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Medieval Latin had an enlarged vocabulary, which freely borrowed from

other sources. It was heavily influenced by the language of the Vulgate,


which contained many peculiarities alien to Classical Latin that resulted
from a more or less direct translation from Greek and Hebrew; the
peculiarities mirrored the original not only in its vocabulary but also in its
grammar and syntax. Greek provided much of the technical vocabulary
of Christianity. The various Germanic languages spoken by the
Germanic tribes, who invaded southern Europe, were also major
sources of new words. Germanic leaders became the rulers of parts of
the Roman Empire that they conquered, and words from their languages
were freely imported into the vocabulary of law. Other more ordinary
words were replaced by coinages from Vulgar Latin or Germanic
sources because the classical words had fallen into disuse.

While in Latin "amare habeo" is the indirect discourse "I have to love", in
the French equivalent,"aimerai" (habeo > ayyo > ai, aimer+ai), it has
become the future tense, "I shall love", losing the sense of obligation. In
Medieval Latin, however, it was still indirect discourse and not yet used
as simply a future tense.

Readers of the Historia Francorum must decide whether this is a royal


history and whether Gregory was writing to please his patrons. It is likely
that one royal Frankish house is more generously treated than others

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