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{{Infobox Language
{{subpages}}
|name=French
{{TOC|right}}
|nativename=français
'''French''', occasionally called ''Langue d'Oïl'' (in its own language: ''français'' [fʀɑ̃sɛ] or rarely ''langue d'oïl'' [lɑ̃gdɔil]/[lɑ̃gdɔjl]), is the third-largest of the [[Romance languages]] in terms of number of native speakers, after [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. French is spoken by about 200 million people, among whom 128 million "are able to cope with common communicative situations".<ref>[http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/rapport_hcf_2007.pdf "La Francophonie dans le monde 2006-2007"], Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, ''Éditions Nathan''</ref> French speakers are mainly located in Europe, Canada and Africa. It is an [[official language]] in 41 countries, most of which form what is called in French ''[[La Francophonie]]'', the community of French-speaking nations.
|familycolor=Indo-European
|pronunciation=[fʁɑ̃sɛ]
|states=[[France]], including [[French Overseas Departments]], [[French Overseas Communities|Communities]] and [[French Overseas Territories|Territories]]; [[Canada]] especially in [[Quebec]], [[New Brunswick]] and parts of [[Ontario]]; [[Belgium]]; [[Switzerland]]; [[Lebanon]]; [[Luxembourg]]; [[Monaco]]; [[Morocco]]; [[Algeria]]; [[Tunisia]]; many [[West Africa|Western]] and [[Central Africa]]n nations such as [[Ivory Coast]], the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Niger]] and [[Senegal]]; [[Haiti]]; [[Mauritius]]; some Asian countries such as [[Laos]], [[Cambodia]], and [[Vietnam]]; [[Mexico]];  and the [[United States|U.S.]] states of [[Louisiana]], [[New Hampshire]], and [[Maine]].
|region=[[Africa]], [[Europe]], [[Americas]], [[Pacific]]
|speakers=270 million, of which 120 million are native or fluent<ref>[http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/france-priorities_1/francophony-french-language_1113/francophony_1932/french-language-in-the-world_3441/the-french-language-in-the-world-an-expanding-community_4289.html The French language in the world: an expanding community], Accessed June 14</ref>  
|rank=12
|fam1=[[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
|fam2=[[Italic languages|Italic]]
|fam3=[[Romance languages|Romance]]
|fam4=[[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
|fam5=Western
|fam6=[[Gallo-Iberian]]
|fam7=[[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
|fam8=Gallo-Rhaetian
|fam9=[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
|nation=30 countries
|agency=[[Académie française]] (France) [[Office québécois de la langue française]] (Quebec)
|iso1=fr|iso2b=fre|iso2t=fra|iso3=fra|map=[[Image:Map-Francophone World.png|center|300px]]<br><center><small>Map of the Francophone world</br>Dark blue: French-speaking; blue: official language; Light blue: language of culture; green: minority</center></small>}}


'''French''' (''français'') is the third-largest of the [[Romance languages]] in terms of number of native speakers, after [[Spanish language|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]. Is is spoken by about 175 [[million]] people as a [[First language|mother tongue]] or [[fluency|fluently]], mainly in [[Europe]], [[Canada]] and [[Africa]]. It is an [[official language]] in 41 countries, most of which form what is called in French ''[[La Francophonie]]'', the community of French-speaking nations.
Descended from the [[Latin language|Latin]] of the [[Roman Empire]], its development was influenced by the native [[Celtic languages]] of Roman [[Gaul]] (particularly in pronunciation), and by the [[Germanic language]] of the post-Roman [[Frankish]] invaders. This is one of the reasons why certain French sounds and spellings are distinctly different from those of neighbouring Romance languages  and why Spanish and Italian sound more similar to one another than French does to either of them.


Descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire, its development was influenced by the native [[Celtic languages]] of Roman [[Gaul]] (particularly in pronunciation), and by the [[Germanic language]] of the post-Roman [[Frankish]] invaders. This is one of the reasons why certain French sounds and spellings are distinctly different from those of other Romance languages such as Spanish and Italian and why Spanish and Italian sound more similar to one another than French does to either one of them.
A [[lingua franca]] in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, its international role then declined to the benefit of English. It has kept some international recognition, however, being one of the two official languages of [[NATO]] and [[IOC]], and one of the two [[working language]]s of the [[UN Secretariat]].


A [[lingua franca]] in Europe in the 17th and 18th century, its international role then declined to the benefit of English. It has kept some international recognition however, being one of the two official languages of [[NATO]] and [[IOC]], and one of the two [[working language]]s of the [[UN Secretariat]]
==Name, origin and definition issues==
====French and the Franks====
French was born in northern Gaul (northern France) around the 8th century, from Vulgar Latin, but under the influence of the Germanic-speaking Franks (see below: [[French language#History|History]] and [[French language#Cradle|Cradle]]). The native name of the language, '''''français''''' (archaically ''franceis''), comes from the country name ''France'', that comes from Latin ''Francia'' which use to mean initially "Land of the [[Franks]]". Similarly, the English name ''French'' comes from Old English ''frencisc'', that is "Frankish, related to the Franks". This highlights the fact that French, although it emerged from [[Vulgar Latin]] around the 8th century, was strongly influenced during its genesis by the massive presence in northern Gaul of the Franks who used to speak Frankish, a [[Germanic languages|Germanic language]]. So northern Gaul was a Latin-Frankish bilingual country from the 4th to the 8th centuries, then it became slowly a French (Romance)-Frankish (Germanic) bilingual country during the 8th and the 9th centuries, before French became the only usual language.


== International Status ==
Therefore, French is the sole Romance language which bears a very heavy Germanic influence, making it quite particular compared with other Romance languages. It is also the only Romance language which is named after a Germanic ethnic group.


'''French''' is also an official or administrative language in several communities and international [[organisation]]s (such as the [[European Union]], [[International Olympic Committee]], [[World Trade Organization]], [[NATO]], [[FINA]], [[FIA]], [[Union Cycliste Internationale|UCI]], [[FIFA]], [[World Anti-Doping Agency]], [[United Nations]], [[African Union]], [[International Court of Justice]], [[IHO]], International Secretariat for Water, [[International Political Science Association]], [[International Bureau of Weights and Measures]], [[European Broadcasting Union]], [[ESA]], [[Universal Postal Union]], [[Interpol]] and so on) and is among the six ''official'' languages of the [[United Nations]] and of all its agencies. While the status of French as the leading language for international communication has declined since its peak in the 18th and 19th centuries due to the rise of [[English language|English]], it maintains a prominent position.
====French or Langue d'Oïl====
French is sometimes called ''Langue d'Oïl'' (“language of oïl”), ''oïl'' being an old variant of ''oui'' “yes”. This name was spread notably from ''[[De vulgari eloquentia]]'' (1303-1305), the famous essay by Italian writer [[Dante Alighieri]], where three Romance languages were identified by the way of saying “yes”: ''Langue d'Oïl'' (“language of oïl” or French), ''Lingua di Sì'' (“language of sì” or [[Italian language|Italian]]) and ''Lenga d'Òc'' (“language of òc” or [[Occitan language|Occitan]]).


