French (français, French pronunciation: [fʀɑ̃sɛ]) is a Romance language spoken, around the world, by more than 100 million people as a first language (mother tongue), by 190 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 54 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,[21] where the language originated. The rest live essentially in Canada (Quebec), Belgium, Switzerland, Francophone Africa, Luxembourg, and Monaco. Most second language speakers of French live in Francophone Africa, arguably exceeding the number of native speakers.[22] The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the Francophone country with the largest population.

French is a descendant of the Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are national languages such as Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and Romanian, and minority languages ranging from Catalan and Occitan to Neapolitan and many more. Its development was also influenced by the native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the Germanic language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders.

It is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form what is called, in French, La Francophonie, the community of French-speaking nations. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to the European Union, 129 million (26% of the 497,198,740) people in 27 member states speak French, of which 65 million (12%) are native speakers and 69 million (14%) claim to speak it either as a second or foreign language, which makes it the third most spoken second language in the Union, after English and German. In addition, prior to the mid 20th century, French served as the preeminent language of diplomacy among European and colonial powers as well as a lingua franca among the educated classes of Europe.

Contents

Geographic distribution

Europe

Legal status in France

See also: Toubon Law and Languages of France

According to the Constitution of France, French has been the official language since 1992[23] (although previous legal texts have made it official since 1539, see ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts). France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words.

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 and Swiss French

French is one of the three official languages of Switzerland (along with German and Italian) and is spoken in the part of Switzerland called Romandie. French is the native language of about 20% of the Swiss population.

Swiss french is mostly mutually compatible with the standard french spoken in France, but small changes, such as different numbers are often used.

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.[24] 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.[25][26]

Malta

Further information: Languages of Malta

Maltese is a Semitic language[27] influenced by Italian and to a lesser extent French; 17% of the Maltese population speaks French.[28] A French presence has existed on Malta since the arrival of the Ordre des Hospitaliers in 1530.

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 due to the proximity to France. French nationals make up 7% of the population.

Knowledge of French in the European Union and candidate countries[29]

Italy

Further information: Languages of Italy

French is also an official language, along with Italian, in the province of Aosta Valley, Italy. In addition, a number of Franco-Provençal dialects are spoken in the province, although they do not have official recognition.[30]

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 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 capacity. Jersey Legal French is the standardized variety used in Jersey. However, Norman is the historical vernacular langue d'Oïl of the islands.

A large portion of words of the English Language (originating in Great Britain) are of French root or origin. This is due to the Norman Invasion which made French the language of administration and was spoken by the aristocracy and upper classes (while the peasants and lower classes spoke an Anglo-Saxon Language).

French is a large minority language and immigrant language in the UK with over 1 million speakers as a first language. It is also the most popular foreign language with just under a quarter of the British population being able to speak French proficiently.

Americas

Canada

See also: Canadian French, French language in Canada, Spoken languages of Canada, and Official bilingualism in Canada Bilingual (English/French) stop sign on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, an example of bilingualism at the federal level in Canada.

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 7 million people. New Brunswick, where about a third of the population is francophone, is the only officially bilingual province. Portions of Ontario, Nova Scotia and Manitoba have sizeable French minorities, but its prescription as an official language in those jurisdictions and the level of francophone services varies.

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 territories

French is also the official language in France's overseas 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.

Although it has no official recognition on a federal level, French is the third[31][32] most-spoken language in the United States, after English and Spanish, and the second most-spoken in the states of Louisiana, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Louisiana is home to many distinct dialects, 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 excluding Creole French.[32]

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 321 million in 2007.[33] Their population is projected to reach 733 million in 2050.[33] 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 either as a first or second language.[22]

French is mostly a second language in Africa, but in some areas it has become a first language, such as in the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire[34] and in Libreville, Gabon.[35] It is not possible to speak of a single form of African French, but rather of diverse forms of African French which have developed due to the contact with many indigenous African languages.[36]

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. The French language has also met with competition from English, since English has been the official language in Mauritius and the Seychelles for a while and has recently become an official language of Madagascar.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, due to the expansion of education and rapid demographic growth.[37] It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years.[38][39] Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries,[40] 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:

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

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

While the predominant European language in Egypt is English, French is considered to be a more sophisticated language by some elements of the Egyptian upper and upper-middle classes;[citation needed] for this reason, a typical educated Egyptian will learn French in addition to English at some point in his or her education. The perception of sophistication may be related to the use of French as the royal court language of Egypt during the nineteenth century. Egypt participates in La Francophonie.

