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Why is French more distinct from Latin from the other Romance languages?
Primarily in terms of phonology and pronunciation rather than vocabulary necessarily. In terms of vocabulary, Romanian is probably the most distant on account of the heavier Slavic influence, but French sounds quite different from Latin when compared with, say, Italian or Spanish. Could this be the influence of ancient Celtic/Gallic languages and the way they pronounced Latin after adopting it, along with influences from the Franks and other Germanic tribes that settled in France after the fall of the Roman Empire?
EDIT: Thanks everyone. I think it's interesting that Occitan was the primary language of southern France before the spread of Standard French as evolved in the north (or the "langue d'oil"). Occitan sounds rather like the Catalan language spoken in NE Spain (Catalonia) or like various N Italian dialects to my ears.
Very true about the elimination of the suffixes and alterations of the vowels that you mention it. For instance "Bon" with Spanish "Bueno" or Italian "Buono" for the word "Good," or "Nuit" as opposed to "Noche" or "Notte" for "Night." As someone who has learned a great deal of Spanish and also some Italian, one of the more difficult things about French that's harder to get used to is not pronouncing almost every letter in a given word or cutting off the vowels at the end.
2 Answers
- Erik Van ThienenLv 78 years ago
French was indeed influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul, and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Frankish had a profound influence on the Latin spoken in that part, altering both the pronunciation (especially the vowels) and the syntax. It also introduced a number of new words, up to 15% of the modern French vocabulary, including the name of the language.
The influence of Frankish explains the clear difference between the kind of French that was spoken in the North, which was the basis of Standard French, and Occitan/Provençal spoken in the South, were the Germanic influence is almost non-existent.
If there hadn't been the Crusade against the Cathars, the South of France would probably have continued to be the cultural center of France, and Occitan could have become the basis of Standard French.
Source(s): Belgian - 8 years ago
Even after the Germanic Invasions in Roman Empire there were various Germanic influences. The Norman (Viking) Invasion in 10th century for exemple. In East of France, Franche-Comté was in Holly Empire before 17th century and Alsace and Lorraine was german for the last time before 1918.
Germanic languages (Alsatian, Lorraine Frankish and Flemish) is still spoken by some people in France and the Celtic language in Britanny too.
In France, the decline of regional languages is relatively recent (at beginning of 20th century), it is the result of compulsory schooling (1882) and the spread of television. If France is so centralized politically (Jacobin) it's because the French Nation does'nt exist ethnically or linguistically. The French Nation was made by French Revolution. I am French, however none of my grandparents had French as their mother tongue. They spoke a dialect of German at home. The "langues d'oïl" were spoken in France and in Belgium and from these languages derives the modern French language. The "langues d'oïl" are actually the old Gallo-Roman language (Latin Celtic mix) mixed with Francique (Germanic language). The modern French is actually a mixture of Celtic, Latin and Germanic languages predominantly Latin. This is especially true for the North of France. The south of France until recently mostly spoke the "langue d'Oc" (Occitan) which is closest to the Latin.
