The Influence of "Yes" in the French Language

The blotting out of old names during the Revolution was a very serious loss to France.

There is nothing left to suggest the old historic provinces of Provence, Languedoc, and Dauphiny, in Southern France. The old divisions were ruthlessly swept away and France was divided into "Departments." Yet history is tenacious of old names; Provence is still the "province par excellence" of Roman days. Languedoc is still closely interwoven with the history of the French language, and there are hearts within the boundary of Dauphiny to-day that look back with pride to the time when the heir to the throne of France bore the honorary title of "the Dauphin." (C. Q., vol. II., page 219.) In the days of "provinces" in France, every Province had its own language or provincial dialect, and these linger more or less to-day, for no language has been so slow in developing as modern French. In the 10th century France was almost evenly divided into two languages. An imaginary line drawn across the country from the mouth of the river Gironde, on the Bay of Biscay, to Lake Geneva, on the borders of Italy, divided the "Langue d'Oc" from the "Langue d'Oui," and the difference lay in the pronunciation of the word "Yes." South of the line it was pronounced "Oc," north, it was pronounced "Oui." Nor was France alone distinguished by her pronunciation of the word expressing affirmation. Dante calls Italy "The fair land of 'Si,'" and Germany was called the "land of 'Ya.'" In the 12th century the names of these "language divisions" were changed to "Provencal," or the language of the southern provinces, and "French," the language of the northern. The high civilization of the south of France lasted three hundred years. Langue d'oc was then the queen of the Romance languages; it was the language of the Troubadours, Romance, and Chivalry; but the songs of the Troubadours were silenced by the merciless war against the Albigenses in the early part of the 13th century.

The Langue d'oc then sank into a patois, and Provencal literature ceased to be written. The Langue d'oui, on the contrary, was strengthened by the infusion of the northern elements, and became the French, and the French language became the national language when Paris became the capital. Yet so strong is the sacred bond of language that there are still in the north of France seven dialects, and six in the south. These dialects have distinct divisions, amounting in all to between seventy and eighty. It is said that the Parable of the Prodigal Son is written in one hundred French dialects. The "Parisian" is now the court language, not only of France, but of Russia, and is the "international" language of Europe. It is easy in conversation, spirited in song and pathetic in ballads. Yet it is unequal to the northern languages in force, and therefore less suitable for epic or for tragic poetry. But there is a great revival of the Provencal literature going on in France, due largely to the poet, Frederick Mistral.