Based on my observations It seems that Oil used to be two separate two Dialect Groups, one in the East of Seine that uses Avec which is similar to Franco-Provencal and in the West of Seine which uses Ot/Eut instead, what if the two sides became two different languages completely, it seems that Occitan could take advantage of this.
A Seine linguistic border of the Gallo Romance languages
- Thread starter kasumigenx
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The OTL French language was primarily influenced by the dialects surrounding Paris (Normand, Picard, Champenois, Orléanais) so if say Champenois is different ITTL, French (assuming the capital is still Paris) will be somewhat different too.
But it probably will not be too different because there was a Romance continuum : the oïl dialects gradually transitioned into oc (which finally transitioned into si), rather than a clear border. The only really obvious language borders were with the non-Romance languages like Breton, Flemish, German...
But it probably will not be too different because there was a Romance continuum : the oïl dialects gradually transitioned into oc (which finally transitioned into si), rather than a clear border. The only really obvious language borders were with the non-Romance languages like Breton, Flemish, German...
Perhaps the requirement here is for the capital not in Northern France but in Bordeaux, Lyons or Arles.
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The location of the capital is definitely key. If it is in the south, "French" will probably be a form of the langue d'oc.
I would caution against using a single claimed difference in vocabulary (words for 'with') to draw a dividing line between medieval Oïl dialects. They were, and are, very much a continuum with gradual diatopic changes. A more objective division would be, for instance, the Joret Line, which ironically bisects what is traditionally considered to be one dialect (Norman).
Actually, the obvious difference between Occitan and Northern Italian is Occitan's use of A(m)b instead of Con despite the two being intelligible.
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Maybe all the Frankish-speaking Franks settle in the same spot, the Seine creating a Romance dialect that loses mutual intelligibility with its immediate langue d'oil neighbors. The Vikings that became the Normans settle the exact same area around the Seine reinforcing the dialect, allowing the more conserved Romance dialects to west and east to diverge more from each other. Even when it gets absorbed later by a more neutral Parisian French supra-regional form, the Seine remains a dividing line between two different evolutions of langue d'oil. Then just as it seems like the two spheres will merge again from a neutral court language, it is interrupted by a realm similar to Charles the Bold's Burgundy (but with the Champagne province) which forms and lasts for a couple centuries. That realm spreads its court language which is the eastern branch of langue d'oil,