French is a modern European language, a member of the Romance language family, which like others in this group owes much of its structure to [[Latin]], with some influence from the native languages of the pre-Roman [[Franks]]. In medieval times, French had evolved into two groups, a northern branch known as the "Langue d'oi," and a southerly group known as the "Langue d'Oc." However, after the political influence of the southerly group was crushed by the [[Albigensian Crusade]], the northerly variety became dominant, and is the ancestor of modern "standard' French. French is also spoken in many former French colonies in [[West Africa]] and around the world[[Carribbean]], including the Canadian province of [[Québec]], by some people in [[Vietnam]], and in other places.
[[Category:France]]
[[Category:Languages]]