French Language

#REDIRECT French language

French language

French (''fran�ais'', spelled ''fran�ois'' until 1835, both pronounced in standard French, but often heard pronounced ), or French language (''langue fran�aise'', formerly ''langue fran�oise'', both pronounced ), is the third of the Romance languages in terms of number of speakers, after Spanish language and Portuguese language. In 1999 French was the 11th most spoken language in the world, being spoken by about 77 million people (called Francophones) as a mother tongue, and by 128 million altogether including second language speakers. It is an official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the European Union, International Olympic Committee, United Nations and Universal Postal Union). == History == ===The Roman invasion of Gaul=== The French language is a Romance languages, meaning that it is descended from Latin. Before the Roman invasion of what is modern-day France by Julius Caesar (58-52 BC), France was inhabited largely by a Celtic languages people that the Romans referred to as Gaul, although there were also other linguistic/ethnic groups in France at this time, such as the Iberians in southern France and Spain, the Ligurians on the Mediterranean coast, Greeks and Phoenicians outposts like Marseille and the Vascons on the Spanish/French border. Although in the past many Frenchmen liked to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors (''nos anc�tres les Gaulois''), perhaps fewer than 200 words with a Celtic etymology remain in French today (largely place and plant names and words dealing with rural life and the earth). In the reverse direction, some words for Gallic objects which were new to the Romans and for which there were no words in Latin were imported into Latin — for example, clothing items such as ''les braies''. Latin quickly became the lingua franca of the entire Gallic region for both mercantile, official and educational reasons, yet it should be remembered that this was Vulgar Latin, the colloquial dialect spoken by the Roman army and its agents and not the literary dialect of Cicero. ===The Franks=== From the third century on, Western Europe was invaded by Germanic tribe, or "Barbarian", tribes from the east, and some of these groups settled in Gaul. For the history of the French language, the most important of these groups are the Franks in northern France, the Alemanni in the German/French border, the Burgundians in the Rhone valley and the Visigoth in the Aquitaine region and Spain. These Germanic-speaking groups had a profound effect on the Latin spoken in their respective regions, altering both the pronunciation and the syntax. They also introduced a number of new words: perhaps as much as 15% of modern French comes from Germanic words, including many terms and expressions associated with their social structure and military tactics. ===Langue d'O�l=== Linguists typically divide the languages spoken in medieval France into three geographical subgroups: Langue d'O�l and Langue d'Oc being the major ones, with Franco-Proven�al being considered transitional between the two major groups. It is comparable to the divide that once existed between "yes" in the south of England and "aye" in the North. O�l languages, the language where one says ''o�l'' (or nowadays ''oui'') for "yes", is those dialects in the north of France which were the most affected by the Frankish invasions, like Picard language, Walloon language, Francien, Norman language, etc. From the baptism of the Frankish king Clovis I (c.498) on, the Franks extended their power over much of northern Gaul. The French language developed on the basis of the mutually comprehensible features of the ''langues d'O�l''. Occitan language, the language where one says ''oc'' for "yes", is those dialects in the south of France and northern Spain (Ibero-Romance languages) which remained closer to the original Latin, like Gascon language and Proven�al language, etc. Romance languages outside of France derive their word for "yes" from ''sic'', Latin for "thus". ===Other linguistic groups=== The early middle ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects of France: From the 5th century to the 8th century centuries, Celtic languages-speaking peoples from southwestern Britain (Wales, Cornwall, Devon) traveled across the English Channel, both for reasons of trade and as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England. They established themselves in Brittany (Brittany); the language they spoke is a Celtic dialect called Breton language. From the 6th century to the 7th century centuries, the Vascons crossed over the Pyrenees, a mountain range in the south of France. Their presence influenced the Occitan language spoken in southwestern France, resulting in the dialect called Gascon language. The Norsemen or Vikings invaded France from the 9th century onward and established themselves in what would come to be called Normandy (Normandy). They took up the o�l languages spoken there and contributed many words to French related to maritime activities, amongst other things. With their Norman conquest of England in 1066, the Normans took their Norman language to England. The dialect that developed there as a language of administration