French Français
Pronunciation:	/fʁɑ̃sɛ/
Spoken in:	Listed in the article
Region:	Africa, Europe, Americas, Pacific, isolated regions of Asia
Total speakers:	Native: 160 million Total: estimates from 160 million to 500 million [1] [2] [3] [4]
Ranking:	9 (Native), total: 3 to 7
Language family:	Indo-European  Italic   Romance    Italo-Western     Western      Gallo-Iberian       Gallo-Romance        Gallo-Rhaetian         Oïl          French
Official status
Official language in:	30 countries Numerous international organizations
Regulated by:	Académie française (France) Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec, Canada) Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane (Louisiana)
Language codes
ISO 639-1:	fr
ISO 639-2:	fre (B)	fra (T)
ISO 639-3:	fra
Map of the Francophone world Dark blue: French-speaking; blue: official language/widely used; Light blue: language of culture; green: minority
Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere or New World, consisting of the Continents of North America and South America The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions This is a list of languages, ordered by the number of native-language speakers, with some data for second-language use List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Italic subfamily is a member of the Indo-European language family's Centum branch The Romance languages (sometimes referred to as Romanic languages, or Neolatin languages) are a branch of the Indo-European language family comprising all Gallo-Romance languages Gallo-Italic languages Lombard Western Lombard Eastern The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Occitan, Arpitan, and several other languages spoken in modern France Rhaeto-Romance languages are a Romance language sub-family which includes multiple languages spoken in North-Eastern Italy and Switzerland. Langues d'oïl is the linguistic and historical designation of the Gallo-Romance languages originating from the northern territories of Roman Gaul, The following is a list of the 29 countries where French is an official language List of International organisations which have French as an official administrative or working language. This is a list of bodies that regulate Standard languages Natural languages Auxiliary languages Interlingua The auxiliary language L'Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Office québécois de la langue française (OQLF (Quebec Board of the French language is a public organization established on March 24, 1961 by the Liberal The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana or CODOFIL — known in French as le Conseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane and ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages In Computing, Unicode is an Industry standard allowing Computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's

This article is part of the series on: French language

Dialects Francophonie History Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts Grammar Adverbs Articles and determiners Pronouns Personal Pronouns Verbs Conjugation Verb morphology Orthography Alphabet Reforms Use of the circumflex Phonology Elision Liaison

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French (français, pronounced [fʁɑ̃sɛ]) is today spoken around the world by 76 million people as a native language, and by about 280 million people as a second or third language,^[5] with significant speakers in 54 countries. La Francophonie is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments and in French, the community of French-speaking peoples French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended from Latin) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance Dialects spoken in Northern The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform Legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, French grammar refers to the Grammar of the French language, which is similar to that of the other Romance languages. French Adverbs, like their English counterparts are used to modify Adjectives, other adverbs and Verbs or Clauses. In French, articles and Determiners are required on almost every Common noun; much more so than in English. French Pronouns are inflected to indicate their role in the sentence ( subject, direct object and so on as well as to reflect the person, The French Personal pronouns (analogous to English I, me, you, and so on reflect the person and number of their referent and in the French Verbs are a complex area of French grammar, with a conjugation scheme that allows for three finite moods (with anywhere from two to five See also French verbs French verbs are divided into three conjugations ( conjugaisons) by the ending of their infinitives -er verbs -ir verbs In French, a Verb is inflected to reflect its mood and tense, as well as to agree with its subject in person French Orthography encompasses the Spelling and Punctuation of the French language The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It uses the standard 26 letters The Orthography of French was already more or less fixed and from a phonological point of view outdated when its Lexicography developed in the late 17th The Circumflex (^ is one of the five Diacritics used in the French language. See also French language This article mainly discusses the phonological system of standard French based on the Parisian dialect In French, elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel (usually) immediately before another word beginning with a vowel In French, most written word-final Consonants are silent in most contexts A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth A second language (L2 is any Language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1 Most native speakers of the language live in France, where the language originated, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation

French is a descendant of the Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Catalan and Romanian. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The Franks or Frankish people (Franci or gens Francorum) were West Germanic tribes first identified in the 3rd century as an Ethnic group

It is an official language in 31 countries, most of which form what is called in French La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking nations. An official language is a Language that is given a special legal status in a particular Country, State, or other territory The following is a list of the 29 countries where French is an official language La Francophonie is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments and in French, the community of French-speaking peoples It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. The United Nations ( UN) is an International organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in International law, International security List of International organisations which have French as an official administrative or working language.

Contents 1 Geographic distribution 1.1 Europe 1.1.1 Legal status in France 1.1.2 Switzerland 1.1.3 Belgium 1.1.4 Monaco and Andorra 1.1.5 Italy 1.1.6 Luxembourg 1.1.7 The Channel Islands 1.2 The Americas 1.2.1 Legal status in Canada 1.2.2 Haiti 1.2.3 French overseas territories 1.2.4 The United States 1.3 Africa 1.4 Asia 1.4.1 Lebanon 1.4.2 Southeast Asia 1.4.3 India 1.5 Oceania 2 Dialects 3 History 4 Sounds 5 Orthography 6 Grammar 7 Vocabulary 7.1 Numerals 8 Writing system 9 Samples 10 See also 11 References 12 External links 12.1 Courses and tutorials 12.2 Online dictionaries 12.3 Vocabulary 12.3.1 Audio

Geographic distribution

Europe

Legal status in France

See also: Toubon Law and Languages of France

Per the Constitution of France, French has been the official language since 1992^[6] (although previous legal texts have made it official since 1539, see ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts). The Toubon Law (full name law 94-665 of 4 August 1994 relating to usage of the French language) is a law of the French government mandating There are a number of languages of France. The French language is by far the most widely spoken and the only Official language of France, but several The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958. The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform Legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties to do or refrain from doing an act which is enforceable in a court of law Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand

In addition to French, there are also a variety of regional languages. France has signed the European Charter for Regional Languages but has not ratified it since that would go against the 1958 Constitution.

Switzerland

Further information: Demographics of Switzerland and Swiss French

French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland (along with German, Italian, and Romansh) and is spoken in the part of Switzerland called Romandie. Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures which have heavily influenced the country's languages and cultural practices Swiss French (français de Suisse is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Romansh or Romansch may refer to Romansh language Romansh people The Linguistic geography of Switzerland is on the main tripartite with the Swiss German region ( Deutschschweiz) in the northeast French is the native language of about 20% of the Swiss population.