== Geographic distribution==
====One Langue d'Oïl or several Langues d'Oïl?====
==== France====
In traditional Romance linguistics, ''French'' and ''Langue d'Oïl'' are synonyms and both terms include a range of various regional dialects beside standard French.<ref>BEC Pierre (1970-71)(collab. Octave NANDRIS, Žarko MULJAČIĆ), ''Manuel pratique de philologie romane'', Paris: Picard, 2 vol.</ref><ref>ALLIÈRES Jacques (2001) ''Manuel de linguistique romane'', coll. Bibliothèque de grammaire et de linguistique, Paris: Honoré Champion</ref><ref>POSNER Rebecca (1996) ''The Romance languages'', coll. Cambridge language surveys, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref><ref>HOLTUS Günter, & METZELTIN Michael, & SCHMITT Christian (1991) (dir.) ''Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik [LRL]'', Tübingen: Niemeyer, 8 vol.</ref> But since the 1970s, some linguists have supported a new conception according to which the ''Langue<u>s</u> d'Oïl'' (in plural) would be a subgroup of northern Romance languages and, inside it, each former French 'dialect' would become a 'language' distinct from 'French' proper. Those newly claimed Oïl languages would be for example French, [[Picard dialect|Picard]], [[Norman dialect|Norman]], [[Walloon dialect|Walloon]], [[Morvandiau dialect|Morvandiau]], [[Poitevin-Saintongeais dialect|Poitevin-Saintongeais]], [[Gallo dialect|Gallo]], [[Champenois dialect|Champenois]], [[Lorrain dialect|Lorrain]] and so forth.<ref>CERQUIGLINI Bernard (2003) (dir.) ''Les langues de France'', Paris: Presses Universitaires de France / Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication-DGLFLF</ref><ref>ÉLOY Jean-Michel (2004) (dir.) ''Des langues collatérales: problèmes linguistiques, sociolinguistiques et glottopolitiques de la proximité linguistique. Actes du Colloque international réuni à Amiens, du 21 au 24 novembre 2001'', Paris: L'Harmattan</ref> This vision is not wholly accepted and some linguists reject it.<ref>PICOCHE Jacqueline, & MARCHELLO-NIZIA Christiane (1996) ''Histoire de la langue française'', coll. Nathan Université / Linguistique, Paris: Nathan</ref>
{{seealso|Toubon Law|Languages of France}}
 
==History==
: ''Main article: [[History of French]]''
 
By the middle of the first century BCE, northern Gaul was completely conquered by the Romans. [[Latin]], and especially [[Vulgar Latin]] (''i.e'' the popular language) progressively replaced the local [[Gaulish language]]s. The remnants of Gaulish languages are to be found in some [[French phonology|phonological features]] and in a few words mostly dealing with rural life.
 
Germanic tribes settled in Gaul during the Migration Period. The most important, that of the [[Franks]], gave its name to France. Germanic presence in France caused some changes in pronunciation and grammar, especially in the Northern half of Gaul. It evolved into a number of [[mutually intelligible languages|mutually intelligible]] dialects of the ''Langue d'Oïl''. Though a variety of dialects remained for long, a common juridical and literary languages arose during the [[High Middle Ages]]. By the late 13th century, this common language was called ''interlingua Gallica'' (French common language).  It progressively extended to [[Occitan language|Occitan]]-speaking areas in the South of France. By the [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts]] in 1539 King [[Francis I of France|Francis I]] made French the [[official language]] of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the [[Latin]], that was still in use in official texts.


Per the [[Constitution of France]], French has been the official language since 1992 [http://www.languefrancaise.net/dossiers/dossiers.php?id_dossier=50]. [[France]] mandates the use of French in official government publications, public [[education]] outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal [[contract]]s; [[advertisement]]s must bear a translation of foreign words.  
In the 16th century, [[Humanism|Humanists]] paid a great interest to vernacular language. It was a period of multilinguism and many tried to enhance French technical accuracy and expressive possibilites by transposing words from dialects and other languages such as [[Italian language|Italian]], Greek, and above all Latin. In that time of linguistic dynamism, spellings and even vocabulary often changed from one author to the next. The following century was that of the unification of linguistic codes. A significant date is the foundation of the [[Académie française]] in 1635. Its aim was to embellish the French language and define a single linguistic model.<ref>"La principale fonction de l’Académie sera de travailler avec tout le soin et toute la diligence possible à donner des règles certaines à notre langue et à la rendre pure, éloquente et capable de traiter les arts et les sciences." ("The main function of the Academy will be to work as carefully and as diligently as possible to give definites rules to our language and make it pure, eloquent and able to deal with arts and sciences") Statutes of the Academy, article 24.</ref> In 1694, the academy published a dictionnary that ought to define the right usage of words. The [[Classicism|17th century ideal]] was one of purity and simplicity of expression which was often associated with the French language in the following centuries. French formal language has changed relatively little since that period.


Contrary to a common [[Urban myth|misunderstanding]] both in the [[United States|American]] and [[United Kingdom|British]] [[mass media|media]], France does not prohibit the use of foreign words in [[Web page|websites]] nor in any other private publication, as that would violate the [[constitutional]] right of [[freedom of speech]]. The misunderstanding may have arisen from a similar prohibition in the Canadian province of [[Quebec]] which made strict application of the [[Charter of the French Language]] between 1977 and 1993, although these regulations addressed language used in advertising and the provision of commercial services offered within the province, not the language of private communication.
==International status==


There exists, in addition to French, a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities.
Owing to the preeminent cultural and political role of France in 17th and 18th century Europe, French has been widely used in diplomacy but its international position has sharply declined to the benefit of English, especially after World War II. There are some traces of the past grandeur of French in diplomacy however. Notably, it is one of the two [[working language]]s of the [[UN Secretariat]].  


==== Other countries ==== 
== Geographic distribution==
French is an official language in [[Switzerland]]. It is spoken in the part of Switzerland called ''[[Romandie]]''. In [[Belgium]], it is the official language of the [[Wallonia|Walloon]] Region (excluding the East Cantons, which are German-speaking) and one of the two official languages of the capital, Brussels, along with Dutch. Officially Dutch and French have parity in Brussels. However, in practice the French language is more dominant among the city's residents. Conversely the Dutch language dominates among the city's largely non-resident (in Brussels) workforce. It should be noted that French is not an official language or even a recognised minority language in Flanders, although there are some districts in Belgium along linguistic borders that have special compromise linguistic regimes. It is one of the official languages in [[Luxembourg]], along with [[German language|German]] and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]]. It is also an official language, along with Italian, in [[Val d'Aoste]], [[Italy]]. It is the official language of the principality of [[Monaco]] and is spoken by a small minority in the principality of [[Andorra]].


