French (français, French pronunciation: [fʁɑ̃sɛ]) is a Romance language extinct: Anatolian · Paleo-Balkan (Dacian, spoken as a first language by about 136 million people worldwide.^[1][10] Around 190 million people speak French as a second language A second language is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas,^[11] and an additional 200 million speak it as an acquired foreign language A second language is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue (L1). Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas.^[12] French speaking communities are present in 57 countries and territories.^[4] Most native speakers of the language live in France France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian,, where the language originated. The rest live essentially in Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three, particularly Quebec Quebec is the second most populous province, after Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in the west of the island of Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, the and New Brunswick New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province (English and French) in the federation. The provincial capital is Fredericton. Statistics Canada estimates the provincial population in 2009 to be 750,457; a majority are English-speaking, but there is also a large Francophone minority (33%, as well as Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially 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 of other major international organizations, including NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a, Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to, Luxembourg Luxembourg (pronounced /ˈlʌksəmbɜrɡ/ LUKS-əm-berg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourgish: Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg, French: Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, German: Großherzogtum Luxemburg), is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. Luxembourg has a population of over half a, and certain places in the U.S. ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language states of Maine The original inhabitants of the territory that is now Maine were Algonquian-speaking peoples. The first European settlement in Maine was in 1604 by a French party. The first English settlement in Maine, the short-lived Popham Colony, was established by the Plymouth Company in 1607. A number of English settlements were established along the coast^[13] and Louisiana Some Louisiana urban environments have a multicultural, multilingual heritage, being so strongly influenced by an admixture of 18th century French, Spanish and African cultures that they are considered to be somewhat exceptional in the U.S. Before the American influx and statehood at the beginning of the 19th century, the territory of current.^[14] Most second-language speakers of French live in Francophone Africa 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. This includes those who speak French as a first or second language in these 31 francophone African countries , but it does not include French speakers living in non-francophone African, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers.^[15]

French is a descendant of the Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many language of the Roman Empire The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor, Augustus, as are national languages such as Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken as a native language by about 62 million people in Italy, San Marino and parts of Switzerland, Croatia, Slovenia and France. It is spoken as a first language by many Italian citizens and immigrants abroad, for a total of approximately 70 million native speakers. In addition, it, Portuguese Portuguese ( português or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated from a fusion of the dialect spoken in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal with closely related dialects spoken in territories to the south which had not yet been reconquered by the Christians to the Arabs by the time Portugal was born as a Christian kingdom, Spanish Countries where Spanish has official status. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 25% or more of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 10-20% of the population. States of the U.S. where Spanish has no official status but is spoken by 5-9.9% of the population and Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română [ˈlimba roˈmɨnə] ("the Romanian language") or româneşte (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova. It has official status in Romania,, and minority languages ranging from Occitan Occitan is a Romance language spoken in Occitania, that is, Southern France, the Occitan Valleys of Italy, Monaco and in the Aran Valley of Spain. It is also spoken in the linguistic enclave of Guardia Piemontese . It is a co-official language in Catalonia, Spain (known as Aranese in Aran Valley). Modern Occitan is the closest relative of Catalan to Neapolitan Neapolitan is the language of the city and region of Naples, Campania (Neapolitan: Nàpule; Italian: Napoli). On October 14, 2008 a law by the Region of Campania stated that the Neapolitan language had to be protected and many more. Its closest relatives however are the other langues d'oïl The langues d'oïl are a group of languages or dialects including standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives, which are spoken in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands. They belong to the larger Gallo-Romance group of languages, which also covers most of southern France (Occitania), northern Italy and and French-based creole languages A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extent in Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies. French-based creole languages are spoken by millions of people worldwide, primarily in the Americas and in the Indian. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul. During the 1st of Roman Gaul Gaul is a historical name used in the context of Ancient Rome in references to the region of Western Europe approximating present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine and by the (Germanic The Germanic languages are a group of related languages that constitute a branch of the Indo-European language family. The common ancestor of all the languages in this branch is Proto-Germanic, spoken in approximately the mid-1st millennium BC in Iron Age northern Europe. Proto-Germanic, along with all of its descendants, is characterized by a) Frankish Old Frankish was the language of the Franks and it is classified as a West Germanic language. Once it was spoken in areas covering modern Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and adjacent parts of France and Germany language of the post-Roman Frankish The Franks were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the third century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a kingdom on Roman-held soil that was acknowledged by the invaders.

