Introduction
There are a number of vernacular languages which have gradually developed in Europe over the years. The French language which is mainly used in France and also in other parts of Europe is one of the vernacular languages in Europe. The French language, which is widely in use in Europe, was developed from Vulgar Latin. Vulgar Latin is the language that was mainly used in the Roman Empire as the vernacular language. The Romans conquered modern France, which used to be the ancient Gaul from the residents who were Gaulish speakers, a language categorized to be a Celtic language. Consequently, the Latin language spoken by the Romans dominated the Celtic language (Rosenfeld, 2004). As a result, the French language has been able to adopt most of its words from the Celtic language and some more from the German language. However, the French language has been able to derive majority of its vocabulary from the Latin language.
French became quite different from the Latin language in the 9th century. The language used between the period of the 9th century to that of the 13th century was widely known as the old French and derived most of its dialects from the language spoken in Paris. The French language further developed in the period between the 14th century up to the 16th century. This development led to the transition of French to what came to be known as Middle French and was characterized with words that were captured from various languages such as the Italian, Latin and the Greek languages (McKinney, 2008). Some poets known as the Pleiades encouraged the French to put in efforts so that they could improve both their literature as well as their language.
Finally, the French language was developed to the language of the Modern French. Cardinal Richelieu took the initiative to start the French Academy so that he could ensure that the newly developed French language would be sustained and so that its literature would remain pure (McKinney, 2008). The result of his efforts is the Modern day French language, which is currently in use across Europe and in other parts of the world. Given that the French language was already standardized, it easily spread to various parts of the world through the use of the mass media and by incorporating it in the school curriculum so that students and other interested persons can be educated about the French language.
The Latin language has contributed its vocabulary to a number of western languages thus their development. For instance, languages of Portugal, Spain, Romania, France and that of Italy developed as a result of a hybrid of the Latin language and the other native languages thus influencing the development of western languages. Additionally, Latin is important because it has largely been used by Western civilization to call the names of places, biology and even anatomy (Braunmüller & Ferraresi, 2003). Furthermore, it is greatly used in the medical and the scientific fields thus it forms part of the language of the western countries and as such it cannot be ignored.
According to Clackson and Horrocks (2011) many of the words used in the Latin language have since been used in other languages such as English. Therefore, it is of great importance because many of the western countries use English as the language of communication in most of their institutions. This is evident from the fact that the language of the Anglo-Saxons also known as the Old English made use of several words that it had adopted from Latin be it indirectly such as through the use of French or directly. In this regard, there are very close links between the English used in several western countries and Latin.
Conclusion
The Latin language is greatly important in the development of the languages used by many western nations today. This is evident from the fact that most of the native languages were established using words that were borrowed from Latin. Furthermore, vernacular languages like French greatly made use of the Latin language in their development. Therefore, there is no doubt that Latin is the backbone of many of the languages used for communication in the western nations.
References
Braunmüller, K., & Ferraresi, G. (2003). Aspects of multilingualism in European language history. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Retrieved from http://books.google.de/books?id=7KraXiQo_uIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Aspects+of+multilingualism+in+European+language+history.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=eSWSUv7iN8jmswaAvIG4CA&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Aspects%20of%20multilingualism%20in%20European%20language%20history.&f=false
Clackson, J., & Horrocks, G. (2011). The Blackwell History of the Latin Language. Chicester: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from http://books.google.de/books?id=O-1Ckyirv8AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Blackwell+History+of+the+Latin+Language.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NyaSUsj2CMvIswaG9IDIDw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Blackwell%20History%20of%20the%20Latin%20Language.&f=false
McKinney, M. (2008). History and politics in French language comics and graphic novels. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi. Retrieved from http://books.google.de/books?id=XAMZ5AG0u4cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=History+and+politics+in+French+language+comics+and+graphic+novels&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cSaSUu65NsvbsgaBhoCYBw&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=History%20and%20politics%20in%20French%20language%20comics%20and%20graphic%20novels&f=false
Rosenfeld, Sophia. (2004). A Revolution in Language: The Problem of Signs in Late Eighteenth-Century France. Stanford Univ Pr. Retrieved from http://books.google.de/books?id=rO41jF6epu4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=A+Revolution+in+Language:+The+Problem+of+Signs+in+Late+Eighteenth-Century+France&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ACeSUuLxGovMswbuh4DADA&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=A%20Revolution%20in%20Language%3A%20The%20Problem%20of%20Signs%20in%20Late%20Eighteenth-Century%20France&f=false
