By Melanie
The festival of the French language is celebrated on five continents. Why? It seems that 274 million people speak French, in France, Belgium, Quebec, in most African countries… with different accents! People everywhere use the same words and the same grammar. But it took twenty-five centuries to invent this language.
What are the origins of the French language?
The origins of the French language go back more than 2000 years. At that time, France was inhabited by Gallic tribes. Among them, they used the Celtic language to understand each other. In the year 51 BC, a great upheaval occurred in the land of the Gauls. The whole of Gaul was conquered by the Roman troops of Julius Caesar. As the Romans were fluent in Latin, this language became the official language of Gaul. Very proud, the Gauls have long been communicating among themselves in their official language. It would be a few hundred years before these two languages merged to form a new one. Do you know what they called this new language? French.
Who invented French?
Despite what one might think, the French language was not invented by a single person. Over the centuries that followed, the French language evolved slowly, at the pace of conquests and the opportunities of history. In the Middle Ages, more variants of French dialects were still spoken in the different regions of France. Because Paris became the capital of France in the 12th century, French should prevail throughout the region.
Although the French language is now defined by dictionaries and grammars, it continues to evolve. If ancestors are banished from the vocabulary, authors are invented to describe new reals.
What is Francophonie?
The Francophonie is part of a community of people who speak French. It is also all the countries or regions where French is spoken. In the world, 57 countries are French-speaking. Examples include Switzerland or Belgium, Quebec in Canada, Haiti or Madagascar. In 30 countries or regions, French is the only official language. It is used by politicians, in the media and taught in schools. This is the case in France, of course, but also in the French overseas departments and territories and in many African countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso or Côte d’Ivoire. In 26 countries, French is one of the official languages, but it is not the only one. In Switzerland, we speak French, German and Italian. In Canada, it is the official language of English. In the city of Pondicherry, India, French is the official language along with English and three Indian languages. There are also countries where French is not the official language, but is nevertheless used by their inhabitants. If you have been to Morocco or Algeria, you may have noticed that the people speak our language very well.
Why do we speak French outside France?
Most French-speaking countries or regions are former French colonies (see the dictionary of the day). This is the case, for example, of Senegal, Madagascar, Quebec, Haiti or Pondicherry. France occupied these countries at the time of the colonies and imposed its language there. After independence (these countries became autonomous), some of these countries continued to teach French in schools and to use it in their administrations. But there are also French-speaking countries that are not former colonies. Belgium, for example. In fact, France’s borders have not always been as we know them today. Throughout history, they have moved. France’s borders extended to the south of Belgium and the north belonged to the Netherlands. For this reason, the official languages of Belgium are French in the south and Dutch in the north.