It is an official language An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a language a legal status, even if that language is not in 29 countries The following is a list of the 29 countries where French is an official language. Note that in most of these countries, French is not the only language, and therefore the population does not indicate the number of French-speakers, most of which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie Francophonie is an international organization of polities and governments with French as the mother or customary language, where in a significant proportion of people are francophones or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture, the community of French-speaking countries. It is an official language of all United Nations The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of agencies and a large number of international organizations List of international organisations which have French as an official, administrative or working language. According to the European Union The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the European Communities. With over 500 million citizens, the EU combined generated an estimated 28% share (US$ 16.5, 129 million (or 26% of the Union's total population), in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million are native speakers and 69 million claim to speak French either as a second language or as a foreign language, making it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of and German German (Deutsch, [ˈdɔʏtʃ] ) is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Globally, German is spoken by approximately 120 million native speakers and also by about 80 million non-native speakers. Twenty-percent of non-Francophone Europeans know how to speak French, totaling roughly 145.6 million people.^[16] In addition, prior to the mid 20th century, French served as the pre-eminent language of diplomacy among European and colonial powers as well as a lingua franca A lingua franca is a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both persons' mother tongues among the educated classes of Europe.

As a result of France's extensive colonial ambitions The French colonial empire is the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 1600s to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire extended over 12,347,000 km² of land at its height in between the 17th and 20th centuries, French was introduced to America, Africa, Polynesia, and the Caribbean.

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 United Kingdom and the Channel Islands 1.2 Americas 1.2.1 Canada 1.2.2 Haiti 1.2.3 French overseas departments and territories in the Americas 1.2.4 The United States 1.2.4.1 Brazil 1.3 Africa 1.3.1 French overseas departments and territories in Africa 1.4 Asia 1.4.1 Lebanon 1.4.2 Syria 1.4.3 Israel 1.4.4 Southeast Asia 1.4.5 India 1.5 Oceania 2 Dialects 3 History 4 Phonology 5 Writing system 5.1 Alphabet 5.2 Orthography 6 Grammar 7 Vocabulary 7.1 Numerals 8 Examples 9 See also 10 References 11 External links 11.1 Courses and tutorials 11.2 Online dictionaries 11.3 Vocabulary

Geographic distribution

Europe

Legal status in France

See also: Toubon Law The Toubon Law , is a law of the French government mandating the use of the French language in official government publications, in all advertisements, in all workplaces, in commercial contracts, in some other commercial communication contexts, in all government-financed schools, and some other contexts and Languages of France 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 regional languages are also spoken to varying degrees. Other languages are spoken by a substantial percentage of the population due to immigration. The map to the right includes the French-speaking

According to the Constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, and replaced that of the Fourth Republic dating from 1946. Charles de Gaulle was the main driving force in introducing the new constitution and inaugurating the Fifth Republic, while the text was drafted by Michel Debré, French has been the official language since 1992.^[17] (although previous legal texts have made it official since 1539, see ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts The Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts is an extensive piece of reform legislation signed into law by Francis I of France on August 10, 1539 in the city of Villers-Cotterêts). France France (pronounced /ˈfrænts/ frantss or /ˈfrɑːnts/ frahnts; French pronunciation (help·info): [fʁɑ̃s]), officially the French Republic (French: République française, pronounced: [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a state in Western Europe with several of its overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. In its technical sense, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another except in specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts In law, a contract is an agreement between two or more parties which, if it contains the elements of a valid legal agreement, is enforceable by law or by binding arbitration. That is to say, a contract is an exchange of promises with specific legal remedies for breach. These can include Compensatory remedy, whereby the defaulting party is required; advertisements Advertising is a form of communication intended to persuade an audience to purchase or take some action upon products, ideals, or services. It includes the name of a product or service and how that product or service could benefit the consumer, to persuade a target market to purchase or to consume that particular brand. These brands are usually must bear a translation of foreign words.

In addition to French, there are also a variety of regional languages and dialects. France has signed the European Charter for Regional Languages, but has not ratified it since that would go against the 1958 Constitution.^{[citation needed]}

Switzerland

Further information: Demographics of Switzerland This article is about the demographic features of the population of Switzerland, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population and Swiss French Swiss French is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Swiss French is not to be confused with Franco-Provençal/Arpitan or Romansh, two other individual Romance languages spoken in areas not far from Romandy

French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to (along with German, Italian and Romansh) and is spoken in the part of Switzerland called Romandie. French is the native language of about 20% of the Swiss population.

Most of Swiss French is mutually compatible with the standard French spoken in France, but it is often used with small differences, such as those involving some numbers.

Belgium

Further information: Languages of Belgium and Belgian French Bilingual signs in Brussels.