Belgium

Further information: Languages of Belgium and Belgian French

In Belgium, French is the official language of Wallonia (excluding the East Cantons, which are German-speaking) and one of the two official languages—along with Dutch—of the Brussels-Capital Region where it is spoken by the majority of the population, though often not as their primary language. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Wallonia, or Wallonie, (Wallonie Wallonien Wallonië Waloneye is the Meridional part of Belgium belonging to the Romance linguistic field Eupen-Malmedy, or the East Cantons (in German, die Ostkantone; in French, les Cantons de l'Est; in Dutch, de Oostkantons The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname ^[7] French and German are not official languages nor recognised minority languages in the Flemish Region, although along borders with the Walloon and Brussels-Capital regions, there are a dozen of municipalities with language facilities for French-speakers; a mirroring situation exists for the Walloon Region with respect to the Dutch and German languages. The Flemish Region ( Dutch: Vlaams Gewest) is one of the three official regions of the Kingdom of Belgium alongside the Walloon Region The municipalities with language facilities, occasionally called municipalities with linguistic facilities or shortly municipalities with facilities ( Dutch In total, native French-speakers make up about 40% of the country's population, the remaining 60% speak Dutch, the latter of which 59% claim to speak French as a second language. ^[8] French is thus known by an estimated 75% of all Belgians, either as a mother tongue, as second, or as third language. ^[9]

Monaco and Andorra

Further information: Languages of Monaco and Languages of Andorra

Although Monégasque is the national language of the Principality of Monaco, French is the only official language, and French nationals make up some 47% of the population. The official language of Monaco is French, but there are several languages spoken including Monégasque, the national language of the Monegasque people The following languages are currently spoken in the Principality of Andorra. Monégasque (natively Munegascu) is a Romance language and a dialect of the modern Ligurian language, which is spoken in Monaco. For other uses see Monaco (disambiguation Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco ( French: Principauté de Monaco; Monégasque

Catalan is the only official language of Andorra; however, French is commonly used due to the proximity to France. Catalan ˈkætəˌlæn ( català kətəˈla or) is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra ( Catalan: Principat d'Andorra) is a small Landlocked country in western French nationals make up 7% of the population.

Italy

Further information: Languages of Italy

French is also an official language, along with Italian, in the province of Aosta Valley, Italy. The official language of Italy is Standard Italian, a descendant of the Tuscan dialect and a direct descendant of Latin (some 75% of Italian words are of Latin origin Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest In addition, a number of Franco-Provençal dialects are spoken in the province, although they do not have official recognition. Franco-Provençal ( Francoprovençal) or Arpitan ( Vernacular: frp francoprovençâl arpitan patouès; francoprovenzale arpitano dialetto

Luxembourg

Further information: Languages of Luxembourg and Multilingualism in Luxembourg

French is one of three official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg  ;
the other official languages of Luxembourg are

• German
  
• Luxemburgish. The linguistic situation in Luxembourg is characterized by the practice and the recognition of three official languages French, German and Luxembourgish Multilingualism is a part of everyday life for the population of Luxembourg. Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Luxembourgish (lb Lëtzebuergesch Luxembourgeois Luxemburgisch Luxemburgs Lussimbordjwès also called Luxembourgian, also spelled Luxemburgish, is one of
  

Luxemburgish is the natively-spoken language of Luxembourg ;
Luxembourg's education system is trilingual: the first years of primary school are in Luxembourgish, before changing to German, while secondary school, the language of instruction changes to French.

^[10]

The Channel Islands

Further information: Languages of Jersey and Languages of Guernsey

Although Jersey and Guernsey, the two bailiwicks collectively referred to as the Channel Islands, are separate entities, both use French to some degree, mostly in an administrative capacity. English See also Channel Island English As a crown dependency of the English monarch, English has a special place in the island and is now The linguistic situation of the Bailiwick of Guernsey is quite similar to that of Jersey, the other Bailiwick in the Channel Islands. The Bailiwick of Jersey ( Jèrriais: Jèrri) is a British Crown dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. The Bailiwick of Guernsey (Bailliage de Guernesey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. The Channel Islands ( Norman: Îles d'la Manche, French: Îles Anglo-Normandes or Îles de la Manche) are a group of Islands Jersey Legal French is the standardized variety used in Jersey. Jersey Legal French, also known as Jersey French, is the official dialect of French used administratively in Jersey.

The Americas

Legal status in Canada

See also: French language in Canada, Spoken languages of Canada, and Official bilingualism in Canada

About 7 million Canadians are native French-speakers, of whom 6 million live in Quebec,^[11] and French is one of Canada's two official languages (the other being English). Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Various provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms deal with Canadians' right to access services in both languages, including the right to a publicly funded education in the minority language of each province, where numbers warrant in a given locality. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (also known as The Charter of Rights and Freedoms or simply the Charter) is a Bill of rights entrenched in the By law, the federal government must operate and provide services in both English and French, proceedings of the Parliament of Canada must be translated into both these languages, and most products sold in Canada must have labeling in both languages. Law is a system of rules enforced through a set of Institutions used as an instrument to underpin civil obedience politics economics and society The Parliament of Canada (Parlement du Canada is Canada 's legislative branch, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario.

Overall, about 13% of Canadians have knowledge of French only, while 18% have knowledge of both English and French. In contrast, over 82% of the population of Quebec speaks French natively, and almost 96% speak it as either their first or second language. It has been the sole official language of Quebec since 1974. The legal status of French was further strengthened with the 1977 adoption of the Charter of the French Language (popularly known as Bill 101), which guarantees that every person has a right to have the civil administration, the health and social services, corporations, and enterprises in Quebec communicate with him in French. The Charter of the French Language ( La charte de la langue française, in French) also known as Bill 101 and Loi 101, While the Charter mandates that certain provincial government services, such as those relating to health and education, be offered to the English minority in its language, where numbers warrant, its primary purpose is to cement the role of French as the primary language used in the public sphere.