Primarily a European language, French has extended to other parts of the world, firstly through French expansion in Europe and, then, through [[French colonization]] out of Europe.


===America===
====Cradle====
The initial area of French may be called the ''Pays d'Oïl'' [peidɔil / peidɔjl] (the 'country of Oïl'). It comprises roughly northern [[France]] (excepting zones where Breton, German and Dutch are spoken), southern [[Belgium]] ([[Wallonia]]), the [[Channel Islands]] and a northwestern tip of [[Switzerland]] ([[canton of Jura]]).


French lost most of her American colonies through the [[Treaty of Paris]] (1763). However French-speaking communities remained, mostly in Canada, Louisiana and the West Indies.
Neighbor languages are [[Occitan language|Occitan]] to the south, [[Francoprovençal language|Francoprovençal]] to the southeast, [[Breton language|Breton]] to the west, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] to the north and [[German language|German]] to the northeast.  


====Canada====
Inside the Pays d'Oïl, the standard variety of French expands continuously from [[Paris]] and causes the shrinkage of the French dialects (or the "Langues d'Oïl") toward peripheral zones.  
: ''Main article: [[French in Canada]]''
French is along with English one of the two official languages of Canada at a federal level, though Provinces may choose their own provincial official tongue. Nearly a quarter of Canadians speak French as mother tongue. French native speakers are mainly located in the Eastern part of the country, epecially in [[Quebec]], where French is the only provincial official tongue and in [[New Brunswick]] where it is co-official with English.


==== Other countries ====
====Expansion in Europe====
=====Conflict with other European languages=====
French threatens the use of minoritary languages in the following cases:
* Within the borders of [[France]], French tends to displace the use of [[Breton language|Breton]] in the west, [[Dutch language|Dutch]] in the north, [[German language|German]] in the west, [[Francoprovençal language|Francoprovençal]] in the center-west, [[Occitan language|Occitan]] in the south and also, in the far south, [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]] and [[Corsican language|Corsican]].
* In [[Belgium]], French has become the majority language of [[Brussels]] which is traditionally [[Dutch language|Dutch]]-speaking and of [[Arlon]] which is traditionally [[German language|German]]-speaking.
* In [[Switzerland]], French advances in front of [[Francoprovençal language|Francoprovençal]].
* In [[Monaco]], French advances at the expense of the two local, traditional languages that are [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and [[Romance Ligurian|Ligurian]] (a variety of [[Northern Italian language|Northern Italian]]).


In [[the Americas]], French is an official language of [[Haiti]], although it is mostly spoken by the upperclass and well educated while [[Haitian Creole]] is more widely used.  French is also the official language in France's current possessions of [[French Guiana]], [[Guadeloupe]], [[Martinique]], [[Saint Barthelemy]], [[St. Martin]], [[Saint-Pierre and Miquelon]]. It is also an administrative language of [[Dominica]] and the [[U.S. state]] of [[Louisiana]].
On the contrary, in the [[Channel Islands]], French withdraws in front of [[English language|English]].


=====Status in Europe=====
French is the only official language of France and an official language in some neighbouring countries, most importantly in [[Belgium]] (the Regions of [[Wallonia]] and [[Brussels]] and [[Switzerland]].


===Africa===
[[France]] mandates the use of French in official government publications, public [[education]] outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal [[contract]]s. Since the "[[Toubon Law]]" was carried in 1994, advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. There exists, in addition to French, a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities.
French is an official language of many African countries, many of them former French or Belgian colonies:


*[[Benin]]
More than 4 millions Belgians -around 40% of the national population- speak [[Belgian French|French]] as first language. It is the official language of most of [[Wallonia]], while the main language of [[Flanders]] is [[Dutch]]. French and Dutch are both official languages of the Region of [[Brussels]], the capital city. In the city of Brussels proper, most people speak French.
*[[Burkina Faso]]
*[[Burundi]]
*[[Cameroon]]
*[[Central African Republic]]
*[[Chad]]
*[[Comoros]]
*[[Congo (Brazzaville)]]
*[[Côte d'Ivoire]]
*[[Democratic Republic of Congo]]
*[[Djibouti]]
*[[Equatorial Guinea]] (former colony of [[Spain]])
*[[Gabon]]
*[[Guinea]]
*[[Madagascar]]
*[[Mali]]
*[[Mauritius]]
*[[Niger]]
*[[Rwanda]]
*[[Senegal]]
*[[Seychelles]]
*[[Togo]]


In addition, French is an administrative language of [[Mauritania]] and is commonly understood (though not official) in [[Algeria]], [[Morocco]], and [[Tunisia]].
French is also an official language in [[Switzerland]], where it is spoken by around 1.75 millions, mostly along the French border ([[Romandy]]).  


===Asia and Pacific Ocean===
It also has an official status in less populated areas: It is an official language in [[Luxembourg]], along with [[German language|German]] and [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]] and in [[Val d'Aoste]], [[Italy]], along with Italian. It is the official language of the principality of [[Monaco]].
In Asia, French is an administrative language in [[Laos]] and [[Lebanon]], and is used unofficially in parts of [[Cambodia]], [[India]] ([[Puducherry]], [[Mahé]], [[Karikal]] and [[Yanam]]), [[Syria]] and [[Vietnam]]. But, French has official language status in [[Union Territory]] of [[Puducherry]] along with the region's [[de facto]] Language [[Tamil language|Tamil]].It is an official language in the French possessions of [[Mayotte]] and [[Réunion]] both located in the [[Indian Ocean]].


French is also an official language of the [[Pacific Island]] nation of [[Vanuatu]], along with France's current possessions of [[French Polynesia]], [[Wallis & Futuna]] and [[New Caledonia]].
====Americas====
France lost most of her American colonies through the [[Treaty of Paris]] (1763). However kept some pssessions in America and some French-speaking communities remained in other areas, most notably in Canada.  