and literature is referred to as Anglo-Norman language. Anglo-Norman served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until 1362, when the use of History_of_the_English_Language#Period_of_French_Domination resumed. Because of the Norman conquest, the English language language has borrowed a considerable amount of vocabulary from French. The Arab peoples also supplied many words to French around this time period, including words for luxury goods, spices, trade stuffs, sciences and mathematics. ===History of French=== For the period up to around 1300, some linguists refer to the o�l languages collectively as Old French (''ancien fran�ais''). The earliest extant text in French is the Oath of Strasbourg from 842; Old French became a literary language with the ''chanson de geste'' that told tales of the paladins of Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades. By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotter�ts in 1539 King Francis I of France made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the Latin that had been used before then. With the imposition of a standardised chancery dialect and the loss of the declension system, the dialect is referred to as Middle French (''moyen fran�ais''). Following a period of unification, regulation and purification, the French of the 17th to the 18th centuries is sometimes referred to as Classical French (''fran�ais classique''), although many linguists simply refer to French language from the 17th century to today as Modern French (''fran�ais moderne''). The foundation of the Acad�mie fran�aise (French Academy) in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu created an official body whose goal has been the purification and preservation of the French language. This group of 40 members is known as the Immortals, not as some erroneously believe because they are chosen to serve for the extent of their lives (which they are), but because of the inscription engraved on the official seal given to them by their founder Richelieu — "� l'immortalit�" (to the Immortality -- understand "of the French language"). It still exists today and contributes to the policing of the language and the adaptation of foreign words and expressions. Some recent modifications include the change from ''software'' to ''logiciel'', ''packet-boat'' to ''paquebot'', and ''riding-coat'' to ''redingote''. The word ''ordinateur'' for ''computer'' was however not created by the Acad�mie, but by a linguist appointed by IBM (see :fr:ordinateur). From the 17th to the 19th centuries, French was the lingua franca of educated Europe, especially with regards to the arts and literature, and monarchs such as Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia could both speak and write in French. Through the Acad�mie, public education, centuries of official control and the role of media, a unified official French language has been forged, but there remains a great deal of diversity today in terms of regional accents and words. For some critics, the "best" pronunciation of the French language is considered to be the one used in Touraine (around Tours, France and the Loire River valley), but such value judgments are fraught with problems, and with the ever increasing loss of lifelong attachments to a specific region and the growing importance of the national media, the future of specific "regional" accents is difficult to predict. ===Modern issues=== There is some debate in today's France about the preservation of the French language and the influence of English (see franglais), especially with regard to international business, the sciences and popular culture. There have been laws (see Toubon law) enacted which require that all print ads and billboards with foreign expressions include a French translation and which require quotas of French-language songs (at least 40%) on the radio. There is also pressure, in differing degrees, from some regions as well as minority political or cultural groups for a measure of recognition and support for their regional languages. == Geographic distribution== French is an official language in the following countries:

country	native speakers	population	pop. dens.	area
	(rough est.)	(July 2003 est.)	(/km�)	(km�)
France (Metropolitan)	60,000,000	60,180,600	105	547,030
Democratic Republic of the Congo		55,225,478	24	2,345,410
Canada (including bilinguals)	9,662,100	32,207,000	3	9,976,140
Madagascar		16,979,900	-	587,040
C�te d'Ivoire		16,962,500	-	322,460
Cameroon		15,746,200	-	422,277
Burkina Faso		13,228,500	-	274,200
Mali		11,626,300	-	1,240,000
Senegal		10,580,400	-	196,190
Belgium	4,000,000	10,290,000	335	30,510
Rwanda		7,810,100	-	26,338
Haiti	400,000	7,527,800	-	27,750
Switzerland	1,400,000	7,318,638	-	41,290
Burundi		6,096,156	-	27,830
Togo		5,429,300	-	56,785
Central African Republic		3,683,600	-	622,984
Republic of the Congo		2,954,300	-	342,000
Gabon		1,321,500	-	267,667
Comoros		632,948	-	2,170
Djibouti		457,130	-	23,000
Luxembourg	100,000	454,157	171	2,586
Guadeloupe		442,200	-	1,780
Martinique		390,200	-	1,100
Mauritius	1,000,000	1,210,500	-	2,040
Vanuatu		200,000	-	12,200
Seychelles		80,469	-	455
Monaco	-	31,842	-	1.95

Although not official, French is the major second language in the following countries.

