Old French

Old French is the earliest recorded stage of the French language, spoken in northern France and neighboring regions from roughly the ninth to fourteenth centuries. Its regional varieties developed from spoken Latin and left extensive literary and legal records.

Vulgar Latin: The non-literary varieties of Latin spoken across the Roman world, from which the Romance languages developed. Old French emerged as one regional descendant of spoken Latin.
Sound change: A systematic alteration in pronunciation that spreads through a language over time. Regular sound changes separated Old French from its Latin ancestry.
Treaty of Verdun: The 843 agreement that divided the Carolingian Empire among the grandsons of Charlemagne. Its territorial divisions helped shape the regions where early French developed.
The Song of Roland: An Old French epic poem about Charlemagne's campaign in Spain and the battle of Roncevaux. Its surviving form is a canonical example of the chanson de geste tradition.
Middle French: The stage of French used roughly from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries. It follows Old French and reflects major changes in grammar and vocabulary.
Gallo-Romance: The group of Romance varieties that developed in Gaul and surrounding regions after the Roman period. Old French belongs to the northern Gallo-Romance continuum.
Old French phonology: The sound system and pronunciation patterns of medieval Old French. Its vowel and consonant contrasts distinguish the spoken language from later French.
Oaths of Strasbourg: The 842 political pledges recorded in Latin and early Romance and Germanic vernaculars. Their Romance passage is among the earliest substantial written evidence related to French.
Roman de Renart: A collection of medieval French animal tales centered on the trickster fox Renart. Its episodes showcase comic storytelling and a rich vernacular vocabulary.
Modern French: The contemporary standardized language descended from earlier forms of French. Its vocabulary and structure retain traces of Old French while differing substantially from it.

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