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.^[18] French and German are not official languages nor recognized minority languages in the Flemish Region, although along borders with the Walloon and Brussels-Capital regions, there are a dozen municipalities with language facilities for French speakers. A mirror situation exists for the Walloon Region with respect to the Dutch and German languages. In total, native French speakers make up about 40% of the country's population, while the remaining 60% speak Dutch as a first language. Of the latter, 59% claim to speak French as a second language, meaning that about three quarters of the Belgian population can speak French.^[19][20]

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.

Catalan is the only official language of Andorra; however, French is commonly used because of the proximity to France. French nationals make up 7% of the population.

Knowledge of French in the European Union and candidate countries^[21]

Italy

Further information: Languages of Italy

French is also an official language, along with Italian, in the small region of Aosta Valley, Italy,^[22] although most people speak the Franco-Provençal language, they use standard French to write. That is because^{[citation needed]} the international recognition of Franco-Provençal as a separated language (as opposed to a dialect or patois of French) was quite recent.

Luxembourg

Further information: Languages of Luxembourg and Multilingualism in Luxembourg

French is one of three official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, alongside German and Luxembourgish, 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 in secondary school, the language of instruction changes to French.

The United Kingdom and the Channel Islands

Further information: Languages of Jersey, Languages of Guernsey, and Languages of the United Kingdom

French is a large minority language and immigrant language in the UK, with over 300,000 French-born people in the UK. It is also the most popular foreign language. French is understood by 23% of the UK population.^[23]

A large portion of words of the English language (originating in Great Britain) are of French root or origin. This is partly due to the Norman Invasion, which led to Norman French becoming the language of administration for a period in history and the use of French by sections of the aristocracy and upper classes (while the peasants and lower classes spoke an Anglo-Saxon language).

French is an official language in Jersey and Guernsey, the two bailiwicks collectively referred to as the Channel Islands, although they are separate entities. Both use French to some degree, mostly in an administrative or ceremonial capacity. Jersey Legal French is the standardized variety used in Jersey. However, Norman (in its local forms, Guernésiais and Jèrriais) is the historical vernacular of the islands.

Americas

Canada

See also: Canadian French, French language in Canada, Spoken languages of Canada, and Official bilingualism in Canada An "arrêt" sign (French for "stop") in Quebec.

French is the second most common language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. French is the sole official language in the province of Quebec, being the mother tongue for some 6.8 million people, or almost 80.1 % (2006 Census) of the Province. About 95.0 % of the people of Quebec speak French as either their first or second language, and for some as their third language. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal, which is the second largest French speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick, where about a third of the population is francophone, is the only officially bilingual province. Portions of Eastern Ontario, Northeastern Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba have sizable French minorities, but its prescription as an official language in those jurisdictions and the level of francophone services varies. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. 10,170,000 Canadians can speak French as either a first or second language, or 30.6% of the country. Due to the increased bilingual school programs and French Immersion Classes in English Canada, the portion of Canadians proficient in French has risen significantly in the past two decades, and is still rising.

In Quebec, where the majority of French-speaking Canadians live, the Office québécois de la langue française (English: Quebec Board of the French language) regulates Quebec French and ensures the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) is respected and English marginalized. As Québécois live near to English-speaking regions, they are more sensitive about the language situation than the European French speakers are, and many object to the use of English words in French (anglicisms).

The Office québécois de la langue française determined that "stop" is a valid French word, however it is observed that stop signs reading "ARRÊT" predominate in French-speaking areas, and "STOP" can be found in majority English-speaking areas.

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.

French overseas departments and territories in the Americas

French is also the official language in France's overseas departments and territories of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Barthélemy, St. Martin and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

The United States

See also: French in the United States, Cajun French, and Louisiana Creole French French language spread in the United States. Counties marked in yellow are those where 6–12% of the population speak French at home; brown, 12–18%; red, over 18%. French-based creole languages are not included.

French is the fourth^[24][25] most-spoken language in the United States, after English, Spanish and Chinese, and the second most-spoken in the states of Louisiana, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Louisiana is home to many distinct dialects, of which Cajun French has the largest number of speakers. According to the 2000 US Census, there are over 194,000 people in Louisiana who speak French at home, the most of any state if Creole French is excluded.^[25]

Brazil

The French language in Brazil was spoken in brief period at the colonial attempts in France antarctique and France ecquinociale. Also, the language was used by the small community of French immigrants and expatriates in the Nineteenth and Twentieth centuries.

Today the Karipuna indigenous community (nearly 30,000 people) of Amapá in North Brazil speaks a French creole, the Lanc-Patuá, possibly related to the French Guiana Creole.