The provision of the Charter that has arguably had the most significant impact mandates French-language education unless a child's parents or siblings have received the majority of their own primary education in English within Canada, with minor exceptions. Education encompasses both the Teaching and Learning of Knowledge, proper conduct, and technical competency This measure has reversed a historical trend whereby a large number of immigrant children would attend English schools. In so doing, the Charter has greatly contributed to the "visage français" (French face) of Montreal in spite of its growing immigrant population. Other provisions of the Charter have been ruled unconstitutional over the years, including those mandating French-only commercial signs, court proceedings, and debates in the legislature. Though none of these provisions are still in effect today, some continued to be on the books for a time even after courts had ruled them unconstitutional as a result of the government's decision to invoke the so-called notwithstanding clause of the Canadian constitution to override constitutional requirements. Section Thirty-three of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is part of the Constitution of Canada. In 1993, the Charter was rewritten to allow signage in other languages so long as French was markedly "predominant. " Another section of the Charter guarantees every person the right to work in French, meaning the right to have all communications with one's superiors and coworkers in French, as well as the right not to be required to know another language as a condition of hiring, unless this is warranted by the nature of one's duties, such as by reason of extensive interaction with people located outside the province or similar reasons. This section has not been as effective as had originally been hoped, and has faded somewhat from public consciousness. As of 2006, approximately 65% of the workforce on the island of Montreal predominantly used French in the workplace.

The only other province that recognizes French as an official language is New Brunswick, which is officially bilingual, like the nation as a whole. New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally Outside of Quebec, the highest number of Francophones in Canada, 485,000, excluding those who claim multiple mother tongues, reside in Ontario, whereas New Brunswick, home to the vast majority of Acadians, has the highest percentage of Francophones after Quebec, 33%, or 237,000. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec New Brunswick ( French: Nouveau-Brunswick /nuvobʁɔnzwik/ is one of Canada 's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally This article is about the Acadian people and culture The Acadians (Acadiens are the descendants of the seventeenth-century French Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk In Ontario, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba, French does not have full official status, although the provincial governments do provide some French-language services in all communities where significant numbers of Francophones live. Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Nova Scotia (ˌnəʊvəˈskəʊʃə ( Latin for New Scotland; Alba Nuadh Nouvelle-Écosse is a Canadian province located on Canada 's Prince Edward Island (ˌprɪns ˌɛdwɚd ˈaɪlɨnd ( PEI or P Manitoba (English ˌmænɨˈtoʊbə French /manitoba/ is a province of Canada, spanning 647797 square kilometres (250116  sq mi of North America Canada's three northern territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) all recognize French as an official language as well. Yukon (ˈjuːkɒn is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. The Northwest Territories (ˌnɔrθˌwɛstˈtɛrɨtɔriz ( NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory Nunavut (ˈnuːnəvʊt ( Inuktitut syllabics: ᓄᓇᕗᑦ is the largest and newest territory of Canada; it was separated officially from the

All provinces make some effort to accommodate the needs of their Francophone citizens, although the level and quality of French-language service vary significantly from province to province. The Ontario French Language Services Act, adopted in 1986, guarantees French language services in that province in regions where the Francophone population exceeds 10% of the total population, as well as communities with Francophone populations exceeding 5,000, and certain other designated areas; this has the most effect in the north and east of the province, as well as in other larger centres such as Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Mississauga, London, Kitchener, St. Catharines, Greater Sudbury and Windsor. The French Language Services Act is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians or French Ottawa (ˈɒtəwə or sometimes /ˈɒtəwɑː/ is the Capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Hamilton (ˈhæməltən ( 2006 population 504559 UA population 647634 CMA population Mississauga (ˌmɪsɪˈsɑgə) incorporated in 1974 is a City located in the Regional Municipality of Peel London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada along the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor with a metropolitan area population of 457720 the city proper The City of Kitchener (ˈkɪtʃɨnɚ is a City in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Greater Sudbury (2006 Census population 157857 is a city in Northern Ontario, Canada. Windsor is the southernmost city in Canada and lies at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor. However, the French Language Services Act does not confer the status of "official bilingualism" on these cities, as that designation carries with it implications which go beyond the provision of services in both languages. The City of Ottawa's language policy (by-law 2001-170) allows employees to work in their official language of choice and be supervised in the language of choice.

Canada has the status of member state in the Francophonie, while the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick are recognized as participating governments. Ontario is currently seeking to become a full member on its own.

Haiti

French is an official language of Haiti, although it is mostly spoken by the upper class, while Haitian Creole (a French-based creole language) is more widely spoken as a mother tongue. Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: Is a concept in Sociology that refers to the group of people at the top of a Social hierarchy. Haitian Creole language ( kreyòl ayisyen) often called simply Creole or Kreyòl ( pronounced) is a language spoken in Haiti A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a Creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth

French overseas territories

French is also the official language in France's overseas territories of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, St. Martin and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Guadeloupe is an island group or Archipelago located in the eastern Caribbean Sea at, with a land area of 1628 square kilometres (629  sq Martinique is an Island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, having a land area of 1128 km² Saint Barthélemy (Saint-Barthélemy officially the Collectivity of Saint Barthélemy (French Collectivité de Saint-Barthélemy) is an Overseas collectivity The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is a group of small islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, the

The United States

Main article: French in the United States

Although it has no official recognition on a federal level, French is the third ^[13][14] most-spoken language in the United States, after English and Spanish, and the second most-spoken in the states of Louisiana, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The State of Louisiana ( or, État de Louisiane, pronounced) is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America The State of Maine ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. New Hampshire ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Louisiana is home to two distinct dialects, Cajun French and Creole French

Africa

Main articles: African French and Maghreb French

A majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 francophone African countries can speak French either as a first or second language. A first language (also mother tongue, native language, arterial language, or L1) is the language a human being learns from birth A second language (L2 is any Language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1 ^[16]

French is mostly a second language in Africa, but in some areas it has become a first language, such as in the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire^[17] and in Libreville, Gabon. Abidjan is the largest city and former Capital of Côte d'Ivoire ( Ivory Coast) Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a Libreville (population 578156 January 1, 2005) is the capital and largest city of Gabon. Gabon (gəˈbɒn or /gaˈbõ/ in French) is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic ^[18] It is impossible to speak of a single form of African French, but rather of diverse forms of African French which have developed due to the contact with many indigenous African languages. African French is the generic name of the varieties of French spoken by an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 Francophone African countries There are an estimated 2000 Languages spoken in Africa. About a hundred of these are widely used for inter-ethnic communication ^[19]

In the territories of the Indian Ocean, the French language is often spoken alongside French-derived creole languages, the major exception being Madagascar. The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern There, a Malayo-Polynesian language (Malagasy) is spoken alongside French. The French language has also met competition with English since English has been the official language in Mauritius and the Seychelles for a long time and has recently become an official language of Madagascar. Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République Seychelles (seɪˈʃɛl or /seɪˈʃɛlz/ in English and seʃɛl in French) officially the Republic of Seychelles (République des Seychelles Creole

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand due to the expansion of education and it is also there the language has evolved most in recent years. Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries ^[20][21] Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries^[22] but written forms of the language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world.