country	population	pop. dens.	area
	(July 2003 est.)	(/km�)	(km�)
Algeria	32,810,500	-	2,381,440
Tunisia	9,924,800	-	163,610
Morocco	31,689,600	-	446,550

Also, there are some French speakers in Lebanon, Cambodia, Egypt, India (Pondicherry), Italy (Aosta Valley), Laos, Mauritania, United Kingdom (Channel Islands), United States (mainly Louisiana and the New England region) and Vietnam, Russia, and the Czech Republic. La Francophonie is an international organization of French-speaking countries and governments. ===Legal status in France=== Per the Constitution of France, French is the official language of the Republic since 1958. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contract; advertisement must bear a translation of foreign words. ''See Toubon Law''. Contrary to a Urban myth common in the United States and United Kingdom mass media, France does not prohibit the use of foreign words in Web page or any other private publication, which would anyway contradict constitutional guarantees on freedom of speech. The misunderstanding may have arisen from a similar prohibition in the Canadian province of Quebec which made strict application of the Charter of the French Language between 1977 and 1993, although these regulations addressed language used in advertising and the provision of commercial services offered within the province, not the language of private communication. There exist in addition to French a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities; see Languages of France. ===Legal status in Canada=== About 12% of the world's Francophones are Canadian, and French is one of Canada's two official languages, with English; various provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms deal with the right of Canadians to access services in English and French all across Canada. By law, the federal government must operate and provide services in both English and French; proceedings of the Parliament of Canada must be translated into both English and French; and all Canadian products must be labelled in both English and French. Overall about 22 per cent of Canadians speak French as a first language and 18% are bilingual. French is the only official language of Quebec. Between 1977 and 1993 Quebec had strict laws (See Charter of the French Language a.k.a. ''Bill 101'') against non-French signs posted in public. Many provisions of Bill 101 have been ruled unconstitutional over the years, including those mandating French-only commercial signs, court proceedings and debates in the legislature. Even those provisions have in some cases remained in effect, using the constitutional "notwithstanding" clause that permits a non-compliant law to remain temporarily. In 1993 the Charter was changed to allow signage in other languages so long as French is markedly "predominant". French is an official language of New Brunswick, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. In Ontario and Manitoba, French does not have full official status, although the provincial governments do provide full French-language services in all communities where significant numbers of francophones live. All of the other provinces do make some effort to accommodate the needs of their francophone citizens, although the level and quality of French-language service varies significantly from province to province. ===Legal status in Switzerland=== French is an official language in Switzerland. It is spoken in the part of Switzerland called ''Romandy''. ===Dialects of French=== *Acadian French *African French *Belgian French *Cajun French *Canadian French *Cambodian French *fran�ais d'Aoste *fran�ais-germanique *Indian French *Levantine French *Maghreb French *Newfoundland French *North American French *Oceanic French *Quebec French *South East Asian French *Swiss French *West Indian French [http://www.linguasphere.org/langues_romanes.pdf linguasphere on Romance languages] ===Languages derived from French=== *Haitian Creole *Seychellois Creole *Michif *Lanc-Patu� ==Sounds== :''Main article: French phonology and orthography'' 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: * ''liaison'' or linking: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n and m, are normally mute. (The final letters 'c', 'r', 'f', and 'l' however are normally pronounced.) When the following word begins with a vowel, though, a silent consonant ''is'' once again pronounced, to provide a "link" between the two words and avoid a glottal stop between them. Certain words are exempt from this linking rule (e.g. ''et'' which never pronounces the "t"), but the exceptions vary between dialects and regions. Doubling a final consonant and adding a silent ''e'' at the end of a word (e.g. ''Parisien'' → ''Parisienne'') makes it clearly pronounced, always. * elision or vowel dropping: Monosyllabic words such as ''je'' or ''que'' drop their final vowel before another word beginning with a