Africa

Main articles: African French and Maghreb French Supermarket sign in French in Dakar, Senegal. Countries usually considered as Francophone Africa. These countries had a population of 335 million in 2009.^[26] Their population is projected to reach between 684 million^[27] and 719 million^[26] in 2050. Countries sometimes considered as Francophone Africa

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 as either a first or a second language.^[15]

French is mostly a second language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire^[28] and in Libreville, Gabon.^[29] It is not possible to speak of a single form of African French, but rather of diverse forms of African French which have developed because of the contact with many indigenous African languages.^[30]

In the territories of the Indian Ocean, the French language is often spoken alongside French-derived creole languages, the major exception being Madagascar. There, a Malayo-Polynesian language (Malagasy) is spoken alongside French.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid demographic growth.^[31] It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years.^[32][33] Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries,^[34] 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 in many African countries, most of them former French or Belgian colonies:

• Benin
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cameroon
• Central African Republic
• Chad
• Comoros
• Congo (Brazzaville)
• Côte d'Ivoire
• Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Djibouti
• Equatorial Guinea (former colony of Spain)
• Gabon
• Guinea
• Madagascar
• Mali
• Niger
• Senegal
• Seychelles
• Togo

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

• Algeria
• Mauritania
• Morocco
• Tunisia

In Algeria, various reforms have been implemented in recent decades to improve the status of Arabic in relation to French, especially in education.

While the predominant European language in Egypt is English, French is learned by some elements of the Egyptian upper and upper-middle classes;^{[citation needed]} for this reason, a typical educated Egyptian will learn French in addition to English at some point in his or her education. Egypt participates in La Francophonie.

French overseas departments and territories in Africa

French is also the official language of Mayotte and Réunion, two overseas territories of France located in the southwest Indian Ocean.

Asia

Lebanon

A Lebanese "mille livres" (thousand-pound) bank note

Arabic is the official language of Lebanon, along with French. It is considered a second language by the Lebanese people and is used on bank notes (along with Arabic) and on official buildings. French is widely used by the Lebanese, especially for administrative purposes, and is taught in many schools as a secondary language along with Arabic.

Syria

Like Lebanon, French was official in Syria until 1943. But in contrast to Lebanon, the language is not official, but still spoken by educated groups, both elite and middle-class.

Israel

There are a significant number of second-language French-speakers in Israel who trace their origins to the Jewish communities of North Africa and Romania. Also, there has been considerable immigration of native French speakers from France in recent years.

Southeast Asia

French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent years.^[35] In colonial Vietnam, the elites spoke French, and many who worked for the French spoke a French creole known as "Tây Bồi" (now extinct). The language was also spoken by the elite in the leased territory Guangzhouwan in southern China. (See also: French Indochina)

India

French has de-jure official status in the Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry, along with the regional languages Tamil and Telugu. Some students of Tamil Nadu opt for French as their second or third language (usually behind English and Tamil).

French is commonly taught as a third language in secondary schools in most cities of Maharashtra, including Mumbai (Bombay), as part of the preparation for secondary school (X-SSC) and higher secondary school (XII-HSC) certificate examinations. Certain high-profile schools affiliated with the CBSE in the NCR offer French as an option as early as grade 4.

French is also taught in schools in Chandannagar (a former French colony in West Bengal). Students also have the option for having French as an additional subject in the secondary school (WBBSE) and higher secondary school (WBCHSE) certificate examinations. See also: French India

Oceania

French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu where 45% of the population can speak French.^[36] In the French territory of New Caledonia, 97% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas only 1% have no knowledge of French.^[37] In French Polynesia, 95% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas only 2% have no knowledge of French.^[38] In the French territory of Wallis and Futuna, 78% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas 17% have no knowledge of French.^[39]

Dialects

Main article: Dialects of the French language

• Acadian French
• African French
• Aostan French
• Belgian French
• Cajun French
• Cambodian French
• Canadian French
• French-based creole languages
• Guyana French
• Indian French
• Jersey Legal French
• Lao French
• Levantine French (most commonly referred to as Lebanese French)
• Louisiana Creole French
• Mauritian Creole
• Maghreb French (see also North African French)
• Meridional French
• Metropolitan French
• New Caledonian French
• Newfoundland French
• Oceanic French
• Quebec French
• South East Asian French
• Swiss French
• Vietnamese French
• West Indian French

History

Main article: History of French

Phonology

Main article: French phonology

This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters.

Although there are many French regional accents, foreign learners normally study only one version of the language, which has no commonly used special name.

