Editing Picard language (section)

== Origins ==
[[File:Aire de répartition du picard.PNG|160px|thumb|spread of '''Picard''' (Picard, Chti, Rouchi, etc.)]]
Picard, like French, is one of the ''[[Oïl languages|langues d'oïl]]'' and belongs to the [[Gaul|Gallo]]-[[Romance languages|Roman]] family of languages. It consists of all the varieties used for writing ({{langx|la|scriptae}}) in the north of France from before 1000 (in the south of France at that time the [[Occitan language]] was used). Often, the ''langues d'oïl'' are referred to simply as [[Old French]].
Picard is phonetically quite different from the North-central ''langues d'oïl'', which evolved into modern French. Among the most notable traits, the evolution in Picard towards [[palatalization (sound change)|palatalization]] is less marked than in the central ''langues d'oïl'' in which it is particularly striking; {{IPA|/k/}} or {{IPA|/ɡ/}} before {{IPA|/j/}}, tonic {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/e/}}, as well as in front of tonic {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}} (from earlier ''*au''; the open {{IPA|/o/}} of the French ''p'''o'''rte'') in central Old French but not in Picard:
* Picard ''keval'' ~ Old French ''cheval'' (horse; pronounced in Old French {{IPA|['''tʃ'''əˈval]}} rather than the modern {{IPA|['''ʃ'''əˈval]}}), from ''*kabal'' ([[vulgar Latin]] ''caballus''): retaining the original {{IPA|/k/}} in Picard before tonic {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}}.
* Picard ''gambe'' ~ Old French ''jambe'' (leg; pronounced in Old French  {{IPA|[ˈ'''dʒ'''ãmbə]}} rather than the modern {{IPA|['''ʒ'''ɑ̃b]}} – {{IPA|[ʒ]}} is the ''ge'' sound in bei'''ge'''), from ''*gambe'' (vulgar Latin ''gamba''): absence of palatalization of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} in Picard before tonic {{IPA|/a/}} and {{IPA|/ɔ/}}.
* Picard ''kief'' ~ Old French ''chef'' (leader), from ''*kaf'' ([[Latin]] ''caput''): less palatalization of {{IPA|/k/}} in Picard
* Picard ''cherf'' ~ Old French ''cerf'' (stag; pronounced {{IPA|['''tʃ'''erf]}} and {{IPA|['''ts'''erf]}} respectively), from ''*kerf'' (Latin ''cervus''): simple palatalization in Picard, palatalization then fronting in Old French{{Citation needed|date=September 2010|reason=''cervus → *kárf → ʃerf'' seems implausible; more likely it is ''cervus → *serf → ʃerf''. Response: it's most likely to be cervus → tʃerf (cf. Italian cervo with tʃ) → ʃerf in Picard and cervus → tʃerf → tserf → serf in French}}
The effects of palatalization can be summarised as this:
* {{IPA|/k/}} and (tonic) {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/e/}}: Picard {{IPA|/tʃ/}} (written ''ch'') ~ Old French {{IPA|/ts/}} (written ''c'')
* {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} + tonic {{IPA|/a/}} or {{IPA|/ɔ/}}: Picard {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} ~ Old French {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}}.
There are striking differences, such as Picard ''cachier'' ('to hunt') ~ Old French ''chacier'', which later took the modern French form of ''chasser''.
Because of the proximity of [[Paris]] to the northernmost regions of France, French (that is, the languages that were spoken in and around Paris) greatly influenced Picard and vice versa. The closeness between Picard and French causes the former to not always be recognised as a language in its own right, but rather a "distortion of French" as it is often viewed.