===Regional Varieties===
French is currently the official language in [[Overseas departments and territories of France]] ([[French Guiana]], [[Guadeloupe]], [[Martinique]], [[Saint Barthelemy]], [[St. Martin]], and [[Saint-Pierre and Miquelon]]). [[Haiti]] was a French colony until the beginning of the 19th century and French is still one of the official languages of the island, it is mostly spoken by the upperclass and well educated while [[Haitian Creole]] is more widely used.
: ''See [[Dialects of the French language]]''
*[[Acadian French]]
*[[African French]]
*[[Aostan French]]
*[[Belgian French]]
*[[Cajun French]]
*[[Canadian French]]
*[[Cambodian French]]
*[[Metropolitan France|Metropolitan French]]
*German French
*[[Indian French]]
*[[Jersey Legal French]]
*[[Lao French]]
*Levantine French
*Maghreb French
*[[Meridional French]]
*[[Caldoche|New Caledonian French]]
*[[Newfoundland French]]
*North American French
*Oceanic French
*[[Quebec French]]
*[[South East Asian French]]
*[[Swiss French]]
*[[Vietnamese French (dialect)|Vietnamese French]]
*West Indian French


===Derived languages===
French is along with English [[French in Canada|one of the two official languages of Canada]] at a federal level, though Provinces may choose their own provincial official tongue. Nearly a quarter of Canadians speak French as mother tongue. French native speakers are mainly located in the Eastern part of the country, epecially in [[Quebec]], where French is the only provincial official tongue and in [[New Brunswick]] where it is co-official with English. Due to the geographical distance and close contacts with English as well as a will to ward it off, Canadian French has developed [[Canadian French|some particularities]].
:''Main article: [[French-based creole languages]]''
*[[Antillean Creole]]
*[[Chiac]]
*[[Haitian Creole language|Haitian Creole]]
*[[Lanc-Patuá]]
*[[Mauritian Creole]]
*[[Michif language|Michif]]
*[[Louisiana Creole French]]
*[[Réunion Creole|Réunionese Creole]]
*[[Seychellois Creole]]
*[[Tây Bồi|Tay Boi]]


==History==
French is also an administrative language of [[Dominica]] and the [[United States of America|U.S.]] state of [[Louisiana (U.S. state)|Louisiana]], where [[Cajun French|a dialect of French]] is still spoken by a few people.
{{main|History of French}}


==Sound system==
====Africa====
:''Main article: [[French phonology]]''
French is an official language in [[African French|most countries of the Western half of Africa]], with the notable exception of [[Nigeria]]. This is to be ascribed to French and Belgian colonizations. French is widely used as a mean of national and international communication, though a great part of the population does not speak it as first language. 
{{IPA notice}}


Although there are many French regional accents, only one version of the language is normally chosen as a model for foreign learners. This is the educated standard variety of Paris, which has no commonly used special name, but has been termed "français neutre".
French is an official language in 22 African countries ([[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Burundi]], [[Cameroon]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Chad]], [[Comoros]], [[Congo (Brazzaville)]], [[Côte d'Ivoire]], [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]], [[Djibouti]], [[Equatorial Guinea]], [[Gabon]], [[Guinea]], [[Madagascar]], [[Mali]], [[Mauritius]], [[Niger]], [[Rwanda]], [[Senegal]], [[Seychelles]] and [[Togo]]. All but Equatorial Guinea were gouverned by France or Belgium at one point.


* Voiced stops (i.e. {{IPA|/b d g/}}) are typically produced fully voiced throughout.
In addition, French is an administrative language of [[Mauritania]] and is commonly understood (though not official) in [[Algeria]], [[Morocco]], and [[Tunisia]].
* Voiceless stops (i.e. {{IPA|/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 {{IPA|/ŋ/}} occurs only in final position in borrowed (usually English) words: parking, camping, swing. The palatal nasal 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 {{IPA|/f/–/v/}}, dental {{IPA|/s/–/z/}}, and palato-alveolar {{IPA|/ʃ/–/ʒ/}}. Notice that {{IPA|/s/–/z/}} are dental, like the plosives {{IPA|/t/–/d/}}, and the nasal {{IPA|/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 “roue” wheel {{IPA|[ʁu]}}. 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 {{IPA|[r]}} occurs in some dialects.
====Other parts of the world====
[[South East Asian French|French]] is sometimes used in former French [[Indochina]]: it is an administrative language in [[Laos]] and is used unofficially in parts of [[Cambodia]] and [[Vietnamese French|Vietnam]].


* Lateral and central approximants: The lateral approximant {{IPA|/l/}} is unvelarized in both onset (“lire”) and coda position (“il”). In the onset, the central approximants {{IPA|[w]}}, {{IPA|[ɥ]}}, and {{IPA|[j]}} each correspond to a high vowel, {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/y/}}, and {{IPA|/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 {{IPA|/j/}} and {{IPA|/i/}} occur in final position as in {{IPA|/abɛj/}} abeille “bee” vs. {{IPA|/abɛi/}} abbaye “monastery”, “abbey”.
It is unofficially used [[Lebanon]] and [[Syria]] which were French [[League of Nations mandate|mandates]] from 1920 to 1946, and [[Indian French|in former French trading posts in India]] ([[Mahé]], [[Karikal]] and [[Yanam]]). In [[Puducherry]] -also a former French trading post- French has an official is an official language along with the region's [[de facto]] Language [[Tamil language|Tamil]].


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:
French is an official language in the French possessions of [[Mayotte]] and [[Réunion]] both located in the [[Indian Ocean]].
* ''liaison'' or linking: 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 "link" between the two words and avoid a [[Hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]]. Some liaisons are ''mandatory'', for example the ''s'' in ''les amants'' or ''vous avez''; some are ''optional'', depending on [[dialect]] and [[register (linguistics)|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''. The ''t'' of ''et'' is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in [[set phrase]]s like ''pied-à-terre''. Doubling a final 'n' and adding a silent ''e'' at the end of a word (e.g. ''Parisien'' → ''Parisienne'') makes it clearly pronounced. Doubling a final 'l' and adding a silent 'e' (e.g. "gentil" -> "gentille") adds an [j] sound.
* [[elision]] or vowel dropping: Monosyllabic pronouns and conjunctions ending in an ''a'' or a silent ''e'', such as ''je'' and ''que'', drop their final vowel when placed before a word that begins with a vowel sound. 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==
It is also an official language of the [[Pacific Island]] nation of [[Vanuatu]], along with France's current possessions of [[French Polynesia]], [[Wallis & Futuna]] and [[New Caledonia]].
:''Main article: [[French orthography]]''
* [[nasal vowel|nasal]] "[[n]]" and "[[m]]". 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 non-silent vowel. The prefixes ''en-'' and ''em-'' are always nasalized. The rules get more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
* [[digraph (orthography)|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.
* [[gemination]] : Within words, double consonants are not pronounced as geminates in modern French (but you could hear geminates in the cinema or TV news as far as the 70's). For example, "illusion" is pronounced [ilyzjő] and not [illyzjõ]. But gemination does occur between words. For example, "une info" ("a news") is pronounced [ynẽfo], whereas "une nympho" ("a nympho") is pronounced [ynnẽfo].
* [[Accent (linguistics)|accent]]s are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone.
** '''Accents that affect pronunciation:'''
***The acute accent (''l'accent aigu''), "é" (e.g., ''école''— school), is pronounced {{IPA|/e/}} instead of the defaults {{IPA|/ɛ/}} or {{IPA|/ə/}},
***The grave accent (''l'accent grave''), "è" (e.g., ''élève''— pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced {{IPA|/ɛ/}} (as usual),
***The [[diaeresis]] (''le tréma'') (e.g. ''naïve''— foolish, ''Noël''— Christmas) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one (or following one in some cases), not combined,
***The cedilla (''la cédille'') "ç" (e.g., ''garçon''— boy) means that the letter ''c'' is pronounced {{IPA|/s/}} in front of the hard vowels A, O, and U. ("c" is otherwise {{IPA|/k/}} before a hard vowel.) C is always pronounced {{IPA|/s/}} in front of the soft vowels E, I, and Y, thus ç is never found in front of soft vowels,
***The [[circumflex]] (''l'accent circonflexe'') "ê" (e.g., ''forêt''— forest) shows that an ''e'' is pronounced {{IPA|/ɛ/}} and that an ''o'' is pronounced {{IPA|/o/}}. In some dialects it also signifies a pronunciation of {{IPA|/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''.
** '''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==
==Grammar==
:''Main article: [[French grammar]]''
:''Main article: [[French grammar]]''
French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including:
 
