View source for Middle French

{{Short description|Historical variety of French used from the mid-14th century to the early 17th century}}
{{Missing information|article|the phonology of Middle French|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox language
| name          = Middle French
| nativename    = {{lang|frm|françois, franceis}}
| region        = [[France]]
| era           = Evolved into [[French language|Modern French]] by the early 17th century
| familycolor   = Indo-European
| fam2          = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3          = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4          = [[Latin]]ic
| fam5          = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6          = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7          = [[Western Romance languages|Western]]
| fam8          = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo]]-[[Iberian Romance languages|Iberian]]<ref name="glottoGI">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/shif1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Shifted Western Romance |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127113834/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/shif1234 |archive-date=2023-11-27 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam9          = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam10         = Gallo-Rhaetian?<ref name="glotto_GR">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/gall1280 |title=Glottolog 5.1 - Gallo-Rhaetian |date=2024-11-16 |access-date=2024-11-16 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=|publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam11         = [[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]–[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam12         = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam13         = [[Langues d'oïl#Francien zone (zone francienne)|Francien zone]]
| ancestor      = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2     = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3     = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor4     = [[Old Gallo-Romance language|Old Gallo-Romance]]
| ancestor5     = [[Old French]]
| iso2          = frm
| iso3          = frm
| glotto        = midd1316
| glottorefname = Middle French
}}
'''Middle French''' ({{langx|fr|moyen français}}) is a historical division of the [[French language]] that covers the period from the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ducos|first1=Joëlle|title=L'ancien et le moyen français|last2=Soutet|first2=Olivier|publisher=PUF|year=2012|isbn=978-2-13-061687-0|pages=4}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2015|title=Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500)|url=http://zeus.atilf.fr/dmf/|publisher=ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine}}</ref> 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]] ({{lang|fr|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 language|Occitan]] languages
* the literary development of French prepared the vocabulary and grammar for the [[Classical French]] ({{lang|fr|le français classique}}) spoken in the 17th and 18th centuries.
It is the first version of French that is largely [[mutual intelligibility|intelligible]] to Modern French, contrary to [[Old French]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2025}}

==History==
[[File:Artus, Thomas-Les Hermaphrodites, 1605.jpg|thumb|[[Thomas Artus]]' ''Les Hermaphrodites'', 1605. The spelling of words ''ie, masle, ny, sy, ceruelle, doibs, vault, ressamble, auoir'' is typical of Renaissance French, compared to their modern counterparts ''je, mâle, ni, si, cervelle, dois, vaut, ressemble, avoir''.]]
The most important change found in Middle French is the complete disappearance of the noun [[declension]] system, which had been underway for centuries. There was no longer a distinction between [[nominative]] and [[oblique case|oblique]] forms of [[nouns]], and [[plurals]] became indicated by simply an ''s''. The transformations necessitated an increased reliance on [[word order]] in the sentence, which becomes more or less the [[syntax]] of Modern but with a continued reliance on the verb in the second position of a sentence, or "[[V2 word order|verb-second structure]]", until the 16th century.<ref>Larousse, xxvi.</ref>

Among the elites, Latin was still the language of education, administration, and bureaucracy. That changed in 1539, with the [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts]], in which [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] made [[French language|French]] the sole language for legal acts. Regional differences were still extreme throughout the [[Kingdom of France]]: in the south of France, [[Occitan language|Occitan]] languages dominated; in east-central France, [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]] languages were predominant; and in the north of France, Oïl languages other than [[Francien language|Francien]] continued to be spoken.

The fascination with classical texts led to numerous borrowings from Latin and [[Greek language|Greek]]. Numerous [[neologisms]] based on Latin roots were introduced, and some scholars modified the spelling of French words to bring them into conformity with their Latin roots, sometimes erroneously. That often produced a radical difference between a word's spelling and pronunciation.<ref>Larousse, vi, xiii–xiv, xvii; Bonnard, pp. 113–114.</ref> Nevertheless, Middle French spelling was overall fairly close to the pronunciation; unlike Modern French, word-final consonants were still pronounced though they were optionally lost when they preceded another consonant that started the next word.

Between the 1490s and the 1550s, the [[French wars in Italy]] and the presence of [[Italians]] in the French court brought the French into contact with [[Italy|Italian]] [[humanism]]. Many words dealing with the military ({{Lang|frm|alarme}}, {{Lang|frm|cavalier}}, {{Lang|frm|espion}}, {{Lang|frm|infanterie}}, {{Lang|frm|camp}}, {{Lang|frm|canon}}, {{Lang|frm|soldat}}) and artistic (especially architectural: {{Lang|frm|arcade}}, {{Lang|frm|architrave}}, {{Lang|frm|balcon}}, {{Lang|frm|corridor}}; also literary: {{Lang|frm|sonnet}}) practices were borrowed from Italian.<ref>Wartburg, p. 160; Bonnard, p. 114.</ref> Those tendencies would continue through [[Classical French]].

There were also some borrowings from [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ({{Lang|frm|casque}}) and [[German language|German]] ({{Lang|frm|reître}}) and from the Americas ({{Lang|frm|cacao}}, {{Lang|frm|hamac}}, {{Lang|frm|maïs}}).<ref>Bonnard, p. 114.</ref>

The influence of the [[Anglo-Norman language]] on [[English language|English]] had left words of French and [[Norman language|Norman]] origin in England. Some words of Romance origin now found their way back into French as [[doublet (linguistics)|doublets]] through war and trade.

Also, the meaning and usage of many words from Old French transformed.

