The roots of the French language.

 

The roots of the French language can be traced to the Roman Empire, similar to other languages such as Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and many other less commonly used languages. Its evolution was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the “barbarian” invaders over the 4th and 5th centuries. According to the Constitution of France, French has been the official language since 1992. It took centuries for French to emerge as the primary language among a plethora of dialects used in Middle Ages Gaul. One landmark date is 1539, when Francis the First’s VillersCotterêts Ordinance made French the only accepted language for all judicial acts, notarized contracts, and official legislation in order to avoid any linguistic confusion. In the 17th century, the French settlers brought the language into Canada, while the French and Belgian colonization of the 19th -20th centuries spread the language in Africa and other parts of the world . Since 1635, the permanently appointed members of l’Académie française (created by the Cardinal de Richelieu) also called “les immortels,” have decided on countless modifications of the French language and made repeated recommendations for its proper use. Although L’Académie’s authority has been declining, it still retains a certain prestige to this day, and its members are often famed intellectuals and political figures. In 1970, prominent leaders of the decolonized world (presidents Léopold Senghor of Senegal, Habib Bourguiba of Tunisia, Hamani Diori of Niger, and Prince Norodom Sihanouk of Cambodia) proposed the creation of a new international organization that would unite the “Francophone” countries and promote the idea of a French-speaking world and the shared values of solidarity and dialogue. Today, that organization bears the name of Organisation internationale de la Francophonie.