French language

French language, Romance language spoken in France and parts of Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, and former French and Belgian colonies; it is the official language of 21 countries. It developed from Latin during and after the Roman occupation of Gaul and also from Celtic and Germanic elements. By the 11th century 2 dialects had developed: in the south the langue d'oc, in the north the lange d'öil. From the latter came francien, the Paris dialect that became modern French, spoken and written since the 17th century.