Spelling and punctuation were extremely variable. The introduction of printing in 1470 highlighted the need for [[reforms of French orthography|reform in spelling]]. One proposed reform came from [[Jacques Peletier du Mans]], who developed a phonetic spelling system and introduced new typographic signs (1550), but his attempt at spelling reform was not followed.

The period saw the publication of the first French grammars and of the French-Latin dictionary of [[Robert Estienne]] (1539).

At the beginning of the 17th century, French would see the continued unification of French, the suppression of certain forms, and the prescription of rules, leading to Classical French.

==Phonological history==
{|class=wikitable style=text-align:center;
|-
! rowspan="2"|Latin
! rowspan="2"|Proto-Romance
! colspan="2"|Old French
! Middle<br />French
! colspan="2"| Modern French
|-
! 9th century !! 12th century
! 15th century !! 18th century !! 21st century 
|-
| {{Lang|la|PEDEM}}<br />'foot' || *{{IPA|/ˈpɛde/}}|| {{IPA|/pjeð/}} || {{IPA|/pjeθ/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|pied}}|| {{IPA|/pje/}} || {{IPA|/pje/}} || {{IPA|/pje/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|pied}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|MĀTŪRUM}}<br />'mature' || *{{IPA|/maˈturu/}}|| {{IPA|/maˈðyr/}} || {{IPA|/məˈyr/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|meür}}|| {{IPA|/my(r)/}} || /myr/ || {{IPA|/myʁ/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|mûr}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|SCŪTUM}}<br />'shield' || *{{IPA|/(ɪ)sˈkutu/}}|| {{IPA|/esˈkyð/}} || {{IPA|/esˈky/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|escu}}|| {{IPA|/eˈky/}} || {{IPA|/eˈky/}} || {{IPA|/eˈky/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|écu}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|SAETAM}}<br />'silk' || *{{IPA|/ˈseta/}}|| {{IPA|/ˈsejðə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈsej.ə/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|seie}}|| {{IPA|/ˈsoj.ə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈswɛ.ə/}} || {{IPA|/swa/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|soie}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|FĒMINAM}}<br />'woman' || *{{IPA|/ˈfemɪna/}} || {{IPA|/ˈfemnə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈfemːə/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|femme}}|| {{IPA|/ˈfãmə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈfam(ə)/}} || {{IPA|/fam/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|femme}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|HOMINEM}}<br />'man' || *{{IPA|/ˈɔmɪne/}}|| {{IPA|/ˈɔmnə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈɔmːə/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|homme}}|| {{IPA|/ˈɔ̃mə/}} || {{IPA|/ˈɔm(ə)/}} || {{IPA|/ɔm/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|homme}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|BELLUS}}<br />'beautiful' || *{{IPA|/ˈbɛlːʊs/}} || {{IPA|/bɛɫs/}} || {{IPA|/be̯aws/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|beaus}}|| {{IPA|/be̯o/}} || {{IPA|/bjo/}} || {{IPA|/bo/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|beau}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|HABĒRE}}<br />'to have' || *{{IPA|/aˈβere/}} || {{IPA|/aˈvejr/}} || {{IPA|/aˈvɔjr/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|avoir}}|| {{IPA|/aˈvwɛ(r)/}} || {{IPA|/aˈvwɛr/}} || {{IPA|/aˈvwaʁ/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|avoir}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|IŪDICĀTUM}}<br />'judged' || *{{IPA|/judiˈkatu/}}|| {{IPA|/dʒyˈdʒjeð/}} || {{IPA|/ʒyˈʒje/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|jugié}}|| {{IPA|/ʒyˈʒe/}} || {{IPA|/ʒyˈʒe/}} || {{IPA|/ʒyˈʒe/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|jugé}}
|-
| {{Lang|la|COLLŌCĀRE}}<br />'to place' || *{{IPA|/kolːoˈkare/}} || {{IPA|/koɫˈtʃjer/}} || {{IPA|/kuˈtʃjer/}}<br /> {{Lang|fro|couchier}}|| {{IPA|/kuˈʃje(r)/}} || {{IPA|/kuˈʃe/}} || {{IPA|/kuˈʃe/}}<br /> {{Lang|fr|coucher}}
|}

==Literature==
Middle French is the language found in the writings of [[Charles, Duke of Orléans]], [[François Villon]], [[Clément Marot]], [[Rabelais|François Rabelais]], [[Montaigne|Michel de Montaigne]], [[Pierre de Ronsard]], and the poets of {{Lang|fr|[[La Pléiade]]|italic=no}}.

The affirmation and glorification of French finds its greatest manifestation in {{Lang|fr|[[La Défense et illustration de la langue française]]}} (''The Defense and Illustration of the French Language'') (1549) by the poet [[Joachim du Bellay]], which maintained that French, like the [[Tuscan dialect|Tuscan]] of [[Petrarch]] and [[Dante Alighieri]], was a worthy language for literary expression and promulgated a program of linguistic production and purification, including the imitation of Latin genres.

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* ''Larousse dictionnaire du moyen français.'' Paris: [[Éditions Larousse|Larousse]], 1992.
* H. Bonnard. ''Notions de style, de versificiation et d'histoire de la langue française.'' Paris: SUDEL, 1953.
* W. von Wartburg. ''Évolution et structure de la langue française.'' Berne (Switzerland): Francke A.G., 1946.

==External links==
* [http://www.atilf.fr/dmf Dictionnaire du Moyen Français]

{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}
{{Romance languages}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:History of the French language]]
[[Category:Medieval languages|French, 2]]
[[Category:Languages attested from the 14th century]]