The Root of Today’s French Language
People have spoken French for more than 2200 years. One important document proving its early existence is the Les Serments de Strasbourg*, dated from 842.
From the ninth century, a common language, le Francien, appeared necessary for trade and commerce in what is today Île de France, the region where Paris is located (called Lutèce under the Roman Empire). It was the place to meet to exchange goods; a place where people speaking different dialects from the other regions could only understand each other through a common language evolved from the common forms of the various dialects.
Le Francien spread and rapidly gained prestige, as it was the language of the king. King Hugues Capet** in 987 was the first king who couldn’t understand Germanic (the original language of the Franks, Les Francs) and spoke Le Francien. Therefore, as a prestigious language, it was also used in literature and commerce.
To sum up, today’s “academically correct” French comes from common forms of the different dialects and its usage in the judicial circle and in the king’s court. Therefore, only a small group of people developed what became modern French.
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* Les serments de Strasbourg is an alliance between Charles le Chauve and Louis le Germanique, the two grandsons of Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768 to 814, against the threat of a third grandson, Lothair I, the oldest son of Louis le Pieux (“Louis the Pious,” born in 795, died in 855), the sole heir to Charlemagne’s throne.
**Hugues Capet (born in 940, died in 996) was Duke of the Franks (960-987) and became King of the Franks (987-996). He is part of the Capétien dynasty.
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