French is an official language of many African countries, most of them former French or Belgian colonies:

In addition, French is an administrative language and commonly used though not on an official basis in Mauritius and in the Maghreb states:

• Mauritania
• Algeria
• Morocco
• Tunisia. The Belgian colonial empire consisted of three colonies possessed by Belgium between 1901 to 1962 Benin (bə'nɪn officially the Republic of Benin, and also known as Benin Republic, is a country in Western Africa. Burkina Faso (bɚˌkiːnəˈfɑːsoʊ burr-KEE-na FAH-soh) also known by its short-form name Burkina, is a Landlocked nation in West Africa Burundi (buˈɾundi officially the Republic of Burundi, is a small country in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa bordered by Rwanda The Republic of Cameroon is a unitary republic of central and western Africa. Central Africa|Central African FederationThe Central African Republic ( CAR) République Centrafricaine ʀepyblik sɑ̃tʀafʀikɛn or Centrafrique) is a Landlocked Chad (Tchad تشاد Tshād) officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a Landlocked country in Central Africa. The Comoros (ˈkɒməroʊz; جزر القمر Juzur al-Qumur) officially the Union of the Comoros (Union des Comores الإتّحاد القمريّ The Republic of the Congo (République du Congo Kongo: Repubilika ya Kongo; Lingala: Republiki ya Kongó) also known as Congo-Brazzaville Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a The Democratic Republic of the Congo (République démocratique du Congo often referred to as DR Congo, DRC or RDC, and formerly known or referred to Djibouti ( جيبوتي Jībūtī, Somali: Jabuuti) officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the The Republic of Equatorial Guinea ( República de Guinea Ecuatorial,) is a country in Central Africa. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Gabon (gəˈbɒn or /gaˈbõ/ in French) is a country in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Republic Guinea, officially Republic of Guinea (pronounced /ˈgɪni/ République de Guinée is a country in West Africa, formerly known as French Guinea Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Mali, officially the Republic of Mali (République du Mali is a Landlocked nation in Western Africa. Niger ( or /ˈnaɪdʒɚ/) officially the Republic of Niger, is a Landlocked country in Western Africa, named after the Niger River. The Republic of Rwanda (ruːˈændə or /rəˈwɑːndə/ in English ɾwanda or in Kinyarwanda is a small Landlocked country in the Senegal (le Sénégal officially the Republic of Senegal, is a country south of the Sénégal River in western Africa. Seychelles (seɪˈʃɛl or /seɪˈʃɛlz/ in English and seʃɛl in French) officially the Republic of Seychelles (République des Seychelles Creole TOGO was a Japanese roller coaster design company famous for inventing the Stand-up roller coaster. Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République The Maghreb (المغرب العربي al-Maġrib al-ʿArabī) also rendered Maghrib (or rarely Moghreb) meaning "place of Sunset Mauritania (موريتانيا Mūrītāniyā officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a country Algeria ( ar [[Arabic]] الجزائر, Al Jaza'ir ælʤæˈzæːʔir Amazigh: ⴷⵥⴰⵢⴻⵔ Dzayer) officially the People's Morocco (المغرب "al-Maghrib" officially the Kingdom of Morocco (المملكة المغربية is a country located in North Africa Tunisia (تونس Tūnis officially the Tunisian Republic ( is a country located in North Africa.

Various reforms have been implemented in recent decades in Algeria to improve the status of Arabic relative to French, especially in education. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language

While the predominant European language in Egypt is English, French is considered to be a more sophisticated language by some elements of the Egyptian upper and upper-middle classes; for this reason, a typical educated Egyptian will learn French in addition to English at some point in his or her education. This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The perception of sophistication may be related to the use of French as the royal court language of Egypt during the nineteenth century. Egypt participates in La Francophonie. La Francophonie is an international organisation of French-speaking countries and governments and in French, the community of French-speaking peoples

French is also the official language of Mayotte and Réunion, two overseas territories of France located in the Indian Ocean, as well as an administrative and educational language in Mauritius, along with English. Réunion ( French: Réunion or formally La Réunion; previously Île Bourbon) is an island located in the Indian Ocean, east of The French Overseas Departments and Territories ( French: départements d'outre-mer and territoires d'outre-mer or DOM-TOM) consist broadly of The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface Mauritius (pronounced məˈrɪʃəs L’île Maurice /il mɔ'ʁis/ Mauritian Creole: Maurice) officially the Republic of Mauritius, République English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

Asia

Lebanon

French was the official language in Lebanon along with Arabic until 1941, the country's declaration of independence from France. Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. French is still seen as an official language by the Lebanese people as it is widely used by the Lebanese, especially for administrative purposes, and is taught in schools as a primary language along with Arabic. Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language

Southeast Asia

French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia. Laos (ˈlɑːoʊs or /ˈlaʊs/ officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a Landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma The Kingdom of Cambodia ( formerly known as Kampuchea (, transliterated: Preăh Réachéanachâkr Kâmpŭchea) is a country in South East ^[23] French was historically spoken by the elite in the leased territory Guangzhouwan in southern China. Kwang-Chou-Wan (also spelt Guangzhouwan or Kwangchowan) was a small Enclave on the south coast of China ceded by Qing China to China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National In colonial Vietnam, the elites spoke French and many who worked for the French spoke a French creole known as "Tây Bồi" (now extinct). Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially Tây Bồi, is a term used for a type of verbal communication which consists of French words mixed with Vietnamese words spoken by non French-educated Vietnamese usually

India

French has official status in the Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry, along with the regional language Tamil and some students of Tamil Nadu may opt French as their third or fourth language (usually behind English, Tamil, Hindi). A Union Territory is a sub-national administrative division of India. Puducherry (formerly; புதுச்சேரி or பாண்டிச்சேரி పాండిచెర్రి പുതുശ്ശേരി Pondichéry is a Tamil (ta தமிழ்; t̪əmɨɻ is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Hindi ( Devanāgarī: hi [[wiktहिन्दी हिन्दी]] or hi [[wiktहिंदी हिंदी]] IAST:, IPA:) is

French is also commonly taught as third language in secondary school in most cities of Maharashtra State including Mumbai as part of the Secondary (X-SSC) and Higher secondary School (XII-HSC) certificate examinations. Maharashtra ( Marathi: mahārāṣṭra, IPA) is a state located on the western coast of India. Mumbai ( Marathi:,, IPA: formerly Bombay, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the financial

Oceania

French is also a second official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, along with France's territories of French Polynesia, Wallis & Futuna and New Caledonia. The Pacific Ocean contains an estimated 20000 to 30000 Islands (the exact number has yet to be precisely determined Vanuatu, officially the Republic of Vanuatu ( French: République de Vanuatu, Bislama: Ripablik blong Vanuatu) is an Island French Polynesia ( French: Polynésie française, Tahitian: Pōrīnetia Farāni) is a French Overseas collectivity in the Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of Wallis and Futuna Islands ( French: Wallis et Futuna or Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna, For the former North American fur-trading district see New Caledonia (Canada, and for the Scottish colony in Panama see Darien scheme.

