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 othe...
Comments
Post a Comment