• There are 16 vowels in French, not all of which are used in every dialect: /a/, /ɑ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /ə/, /i/, /o/, /ɔ/, /y/, /u/, /œ/, /ø/, plus the nasalized vowels /ɑ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɔ̃/ and /œ̃/. In France, the vowels /ɑ/ and /œ̃/ are tending to be replaced by /a/ and /ɛ̃/ in many people's speech.
• Voiced stops (i.e. /b d ɡ/) are typically produced fully voiced throughout.
• Voiceless stops (i.e. /p t k/) are unaspirated.
• 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 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, however, a silent consonant may once again be pronounced, to provide a liaison or "link" between the two words. 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. 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.
  • 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 if the l is preceded by the letter i.
• 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). The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g. je ai is instead pronounced and spelled → 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"). However, for Belgian French the sentences are pronounced differently; in the first sentence the syllable break is as "qu'il-a", while the second breaks as "qui-l'a". It can also be noted that, in Quebec French, the second example (l'homme qui l'a vu) is more emphasized on l'a vu.

Writing system

Alphabet

Main article: French alphabet

French is written with the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, with four diacritics appearing on vowels (circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis) and the cedilla appearing in ‹ç›.

There are two ligatures, ‹œ› and ‹æ›.

Orthography

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 (see Vocabulary below) . 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 based on 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 usually lead to a predictable sound, and the Académie française works hard to enforce and update this correspondence^{[citation needed]}. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.

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. In addition, castel pl. castels became château pl. châteaux.

• 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 vowel. The prefixes en- and em- are always nasalized. The rules are more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
• Digraphs: French uses not only diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, but also specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended.
• 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). For example, illusion is pronounced [ilyzjɔ̃] and not [ilːyzjɔ̃]. But gemination does occur between words. For example, une info ("a news item" or "a piece of information") is pronounced [ynɛ̃fo], whereas une nympho ("a nymphomaniac") is pronounced [ynːɛ̃fo].
• Accents 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), means that the vowel is pronounced /e/ instead of the default /ə/.
    • The grave accent (l'accent grave), è (e.g. élève—pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced /ɛ/ instead of the default /ə/.
    • The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe) ê (e.g. forêt—forest) shows that an e is pronounced /ɛ/ and that an ô is pronounced /o/. In standard French, it also signifies a pronunciation of /ɑ/ for the letter â, but this differentiation is disappearing. In the late 19th century, the circumflex was used in place of s after a vowel, where that letter s was not to be pronounced. Thus, forest became forêt and hospital became hôpital.
    • The diaeresis (le tréma) (e.g. naïf—naive, Noël—Christmas) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one, not combined, and is not a schwa.
    • The cedilla (la cédille) ç (e.g. garçon—boy) means that the letter ç 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 île (island, compare with English isle).
    • 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 ("the" fem. sing.) and the conjunction ou ("or") respectively.

Some proposals exist to simplify the existing writing system, but they still fail to gather interest. ^{[40] [41] [42]}

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. 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. In many cases a single etymological root appears in French in a "popular" or native form, inherited from Vulgar Latin, and a learned form, borrowed later from Classical Latin. The following pairs consist of a native noun and a learned adjective:

• brother: frère / fraternel < from Latin frater
• finger: doigt / digital < from Latin digitum
• faith: foi / fidèle < from Latin fidem
• eye: œil / oculaire < from Latin oculum

There are also noun-noun and adjective-adjective pairs:

• thing/cause: chose / cause < from Latin causa
• cold: froid / frigide < from Latin frigidum

It can be difficult to identify the Latin source of native French words, because in the evolution from Vulgar Latin, unstressed syllables were severely reduced and the remaining vowels and consonants underwent significant modifications.

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 (where Greek and Latin learned words are not seen as foreign). About 25% (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707 words from Italian, 550 from ancient Germanic languages, 481 from other 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 other Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, 10 from Basque and 144 (about 3%) from other languages.^[43]

Numerals

The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 60 to 99. 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 systems (mostly vigesimal near the coast, because of Celtic (via Breton) and Viking influences). This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70). In Old French (during the Middle Ages), all numbers from 30 to 99 could be said in either base 10 or base 20, e.g. vint et doze (twenty and twelve) for 32, dous vinz et diz (two twenties and ten) for 50, uitante for 80, or nonante for 90.^[44]

Belgian French, Swiss French and the French used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi are different in this respect. 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.^[45] In Belgium and in its former African colonies, however, quatre-vingts is universally used.

It should also be noted that French uses a period (also called a full stop) or a space to separate thousands where English uses a comma or (more recently) a space. The comma is used in French numbers as a decimal point: 2,5 = deux virgule cinq.