* the loss of Latin's [[declension]]s
French grammar shares notable features with most other Romance languages. It is a moderately [[Inflection|inflected]] language. [[Noun]]s and most pronouns are inflected for [[grammatical number|number]] (singular or plural); [[adjective]]s, for the number and [[grammatical gender|gender]] (masculine or feminine) of their nouns; [[personal pronoun]]s, for [[grammatical person|person]], number, gender, and [[grammatical case|case]]; and [[verb]]s, for [[grammatical mood|mood]], [[grammatical tense|tense]], and the person and number of their [[subject (grammar)|subjects]]. Case is primarily marked using [[word order]] and [[preposition]]s, and certain verb features are marked using [[auxiliary verb]]s.
* only two [[grammatical gender]]s
* the development of grammatical [[article (grammar)|article]]s from Latin [[demonstrative]]s
* new [[tense]]s 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]]. Some rare archaisms allow for different word orders.
French word order is [[Subject Verb Object]], except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is [[Subject Object Verb]]. Some rare archaisms allow for different word orders.
Line 191: Line 108:
* '''Cheval''' - Concours '''équestre''' - '''Hippo'''drome
* '''Cheval''' - Concours '''équestre''' - '''Hippo'''drome


The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than [[Italian language|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.
The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less re
cognisable than [[Italian language|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.


It is estimated that 12 percent (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. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from [[English language|English]] and are fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707 words from [[Italian language|Italian]], 550 from ancient [[Germanic languages]], 481 from ancient [[Gallo-Romance languages]], 215 from [[Arabic language|Arabic]], 164 from [[German language|German]], 160 from [[Celtic languages]], 159 from [[Spanish language|Spanish]], 153 from [[Dutch language|Dutch]], 112 from [[Persian language|Persian]] and [[Sanskrit language|Sanskrit]], 101 from [[Native American languages]], 89 from other [[Asian languages]], 56 from [[Afro-Asiatic languages]], 55 from [[Slavic languages]] and [[Baltic languages]], and 144&mdash;about three percent&mdash;from other languages (Walter & Walter 1998).
It is estimated that 12 percent (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. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from [[English language|English]] and are fairly recent borrowings.


===Numerals===
==Sound system==
The French counting system is partially [[vigesimal]]:
:''Main article: [[French phonology]]''
[[20 (number)|twenty]] (''{{lang|fr|vingt}}'') is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 80-99. So for example, ''{{lang|fr|quatre-vingts}}'' means 4 times 20, i.e. is the French word for [[80 (number)|80]], and ''{{lang|fr|soixante-quinze}}'' (literally "sixty-fifteen") means 75. This is comparable to the archaic English use of "score", as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70). Danish is another language with a base 20 system for counting.
 
[[Belgian French]] and [[Swiss French]] are different in this respect. In Belgium and Switzerland 70 and 90 are ''{{lang|fr|septante}}'' and ''{{lang|fr|nonante}}''. The French word for 80 is ''{{lang|fr|octante}}'' in Belgium. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, it can  be: ''{{lang|fr|quatre-vingts}}'' (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or ''{{lang|fr|huitante}}'' (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.langue-fr.net/index/S/septante.htm|title=Septante, octante, huitante, nonante|work=langue-fr.net}}</ref>


==Writing system==
==Writing system==
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 [[Ligature (typography)|ligatures]] (œ) and (æ).
:''Main article: [[French orthography]]''
 
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. However, some conscious changes were also made to restore Latin orthography:
* Old French ''doit'' > French ''doigt'' "finger" (Latin ''digitum'')
* Old French ''pie'' > French ''pied'' "foot" (Latin ''pedem'')
 
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. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.
 
The diacritics have phonetic, semantic, and etymological significance.
* [[grave accent]] (à, è, ù): Over ''a'' or ''u'', used only to distinguish homophones: ''à'' ("to") vs. ''a'' ("has"), ''ou'' ("or") vs. ''où'' ("where"). Over an ''e'', indicates the sound {{IPA|/ɛ/}}.
* [[acute accent]] (é): Over an ''e'', indicates the sound {{IPA|/e/}}, the ''ai'' sound in such words as English ''hay'' or ''neigh''. It often indicates the historical deletion of a following consonant (usually an ''s''): ''écouter'' < ''escouter''. This type of accent mark is called accent aigu in French.
* [[circumflex]] (â, ê, î, ô, û): Over an ''e'' or ''o'', indicates the sound {{IPA|/ɛ/}} or {{IPA|/o/}}, respectively. Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an ''s'' or a vowel): ''château'' < ''castel'', ''fête'' < ''feste'', ''sûr'' < ''seur'', ''dîner'' < ''disner''. By extension, it has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: ''du'' ("of the") vs. ''dû'' (past participle of ''devoir'' "to owe"; 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): Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: ''naïve'', ''Noël''. Diaeresis on ÿ only occurs in some proper names (such as l'Haÿ-les-Roses) and in modern editions of old French texts. Since the 1990 orthographic rectifications, the diaeresis in words containing ''guë'' (such as ''aiguë'' or ''ciguë'') should be moved onto the ''u'': ''aigüe'', ''cigüe''. Words coming from German retain the old Umlaut if applicable but use French pronunciation, such as ''kärcher'' (trade mark of a pressure washer).
* [[cedilla]] (ç): Indicates that an etymological ''c'' is pronounced {{IPA|/s/}} when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus ''je lance'' "I throw" (with ''c'' = {{IPA|[s]}} before ''e''), ''je lan'''ç'''ais'' "I was throwing" (''c'' would be pronounced {{IPA|[k]}} before ''a'' without the cedilla).
 
