PAUL-LOUIS COURIER (1773-1825) FRAGMENT DE LA PÉTITION AUX DEUX CHAMBRES FRAGMENT DE LA LETTRE A MESSIEURS DE L'ACA- DÉMIE DES INSCRIPTIONS ET BELLES-LETTRES HISTOIRE DE LA CONQUÊTE DE L'ANGLETERRE PAR COURONNEMENT DE GUILLAUME-LE-CONQUÉRANT, ROI D'ANGLE- INTRODUCTION. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RISE AND FORMATION OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE AND ANALYSIS OF THE LITERATURE TILL THE TIME OF CORNEILLE. 1. ORIGIN OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE.' French, like the rest of the Romance languages, is derived from the vulgar Latin tongue. It is a well-known historical law, that when a people reaches a certain degree of culture its language divides into two distinct streams, one the written or literary dialect, the other the vernacular. The characteristic qualities of the latter are a negligent pronunciation,2 especially of the end of words (phonetic decay), a marked tendency to simplify and mix up grammatical forms, and lastly the occurrence of a large number of words unknown to literature. The fact that such a vernacular dialect, the lingua rustica, existed among the Romans is moreover vouched for by quotations from the classical writers themselves. The difference between these two forms of speech seems to have become established in Latin about the time of the Punic wars and was increased by the large number of Greek words which were gradually introduced into the written language and always remained foreign to the vernacular. Thus the two dialects gradually acquired distinct grammatical forms and vocabularies. Caesar's conquests introduced Roman officials, soldiers, and colonists into Gaul, where the use of the Latin tongue soon prevailed over the Celtic. About three centuries after the Roman conquest, the latter seems to have almost disappeared from the country and to have become restricted to Armorica and one or two other isolated spots. The language which the Roman settlers brought with them and which was adopted by the provincials was not however the classical Latin but the vulgar dialect of the middle and lower classes. We have followed especially BRACHET, Grammaire historique de la langue française, 10e éd., and also: DIEZ, Grammatik der rom. Sprachen, BURGUY, Grammaire de la langue d'oil, LITTRÉ, Histoire de la langue franç., MAX MÜLLER, Ueber deutsche Schattirungen romanischer Wörter. V. SCHUCHARDT, Der Vocalismus des Vulgärlateins. E. g. for the classical words equus, pugna, verberare, hebdomas we find in the vulgar tongue caballus, batalia, batuere, septimana which in French have become cheval, bataille, battre, semaine. Subsequently called Brittany. |