Cardinal numbers in French from 1 to 20 are as follows:

• One: un/une /œ̃/ - /yn/
• Two: deux /dø/
• Three: trois /tʁwa/
• Four: quatre /katʁ/
• Five: cinq /sɛ̃k/
• Six: six /sis/
• Seven: sept /sɛt/
• Eight: huit /ʔɥɪt/
• Nine: neuf /nœf/
• Ten: dix /dis/
• Eleven: onze /ɔ̃z/
• Twelve: douze /duz/
• Thirteen: treize /tʁɛz/
• Fourteen: quatorze /katɔʁz/
• Fifteen: quinze /kɛ̃z/
• Sixteen: seize /sɛz/
• Seventeen: dix-sept /dis.sɛt/
• Eighteen: dix-huit /di.z‿ɥit/
• Nineteen: dix-neuf /diz.nœf/
• Twenty: vingt /vɛ̃/

Examples

This section includes inline links to audio files. If you have trouble playing the files, see Wikipedia Media help.

The "Canadian" audio samples here are not necessarily from speakers of Quebec French, which has distinct regional pronunciations of certain words.^{references needed}

Look up French in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Look up :Category:French language in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

English	French	IPA pronunciation (Canadian accent)	IPA pronunciation (French accent)
French	Français	/fʀɑ̃ˈsɛ/	/fʁɑ̃se/
English	Anglais	/ɑ̃ɡlɛ/	/ɑ̃ɡle/
Yes	Oui (si when countering an assertion or a question expressed in the negative)	/wi/	/wi/
No	Non	/nɔ̃/	/nɔ̃/
Hello!	Bonjour ! (formal) or Salut ! (informal) or "Allô" (Canada or when answering on the telephone)	/bɔ̃ˈʒuːʀ/	/bɔ̃ʒuʁ/
Good evening!	Bonsoir !	/bɔ̃swɑːʀ/	/bɔ̃swaːʁ/
Good night!	Bonne nuit !	/bɔnnɥi/	/bɔn nɥi/
Goodbye!	Au revoir !	/ɔʀˈvwɑːʀ/	/ɔʁ vwa/
Have a nice day!	Bonne journée !	/bɔn ʒuʀˈne/	/bɔn ʒuʁne/
Please	S’il vous plaît (formal) or S’il te plaît (informal)	/sɪlvuplɛ/	/sil vu plɛ/
Thank you	Merci	/mɛʀˈsi/	/mɛʁsi/
You are welcome	De rien (informal) or Ce n’est rien (formal) ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) or Je t’en prie (informal)		/də ʁiɛ̃/
I am sorry	Pardon or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female) or Excuse-moi (informal) / Excusez-moi (formal)	/paʁdɔ̃/ / /dezɔle/	/paʁdɔ̃/ / /dezɔle/
Who?	Qui ?	/ki/	/ki/
What?	Quoi ? (←informal; used as "What?" in English)) or Comment ? (←formal; used the same as "Pardon me?" in English)	/kwa/	/kwa/
When?	Quand ?	/kɑ̃/	/kɑ̃/
Where?	Où ?	/u/	/u/
Why?	Pourquoi ?	/puʀkwa/	/puʁkwɑ/
What is your name?	Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal) or Comment t’appelles-tu ? (informal)		/kɔmɑ̃ vu‿zap le vu/
Because	Parce que / "À cause de" — literally "because of" or "due to"	/paʀs(ə)kə/	/paʁs kǝ/
For (when used as "because")	Car		/kaʁ/
Therefore	Donc	/dɔñk/	/dɔ̃k/
How?	Comment ?	/kɔmɑ̃/	/kɔmɑ̃/
How much?	Combien ?	/kɔ̃ˈbjɛ̃/	/kɔ̃ bjɛ̃/
I do not understand.	Je ne comprends pas.	/ʒə nə kɔ̃pʀɑ̃ pɑ/	/ʒə nə kɔ̃pʁɑ̃ pa/
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/	/wi, ʒə kɔ̃ pʁɑ̃/
I agree	Je suis d’accord. D’accord can be used without je suis.
Help!	Au secours ! (à l’aide !)	/o səˈkuʀ/	/o səku:ʁ/
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 toilets?	Où sont les toilettes ?	/u sɔ̃ le twalɛt/	/u sɔ̃ le twa.lɛt/
Do you speak English?	Parlez-vous anglais ?	/paʀle vu ɑ̃ɡlɛ/	/paʁ le vu ɑ̃ɡ lɛ/
I do not speak French.	Je ne parle pas français.	/ʒə nə paʀlə pɑ fʀɑ̃sɛ/	/ʒə nə paʁl pa fʁɑ̃sɛ/
I do not know.	Je ne sais pas.		/ʒə (nə) se pa/
I know.	Je sais.		/ʒə sɛ/
I am thirsty.	J’ai soif. (literally, "I have thirst")		/ʒe swaf/
I am hungry.	J’ai faim. (literally, "I have hunger")		/ʒe fɛ̃/
How are you? / How are things going? / How is 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 all right/so-so / Everything is all right/so-so	Assez bien or Ça va comme ci, comme ça or simply Ça va.. (Sometimes said: « Couci, couça. », informal: "bof") i.e. « Comme ci, comme ça. »)
I am fine.	Je vais bien.		/ʒə vɛ bjɛ̃/