The ligature œ is a mandatory contraction of ''oe'' in certain words (''sœur'' "sister" {{IPA|/sœʁ/}}, ''œuvre'' "work [of art]" {{IPA|/œvʁ/}}, ''cœur'' "heart" {{IPA|/kœʁ/}}, ''cœlacanthe'' "coelacanth" {{IPA|/selakɑ̃t/}}), sometimes in words of Greek origin, spelled with an οι {{IPA|/oj/}} diphthong which became ''oe'' in Latin, pronounced {{IPA|/ø/}} (formerly {{IPA|/e/}}) in French (and other [[Romance languages]]): ''œsophage'' {{IPA|/øzɔfaʒ/}}. It may also appear in ''œu'' [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] (or ''œ'' alone in ''œil'' "eye"), in words that were once written with ''eu'' digraph (which could be read {{IPA|/y/}} or {{IPA|/œ/}}, depending on the word): ''bœuf'' "ox" {{IPA|/bœf/}}, ''bœufs'' "oxen" {{IPA|/bø/}} (Old French ''buef'' or ''beuf''), ''mœurs'' {{IPA|/mœʁ/}} "custom", ''œil'' "eye" {{IPA|/œj/}}, etc. In these cases, the Latin etymon must be spelled with an ''o'' where the French word has ''œu'': ''bovem'' > ''bœuf'', ''mores'' > ''mœurs'', ''oculum'' > ''œil''. Remember that ''œnologie'' should be pronounced as {{IPA|/enɔlɔʒi/}} and not as {{IPA|/ənɔlɔʒi/}}.
 
The ligature æ is very rare and appears in some words of Latin and Greek origin like ''ægosome'', ''ægyrine'', ''æschne'', ''cæcum'', ''nævus'' or ''uræus'' <ref>[http://monsu.desiderio.free.fr/curiosites/ligat-ae.html La ligature æ] (in French)</ref>. The vowel quality is identical to é {{IPA|/e/}}.


French is written using the 26 letters of the [[Latin alphabet]], plus five diacritics that are the [[circumflex]] accent ('''â, ê, î, ô, û'''), the [[acute accent]] ('''é'''), the [[grave accent]] ('''è, à, ù'''), the [[diaeresis]] ('''ë, ï, ü''' and rarely '''ÿ'''), the [[cedilla]] ('''ç''') and two [[Ligature (typography)|ligatures]] ('''œ''' and rarely '''æ''').
Some attempts have been made to [[Reforms of French orthography|reform French spelling]], but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries.
Some attempts have been made to [[Reforms of French orthography|reform French spelling]], but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries.


==Samples==
=====Sounds, spelling and history=====
{{Inline audio}}
{| class="wikitable"
!English
!French
!IPA pronunciation
|-
||French|| ''français'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|francais.ogg|/fʁɑ̃sɛ/}}
|-
||English || ''anglais'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|anglais.ogg|/ɑ̃glɛ/}}
|-
||Yes || ''Oui'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|oui.ogg|/wi/}}
|-
||No || ''Non'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|non.ogg|/nɔ̃/}}
|-
||Hello! || ''Bonjour !'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|bonjour.ogg|/bɔ̃ʒuːʁ/}}
|-
||Good evening! || ''Bonsoir !'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|bonsoir.ogg|/bɔ̃swa:ʁ/}}
|-
||Good night! || ''Bonne nuit !'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|bonne_nuit.ogg|/bɔnnɥi/}}
|-
||Goodbye! || ''Au revoir !'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|au_revoir.ogg|/ɔʁvwaːʁ/}}
|-
||Have a good day! || ''Bonne journée !'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|bonne_journee.ogg|/bɔnʒuʁne/}}
|-
||Please || ''S'il vous plaît'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|s_il_vous_plait.ogg|/silvuplɛ/}}
|-
||Thank you || ''Merci'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|merci.ogg|/mɛʁsi/}}
|-
||Sorry || ''Pardon'' / ''désolé'' (if male) / ''désolée'' (if female) || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|pardon.ogg|/paʁdɔ̃/}} / {{Audio-IPA|desole.ogg|/dezɔle/}}
|-
||Who? || ''Qui ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|qui.ogg|/ki/}}
|-
||What? || ''Quoi ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|quoi.ogg|/kwa/}}
|-
||When? || ''Quand ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|quand.ogg|/kɑ̃/}}
|-
||Where? || ''Où ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|ou_french.ogg|/u/}}
|-
||Why? || ''Pourquoi ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|pourquoi.ogg|/puʁkwa/}}
|-
||Because || ''Parce que'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|parce_que.ogg|/paʁs(ə)kə/}}
|-
||How? || ''Comment ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|comment.ogg|/kɔmɑ̃/}}
|-
||How much? || ''Combien ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|combien.ogg|/kɔ̃bjɛ̃/}}
|-
||I do not understand. || ''Je ne comprends pas.'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|je_ne_comprends_pas.ogg|/ʒə nə kɔ̃pʁɑ̃ pɑ/}}
|-
||Yes, I understand. || ''Oui, je comprends.'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|oui_je_comprends.ogg|/wi ʒə kɔ̃pʁɑ̃/}}
|-
||Help!|| ''Au secours !! (à l'aide !)'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|au_secours.ogg|/oskuːr/}}
|-
||Where are the toilets?|| ''Où sont les toilettes ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|ou_sont_les_toilettes.ogg|/u sɔ̃ le twalɛt/}}
|-
||Do you speak English? || ''Parlez-vous anglais ?'' || {{Audio-IPA-nohelp|parlez-vous_anglais.ogg|/paʁlevu ɑ̃ɡlɛ/}}
|-
|}


Note: In these example audio files, you will hear a Canadian French accent.
A given spelling almost always leads to a predictable sound, but the reverse is not true. French spelling does not follow purely phonetic rules. This is mainly due to changes in pronunciations that did not resulted in changes in spelling. The spelling of some words was also changed in the 16th century without any phonetic justification, to tally with their latin etymons:
* Latin ''digitum'' > Old French ''doit'' > Modern French ''doigt'' [dwa] with silent ''g'' ("finger")
* Latin ''pedem'' > Old French ''pie'' > Modern French ''pied'' [pje] with silent ''d'' ("foot")


==Notes==
==References==
==References==
* Walter, Henriette and Gérard, ''Dictionnaire des mots d'origine étrangère,'' [[1998]].
 
