French belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is in the Romance Language sub-set. Something I did not know: "culture" is a French word used in so many other languages. I feel like that in itself shows the significance of the language in Europe and its ability to spread to other parts of the world.
The earliest known text containing the French language is dated back to 842. There are only a dozen manuscripts with French texts through the 11th century. French was mainly found in old Latin manuscripts; but mind you, the language at the time was nowhere near what we know today. It was originally called "old French" or langue d'oïl. Oïl was used for the word "yes" in Northern France. Old French terms continuously showed up in Latin manuscripts, mainly in short phrases and verbs like rabere (to go mad) which is now rauger.
England eventually developed a multilingual society because Old French became a learned literary language. Old French was not widely used in a conversational manner, but more so in written documents. It's interesting how French is derived from Latin, but founds its way into English society across the channel. Beyond the English channel, French moved through the Caribbean and parts of Northern and Western Africa. I think that even in colonization, French was spread more for formal indoctrination which is why it is the official language of so many countries. I think that the main asset of French culture spread to these regions of the world was the language itself. Each country still developed their own culture apart from their "mother country."
Languages change over time as some words and phrases rise to prominence and/or completely fall off-the-grid. Words also change in meanings as their significance shifts as well. Movement of people is also a huge part of how languages change. It is interesting to see the rise of Spanish in the US as more Latin Americans migrate here. The US does not have an official language contrary to other colonized regions of the worlds, so it is interesting to see two prominent languages co-exist. I don't see English changing a lot in my everyday, but Spanish is becoming more widely used.
Comments