Francien is a nineteenth-century linguist term applied to the particular langue d'oïl that was spoken in the Île-de-France region (with Paris at its centre) before the establishment of the French language as a standard language. The existence and definition of Francien was put forward in the 19th century, partly to support the idea of the French language as enjoying a direct and pure lineage from Latin and to minimise the contribution of the various Romance languages of France. Nowadays, the question of Francien is a controversial topic in discussions of language policy in France.