 | This article is missing information about the phonology of Middle French. (April 2020) |
| Middle French | |
|---|---|
| françois, franceis | |
| Region | France |
| Era | Evolved into Modern French by the early 17th century |
Early forms | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | frm |
| ISO 639-3 | frm |
| Glottolog | midd1316 |
Middle French (French: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries.[1][2] It is a period of transition during which:
- the French language became clearly distinguished from the other competing Oïl languages, which are sometimes subsumed within the concept of Old French (l'ancien français)
- the French language was imposed as the official language of the Kingdom of France in place of Latin and other Oïl and Occitan languages
- the literary development of French prepared the vocabulary and grammar for the Classical French (le français classique) spoken in the 17th and 18th centuries.
It is the first version of French that is largely intelligible to Modern French, contrary to Old French.
- ^ Ducos, Joëlle; Soutet, Olivier (2012). L'ancien et le moyen français. PUF. p. 4. ISBN 978-2-13-061687-0.
- ^ "Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500)". ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine. 2015.