See also

• Académie française
• Alliance française
• Francophonie
• French language in Canada
• French language in the United States
• French proverbs
• French-based creole languages
• History of French
• List of countries where French is an official language
• List of English words of French origin
• List of French loanwords in Persian
• List of French words and phrases used by English speakers
• List of pseudo-French words adapted to English
• Louchébem
• Office québécois de la langue française
• Quebec French
• Reforms of French orthography
• Varieties of French
• Verlan

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Estimation du nombre de francophones dans le monde en 2005". Tlfq.ulaval.ca. http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/OIF-francophones-est2005.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
2. ^ Jacques Leclerc. "Francophonie (Qu'est-ce que la?)". Tlfq.ulaval.ca. http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
3. ^ Jacques Leclerc. "Francophonie". Tlfq.ulaval.ca. http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
4. ^ ^{a b} Université de Laval. "Qu'est-ce que la Francophonie?". http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
5. ^ ethnologue (2000). "French". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Ethnolouge.. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=FRN.
6. ^ Qu'est-ce que la Francophonie? Université Laval'.' Retrieved 2010-3-07.
7. ^ 230 million French speakers in the world Embassy of France'.' Retrieved 2010-3-07.
8. ^ FRENCH: a language of France Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 14th Edition '.' Retrieved 2010-3-07.
9. ^ Cheer up French speakers, you’re not alone France 24'.' Retrieved 2010-3-07.
10. ^ Jacques Leclerc. "Francophonie". Tlfq.ulaval.ca. http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
11. ^ "Most Widely Spoken Languages". .ignatius.edu. http://www2.ignatius.edu/faculty/turner/languages.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
12. ^ "Lingue straniere - Francese | Licei Sperimentali G. A. Pujati". Liceipujati.it. 2010-04-16. http://www.liceipujati.it/lingue-straniere/francese. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
13. ^ Maine's French Communities FrancoMaine'.' Retrieved 2010-3-07.
14. ^ "The Cajun language ''La Louisiane francaise'' Retrieved 2010-3-07". Louisiane.culture.fr. 2003-08-21. http://www.louisiane.culture.fr/en/hier/hier_fran_lang.html. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
15. ^ ^{a b} (French) La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007 published by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Nathan, Paris, 2007.
16. ^ "Why learn French". Cpfont.on.ca. http://cpfont.on.ca/nav/faq/Why%20learn%20French/default.htm. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
17. ^ (French) Loi constitutionnelle 1992 — C'est à la loi constitutionnelle du 25 juin 1992, rédigée dans le cadre de l'intégration européenne, que l'on doit la première déclaration de principe sur le français, langue de la République.
18. ^ Van Parijs, Philippe, Professor of economic and social ethics at the UCLouvain, Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the KULeuven. "Belgium's new linguistic challenge" (pdf 0.7 MB). KVS Express (supplement to newspaper De Morgen) March–April 2006: Article from original source (pdf 4.9 MB) pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy — Directorate-general Statistics Belgium. http://www.statbel.fgov.be/studies/ac699_en.pdf. Retrieved 2007-05-05. — The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimations of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.
19. ^ (French) "La dynamique des langues en Belgique" (PDF). Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain (Numéro 42). June 2006. http://regards.ires.ucl.ac.be/Archives/RE042.pdf. Retrieved 7 May 2007. "Les enquêtes montrent que la Flandre est bien plus multilingue, ce qui est sans doute un fait bien connu, mais la différence est considérable : alors que 59 % et 53 % des Flamands connaissent le français ou l'anglais respectivement, seulement 19 % et 17 % des Wallons connaissent le néerlandais ou l'anglais. ... 95 pour cent des Bruxellois déclarent parler le français, alors que ce pourcentage tombe à 59 pour cent pour le néerlandais. Quant à l’anglais, il est connu par une proportion importante de la population à Bruxelles (41 pour cent)".
20. ^ 40%+60%*59%=75.4%
21. ^ Source: EUROPA, data for EU25, published before 2007 enlargement.
22. ^ "Vda.it". Regione.vda.it. http://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/la_tradizione/lingue_f.asp. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
23. ^ "EUROPA" (PDF). http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
24. ^ National Virtual Translation Center — Languages Spoken in the U.S.
25. ^ ^{a b} U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3 — Language Spoken at Home: 2000.
26. ^ ^{a b} Population Reference Bureau. "2009 World Population Data Sheet" (PDF). http://www.prb.org/pdf09/09wpds_eng.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
27. ^ United Nations. "World Population Prospects — The 2008 Revision" (PDF). http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/wpp2008/wpp2008_highlights.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-11.
