For the first time in history, almost all French people speak French. An event often overlooked when it marks a fundamental step for a country which, until then, had always been multilingual.
I am sorry to start this article with lines likely to strike sensitive audiences but, as you know, journalists are guided only by the Truth. So here are the facts, in their bare brutality: throughout its history, France has been a multilingual country.
It’s okay ? Has everyone survived? I therefore continue. This may surprise you today, but it is so: French has long been a minority in France. Initially, it was only practiced on a tiny territory. To simplify: the current Ile-de-France, the Orléanais and the south of Picardy. And again, I summarize: before the tenth century, the kings of France spoke French and the literate communicated in Latin. Hugues Capet, in 987, was the very first French mother tongue monarch to no longer understand Germanic.
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Read the rest of Michel Feltin-Palas’ article here https://bit.ly/37cLgWM
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