Histoire du français

0:04 Did you know that the French language we speak today was very different in the past? It actually formed over the centuries from several languages spoken across this territory. Many French words also come from languages spoken by neighboring peoples our ancestors interacted with. If you know the adventures of Asterix and Obelix well, you might know that our indomitable Gauls spoke a Celtic language, Gaulish. This very ancient language left behind a few common words . But back then, the Celtic language was rarely written down, and we have only kept a few words from this oral culture

0:49 . Indeed, in the first century BC, the Romans invaded Gaul. They naturally brought their language, Latin, with them. The Gaulish people quickly adopted the vulgar Latin spoken by Roman soldiers and merchants. They transformed certain words and adapted them to their own pronunciation habits. Cabalou, eh? Cabalos, cabalou, ah, cabalom. Kabalou.

1:51 Some educated Gauls studied the classical Latin spoken and written by learned Romans. Most of the French words you know today come from these two types of Latin. Vulgar Latin Kabalum gave us "cheval"(horse). Classical Latin was not directly adopted by the Gaulish people at the time. It would later enter the French language to form words like "équitation"(riding) or " équestre"(equestrian). Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD, the Franks gradually invaded the territory of Belgium and a large northern half of present-day France. These Germanic

2:38 peoples spoke Frankish and adopted vulgar Latin as a second language. Their accent further transformed the language. The Franks also introduced many Frankish words that blended into the vocabulary of vulgar Latin. Over the years and influences, the language spoken in Gaul transformed so much that by the 9th century, it resembled neither Gaulish nor Germanic languages and was quite distinct from vulgar Latin. Cheval. A new language was born: Romance.

3:30 One of the oldest texts we know in this language is called the Oaths of Strasbourg. It is a promise made in 842 between two of Charlemagne's grandsons and their soldiers. Romance was then spoken in many different ways. It continued to evolve and diverged into several regional languages spoken across the territory. At the end of the 10th century, a particular Romance dialect, French, developed in the Paris Basin. This Old French was spoken by King Hugh Capet and the people of his court. From this

4:17 time on, educated people learned it in all regions of France. A beautiful literature developed in this language, which had become prestigious. In the 16th century, it was the beginning of the Renaissance in France and an explosion of knowledge. Sciences are booming. Our scholars need vocabulary to describe their new disciplines. They create words from Greek or Latin roots or borrow them from Italian. Geography, for example, comes from the Greek words Gê, the earth, which became Gê, and graphein, to write. Geography is therefore the science whose object is to describe the earth. In 1539, Francis I signed the

5:04 Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts and imposed French as the administrative language to replace Latin. We order that henceforth all deeds be pronounced, recorded, and delivered in the French mother tongue. We call this language Middle French today. But many regional languages are still in use. They continue to enrich and modify French. Over the centuries, moreover, many other languages have done the same. In the 11th century, the Flemish and the Vikings brought us some words. Bouin, book, vog, wave. In the 11th and 12th centuries, our scholars learned a lot from the Arabs

5:51 in scientific fields. Cipher. In the 16th century, the Italians brought us a lot of military vocabulary. Alarm! Alarm. In the 17th century, the fashion was more for Spanish words. Comrade! Comrade. In 1635, Richelieu, prime minister to Louis XIII, founded the Académie Française to fix and unify the language. Today, we call the language of this era Classical French. It is the golden age of dictionaries, French grammars, and works on the language.

6:39 Even though it remains a minority, more and more French people speak French. They often learn it as a supplement to their own regional language. Classical French shines through our great authors of the era. It is also spoken in many European courts. It becomes an international language practiced by the elites. During the same period, French spread to countries colonized by France . In these slave colonies, the indigenous peoples pronounced it in their own way and modified it. They created the various creoles. Hello, that's not a problem for you. Yes, it is.

7:25 In the 19th and 20th centuries, the republican school system taught French throughout the territory. The media finished spreading and unifying the language. They also introduced new techniques and trends from elsewhere. Today, an interview with an international rock and roll star. Today, we continue to adopt many English words. Did you check your emails? Yeah, we'll go play basketball this weekend. We also form new words to designate objects from new technologies. Software megabyte. They, too, come from Latin and Ancient Greek, by the way. Every day, the younger generations play with languages, reverse syllables, and

8:11 give new meanings to words. We had a sick party with this guy there , he's even got the style. You see, French is and has always been a living language.