28. ^ (French) Le français à Abidjan : Pour une approche syntaxique du non-standard by Katja Ploog, CNRS Editions, Paris, 2002.
29. ^ (French) "De plus, le français est également devenu la langue maternelle de plus de 30 % des Librevillois et il est de plus en plus perçu comme une langue gabonaise."
30. ^ (French) "En Afrique, il est impossible de parler d'une forme unique du français mais..."
31. ^ France-Diplomatie "Furthermore, the demographic growth of Southern hemisphere countries leads us to anticipate a new increase in the overall number of French speakers."
32. ^ (French) "Le français, langue en évolution. Dans beaucoup de pays francophones, surtout sur le continent africain, une proportion importante de la population ne parle pas couramment le français (même s'il est souvent la langue officielle du pays). Ce qui signifie qu'au fur et à mesure que les nouvelles générations vont à l'école, le nombre de francophones augmente : on estime qu'en 2015, ceux-ci seront deux fois plus nombreux qu'aujourd'hui."
33. ^ (French) c) Le sabir franco-africain: "C'est la variété du français la plus fluctuante. Le sabir franco-africain est instable et hétérogène sous toutes ses formes. Il existe des énoncés où les mots sont français mais leur ordre reste celui de la langue africaine. En somme, autant les langues africaines sont envahies par les structures et les mots français, autant la langue française se métamorphose en Afrique, donnant naissance à plusieurs variétés."
34. ^ (French) République centrafricaine: Il existe une autre variété de français, beaucoup plus répandue et plus permissive : le français local. C'est un français très influencé par les langues centrafricaines, surtout par le sango. Cette variété est parlée par les classes non instruites, qui n'ont pu terminer leur scolarité. Ils utilisent ce qu'ils connaissent du français avec des emprunts massifs aux langues locales. Cette variété peut causer des problèmes de compréhension avec les francophones des autres pays, car les interférences linguistiques, d'ordre lexical et sémantique, sont très importantes. (One example of a variety of African French that is difficult to understand for European French speakers).
35. ^ French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms, International Herald Tribune, 16 October 1993: "In both Cambodia and Laos, French remains the official second language of government."
36. ^ Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. "Estimation du nombre de francophones dans le monde1". http://20mars.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/FICHE_03_Nombre_de_francophones.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
37. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. "P9-1 - Population de 14 ans et plus selon la connaissance du français, le sexe, par commune, "zone" et par province de résidence" (XLS). http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/ir/rpnc04/dd/excel/rpnc04_P9-1.xls. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
38. ^ (French) Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF). "Recensement 2007 - Langues : Chiffres clés". http://www.ispf.pf/ISPF/EnqRep/Recensement/Recens2007/Themes/Langues.aspx. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
39. ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Tableau Pop_06_1 : Population selon le sexe, la connaissance du français et l'âge décennal" (XLS). http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/irweb/rpwf08/dd/excel/rpwf08_Pop_06.xls. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
40. ^ (French) Ortofasil writing system proposal.
41. ^ (French) Alfograf writing system proposal.
42. ^ (French) Ortograf.net writing system proposal.
43. ^ Walter & Walter 1998.
44. ^ Einhorn, E. (1974). Old French: A Concise Handbook. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0521098386.
45. ^ (French) "Septante, octante (huitante), nonante". langue-fr.net. http://www.langue-fr.net/spip.php?article202. . See also the English Wikipedia article on Welsh language, especially the section "Counting system" and its note on the influence of Celtic in the French counting system.

External links

Wikiversity has learning materials about French language

French language edition of Wiktionary, the free dictionary/thesaurus

French language edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia French language edition of Wikisource, the free-content library

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: French

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of French

• French is spreading, especially in Africa Radio France Internationale in English

Courses and tutorials

• Learn French BBC
• français interactif University of Texas at Austin
• Tex's French Grammar University of Texas at Austin
• Learn French at About (including French gestures)

Online dictionaries

For unilingual dictionaries, see fr:Dictionnaire.

• Comprehensive list of the best French dictionaries

Vocabulary

• Swadesh list in English and French
• A Two-Page PDF Reference Guide of the 681 Most Common French/English Verbs

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