La langue française à travers les siècles describes the development of the French language from its Latin origins to its most recent form. The book explains how written and oral French have been influenced by other languages over the centuries and then shows the traces of these influences in its modern vocabulary and pronunciation. Trudie Maria Booth points out interesting etymologies throughout the book in an easy-to-understand manner and shows the reader how the language of Cicero became the one of Molière. Booth defines linguistic terminology such as substrat, superstrat, néologisme, synthétique, and analytique and mentions historic events whenever they are relevant for the evolution of the language. At the end of each section, the reader has the opportunity to test his or her knowledge by completing a number of review exercises. A French-English glossary and an answer key to the exercises can be found at the end of the book. La langue française à travers les siècles is appropriate for all francophone readers interested in the history of the French language and can be used in intermediate and advanced French language and culture courses at high schools, colleges, and universities.
