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where is french originated
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France was part of the Roman Empire as (Gaul) for many years. French has evolved from Latin, the language of the occupying Roman forces.
French is a Romance language which descended from the LATIN LANGUAGE, a member of the Italic branch of INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. The designation Romance is derived from the Latin phrase romanica loqui, "to speak in Roman fashion," which attests to the popular, rather than literary, origins of the languages.
It is a "Romance language", i.e. descending from Latin, such as are Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Catalan, Occitan, Portuguese, Sardinian... Latin was brought by the Roman colonization in Gaul (Gallia). The ancient Celtic language(s) spoken there was replaced by Latin, and its remains nowadays are restricted to a few words. So-called German (e.g. Frankish) "invasions" influenced the language spoken in the Northern part of Roman Gaul more than other Romance languages, and shaped what is known as "ancient French" (not a unique language though). During the Renaissance and afterwards, a great deal of new words have been artificially coined from Latin and Greek roots.
French is a descendant of the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Sardinian and Catalan. Its closest relatives however are the other langues d'oïl and French-based creole languages. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders
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