=====Citations=====
<references />
<references />
==See also==
* [[Académie française]]
* [[Alliance française]]
* [[Common phrases in different languages]]
* [[List of countries where French is an official language]]
* [[List of English words of French origin]]
* [[List of French phrases]]
* [[French in Canada]]
* [[French in the United States]]
* [[French Language Wikipedia]]
* [[French phrases used by English speakers]]
* [[French proverbs]]
* [[Francophone]]
* [[La Francophonie]]
* [[Reforms of French orthography]]
* [[Morphology of the French verb]]
* [[Louchebem]]
* [[Verlan]]
* [[Creole language#French Creoles|French Creole languages]]
* [[French Swadesh list|Swadesh list of French words]]
* [[History of the French language]]
==External links==
{{Wiktionarylang|code=fr}}
{{InterWiki|code=fr}}
{{Wikibookspar||French}}
{{Commonscat|French}}
*{{fr icon}} [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/ Académie française]
*[http://shtooka.moostik.net/dico-fr/index.php?lng=en Free Audio base of French Words]
*[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fra Ethnologue report for French]
*[http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/ French Language Course]
*[http://www.languagetrav.com/french/ French language introduction and resource library]
*[http://french.about.com/ Learn French at About]
*[http://www.fll.vt.edu/french/whyfrench.html Why study French]
*[http://www.lexibase.com French dictionary]
*[http://www.socu.de French german dictionary]
*[http://granddictionnaire.qc.ca/ Great Terminologic Dictionnary (by the office of French language of Québec)]
*[http://perso.orange.fr/comptoir-des-archives/french.htm Learn the basic rules of French]
*[http://www.for-selfstudy.info/languages/f_phone.htm French phrases for the phone]
{{Official UN languages}}
{{Official EU languages}}
{{Romance languages}}
[[Category:French language]]
[[Category:Languages of Belgium]]
[[Category:Languages of Canada]]
[[Category:Languages of the Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Languages of France]]
[[Category:Languages of French Guiana]]
[[Category:Languages of French Polynesia]]
[[Category:Languages of Lebanon]]
[[Category:Languages of Luxembourg]]
[[Category:Languages of Morocco]]
[[Category:Languages of New Caledonia]]
[[Category:Languages of Switzerland]]
[[Category:Languages of Wallis and Futuna]]
[[Category:Languages of Tunisia]]
[[Category:Oïl languages]]
[[Category:Synthetic languages]]
[[Category:CZ Live]]
[[Category:Linguistics Workgroup]]

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French, occasionally called Langue d'Oïl (in its own language: français [fʀɑ̃sɛ] or rarely langue d'oïl [lɑ̃gdɔil]/[lɑ̃gdɔjl]), is the third-largest of the Romance languages in terms of number of native speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese. French is spoken by about 200 million people, among whom 128 million "are able to cope with common communicative situations".[1] French speakers are mainly located in Europe, Canada and Africa. It is an official language in 41 countries, most of which form what is called in French La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking nations.

Descended from the Latin of the Roman Empire, its development was influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul (particularly in pronunciation), and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. This is one of the reasons why certain French sounds and spellings are distinctly different from those of neighbouring Romance languages and why Spanish and Italian sound more similar to one another than French does to either of them.

A lingua franca in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, its international role then declined to the benefit of English. It has kept some international recognition, however, being one of the two official languages of NATO and IOC, and one of the two working languages of the UN Secretariat.

Name, origin and definition issues

French and the Franks

French was born in northern Gaul (northern France) around the 8th century, from Vulgar Latin, but under the influence of the Germanic-speaking Franks (see below: History and Cradle). The native name of the language, français (archaically franceis), comes from the country name France, that comes from Latin Francia which use to mean initially "Land of the Franks". Similarly, the English name French comes from Old English frencisc, that is "Frankish, related to the Franks". This highlights the fact that French, although it emerged from Vulgar Latin around the 8th century, was strongly influenced during its genesis by the massive presence in northern Gaul of the Franks who used to speak Frankish, a Germanic language. So northern Gaul was a Latin-Frankish bilingual country from the 4th to the 8th centuries, then it became slowly a French (Romance)-Frankish (Germanic) bilingual country during the 8th and the 9th centuries, before French became the only usual language.

Therefore, French is the sole Romance language which bears a very heavy Germanic influence, making it quite particular compared with other Romance languages. It is also the only Romance language which is named after a Germanic ethnic group.

French or Langue d'Oïl

French is sometimes called Langue d'Oïl (“language of oïl”), oïl being an old variant of oui “yes”. This name was spread notably from De vulgari eloquentia (1303-1305), the famous essay by Italian writer Dante Alighieri, where three Romance languages were identified by the way of saying “yes”: Langue d'Oïl (“language of oïl” or French), Lingua di Sì (“language of sì” or Italian) and Lenga d'Òc (“language of òc” or Occitan).

One Langue d'Oïl or several Langues d'Oïl?

In traditional Romance linguistics, French and Langue d'Oïl are synonyms and both terms include a range of various regional dialects beside standard French.[2][3][4][5] But since the 1970s, some linguists have supported a new conception according to which the Langues d'Oïl (in plural) would be a subgroup of northern Romance languages and, inside it, each former French 'dialect' would become a 'language' distinct from 'French' proper. Those newly claimed Oïl languages would be for example French, Picard, Norman, Walloon, Morvandiau, Poitevin-Saintongeais, Gallo, Champenois, Lorrain and so forth.[6][7] This vision is not wholly accepted and some linguists reject it.[8]

History

Main article: History of French

By the middle of the first century BCE, northern Gaul was completely conquered by the Romans. Latin, and especially Vulgar Latin (i.e the popular language) progressively replaced the local Gaulish languages. The remnants of Gaulish languages are to be found in some phonological features and in a few words mostly dealing with rural life.

Germanic tribes settled in Gaul during the Migration Period. The most important, that of the Franks, gave its name to France. Germanic presence in France caused some changes in pronunciation and grammar, especially in the Northern half of Gaul. It evolved into a number of mutually intelligible dialects of the Langue d'Oïl. Though a variety of dialects remained for long, a common juridical and literary languages arose during the High Middle Ages. By the late 13th century, this common language was called interlingua Gallica (French common language). It progressively extended to Occitan-speaking areas in the South of France. By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 King Francis I made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the Latin, that was still in use in official texts.

In the 16th century, Humanists paid a great interest to vernacular language. It was a period of multilinguism and many tried to enhance French technical accuracy and expressive possibilites by transposing words from dialects and other languages such as Italian, Greek, and above all Latin. In that time of linguistic dynamism, spellings and even vocabulary often changed from one author to the next. The following century was that of the unification of linguistic codes. A significant date is the foundation of the Académie française in 1635. Its aim was to embellish the French language and define a single linguistic model.[9] In 1694, the academy published a dictionnary that ought to define the right usage of words. The 17th century ideal was one of purity and simplicity of expression which was often associated with the French language in the following centuries. French formal language has changed relatively little since that period.

International status

Owing to the preeminent cultural and political role of France in 17th and 18th century Europe, French has been widely used in diplomacy but its international position has sharply declined to the benefit of English, especially after World War II. There are some traces of the past grandeur of French in diplomacy however. Notably, it is one of the two working languages of the UN Secretariat.

Geographic distribution

Primarily a European language, French has extended to other parts of the world, firstly through French expansion in Europe and, then, through French colonization out of Europe.

Cradle

The initial area of French may be called the Pays d'Oïl [peidɔil / peidɔjl] (the 'country of Oïl'). It comprises roughly northern France (excepting zones where Breton, German and Dutch are spoken), southern Belgium (Wallonia), the Channel Islands and a northwestern tip of Switzerland (canton of Jura).