Dialects

Main article: Dialects of the French language

History

Main article: History of French

Sounds

Main article: French phonology

Although there are many French regional accents, only one version of the language is normally chosen as a model for foreign learners, which has no commonly used special name, but has been termed français neutre (neutral French). Acadian French ( le français acadien) is a variety or Dialect of French spoken by Francophone Acadians in the African French is the generic name of the varieties of French spoken by an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 Francophone African countries Belgian French (français de Belgique is the variety of French spoken mainly in the French Community of Belgium, alongside related minority Regional languages See also [[Cajun]] Cajun French (sometimes called Louisiana Regional French) is one of three varieties or Dialects of the French language Canadian French is an Umbrella term for the varieties of the French language used in Canada. Cambodian French or French Cambodian may refer to Cambodian French (linguistics, the dialect of French spoken in Cambodia Colonial French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France Jersey Legal French, also known as Jersey French, is the official dialect of French used administratively in Jersey. French in Maghreb, French is an administrative language and commonly used though not on an official basis in the Maghreb states Mauritania, Algeria Louisiana Creole is a French Creole language spoken by the mixed Louisiana Creole people of the state of Louisiana. French in Maghreb, French is an administrative language and commonly used though not on an official basis in the Maghreb states Mauritania, Algeria Meridional French (French Français méridional) is a regional variant of the French language. Metropolitan France (France métropolitaine or la Métropole, or colloquially l'Hexagone) is the part of France located in Europe, including Caldoche is the name given to European inhabitants of the French territory of New Caledonia. Newfoundland French is a regional dialect of French that was once spoken by French colonists on the island of Newfoundland. Quebec French ( le français québécois, le français du Québec) or less often Québécois French, is the predominant varieties Swiss French (français de Suisse is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Tây Bồi, is a term used for a type of verbal communication which consists of French words mixed with Vietnamese words spoken by non French-educated Vietnamese usually French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended from Latin) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance Dialects spoken in Northern See also French language This article mainly discusses the phonological system of standard French based on the Parisian dialect Standard French (in French le français standard, le français neutre French or even by the Misnomer le français international French

• Voiced stops (i. e. /b d g/) are typically produced fully voiced throughout.
• Voiceless stops (i. e. /p t k/) are described as unaspirated; when preceding high vowels, they are often followed by a short period of aspiration and/or frication. They are never glottalised. They can be unreleased utterance-finally.
• Nasals: The velar nasal /ŋ/ occurs only in final position in borrowed (usually English) words: parking, camping, swing. The palatal nasal /ɲ/can occur in word initial position (e. g. gnon), but it is most frequently found in intervocalic, onset position or word-finally (e. g. montagne).
• Fricatives: French has three pairs of homorganic fricatives distinguished by voicing, i. e. labiodental /f/–/v/, dental /s/–/z/, and palato-alveolar /ʃ/–/ʒ/. Notice that /s/–/z/ are dental, like the plosives /t/–/d/, and the nasal /n/.
• French has one rhotic whose pronunciation varies considerably among speakers and phonetic contexts. In general it is described as a voiced uvular fricative as in [ʁu] roue "wheel" . Vowels are often lengthened before this segment. It can be reduced to an approximant, particularly in final position (e. g. "fort") or reduced to zero in some word-final positions. For other speakers, a uvular trill is also fairly common, and an apical trill [r] occurs in some dialects.
• Lateral and central approximants: The lateral approximant /l/ is unvelarised in both onset (lire) and coda position (il). In the onset, the central approximants [w], [ɥ], and [j] each correspond to a high vowel, /u/, /y/, and /i/ respectively. There are a few minimal pairs where the approximant and corresponding vowel contrast, but there are also many cases where they are in free variation. Contrasts between /j/ and /i/ occur in final position as in /pɛj/ paye "pay" vs. /pɛi/ pays "country".

French pronunciation follows strict rules based on spelling, but French spelling is often based more on history than phonology. The rules for pronunciation vary between dialects, but the standard rules are:

• final consonants: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n and m, are normally silent. (The final letters c, r, f and l, however, are normally pronounced. )
  • When the following word begins with a vowel, though, a silent consonant may once again be pronounced, to provide a liaison or "link" between the two words. In French, most written word-final Consonants are silent in most contexts Some liaisons are mandatory, for example the s in les amants or vous avez; some are optional, depending on dialect and register, for example the first s in deux cents euros or euros irlandais; and some are forbidden, for example the s in beaucoup d'hommes aiment. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of In Linguistics, a register is a subset of a Language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting The t of et is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in set phrases like pied-à-terre. A set phrase is an expression (ie term or Phrase) whose parts are fixed (see examples below Note that in the case of a word ending d as in pied-à-terre, the consonant t is pronounced instead.
  • Doubling a final n and adding a silent e at the end of a word (e. g. chien → chienne) makes it clearly pronounced. Doubling a final l and adding a silent e (e. g. gentil → gentille) adds a [j] sound.
• elision or vowel dropping: Some monosyllabic function words ending in a or e, such as je and que, drop their final vowel when placed before a word that begins with a vowel sound (thus avoiding a hiatus). In French, elision refers to the suppression of a final unstressed vowel (usually) immediately before another word beginning with a vowel Hiatus (Latin "yawning" (haɪˈeɪtəs in Linguistics is the separate pronunciation of two adjacent Vowels sometimes with an intervening Glottal stop The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e. g. je ai is instead pronounced and spelt → j'ai). This gives for example the same pronunciation for l'homme qu'il a vu ("the man whom he saw") and l'homme qui l'a vu ("the man who saw him").

