French Language History Lesson

French is a Romance language spoken around the world in 54 different countries and is the official language in 29 countries. French is one of the 5 romance languages that originate in Latin language of the Roman Empire. The other four are Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Romanian.

France has had a long history and thus, many lingual influences. Around 60BC, France was inhabited largely by a Celtic people to which the Romans referred as Gauls. However, there is little resimblance of the Celtic language in Hrench today. Then Julius Ceasar invaded France in 58BC and that began the Roman influnce on French. Later, areound the third century, the franks primarily controled northern France. They are generally considered a German nomadic tribe. Over time, the France had many influences that shaped the nature of their language, especially in the Middle Ages. Everything from the beginning of the French language up to about 1300 is considered old French. However, the new French is not immune to lingual influences either. There is much debate in the French culture over the inlfuence English has had on the French language and business. They enacted a law that says all advertisements that are in a foreign language must also have the French translation on it. Also, radio stations are require to play at least %40 of their music in the French language.

The history of the French language is long and complex, but hopefully I have given you some useful information. I though it would be nice to share a little bit of a background with you, along with some modern issues.

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