Neighbor languages are Occitan to the south, Francoprovençal to the southeast, Breton to the west, Dutch to the north and German to the northeast.

Inside the Pays d'Oïl, the standard variety of French expands continuously from Paris and causes the shrinkage of the French dialects (or the "Langues d'Oïl") toward peripheral zones.

Expansion in Europe

Conflict with other European languages

French threatens the use of minoritary languages in the following cases:

On the contrary, in the Channel Islands, French withdraws in front of English.

Status in Europe

French is the only official language of France and an official language in some neighbouring countries, most importantly in Belgium (the Regions of Wallonia and Brussels and Switzerland.

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. Since the "Toubon Law" was carried in 1994, advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. There exists, in addition to French, a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities.

More than 4 millions Belgians -around 40% of the national population- speak French as first language. It is the official language of most of Wallonia, while the main language of Flanders is Dutch. French and Dutch are both official languages of the Region of Brussels, the capital city. In the city of Brussels proper, most people speak French.

French is also an official language in Switzerland, where it is spoken by around 1.75 millions, mostly along the French border (Romandy).

It also has an official status in less populated areas: It is an official language in Luxembourg, along with German and Luxembourgish and in Val d'Aoste, Italy, along with Italian. It is the official language of the principality of Monaco.

Americas

France lost most of her American colonies through the Treaty of Paris (1763). However kept some pssessions in America and some French-speaking communities remained in other areas, most notably in Canada.

French is currently the official language in Overseas departments and territories of France (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthelemy, St. Martin, and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon). Haiti was a French colony until the beginning of the 19th century and French is still one of the official languages of the island, it is mostly spoken by the upperclass and well educated while Haitian Creole is more widely used.

French is along with English one of the two official languages of Canada at a federal level, though Provinces may choose their own provincial official tongue. Nearly a quarter of Canadians speak French as mother tongue. French native speakers are mainly located in the Eastern part of the country, epecially in Quebec, where French is the only provincial official tongue and in New Brunswick where it is co-official with English. Due to the geographical distance and close contacts with English as well as a will to ward it off, Canadian French has developed some particularities.

French is also an administrative language of Dominica and the U.S. state of Louisiana, where a dialect of French is still spoken by a few people.

Africa

French is an official language in most countries of the Western half of Africa, with the notable exception of Nigeria. This is to be ascribed to French and Belgian colonizations. French is widely used as a mean of national and international communication, though a great part of the population does not speak it as first language.

French is an official language in 22 African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles and Togo. All but Equatorial Guinea were gouverned by France or Belgium at one point.

In addition, French is an administrative language of Mauritania and is commonly understood (though not official) in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

Other parts of the world

French is sometimes used in former French Indochina: it is an administrative language in Laos and is used unofficially in parts of Cambodia and Vietnam.

It is unofficially used Lebanon and Syria which were French mandates from 1920 to 1946, and in former French trading posts in India (Mahé, Karikal and Yanam). In Puducherry -also a former French trading post- French has an official is an official language along with the region's de facto Language Tamil.

French is an official language in the French possessions of Mayotte and Réunion both located in the Indian Ocean.

It is also an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, along with France's current possessions of French Polynesia, Wallis & Futuna and New Caledonia.

Grammar

Main article: French grammar

French grammar shares notable features with most other Romance languages. It is a moderately inflected language. Nouns and most pronouns are inflected for number (singular or plural); adjectives, for the number and gender (masculine or feminine) of their nouns; personal pronouns, for person, number, gender, and case; and verbs, for mood, tense, and the person and number of their subjects. Case is primarily marked using word order and prepositions, and certain verb features are marked using auxiliary verbs.

French word order is Subject Verb Object, except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is Subject Object Verb. Some rare archaisms allow for different word orders.

Vocabulary

The majority of French words derive from vernacular or "vulgar" Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example:

  • brother: frère (brother) / fraternel < from latin FRATER
  • finger: doigt / digital < from latin DIGITVS
  • faith: foi (faith) / fidèle < from latin FIDES
  • cold: froid / frigide < from latin FRIGIDVS
  • eye: œil / oculaire < from latin OCVLVS
  • the city Saint-Étienne has as inhabitants the Stéphanois

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 re cognisable 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.

It is estimated that 12 percent (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. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings.

Sound system

Main article: French phonology

Writing system

Main article: French orthography

French is written using the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics that are the circumflex accent (â, ê, î, ô, û), the acute accent (é), the grave accent (è, à, ù), the diaeresis (ë, ï, ü and rarely ÿ), the cedilla (ç) and two ligatures (œ and rarely æ). Some attempts have been made to reform French spelling, but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries.

Sounds, spelling and history

A given spelling almost always leads to a predictable sound, but the reverse is not true. French spelling does not follow purely phonetic rules. This is mainly due to changes in pronunciations that did not resulted in changes in spelling. The spelling of some words was also changed in the 16th century without any phonetic justification, to tally with their latin etymons:

  • Latin digitum > Old French doit > Modern French doigt [dwa] with silent g ("finger")
  • Latin pedem > Old French pie > Modern French pied [pje] with silent d ("foot")

References

Citations
  1. ↑ "La Francophonie dans le monde 2006-2007", Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie, Éditions Nathan
  2. ↑ BEC Pierre (1970-71)(collab. Octave NANDRIS, Žarko MULJAČIĆ), Manuel pratique de philologie romane, Paris: Picard, 2 vol.
  3. ↑ ALLIÈRES Jacques (2001) Manuel de linguistique romane, coll. Bibliothèque de grammaire et de linguistique, Paris: Honoré Champion
  4. ↑ POSNER Rebecca (1996) The Romance languages, coll. Cambridge language surveys, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ↑ HOLTUS Günter, & METZELTIN Michael, & SCHMITT Christian (1991) (dir.) Lexikon der Romanistischen Linguistik [LRL], Tübingen: Niemeyer, 8 vol.
  6. ↑ CERQUIGLINI Bernard (2003) (dir.) Les langues de France, Paris: Presses Universitaires de France / Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication-DGLFLF
  7. ↑ ÉLOY Jean-Michel (2004) (dir.) Des langues collatérales: problèmes linguistiques, sociolinguistiques et glottopolitiques de la proximité linguistique. Actes du Colloque international réuni à Amiens, du 21 au 24 novembre 2001, Paris: L'Harmattan
  8. ↑ PICOCHE Jacqueline, & MARCHELLO-NIZIA Christiane (1996) Histoire de la langue française, coll. Nathan Université / Linguistique, Paris: Nathan
  9. ↑ "La principale fonction de l’Académie sera de travailler avec tout le soin et toute la diligence possible à donner des règles certaines à notre langue et à la rendre pure, éloquente et capable de traiter les arts et les sciences." ("The main function of the Academy will be to work as carefully and as diligently as possible to give definites rules to our language and make it pure, eloquent and able to deal with arts and sciences") Statutes of the Academy, article 24.
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