Orthography

Main article: French orthography

• Nasal: n and m. French Orthography encompasses the Spelling and Punctuation of the French language A nasal vowel is a Vowel that is produced with a lowering of the velum so that air escapes both through Nose as well as the Mouth. N is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled en (ɛn M is the thirteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. Its name in English is spelled em (ɛm When n or m follows a vowel or diphthong, the n or m becomes silent and causes the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i. e. pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to allow part of the air to leave through the nostrils). Exceptions are when the n or m is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes en- and em- are always nasalized. The rules get more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
• Digraphs: French does not introduce extra letters or diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, rather it uses specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended. A digraph, bigraph, or digram is a pair of characters used to write one Phoneme (distinct sound or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with
• Gemination: Within words, double consonants are generally not pronounced as geminates in modern French (but geminates can be heard in the cinema or TV news from as recently as the 1970s, and in very refined elocution they may still occur). In Phonetics, gemination happens when a spoken Consonant is pronounced for an audibly longer period of time than a short Consonant. For example, illusion is pronounced [ilyzjɔ̃] and not [illyzjɔ̃]. But gemination does occur between words. For example, une info ("a news") is pronounced [ynɛ̃fo], whereas une nympho ("a nympho") is pronounced [ynnɛ̃fo].
• Accents are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone. A diacritic ( also called a diacritic or diacritical mark, point, or sign, is a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation
  • Accents that affect pronunciation
    • The acute accent (l'accent aigu), é (e. History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. g. école—school), means that the vowel is pronounced /e/ instead of the default /ə/.
    • The grave accent (l'accent grave), è (e. Pitch The grave accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred only on the last syllable of a word in cases where the g. élève—pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced /ɛ/ instead of the default /ə/.
    • The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe) ê (e. Pitch The circumflex accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred (subject to certain rules on the accented syllable g. forêt—forest) shows that an e is pronounced /ɛ/ and that an o is pronounced /o/. In standard French it also signifies a pronunciation of /ɑ/ for the letter a, but this differentiation is disappearing. In the late 19th century, the circumflex was used in place of s where that letter was not to be pronounced. Thus, forest became forêt and hospital became hôpital.
    • The diaeresis (le tréma) (e. Diaeresis or trema See also Diaeresis History Historically the diaeresis mark or trema is far older than the umlaut mark g. naïf—foolish, Noël—Christmas) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one, not combined and is not a schwa. In Linguistics, specifically Phonetics and Phonology, schwa can mean the following An unstressed and toneless neutral
    • The cedilla (la cédille) ç (e. g. garçon—boy) means that the letter c is pronounced /s/ in front of the hard vowels a, o and u (c is otherwise /k/ before a hard vowel). C is always pronounced /s/ in front of the soft vowels e, i, and y, thus ç is never found in front of soft vowels.
  • Accents with no pronunciation effect
    • The circumflex does not affect the pronunciation of the letters i or u, and in most dialects, a as well. It usually indicates that an s came after it long ago, as in hôtel.
    • All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs là and où ("there", "where") from the article la and the conjunction ou ("the" fem. sing. , "or") respectively.

Grammar

Main article: French grammar

French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including:

• the loss of Latin's declensions
• only two grammatical genders
• the development of grammatical articles from Latin demonstratives
• new tenses formed from auxiliaries

French word order is Subject Verb Object, except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is Subject Object Verb. French grammar refers to the Grammar of the French language, which is similar to that of the other Romance languages. In Linguistics, declension (or declination) is the occurrence of Inflection in Nouns Pronouns and Adjectives indicating In Linguistics, grammatical genders, sometimes also called Noun classes are classes of nouns reflected in the behavior of associated words every noun must belong Demonstratives are deictic words (they depend on an external frame of reference that indicate which entities a speaker refers to and distinguishes those entities from others In Linguistic typology, subject-verb-object ( SVO) is a sentence structure where the subject comes first the Verb second and the object In Linguistic typology, Subject Object Verb (SOV is the type of languages in which the subject, object, and Verb of a sentence appear or usually Some rare archaisms allow for different word orders.

Vocabulary

The majority of French words derive from Vulgar Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example:

• brother: frère / fraternel < from Latin FRATER
• finger: doigt / digital < from Latin DIGITVS
• faith: foi / fidèle < from Latin FIDES
• cold: froid / frigide < from Latin FRIGIDVS
• eye: œil / oculaire < from Latin OCVLVS
• inhabitants of the city Saint-Étienne are called Stéphanois

The last example, Saint-Étienne/Stéphanois, illustrates common practice for gentilics throughout France. Saint-Étienne ( Sant-Etiève in Arpitan) is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles southwest of Lyon. A demonym or gentilic is a word that denotes the members of a People or the inhabitants of a place

In some examples there is a common word from "vulgar" Latin and a more savant word from classical Latin or even Greek.

• Cheval—Concours équestre—Hippodrome

The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian words of Latin origin because as French developed into a separate language from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin A syllable ( Greek:) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds

It is estimated that 12% (4,200) of common French words found in a typical dictionary such as the Petit Larousse or Micro-Robert Plus (35,000 words) are of foreign origin. A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically About 25% (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The others are some 707 words from Italian, 550 from ancient Germanic languages, 481 from ancient Gallo-Romance languages, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160 from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish, 153 from Dutch, 112 from Persian and Sanskrit, 101 from Native American languages, 89 from other Asian languages, 56 from Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, 10 for Basque and 144 — about three percent — from other languages. Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy. The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European (IE Language family. The Gallo-Romance branch of Romance languages includes French, Occitan, Arpitan, and several other languages spoken in modern France Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic" a branch of the greater Indo-European Language family. Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Indigenous languages of the Americas (or Amerindian Languages are spoken by indigenous peoples from the southern tip of South America to Alaska and There is a wide variety of Languages spoken throughout Asia, comprising a number of families and some unrelated isolates The Afro-Asiatic languages constitute a Language family with about 375 languages ( SIL estimate and more than 300 million speakers spread throughout North Africa The Slavic languages (also called Slavonic languages) a group of closely related Languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages The Baltic languages are a group of related languages belonging to the Indo-European language family and spoken mainly in areas extending east and southeast of the Baltic Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain ^[24]

Numerals

The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 80–99. The vigesimal or base - numeral system is based on twenty (in the same way in which the ordinary decimal numeral system is based on ten "Twenty" redirects here For the village in England, see Twenty Lincolnshire. The French word for eighty, for example, is quatre-vingts, which literally means "four twenties", and soixante-quinze (literally "sixty-fifteen") means 75. This reform arose after the French Revolution to unify the different counting system (mostly vigesimal near the coast, due to Celtic [via Basque] and Viking influence). The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Basque ( native name: euskara) is the Language spoken by the Basque people who inhabit the Pyrenees in North-Central Spain This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).

