À l'immortalité" ("to the Immortality (of the French language)"). The foundation still exists and contributes to the policing of the language and the adaptation of foreign words and expressions. Some recent modifications include the change from software to logiciel, packet-boat to paquebot, and riding-coat to redingote. The word ordinateur for computer was however not created by the Académie, but by a linguist appointed by IBM (see fr:ordinateur). The Académie française In the French educational system an académie LAcadémie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. ... Events Moses Amyrauts Traite de la predestination is published Curaçao captured by the Dutch Treaty of Polianovska First meeting of the Académie française The witchcraft affair at Loudun Jean Nicolet lands at Green Bay, Wisconsin Opening of Covent Garden Market in London English establish a settlement... Armand Jean du Plessis de Richelieu, Cardinal-Duc de Richelieu (September 9, 1585 – December 4, 1642), was a French clergyman, noble, and statesman. ... For other uses, see IBM (disambiguation) and Big Blue. ...

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, France was the leading power of Europe; thanks to this, together with the influence of the Enlightenment, French was the lingua franca of educated Europe, especially with regards to the arts, literature, and diplomacy; monarchs like Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia could both speak and write in French. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Enlightenment (French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Portuguese: ) was an eighteenth century movement in European and American philosophy — some classifications also include 17th century philosophy (usually called the Age of Reason). ... Lingua franca, literally Frankish language in Italian, was originally a mixed language consisting largely of Italian plus a vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic and used for communication throughout the Middle East. ... This article is about negotiations. ... Frederick II (German: ; January 24, 1712 – August 17, 1786) was a King of Prussia (1740–1786) from the Hohenzollern dynasty. ... Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from...

During the 17th and 18th centuries, the French language established itself permanently in the Americas. There is an academic debate about how fluent in French were the colonists of New France. While a minority of colonists (mostly women) were from the region of Paris (approximately 20% of all colonists), most of them came from northern and western regions of France where French was not the primary language natively spoken by its inhabitants. It is not clearly known, however, how many among those colonists understood French as a second language, and how many among them – who, in overwhelming majority, natively spoke an oïl language – could understand, and be understood by, those who speak French thanks to interlinguistic similarity. In any case, a linguistic unification of all the groups coming from France happened (either in France, on the ships, or in "Canada") such that, according to many sources, the then "Canadiens" were all speaking French natively by the end of the 17th century, well before the unification was complete in France. Today, French is the language of about 10 million people (not counting French-based creoles, which are also spoken by about 10 million people) in the Americas. (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... Capital Quebec Language(s) French Religion Roman Catholicism Government Monarchy King See List of French monarchs Governor See list of Governors Legislature Sovereign Council of New France Historical era Ancien Régime in France  - Royal Control 1655  - Articles of Capitulation of Quebec 1759  - Articles of Capitulation of Montreal 1760  - Treaty... This article is about the capital of France. ...

Through the Académie, public education, centuries of official control and the role of media, a unified official French language has been forged, but there remains a great deal of diversity today in terms of regional accents and words. For some critics, the "best" pronunciation of the French language is considered to be the one used in Touraine (around Tours and the Loire River valley), but such value judgments are fraught with problems, and with the ever increasing loss of lifelong attachments to a specific region and the growing importance of the national media, the future of specific "regional" accents is often difficult to predict. The French nation-state, which appeared after the 1789 French Revolution and Napoleon's empire, unified the French people in particular through the consolidation of the use of the French language. Hence, according to historian Eric Hobsbawm, "the French language has been essential to the concept of 'France', although in 1789 50% of the French people didn't speak it at all, and only 12 to 13% spoke it 'fairly' - in fact, even in oïl language zones, out of a central region, it wasn't usually spoken except in cities, and, even there, not always in the faubourgs [approximatively translatable to "suburbs"]. In the North as in the South of France, almost nobody spoke French."^[7] Hobsbawm highlighted the role of conscription, invented by Napoleon, and of the 1880s public instruction laws, which allowed to mix the various groups of France into a nationalist mold which created the French citizen and his consciousness of membership to a common nation, while the various "patois" were progressively eradicated. Tours is a commune of France, the préfecture (capital city) of the Indre-et-Loire département, on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. ... The Loire River (pronounced in French), the longest river in France with a length of just over 1000 km, drains an area of 117,000 km², more than a fifth of France. ... The term nation-state, while often used interchangeably with the terms unitary state and independent state, refers properly to the parallel occurence of a state and a nation. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... For other uses, see Napoleon (disambiguation). ... For a specific analysis of the population of France, see Demographics of France. ... Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm CH (born June 9, 1917) is a British Marxist historian and author. ... The geographical spread of the Oïl languages (except French) can be seen in shades of green and yellow in this map Langues doïl is the linguistic and historical designation of the Gallo-Romance languages which originated in the northern territories of Roman Gaul now occupied by northern... Faubourgs is a French ancient term approximatively synonym of suburbs. ... Nationalism is an ideology that creates and sustains a nation as a concept of a common identity for groups of humans. ... Patois, although without a formal definition in linguistics, can be used to describe a language considered as nonstandard. ...

