Language Monday: French
March 12, 2018
Parlez-vous français? (Do you speak French?) If you speak English, chances are that you also know some French. Many words in the English language come from French, even though the tongues have different ancestors. French is a widespread language with broad influence. Spoken in France and dozens of other countries, including parts of the United States, it ranks as an “international language,” and has long been a language of world diplomacy.
The French flag can be seen alongside written French language translations around the world. Credit: © Dream Maker Software
French is the official language of France and its overseas territories in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, South America, and the South Pacific. It is also an official language of Belgium, Canada, Haiti, Luxembourg, Monaco, Switzerland, and many African countries. Many people speak French in the U.S. state of Louisiana, where official services and documents are available in the language. Additionally, French is a working language of such international groups as Doctors Without Borders, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the United Nations (UN).
As well as being a language of intergovernmental cooperation, diplomacy, and humanitarian endeavor, French long has been a language of the arts. For example, the French played a central role in the development of ballet from the 1600’s. As a result, most ballet steps have French names. France has had a thriving motion-picture industry since the 1920’s. In the mid-1900’s, the French Nouvelle Vague (New Wave) movement had a profound effect on global cinema. Today, French-language films are popular around the world. And since medieval times, French writers have contributed to every major form of literature and influenced the literature of other countries. French authors or authors writing in French have won over a dozen Nobel Prizes in literature. Interestingly, the Irish-born Nobel winner Samuel Beckett wrote some of his most important works in French.
Click to view larger image
France. Credit: WORLD BOOK map
French and English use the same alphabet. It has 26 letters and developed from the Latin alphabet. French also uses a number of accent marks called diacritics, including the acute accent ( ´ ); grave accent ( ` ); diaeresis ( ¨ ); cedilla, always with c ( ç ); and circumflex ( ˆ ). These marks indicate different letter sounds and different meanings of words that are spelled alike, for example ou (or) and où (where). Grammatically, French has similarities to Italian and Spanish. All three tongues are Romance languages, which developed from the Latin language of the ancient Romans.
The Romans conquered Gaul (now mainly France) in the 50’s B.C. The Gauls spoke Gaulish but gradually adopted and modified the vernacular (common) Latin spoken by Roman soldiers. By the A.D. 700’s, vernacular Latin had evolved into a language called la langue romane, or Romance. Beginning in the 900’s, Romance developed in France into Old French, which had many dialects (related varieties). A dialect spoken around Paris became the accepted tongue throughout France because of the capital’s influence.
Throughout the centuries, the developing French language absorbed many words from the languages of other peoples, including Danish Vikings, Franks, Greeks, Italians, and Spaniards. It also kept some Gaulish words. During the 1600’s, writers and scholars began to standardize the structure of French and l’Académie française (French Academy) was born. Founded by the French statesman Cardinal Richelieu in 1635, this intellectual organization continues to operate as the leading authority on the French language.