Belgian French and Swiss French are different in this respect. Belgian French (français de Belgique is the variety of French spoken mainly in the French Community of Belgium, alongside related minority Regional languages Swiss French (français de Suisse is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. In Belgium and Switzerland 70 and 90 are septante and nonante. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, 80 can be quatre-vingts (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or huitante (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg). Octante had been used in Switzerland in the past, but is now considered archaic. ^[25] In Belgium, however, quatre-vingts is universally used.

Writing system

Main article: French alphabet

French is written using the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics (the circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis, and cedilla) and the two ligatures (œ) and (æ). The French alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet. It uses the standard 26 letters Pitch The circumflex accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred (subject to certain rules on the accented syllable History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. Pitch The grave accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred only on the last syllable of a word in cases where the Diaeresis or trema See also Diaeresis History Historically the diaeresis mark or trema is far older than the umlaut mark

French spelling, like English spelling, tends to preserve obsolete pronunciation rules. This is mainly due to extreme phonetic changes since the Old French period, without a corresponding change in spelling. Moreover, some conscious changes were made to restore Latin orthography:

• Old French doit > French doigt "finger" (Latin digitus)
• Old French pie > French pied "foot" (Latin pes (stem: ped-)

As a result, it is difficult to predict the spelling on the basis of the sound alone. Final consonants are generally silent, except when the following word begins with a vowel. For example, all of these words end in a vowel sound: pied, aller, les, finit, beaux. The same words followed by a vowel, however, may sound the consonants, as they do in these examples: beaux-arts, les amis, pied-à-terre.

On the other hand, a given spelling will almost always lead to a predictable sound, and the Académie française works hard to enforce and update this correspondence. L'Académie française, or the French Academy, is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.

The diacritics have phonetic, semantic, and etymological significance.

• acute accent (é): Over an e, indicates the sound of a short ai in English, with no diphthong. History An early precursor of the acute accent was the apex, used in Latin inscriptions to mark long vowels. In Phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (from Greek grc δίφθογγος "diphthongos" literally "with two sounds" or "with An é in modern French is often used where a combination of e and a consonant, usually s, would have been used formerly: écouter < escouter. This type of accent mark is called accent aigu in French.
• grave accent (à, è, ù): Over a or u, used only to distinguish homophones: à ("to") vs. Pitch The grave accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred only on the last syllable of a word in cases where the a ("has"), ou ("or") vs. où ("where"). Over an e, indicates the sound /ɛ/.
• circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û): Over an a, e or o, indicates the sound /ɑ/, /ɛ/ or /o/, respectively (the distinction a /a/ vs. Pitch The circumflex accent was first used in the polytonic orthography of Ancient Greek, where it occurred (subject to certain rules on the accented syllable â /ɑ/ tends to disappear in many dialects). Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an s or a vowel): château < castel, fête < feste, sûr < seur, dîner < disner. It has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: du ("of the") vs. dû (past participle of devoir "to have to do something (pertaining to an act)"; note that dû is in fact written thus because of a dropped e: deu). (See Use of the circumflex in French)
• diaeresis or tréma (ë, ï, ü, ÿ): Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: naïve, Noël. The Circumflex (^ is one of the five Diacritics used in the French language. Diaeresis or trema See also Diaeresis History Historically the diaeresis mark or trema is far older than the umlaut mark A diaeresis on y only occurs in some proper names and in modern editions of old French texts. Some proper names in which ÿ appears include Aÿ (commune in canton de la Marne formerly Aÿ-Champagne), Rue des Cloÿs (alley in the 18th arrondisement of Paris), Croÿ (family name and hotel on the Boulevard Raspail, Paris), Château du Feÿ (near Joigny), Ghÿs (name of Flemish origin spelt Ghijs where ij in handwriting looked like ÿ to French clerks), l'Haÿ-les-Roses (commune between Paris and Orly airport), Pierre Louÿs (author), Moÿ (place in commune de l'Aisne and family name), and Le Blanc de Nicolaÿ (an insurance company in eastern France). The diaresis on u appears only in the biblical proper names Archélaüs, Capharnaüm, Emmaüs, Ésaü and Saül. Nevertheless, since the 1990 orthographic rectifications (which are not applied at all by most French people), the diaeresis in words containing guë (such as aiguë or ciguë) may be moved onto the u: aigüe, cigüe. Words coming from German retain the old Umlaut (ä, ö and ü) if applicable but use French pronunciation, such as kärcher (trade mark of a pressure washer).
• cedilla (ç): Indicates that an etymological c is pronounced /s/ when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus je lance "I throw" (with c = [s] before e), je lançais "I was throwing" (c would be pronounced [k] before a without the cedilla). The c cedilla (ç) softens the hard /k/ sound to /s/ before the vowels a, o or u, for example ça /sa/. C cedilla is never used before the vowels e or i since these two vowels always produce a soft /s/ sound (ce, ci).

There are two ligatures, which have various origins.

• The ligature œ is a mandatory contraction of oe in certain words. This article is about the typographic ligature for other uses see Oe Œ Some of these are native French words, with the pronunciation /œ/ or /ø/, e. g. sœur "sister" /sœʁ/, œuvre "work (of art)" /œvʁ/. Note that it usually appears in the combination œu; œil is an exception. Many of these words were originally written with the digraph eu; the o in the ligature represents a sometimes artificial attempt to imitate the Latin spelling: Latin bovem > Old French buef/beuf > Modern French bœuf. A digraph, bigraph, or digram is a pair of characters used to write one Phoneme (distinct sound or a sequence of phonemes that does not correspond Œ is also used in words of Greek origin, as the Latin rendering of the Greek diphthong οι, e. g. cœlacanthe "coelacanth". These words used to be pronounced with the vowel /e/, but in recent years a spelling pronunciation with /ø/ has taken hold, e. g. œsophage /ezɔfaʒ/ or /øzɔfaʒ/. The pronunciation with /e/ is often seen to be more correct. The ligature œ is not used in some occurrences of the letter combination oe, for example, when o is part of a prefix (coexister).
• The ligature æ is rare and appears in some words of Latin and Greek origin like ægosome, ægyrine, æschne, cæcum, nævus or uræus. Æ ( minuscule: æ) is a Grapheme formed from the letters A and E. ^[26] The vowel quality is identical to é /e/.

French writing, as with any language, is affected by the spoken language. In Old French, the plural for animal was animals. Common speakers pronounced a u before a word ending in l as the plural. This resulted in animauls. As the French language evolved this vanished and the form animaux (aux pronounced /o/) was admitted. The same is true for cheval pluralized as chevaux and many others. Also castel pl. castels became château pl. châteaux.