Modern issues

There is some debate in today's France about the preservation of the French language and the influence of English (see franglais), especially with regard to international business, the sciences and popular culture. There have been laws (see Toubon law) enacted which require that all print ads and billboards with foreign expressions include a French translation and which require quotas of French-language songs (at least 40%) on the radio. There is also pressure, in differing degrees, from some regions as well as minority political or cultural groups for a measure of recognition and support for their regional languages. Franglais (slang), a portmanteau combining the words français (French) and anglais (English), also called Frenglish, is a slang term for types of speech, although the word has different overtones in French and English. ... The Toubon Law (full name: law 94-665 of 4 August 1994 relating to usage of the French language), is a law of the French government mandating the use of the French language in official government publications, advertisements, and some other contexts. ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country, be it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ...

Once the most universal language, French lost most of its international significance to the English language in the 20th century. Nevertheless, French is the second most-studied foreign language in the world after English. The legacy of French as a living language outside Europe is mixed: it is nearly extinct in some former French colonies (Southeast Asia), while the language has changed to creoles, dialects or pidgins in the French departments in the West Indies and the South Pacific (French Polynesia).^{[citation needed]} On the other hand, many former French colonies have adopted French as an official language, and the total number of French-speakers has increased, especially in Africa. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable language that originates seemingly as a new language, sometimes with features that are not inherited from any apparent source, without however qualifying in any appreciable way as a mixed language. ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... A world map showing the continent of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most-populous continent, after Asia. ...

In Québec, the language has thrived and today is spoken by 82% of the province's population, mainly because about 80% of today's population is descended from French colonists of New France. During the 1960s, a terrorist group known as the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) launched a decade of bombings, robberies and attacks on government offices. ...

There has been French emigration to the United States, Australia and South America, but the descendants of these immigrants have assimilated to the point that few of them still speak French. In the United States, efforts are ongoing in Louisiana (see CODOFIL) and parts of New England (particularly Maine) to preserve the language. This article is about the U.S. State. ... CODOFILs logo. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ...

See also

• Old French
• History of the English language
• Language policy in France

Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories corresponding roughly to the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium and Switzerland from around 1000 to 1300. ... English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands. ... This is an article about language policy in France. ...

References

1. ^ Vincent Herschel Malmström, Geography of Europe: A Regional Analysis
2. ^ Mots francais d'origine gauloise. Mots d'origine gauloise. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
3. ^ The History of the French Language. Catholic Central French. Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
4. ^ French Language - General Overview. Orbis Latinus. Retrieved on 2006-03-22.
5. ^ Recherche des mots d'origine francique. Le trésor de la langue française informatisé. Retrieved on 2006-10-22.
6. ^ Henriette Walter, L'aventure des mots français venus d'ailleurs, Robert Laffont, 1998.
7. ^ Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780 : programme, myth, reality (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990; ISBN 0-521-43961-2) chapter II "The popular protonationalism", pp.80-81 French edition (Gallimard, 1992). According to Hobsbawm, the main source for this subject is Ferdinand Brunot (ed.), Histoire de la langue française, Paris, 1927-1943, 13 volumes, in particular volume IX. He also refers to Michel de Certeau, Dominique Julia, Judith Revel, Une politique de la langue: la Révolution française et les patois: l'enquête de l'abbé Grégoire, Paris, 1975. For the problem of the transformation of a minority official language into a widespread national language during and after the French Revolution, see Renée Balibar, L'Institution du français: essai sur le co-linguisme des Carolingiens à la République, Paris, 1985 (also Le co-linguisme, PUF, Que sais-je?, 1994, but out of print) ("The Institution of the French language: essay on colinguism from the Carolingian to the Republic. Finally, Hobsbawm refers to Renée Balibar and Dominique Laporte, Le Français national: politique et pratique de la langue nationale sous la Révolution, Paris, 1974.

 7 . Yves Cortez"Le français ne vient pas du latin" (2007)Paris 

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 295th day of the year (296th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Eric John Ernest Hobsbawm CH (born June 9, 1917) is a British Marxist historian and author. ... Éditions Gallimard is the second most important French publisher, and probably the most respected. ... Michel de Certeau (Chambéry, 1925- Paris, 9 January 1986) was a French Jesuit and scholar whose work combined psychoanalysis, philosophy, and the social sciences. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... PUF (Presses universitaires de France) are the largest French university publishing houses, founded in 1921 by several professors. ... Also see: France in the Middle Ages. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ...

External links

• Histoire de la langue française (in French)