It is the Norman-French that most especially bears upon the history of the English language.
The proportion of the original Celtic in the present languages of France has still to be determined. It may, however, be safely asserted, that at a certain epoch between the first and fifth centuries, the language of Gaul was more Roman and less Celtic than that of Britain.
SPECIMEN.
From the Anglo-Norman Poem of Charlemagne.
Un jur fu Karléun al Seint-Denis muster,
Reout prise sa corune, en croiz seignat sun chef,
E ad ceinte sa espée: li pons fud d'or mer.
Dux i out e demeines e baruns e chevalers.
Li emperères reguardet la reine sa muillers.
Ele fut ben corunée al plus bel e as meuz.