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Abstract
The article provides a brief analysis of the major historical processes that influenced the formation and development of the French language. Particular attention is paid to the Latin origins of French, linguistic changes in the territory of Gaul, Frankish rule, the centralization of the monarchy in the Middle Ages, the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts of 1539, the activities of the Académie française in the seventeenth century, the French Revolution, and the development of school education in the nineteenth century. The article also examines the spread of the French language beyond France and the formation of the Francophone world. It demonstrates that the historical development of the language is closely connected with political, social, and cultural processes.