Samples

English	French	IPA pronunciation (Canadian accent)	IPA pronunciation (French accent)
French	français	/fʀɑ̃sɛ/ (info)	/fʁɑ̃sɛ/ (info)
English	anglais	/ɑ̃glɛ/ (info)	/ɑ̃glɛ/ (info)
Yes	Oui, except when responding to a negatively posed question, in which case Si is used preferentially over Oui	/wi/ (info)	/wi/ (info)
No	Non	/nɔ̃/ (info)	/nɔ̃/ (info)
Hello!	Bonjour ! (formal) or Salut ! (informal)	/bɔ̃ʒuːʀ/ (info)	/bɔ̃ʒuːʁ/ (info)
Good evening!	Bonsoir !	/bɔ̃swɑ:ʁ/ (info)	/bɔ̃swa:ʁ/ (info)
Good night!	Bonne nuit !	/bɔnnɥi/ (info)	/bɔnnɥi/ (info)
Goodbye!	Au revoir !	/ɔʁvwɑːʁ/ (info)	/oʁøvwaːʁ/ (info)
Have a nice day!	Bonne journée !	/bɔnʒuʀne/ (info)	/bɔnʒuʁne/ (info)
Please	S'il vous plaît (formal) or S'il te plaît (informal)	/sɪlvuplɛ/ (info)	/silvuplɛ/ (info)
Thank you	Merci	/mɛʀsi/ (info)	/mɛʁsi/ (info)
You're welcome	De rien ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) / Je t'en prie (informal)
I'm sorry	Pardon or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female)	/paʀdɔ̃/ (info) / /dezɔle/ (info)	/paʁdɔ̃/ (info) / /dezɔle/ (info)
Who?	Qui ?	/ki/ (info)	/ki/ (info)
What?	Quoi ? (←informal {Used as "What?" in English) or Comment? (←formal {Used the same as "Pardon Me?" in English)	/kwa/ (info)	/kwa/ (info)
When?	Quand ?	/kɑ̃/ (info)	/kɑ̃/ (info)
Where?	Où ?	/u/ (info)	/u/ (info)
Why?	Pourquoi ?	/puʀkwa/ (info)	/puʁkwa/ (info)
What's your name?	Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal) or Comment t'appelles-tu ? (informal)
Because	Parce que / "À cause de" — literally "because of" or "due to"	/paʁs(ə)kə/ (info)	/paʁs(ə)kə/ (info)
For (when used as "because")	Car
Therefore	Donc
How?	Comment ?	/kɔmɑ̃/ (info)	/kɔmɑ̃/ (info)
How much?	Combien ?	/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/ (info)	/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/ (info)
I do not understand. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Anglais (French meaning English) is a dance rhythm that spread over Europe during the last part of the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance. No is an English / Old English word indicating Rejection, Disagreement, Refusal or making a negative response or exclamation Bonsoir is a 1994 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Mocky. Plot Having first lost his wife then his job as a tweed tailor "Au Revoir" ( French for "farewell" is a single released by Malice Mizer on December 3, 1997. Merci is a brand of German Chocolate manufactured by the German company August Storck KG. In Brazil, the Pardos are a mixture of Whites Blacks and Amerindians, varying from light to dark complexion as used by the Brazilian Institute deSoL is an American band based in Asbury Park NJ that describes themselves as "Rock & Roll with a Latin soul A pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it For other uses see QU Qu is a computer Programming language with an Open-source Interpreter written in C by Status quo is a Latin term meaning the present existing state of affairs or "the state in which"	Je ne comprends pas.	/ʒə nə kɔ̃pʀɑ̃ pɑ/ (info)	/ʒə nə kɔ̃pʁɑ̃ pɑ/ (info)
Yes, I understand.	Oui, je comprends. Except when responding to a negatively posed question, in which case Si is used preferentially over Oui	/wi ʒə kɔ̃pʀɑ̃/ (info)	/wi ʒə kɔ̃pʁɑ̃/ (info)
Help!	Au secours !! (à l'aide !)	/o səkuːʀ/
Can you help me please ?	Pouvez-vous m'aider s'il vous plaît ? / Pourriez-vous m'aider s'il vous plaît ? (formal) or Peux-tu m'aider s'il te plaît ? / Pourrais-tu m'aider s'il te plaît (informal)
Where are the bathrooms?	Où sont les toilettes ?	/u sɔ̃ le twalɛt/ (info)	/u sɔ̃ le twalɛt/ (info)
Do you speak English?	Parlez-vous anglais ?	/paʀlevu ɑ̃glɛ/ (info)	/paʁlevu ɑ̃glɛ/ (info)
I do not speak French.	Je ne parle pas français.	/ʒə nə paʀlə pɑ fʀɑ̃sɛ/	/ʒə nə paʁl(ə) pa fʁɑ̃sɛ/
I don't know.	Je ne sais pas.
I know.	Je sais.
I am thirsty.	J'ai soif.
I am hungry.	J'ai faim.
How are you? / How are things going? / How's everything?	Comment allez-vous? (formal) or Ça va? / Comment ça va ? (informal)
I am (very) well / Things are going (very) well // Everything is (very) well	Je vais (très) bien (formal) or Ça va (très) bien. / Tout va (très) bien (informal)
I am (very) bad / Things are (very) bad / Everything is (very) bad	Je vais (très) mal (formal) or Ça va (très) mal / Tout va (très) mal (informal)
I am ok/so-so / Everything is ok/so-so	Ça va comme ci, comme ça.
I am fine.	Ça va.
January	janvier
February	février
March	mars
April	avril
May	mai
June	juin
July	juillet
August	août
September	septembre
October	octobre
November	novembre
December	décembre
Monday	lundi
Tuesday	mardi
Wednesday	mercredi
Thursday	jeudi
Friday	vendredi
Saturday	samedi
Sunday	dimanche

See also

References

External links

Courses and tutorials

• Learn French BBC
• Learn French at About (including French gestures)
• Learn the basic rules of French (easy tables)
• French lessons at Target Language (extensive)
• French language resources and broadcasts in simplified French at Radio France Internationale (RFI) website

Online dictionaries

• WordReference.com English-French dictionary
• Collins French Dictionary
• LookWAYup French English Dictionary
• Grand Dictionnaire Terminologique
• Le Dictionnaire

Vocabulary

• French vocabulary, with audio
• Questions and answers
• A Two-Page PDF Reference Guide of the 681 Most Common French/English Verbs

Audio

• Free Audio base of French Words
• French audio files of the Shtooka.net project

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