Over the course of the 17th century, the French language became the primary language in the aristocratic and royal families of Europe. Although French is recognised by all as a Latin language, it has nevertheless undergone a great deal of external interference. This happened mostly due to the repeated invasions of Germanic peoples, as well as internal influences through Celtic languages spoken by the Gaulish tribes before the Roman conquest. Gradually breaking away from Latin, the French language developed orally from the 8th century onwards, even though one of its first written forms did not arrive until around the end of the 11th century.

 While the exact date on which the Song of Roland was written remains unknown, it is considered to be one of the earliest texts written in the French language. It describes betrayal and revenge, relating the battles fought by King Charlemagne against the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula. The French language then underwent a long period of transition, during which it was democratised and became the language spoken by the royal court and used in administrative documents.

 However, it wasn’t until the 17th century that it developed throughout Europe. There are several reasons for this: These include the military and diplomatic successes of King Louis XIV, as well as the work of numerous writers such as Moliere, Voltaire and even Racine, who are still considered to be writers of true genius. Combined, these two reasons transformed French from a language spoken only in one country to a language regarded by all as brilliant and sophisticated. Aristocracies all over Europe therefore adopted French as their first language.

French spread to neighbouring countries such as Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland, initially among the country’s elites but later among the majority of the population. In these countries, French is still one of the official languages and is spoken by a large proportion of the population. However, what will be of interest to us here is the impact of the French language on the Netherlands. As mentioned above, the French language was spoken particularly by the aristocracy, and as the Netherlands was a trading nation, the language was passed on despite the distance between the two. Thus, Dutch high society and even royalty spoke fluent French. Despite the gradual decline in the use of French from the middle of the 20th century onward, and its replacement by traditional Dutch, there are still a number of Dutch words of French origin.

Those words are coming from the aristocratic milieu and represent elegance, gastronomy and refinement. Examples of this would be the word “noblesse”, which in both French and Dutch represents the aristocratic elite. Another example could be the word “couture”, which refers to high fashion and design, often attributed to the city of Paris. Lastly,“bijou” defines precious objects, often stones of great value and therefore accessible to only a fraction of the people.

In conclusion, the French language has slowly imposed itself by becoming the language of the aristocracy, and that for almost two centuries. It is now in decline, gradually being replaced by English around the world, but nevertheless remains a primordial language. It is notably an official language of the United Nations and the European Union, and also has an important place in the field of international law. Moreover, in the same way as in Dutch, words of French origin have become part of the everyday register in other countries such as Russia, Poland and even Hungary.