The French language has a reputation for being difficult, fancy, and also has the name of ‘the language of love.’ However, the nuances of the French language are understood by few, so today I will try to explain in layman’s terms.
French is a Romance language descended from Latin, and is related to Spanish, Italian, and Romanian among many others. In the Romance languages, French is part of the langues d’oil, (languages of ‘oui’) which means that the word for yes is ‘oui’ or ‘oil’, which are pronounced similarly. Langues d’oil and langues d’oc are two branches of the Romance languages, and are more closely related to each other than any other branch. The langues d’oil contain a lot of Germanic vocabulary from languages related to German and Dutch, and therefore are distinct from other Romance languages. This added similarity of vocabulary makes it easier for English speakers to learn French, not to mention the fact that much of fancy English vocabulary comes from French.
So, how did the language of love come to be? Back in the year 476 CE, the Roman Empire fell to a bunch of Germanic tribes, such as the Vandals and the Goths. This led to Europe being taken over by Germanic tribes, including what is now France. The land of France (or Gaul, as it was known then) was taken over by the Franks, who gave their name to the land and language. The Franks, however, spoke Old Frankish, which while making up a good part of French vocab was similar to Dutch. What happened was that many parts of Europe under the Roman Empire spoke Latin so much that the Germanic invaders also started using Latin eventually. This common version or ‘Vulgar Latin’ mixed with other languages to form the Romance Languages, including Old French. Old French had two variants, Standard Old French and Norman French, which was spoken by Vikings in the Northwestern province of Normandy. Norman French is the biggest part of Romance vocabulary in English and was taken to England by William the Conqueror, duke of Normandy and the first French king of England.
French and its close relatives, Gallo, Picard, and Walloon developed in the Middle Ages and by the 14th century French became distinguishable from the other langues d’oil. By the 17th century French started to become its modern version via the Academie Francaise established by Cardinal Richelieu.
Nowadays, there are many ways to learn French and for English speakers, it is very easy to understand French once you’ve practiced and found similarities and rules of logic. Learning French has many benefits, as you’ll be understood in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, French Guiana, Canada, and much of West and North Africa.
Anay Ganesh 