French emerges as the national language
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
The first French text
The first identifiably French text emerges in 842 CE, penned at the monumental event
known as The Oaths of Strasbourg. At the time, Charlemagne's three grandsons were vying for
control of the empire: Lothair, the named heir, had two younger brothers who wanted to rule the
kingdom in his place: Louis the German who spoke German with his constituents and Charles
the Bald who spoke the ever-evolving local version of what used to be Latin. In the name of all
that is reality TV, Charles and Louis each publicly took an oath against their brother Lothair in
the other's language so that the other soldiers could understand them (what a Tiktok this would
make #oathtok #brothers #germanic #romance #frenchvoilà #lothairsuxx). The oaths didn’t have
much political significance after the Treaty of Verdun hacked the empire up among all three
brothers, but linguists delight at them because they constitute the oldest French text on record!
One French dialect becomes the standard
All these changes over the centuries led to the separation of France into three main dialect
groups, reflective of the cultural and linguistic groups that inhabited them: the Oïl (pronounced
OY!) dialect group to the north, the Oc dialect to the south, and Francoprovençal in the east-
central. Oïl and Oc don’t look like much more than some rad band names, but they were actually
the word for “yes” in each of the dialects—cognates with standard French oui!
In fact, the 5th through the 12th centuries are often referred to as the heyday of dialects—
every village had its own variety, and the only time you’d get any kind of uniformity would be in
market towns where people from many places would gather together and try to make themselves
understood enough to do business. It was during this period that Paris rose to the top as "Best in
show" among these market towns. Not because of the ragin’ designer handbag scene but because
it was located near three different bodies of water, was close to several fertile agricultural zones,
and was the site of the literary scene upheld by the Royal Court. By the end of the 12th century,
it was already fashionable to avoid using one’s regional variety in favor of the posh variety
coming from Paris. le eyeroll
It wasn’t until 1539 with the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts that French was legally required
to replace Latin and regional dialects in administrative documents. This declaration made this
offshoot of Latin legitimate and just as worthy of prestige as Latin, so it also paved the way for
scientific and literary publications to be printed in French. Such widespread use of French led to
all sorts of linguistic innovations:
the double (two-part) negative: je ne marche pas "I don’t walk a step," je ne bois
goutte "I don’t drink a drop," je ne mange mie "I don’t eat a crumb." (Can you tell which one
ended up becoming the negative form for all verbs?)
new words from other languages: académie "academy" from Greek, colombe "dove"
from Latin, bizarre "bizarre" from Spanish, and bagatelle "trifle" from Italian.
the birth of liaison: a pronunciation rule by which all word-final consonants remain
unpronounced unless they are followed by a vowel, so today in les maisons (the houses), les is
pronounced without the "s" (like "lay" in English), but in les amis (the friends), the "s" is
pronounced as a "z" (like "lays" in English). The modern rule has changed since the 1600s, but
liaison is still an important part of French pronunciation!
Today French is spoken on five of seven continents, is an official language in 29
independent nations and has unofficial or secondary status in 30+ others. But how did French get
to these places? Has it always been there? And how has it changed over time?
Like many other languages, including English, the history of French is one of conquest,
cultural mixing, and standardization, with geography, political power, and prestige all playing a
role. Ready for an adventure? On y go! ("Let’s go!" in Franglais 😉)
Il était une fois… (Once upon a time…)
By 800 BCE in what is now France, there were three groups living, working, and speaking
their languages in neighboring territories: the Ligurians (in Provence, southeastern France)
speaking Ligurian, the Iberians (in Languedoc, south-central France) speaking Iberian, and the
Aquitani (in southwestern France) speaking Basque. None of these groups were Indo-European,
the common ancestor language for languages spoken over the greater part of Europe and Asia,
but soon a number of newcomers would show up with a variety of Indo-European languages that
mixed with, competed with, and eventually replaced these original languages. The most
influential groups were:
The Gauls (800 BCE-500 CE)
The Romans (121 BCE-5th century)
A number of Germanic tribes (2nd-6th century)
The Vikings (9th-10th century)
The Gauls
The French often repeat the phrase Nos ancêtres, les Gaulois "Our ancestors, the Gauls"
when speaking of their cultural and linguistic heritage, but their influence was actually quite
limited. The Gauls were a group of Celtic tribes from present-day Germany who crossed into
northeastern France, bringing with them their Celtic language—Gaulish—which was Indo-
European. Although now extinct, Gaulish is in the same family tree as other Celtic languages
spoken today, like Scottish Gaelic, Irish, and Breton (in northwestern France).
The Gauls didn’t leave much behind language-wise, but you can still find their traces in
present-day French if you look hard enough! In standard Continental French, the word for 80 is
actually "four twenties" (4 x 20)—quatre-vingts—and you have the Gauls to thank for this batty
system! The Celts had a well-known vigesimal ("base 20") counting system: instead of using 10
as the base for counting, they used 20 (for their 10 fingers + 10 toes!). Other French varieties,
including some in Switzerland and Belgium, instead use the Latin system based on 10; their
word for 80 is from "eight tens" (8 x 10)—huitante or octante.
The Romans
It was precisely during the Gaulish heyday that the Romans, led by Julius Caesar, showed
up and annexed Gaul as part of their rapidly spreading conquest. When the Roman Empire took
over around 121 BCE, people were expected to pick up the language of those in power: Latin.
Children who were born during this period spoke Gaulish at home and Latin out in the
community, but by the time they grew up, Latin was the dominant language. By the end of the
6th century, Gaulish had been entirely replaced by Latin everywhere in Gaul, except in very
small towns.
Germanic tribes and the Vikings
As the Roman Empire spread north and west through present-day France from the 2nd to the
6th centuries, Germanic invaders including the Franks, Visigoths, Burgundians, and Alamanni
began arriving en masse from the north and east. All this Germanik panik had a lasting effect on
French vocabulary (especially words about war, agricultural life, and colors) and pronunciation.
Two of the biggest changes were the introduction of a new vowel, the schwa, and the
*reintroduction* of the sound "h," as in *heaume* (helmet) and *héron* (heron), which had
been lost from the original Latin pronunciation. And actually, that wouldn't be the last time
speakers of Germanic languages barged into France; the Vikings made their *entrée* in the 9th
and 10th centuries, eventually establishing the Duchy of Normandy (named after Scandinavian
*nordmand* "North man"), and bringing with them seafaring vocabulary and a handful of place
names.
