This is called having a predestined name. At the end of the 19th century, Gaston Paris, a linguist by profession, championed a theory that would enjoy immense success: the French of today is the heir of the Parisian of yesterday. A thesis that will be valid for a long time before being called into question.
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What was Gaston Paris essentially explaining? This: after the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin was divided into different languages. In the future France, an early break appeared between the Domaine d’Oc, to the south, and the Domaine d’oïl, to the north. The latter then fragmented into several dialects, including one located in Ile-de-France, which – it is from there that things get bad – would have imposed itself on all the others from the year 1200, due to the power of the Capetian kings and the preeminence of its literature. And to insist on two points, essential in his eyes. One: there was no mixing between the different dialects of oïl; it was the “pure” one from the capital that won. Two: it was the speech of the people of Paris that was privileged, and not that of the Court.
If his thesis has since been refuted, it is because it suffers from numerous weaknesses, which I summarize here taking inspiration from the work of the linguist Bernard Cerquiglini, An orphan language (1):
– An overestimation of the role of Paris. In the 13th century, Paris had not yet acquired the demographic, economic, political and cultural power that it would later have. The city is not even the only capital of the kingdom. There is also no particular literary production, no renowned circle of writers. As for its schools and its university, they use exclusively… Latin, just like the royal administration. We do not see how these different factors would justify any pre-eminence of the “francien”.
– No clear demarcation. Where was “francien” spoken? On this key question, Gaston Paris often varies, sometimes evoking France’s Island ; sometimes a vast area encompassing – or not – Champagne, Orléanais, Perche or Bas-Maine; sometimes on the contrary a space reduced to… the city of Paris alone!
– No precise linguistic definition. While a language is traditionally defined by particular conjugations, specific syntax and original terms, nothing like that for Francien, which according to Paris would have borrowed from the various neighboring dialects. Curious inaccuracy…
– A language without a name. Just as astonishingly, this supposedly “higher” dialect would never have been named. Sensing the difficulty, Gaston Paris invented a name for it: “francien”. A neologism which allows him to summarize his thesis in an easily remembered formula: “The French dialect has become the French language”.
– An internal contradiction. On the one hand, Gaston Paris therefore ensures that one of the Oïl dialects would have imposed itself on its competitors. On the other hand, he affirms… that there are not really dialects, but only “dialectal traits” (particular specificities depending on the location) making, according to him, any notion of linguistic border arbitrary. One of his disciples, Paul Meyer, even went so far as to deny any distinction between oïl and oc! In other words: there are no dialects, but one of them has taken over the others… Understand who can.
– A serious chronology problem. Gaston Paris begins his reasoning in the 13th century. A very late time given that the Romance languages separated from Latin at least four hundred years ago. The ideal, for him, would have been to prove that his “brother” had established himself much earlier. However, he has no clue in this direction, and for good reason. As another linguist, Jacques Chaurand, quoted by Cerquiglini, recalls: “We do not have a single document from the 12th century that was written in Ile-de-France. The manuscripts that have come down to us are all Norman or Anglo-Norman .” And to conclude: “Strange emptiness of the presumed director’s speech!” (2).
In short, Gaston Paris’s thesis must be considered for what it is: a militant operation, explained by the personal convictions of a republican favoring national unity over scientific rigor. For him, after the defeat of 1870, there could not be several Frances, including linguistically. Hence the invention of “francien”.
The question remains to be answered: where does our national language come from? According to Bernard Cerquiglini, it is not the language of the people of Paris which is at the origin of “standard” French, but that of the charters, these administrative documents dated, localized and written by professional copyists. However, this French of the charters did not appear suddenly as if by magic. It is itself the fruit of literary French which preceded it, which was divided between three great traditions: Poitou and its surroundings on the one hand; an area bringing together Picard, Walloon and Champagne, on the other hand; finally a vast western region, which particularly attracts his attention. Because Cerquiglini affirms it: it is the latter which had the most influence, due to the major role played in the 12th century by the Plantagenets, a prestigious family accumulating considerable titles at that time: not only dukes of Normandy, but also kings of England, counts of Anjou and indirectly (Eleanor obliges) dukes of Aquitaine and counts of Poitou, excuse me! Also it was in their Oïl dialect, Anglo-Norman, that a large number of leading works were born at this time, notably the famous Song of Roland. Works which will exert their power on the charters and, ultimately, on standard French.
Conclusion ? The French language does not exist and, in linguistics as elsewhere, it is never good for patriotism to take precedence over science…
(1) An orphan language, by Bernard Cerquiglini. Midnight Editions.
(2) New history of the French language, under the direction of Jacques Chaurand. Editions du Seuil.
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