French is also the official language of Mayotte and Réunion, two overseas territories of France located in the Indian Ocean, as well as an administrative and educational language in Mauritius, along with English.

Asia

Lebanon

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

French was the official language in Lebanon, along with Arabic, until 1943, when the country declared independence from France. French is still considered an official 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 primary 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 group, both elites and middle-class.

Southeast Asia

French is an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent years.[41] 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.

In Burma, French is gaining popularity amongst university students and the tourism sector, as the country slowly opens up. French is not offered at the basic education level, but the University of Foreign Languages in Yangon offers a B.A. in French, and Alliance Française has active centres in Rangoon and Mandalay. The Francophone community is estimated to number from 25,000 to 50,000+.

India

French has de-jure official status in the Indian Union Territory of Pondicherry, along with the regional languages Tamil, 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, 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. In grade 9, students are asked to drop either French or Hindi, which is their native language.

Oceania

French is a second official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu and Wallis & Futuna. In France's territories of French Polynesia, and New Caledonia it has more than 90% speakers either as native or secondary language.

Dialects

Main article: Dialects of the French language

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, only one version of the language is normally chosen as a model for foreign learners, which has no commonly-used special name.

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:

Orthography

Main article: French orthography

Writing system

Main article: French alphabet

French is written using the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics (the circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis, and cedilla) and the two ligatures (œ) and (æ).

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

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.

There are two ligatures, which have various origins:

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

Some proposals exist to simplify the existing writing system, but they still fail to gather interest. [43] [44] [45]

Grammar

Main article: French grammar

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

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. There are often pairs of words, one form being "popular" (noun) and the other one "savant" (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example:

In some examples there is a common word from Vulgar Latin and a more savant word borrowed directly from Medieval Latin or even Ancient Greek.

The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian words of Latin origin because as French evolved from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word.

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. 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 ancient Gallo-Romance languages, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160 from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish, 153 from Dutch, 112 from Persian and Sanskrit, 101 from Native American languages, 89 from other Asian languages, 56 from other Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, 10 for Basque and 144 — about three percent — from other languages.[46]

Numerals

The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 60–99. 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 system (mostly vigesimal near the coast, due to Celtic (via Breton) and Viking influence). This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).

Belgian French and Swiss French are different in this respect. 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.[47] In Belgium, 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:

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

English French IPA pronunciation (Canadian accent) IPA pronunciation (French accent)
French Français /fʀɑ̃ˈsɛ/ /fʀɑ̃se/
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) /bɔ̃ˈʒuːʀ/ /bɔ̃ʒuʀ/
Good evening! Bonsoir ! /bɔ̃swɑːʁ/ /bɔ̃swaːʀ/
Good night! Bonne nuit ! /bɔnnɥi/ /bɔn nɥi/
Goodbye! Au revoir ! /ɔʁˈvwɑːʁ/ /ɔʁ vwa/
Have a nice day! Bonne journée ! /bɔn ʒuʀˈne/ /bɔn ʒuʀne/
Please S'il vous plaît (formal) or S'il te plaît (informal) /sɪlvuplɛ/ /sil vu plɛ/
Thank you Merci /mɛʀˈsi/ /mɛʁsi/
You're welcome De rien ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) or Je t'en prie (informal) /də ʁiɛ̃/
I'm sorry Pardon or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female) or Excuse-moi (informal) / Excusez-moi (formal) /paʀdɔ̃/ / /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/ /puʀkwɑ/
What's 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" /paʁs(ə)kə/ /paʀs kǝ/
For (when used as "because") Car /kaʀ/
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 kɔ̃pʀɑ̃ 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 pʀɑ̃/
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 don't 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's everything? Comment allez-vous? (formal) or Ça va? / Comment ça va ? (informal)
I am (very) well / Things are going (very) well // Everything is (very) well Je vais (très) bien (formal) or Ça va (très) bien. / Tout va (très) bien (informal)
I am (very) bad / Things are (very) bad / Everything is (very) bad Je vais (très) mal (formal) or Ça va (très) mal / Tout va (très) mal (informal)
I am ok/so-so / Everything is ok/so-so Assez bien or Ça va comme ci, comme ça or simply Ça va.. (Sometimes said: « Couci, couça. ») i. e. « Comme ci, comme ça. »)
I am fine. Je vais bien. /ʒə vɛ bjɛ̃/

