FRENCH
The indebtedness of the Romance languages to Latin is well illustrated by the case of French. It contains less than a thousand words introduced by the German invaders of Gaul. Even fewer in number are the words of Celtic origin. Nearly all the rest are derived from Latin.
DEVELOPMENT OF FRENCH
The popular Latin of the Gallo-Romans gave rise to two quite independent languages in medieval France. The first was used in the southern part of the country; it was called Provençal (from Provence). The second was spoken in the north, particularly in the region about Paris. The unification of the French kingdom under Hugh Capet and his successors gradually extended the speech of northern France over the entire country. Even to-day, however, one may hear in the south of France the soft and harmonious Provençal.
THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES
The barbarians who poured from the wilds of central Europe into the Roman world brought their languages with them. But the speech of the Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, and Lombards disappeared, while that of the Franks in Gaul, after their conversion to Christianity, gradually gave way to the popular Latin of their subjects. The Teutonic peoples who remained outside what had been the limits of the Roman world continued to use their native tongues during the Middle Ages. From them have come modern German, Dutch, Flemish, [3] and the various Scandinavian languages (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic [4]). In their earliest known forms all these languages show unmistakable traces of a common origin.
ANGLO-SAXON
Britain was the only Roman province in the west of Europe where a Teutonic language took root and maintained itself. Here the rough, guttural speech of the Anglo-Saxons so completely drove out the popular Latin that only six words were left behind by the Romans, when they abandoned the island early in the fifth century. More Celtic words remained, words like cradle, crock, mop, and pillow, which were names of household objects, and the names of rivers, mountains, and lakes, which were not easily changed by the invaders. [5] But with such slight exceptions Anglo-Saxon was thoroughly Teutonic in vocabulary, as well as in grammar.
CHANGES IN ANGLO-SAXON
In course of time Anglo-Saxon underwent various changes. Christian missionaries, from the seventh century onward, introduced many new Latin terms for church offices, services, and observances. The Danes, besides contributing some place-names, gave us that most useful word are, and also the habit of using to before an infinitive. The coming of the Normans deeply affected Anglo-Saxon. Norman-French influence helped to make the language simpler, by ridding it of the cumbersome declensions and conjugations which it had in common with all Teutonic tongues. Many new Norman-French words also crept in, as the hostility of the English people toward their conquerors disappeared.