Trench and camp. [volume] (Augusta, Ga.) 1917-1919, 1917-10-17
THE FRENCH LANGUAGE
(By Prof. I. L. Foster, Army Y. NJ C.
A., Camp Hancock


on the continent of Europe which has
had a more honorable and attractive
history than has that of France, our
sister republic. It's origin is to be
found in the early days of the first
century when Caesar and his victor
ious legions overran the west of Eu-
rope, and conquered Orgetorix and
Vercingetorix, the tribal rulers of what
was then Gaul. AS was usual, Rome
not only subjugated the people and
made them tributary, but she also i'm
posed upon them her institutions and
laws. To carry out the commands of
imperial Caesar a permanent legionary
force was demanded and they were
garrisoned in Gaul at the expense of
the natives. With the Roman soldiers
came Roman traders and the language
OF soldier and trader was Latin. It
was not the Latin of Cicero and Vergil
that is familiar to the school boy but
the tongue of the common people, lin
qua romano rustica," the language of
the Roman commoner, as it is techni-
Cally known.
AS the Romans promptly .nonopoliz-
ed the business of the province, it be-
came necessary for the tribesman to
learn the language of has conqueror if
he would trade with him. Proud Rome
would not humble herself to the level
of Gallo patois, so the natives used
the language of Caesar or took the
consequences. Frequent intermar-
riages between the DICTIONARIES and the
native women still further aided in the
assimilation of the foreign speech until
finally the old, familiar dialect was
forgotten. 1t was, however, not until
SAP that we find the first real speci-
men of new French language. In the
Oaths of Strasburg of this year we
can discover. the birth of "a new me-
dunn of thought expression and it is
called French because the tribe known
as Franks were the first to use it,
The language was slow in develop
ing and 1t was not until the 18th CEN
tury that it began to assume definite
shape Even then it was quite imper-
feet and was burdened with many use 4
less linguistic appendanges. In the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries
teenth centuries certain grammatical
and syntactical changes We're made
which brought it to a close resemb-
lance with the language of today. 1t
has, however, been undergoing modifi-
cations continuously since the period |
of development, with a result that it |
as possible to find at the present words !
from several other dialects which have
been grated on to the parent stock, |
giving us the language of the twen-
tieth century, These borrowings in the |
French have been, considerable, but |
along definite lines. The German has |
furnished rather large vocabulary /
in the field of war and it's |
accessories; the Italian, famous in art |
and literature, has made its contribu- |
ZION mere; While the English, lovers of |
sport, have furnished practically all
the familiar terms in this field. In |
many cases the word remains I'M |
changed, when it is transferred from
one language to the other, merely re- |
ceiVing gender sign as required in
French.
The new language rapidly sprang
into favor and in the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries occupied the
enviable position of the world Ian
guage." Today it is the language of
and international affairs.
The reason for this universal popu-
larity is to be found in its logical Sc
quence of phrasing and clarity of ex-
preston. In the early history of the
language it was said: IF it is not
clear, it is not French and the same
holds true today. 1t has a purity of
style and felicity of diction which no
other language possesses and makes
possible an enhancing melody which
carries you along and thrills you in
spite of yourself
French is rather difficult for an
American to learn, as it is romantic in
its origin rather than Teutonic. De-
spite this fact, it can DE mastered suf-
ficiently for practical purposes in a
short time if a few fundamental prin-
ciples are carefully learned. The meth
Cd of sentence formation is quite like
the English and many words are the
exact equivalent in appearance and
meaning. The main difficulty comes
in the pronunciation which seems for
midable to all beginners.
In pronouncing French especial re-
gard must be paid to the vowels, singIy
or in combinations with each other,
bearing in mind that the last two in
trigraphs give the sound for the group,
that is, eau is like au; Que like Ell, etc.
The letter "u' presents a sound pc
culiar to itself, resembling zee" pro-
nounced through rounded lips. The
nasal vowels, combination of the VOW
els with m or n, also have a sound that
is unfamiliar to American ears and,