See also

References

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  2. ^ "[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World]". http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html.
  3. ^ "Top 30 Most Spoken Languages in the World by Number of Speakers". http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html.
  4. ^ "SOYOUWANNA KNOW THE TEN MOST WIDELY SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD?". http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/languages/languages.html#para1.
  5. ^ "La Journée internationale de la Francophonie". http://20mars.francophonie.org/.
  6. ^ "French Wikipedia on the List of Top Languages Spoken in the World". http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langues_les_plus_parl%C3%A9es_dans_le_monde#cite_note-1.
  7. ^ http://www.ambafrance-au.org/france_australie/spip.php?article2223
  8. ^ http://www.france24.com/en/20081018-cheer-french-speakers-francophone-francophonie-nadeau
  9. ^ http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm
  10. ^ http://www.pagef30.com/2008/10/french-in-9th-place-with-200-million.html
  11. ^ ethnologue (2000). "French". Ethnologue: Languages of the World. Ethnolouge.. http://www.ethnologue.com/14/show_language.asp?code=FRN.
  12. ^ "[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html Most Widely Spoken Languages in the World]". http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0775272.html.
  13. ^ "Top 30 Most Spoken Languages in the World by Number of Speakers". http://www.krysstal.com/spoken.html.
  14. ^ "SOYOUWANNA KNOW THE TEN MOST WIDELY SPOKEN LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD?". http://www.soyouwanna.com/site/toptens/languages/languages.html#para1.
  15. ^ "La Journée internationale de la Francophonie". http://20mars.francophonie.org/.
  16. ^ "French Wikipedia on the List of Top Languages Spoken in the World". http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langues_les_plus_parl%C3%A9es_dans_le_monde#cite_note-1.
  17. ^ http://www.ambafrance-au.org/france_australie/spip.php?article2223
  18. ^ http://www.france24.com/en/20081018-cheer-french-speakers-francophone-francophonie-nadeau
  19. ^ http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/francophonie.htm
  20. ^ http://www.pagef30.com/2008/10/french-in-9th-place-with-200-million.html
  21. ^ Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (2005). "French: A language of France". Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. SIL International. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fra. Retrieved on 2008-08-29. "51,000,000 in France. Population total all countries: 64,858,311"
  22. ^ a b (French) La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007 published by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Nathan, Paris, 2007.
  23. ^ (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.
  24. ^ 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 on 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.
  25. ^ (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. "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)".
  26. ^ 40%+60%*59%=75.4%
  27. ^ C.F. & F.M. Voegelin. 1977. Classification and Index of the World's Languages. Elsevier. Merritt Ruhlen. 1991. A Guide to the World's Languages, Volume 1: Classification. Stanford. David Dalby. 2000. The Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities. Linguasphere Observatory. Gordon, Raymond G., Jr., ed. 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World. 15th ed. Summer Institute of Linguistics. Alan S. Kaye & Judith Rosenhouse. 1997. "Arabic Dialects and Maltese," The Semitic Languages. Ed. Robert Hetzron. Routledge. pp. 263-311.
  28. ^ eurobarometer; europa; [2006-02]; retrieved on 2007-04-11.
  29. ^ Source: [1], data for EU25, published before 2007 enlargement.
  30. ^ http://www.regione.vda.it/turismo/la_tradizione/lingue_f.asp
  31. ^ National Virtual Translation Center — Languages Spoken in the U.S.
  32. ^ a b U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3 — Language Spoken at Home: 2000.
  33. ^ a b Population Reference Bureau. "Eng.pdf 2007 World Population Data Sheet" (PDF). http://www.prb.org/pdf07/07WPDS Eng.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  34. ^ (French) Le français à Abidjan : Pour une approche syntaxique du non-standard by Katja Ploog, CNRS Editions, Paris, 2002.
  35. ^ (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."
  36. ^ (French) "En Afrique, il est impossible de parler d'une forme unique du français mais..."
  37. ^ [2] "Furthermore, the demographic growth of Southern hemisphere countries leads us to anticipate a new increase in the overall number of French speakers."
  38. ^ (French) http://www.cecif.com/?page=la_francophonie "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."
  39. ^ (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."
  40. ^ (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).
  41. ^ 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."
  42. ^ (French) La ligature æ.
  43. ^ (French) Ortofasil writing system proposal.
  44. ^ (French) Ortograf.fr writing system proposal.
  45. ^ (French) Ortograf.net writing system proposal.
  46. ^ Walter & Walter 1998.
  47. ^ (French) "Septante, octante, huitante, nonante". langue-fr.net. http://www.langue-fr.net/index/S/septante.htm. . 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

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For unilingual dictionaries, see fr:Dictionnaire.

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Bounty Bay Online Colony Expansion Available in French Language - Gamers Hell
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Bounty Bay Online Colony Expansion Available in French Language

Gamers Hell

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