vowel. The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g. ''je ai'' is instead pronounced and spelt → ''j'ai'') * nasal "n" and "m". When "n" or "m" follows a vowel combination, the "n" and "m" become silent and cause the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e. pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to cause the air to leave through the nostrils instead of through the mouth). Exceptions are when the "n" or "m" is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes ''en-'' and ''em-'' are always nasalized. The rules get more complex than this but may vary between dialects. * digraph (orthography) French does not introduce extra letters or diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, rather it uses specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended. (See French phonology and orthography or [http://www.languageguide.org/francais/grammar/pronunciation/ French Pronunciation Guide] for more details.) * Accent (linguistics)s are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone. ** Accents that affect pronunciation: ***"é", is pronounced instead of the defaults or, ***"è" means that the vowel is pronounced (as usual) but that the following syllable is mute, ***dieresis (e.g. ''naïve'', ''No�l'') as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one (or following one in some cases), not combined, ***the "�" means that the letter ''c'' is pronounced , regardless of the vowel following it. ("c" is otherwise hard before a back vowel.) ** Accents with no pronunciation effect: ***The circumflex (e.g. ''p�té'', ''�le'') has no effect on pronunciation in several dialects but usually indicates a former long vowel created by the dropping of an "s" from the Latin root (as in English "paste", "isle"), ***All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words or for etymological reasons, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs ''l�'' and ''o�'' ("there", "where") from the article ''la'' and the conjunction ''ou'' ("the fem. sing.", "or") respectively. ==Grammar== :''Main article: French grammar'' French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including: * the loss of Latin's declensions * only two grammatical genders * the development of grammatical article (grammar)s from Latin demonstratives * new tenses formed from auxiliaries French word order is Subject Verb Object. ==Vocabulary== ===Word origins=== The majority of French words originated from vernacular Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example: * brother: ''fr�re'' (brother) / ''fraternel'' * finger: ''doigt'' / ''digital'' * faith: ''foi'' (faith) / ''fid�le'' * cold: ''froid'' / ''frigide'' * eye: ''œil'' / ''oculaire'' The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian language words of Latin origin because as French developed into a separate language from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word. It is estimated that 12 percent (4,200) of common French words found in a typical dictionary such as the ''Petit Larousse'' or ''Micro-Robert Plus'' (35,000 words) are of foreign origin. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from English language and are fairly recent borrows. The others are some 707 words from Italian language, 550 from ancient Germanic languages, 481 from ancient Gallo-Romance languages, 215 from Arabic language, 164 from German language, 160 from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish language, 153 from Dutch language, 112 from Persian language and Sanskrit language, 101 from Native American languages, 89 from other Asian languages, 56 from Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, and 144 from other languages (3 percent of the total). Source: Henriette Walter, G�rard Walter, ''Dictionnaire des mots d'origine �trang�re'', 1998. ===Levels of register=== French, like many other languages, possesses a continuum of several levels of Register (linguistics). The colloquial register is used in almost any circumstance of life, and should not be confused with slang or rude talk. Formal French is used in writing or in formal occasions (when people make official speeches or when they are interviewed on television, for instance). Some level of formality is also normally used in classrooms in France, although colloquial French is now spoken by more and more professors with their students. Colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of grammar. For instance, the negation in formal French is "ne... pas", whereas in colloquial French it is simply "... pas", such as "I don't think so", which is "Je ne crois pas" in formal French, and "Je crois pas" in colloquial French. Another example of change in grammar is the way to ask a question: by inverting verb and subject in formal French, or also by using "est-ce que", whereas in colloquial French a question is phrased exactly as an affirmation, with the voice rising in the end. E.g.: "Is he sick?" would be "Est-il malade?" or "Est-ce qu'il est malade?" in formal French, and "Il est malade?" in colloquial French. Secondly, colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of pronunciation. Some words undergo shortening, or sound change, whereas some syllables are dropped altogether. For instance, "yes" is "oui" in formal French, and becomes "ouais" in colloquial French; "I" is "je" in formal French, but becomes "j' " in colloquial French; so a sentence like "I think he'll come" is "Je pense qu'il viendra" in formal French, and "J'pense qu'i'viendra" in colloquial French. There are many instances of shortening of words, such as "teacher", which is "professeur" in formal French, but becomes "prof" in colloquial French. ==Writing system== French is written using the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics (the circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis, and cedilla) and two Ligature (typography)s (æ, œ). French spelling, like English spelling, tends to preserve obsolete pronunciation rules. This is mainly due to extreme phonetic changes since the Old French period, without a corresponding change in spelling. However, some conscious changes were also made to restore Latin orthography: * Old French ''doit'' > French ''doigt'' "finger" (Latin ''digitum'') * Old French ''pie'' > French ''pied'' "foot" (Latin ''pedem'') As a result, it is nearly impossible 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: ''nez'', ''pied'', ''aller'', ''les'', ''lit'', ''beaux''. The same words followed by a vowel, however, sound the consonants: ''beaux-arts'', ''les amis'', ''pied-a-terre''. On the other hand, a given spelling will almost always lead to a predictable sound, and the Acad�mie fran�aise works hard to enforce and update this correspondence. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme. The diacritics have phonetic, semantic, and etymological significance. * grave accent (à, è, ù): Over ''a'' or ''u'', used only to distinguish homophones: ''à'' ("to") vs. ''a'' ("has"), ''ou'' ("or") vs. ''où'' ("where"). Over an ''e'', indicates the sound . * acute accent (é): Over an ''e'', indicates the sound . Often indicates the historical deletion of a following consonant (usually an ''s''): ''écouter'' < ''escouter''. * circumflex (â, ê, î, ô û): Over an ''e'' or ''o'', indicates the sound or , respectively. Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an ''s'' or a vowel): ''château'' < ''castel'', ''fête'' < ''feste'', ''sûr'' < ''seur'', ''dîner'' < ''disner''. By extension, it has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: ''du'' ("of the") vs. ''dû'' (past participle of ''devoir'' "to owe"; note that ''d�'' is in fact written thus because of a dropped ''e'': ''deu''). * diaeresis or ''tr�ma'' (ë, ï): Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: ''naïve'', ''Noël''. Diaeresis on � only occurs in some proper names (such as l'Ha�-les-Roses) and in modern editions of old French texts. Since the 1990 orthographic rectifications, the diaeresis in words containing ''gu�'' (such as ''aigu�'' or ''cigu�'') was moved onto the ''u'': ''aig�e'', ''cig�e''. * cedilla (ç): Indicates that an etymological ''c'' is pronounced when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus ''je lance'' "I throw" (with ''c'' = before ''e''), ''je lan�ai'' "I threw" (''c'' would be pronounced before ''a'' without the cedilla). The ligature œ is a mandatory contraction of ''oe'' in certain words (''sœur'' "sister" , ''œuvre'' "work [of art]" , ''cœur'' "heart" , ''cœlacanthe'' "Coelacanth" ), sometimes in words of Greek origin, spelled with an οι diphthong which became ''oe'' in Latin, pronounced in French (and other Romance languages): ''œsophage'' , ''œnologie'' . It may also appear in ''œu'' digraph (or ''œ'' alone in ''œil'' "eye"), in words that were once written with ''eu'' digraph (which could be read or , depending on the word): ''bœuf'' "ox" (Old French ''buef'' or ''beuf''), ''mœurs'' "custom", ''œil'' "eye" , etc. In these cases, the Latin etymon must be spelled with an ''o'' where the French word has ''œu'': ''bovem'' > ''bœuf'', ''mores'' > ''mœurs'', ''oculum'' > ''œil''. Some attempts have been made to Reforms of French orthography French spelling, but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries. ===Some common phrases=== *French: ''français'' ("fran-seh") *hello: ''bonjour'' ("bon-zhoor") *I love you. : ''Je t'aime.'' ("jhe tem") *My name is _____: Je m'appelle _____ ("zjem-ap-pelle") *good-bye: ''au revoir'' ("o-ruh-vwar") *please: ''s'il vous pla�t'' ("sill voo pleh") *thank you: ''merci'' ("mairr-see") *you're welcome: ''de rien'' (Literally: It's nothing) ("duh ryeh"), ''je vous en prie'', ''pas de quoi'' (France); ''bienvenue'' ("byeh-venuh") (Quebec) *that one: ''celui-l�'' ("sull-wee la"), colloq. ("swee la"), or ''celle-l�'' (feminine) ("cell-la") *how much?: ''combien?'' ("kom-byen") *English: ''anglais'' ("ahng-gleh") *yes: ''oui'' ("wee"), colloq. ''ouais'' (seldom written) ("way") *no: ''non'' ("non") *I'm sorry: ''Je suis désolé.'' ("zhuh swee deh-zo-leh"), colloq. ("shswee deh-zo-leh"). ''Pardon'' ("par-dohn") *I don't understand: ''Je ne comprends pas.'' ("zhuh nuh comprahn pa"), colloq. ''Je comprends pas'' (with dropping of "ne") ("shcomprahn pa") *Where are the toilets? : ''Où sont les toilettes ?'' ("oo son leh twa-let") *Cheers (toast to someone's health): ''Tchin'' ("chin"), ''Santé'' ("san-teh") or ''� la v�tre'' ("a la votr") *Do you speak English?: ''Parlez-vous anglais ?'' ("par-leh voo ang-gleh") OR "Vous parlez anglais ?" ("voo par-leh ang-leh") *Excuse me : ''Excusez-moi'' ("eks-kyu-say mwa") *Good night : ''Bonne nuit'' ("bun nwee") *Hi !: ''Salut !'' ("sal-oo") *I'm tired : ''Je suis fatigu�(e)''. (add the "e" if the speaker is feminine) ("jhe swee fah-tee-gay") *Are you coming ? : ''Est-ce que vous venez ?'' (or with close friends and relatives: ''tu viens?'') *I'm thinking about it : ''J'y pense.'' ("jhee pahnss") *I'm going to the grocer's: ''Je vais � l'�picerie.'' ("jhe vay a lay-pee-ser-ee") *We're going to school: ''On va � l'�cole''. ("ohn va a lay-cohl") *She's so pretty. : ''Elle est si jolie.'' ("el ay see jho-lee") *Our neighbours to the South : ''Nos voisins du sud'' ("noh vwah-seen doo sood") *Can you help me ? : ''Pourriez-vous m'aider ?'' ("poo-ree-ay voo may-day") *May I help you ? : ''Puis-je vous aider?'' ("pwee-jha voo ay-day") *It's the best of worlds : ''C'est le meilleur des mondes.'' ("tsay le may-yuhr day mohnd") *Go to bed ! : ''Va au lit !'' ("vah oh lee") *I'm watching TV. : ''Je regarde la t�l�.'' ("jhe re-gard la tay-lay") *Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: ''Wikip�dia, l'encyclop�die gratuite et libre.'' ("wee-kee-pay-dee-ah, lahns-ee-kloh-pay-dee grah-too-ee tay lee-bruh") *The state is me. : ''L'�tat, c'est moi.'' ("leh-tah seh-mwa") ==See also== * French Pronunciation * Acad�mie fran�aise * common phrases in different languages * List of English words of French origin * French in the United States * French Language Wikipedia * French phrases used by English speakers * French proverbs * Reforms of French orthography * Morphology of the French verb * Verlan * Pluperfect subjunctive tense * Imperfect subjunctive tense * Imperfect indicative tense * Simple past tense * Simple future tense * Anterior future tense * Anterior past tense * Present subjunctive tense * Present conditional tense * Present indicative tense * Past conditional tense * Past subjunctive tense * Pluperfect tense * Present participle * Present imperative tense * Past imperative tense * Expletive negation ==External links== *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/ BBC Language French] *[http://french.about.com French at About] *[http://www.cia-france.com Learn French on the French Riviera] *[http://www.jump-gate.com/languages/french/ French Language Course and Discussion] * [http://www.academie-francaise.fr/ Acad�mie Fran�aise] *[http://www.dicts.info/dictlist1.php?k1=33 All free French dictionaries] *[http://www.how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/french/index.html A profile of the French language] *[http://www.frenchlesson.org/ Frenchlesson.org] *[http://www.applelanguages.com/en/learn/french.php French courses] *[http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=fra Ethnologue report for French] *[http://www.capeutservir.com/verbes/ 9000 French verbs conjugation] *[http://french.about.com/library/begin/bl_begin_vocab.htm Beginning French Vocabulary] *[http://www.sprachprofi.de.vu/english/f.htm Free online resources for learners] *[http://www.majstro.com/Web/Majstro/taleninfo/fra_en.php/ Majstro French-English-French Online Dictionary] *[http://www.wordreference.com/ A comprehensive French-English dictionary] *[http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/French-english/ French - English Dictionary]: from [http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition. *[http://www.intuxication.org/~webtypo/le_francais_facile.htm Small reference site on the French language] *[http://www.languagehelpers.com/words/french/basics.html Learn French words & phrases] * [http://atilf.atilf.fr/ Le Tr�sor de la Langue Fran�aise informatis�] (''very comprehensive'') *[http://radio-canada.ca/education/francaismicro/ Capsules linguistiques - Radio-Canada.ca] *[http://www.france-property-and-information.com/speaking_french.htm Communicate in French without knowing French (courtesy French property advice)] *[http://www.ielanguages.com/french.html French Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com] *[http://www.languagesabroad.co.uk/french.html French Language Schools] French language O�l languages Languages of Belgium Languages of Canada Languages of France Languages of Switzerland Languages of French Guiana Languages of Morocco Synthetic languages Guttural R als:Franz�sische Sprache ang:Frencisc ge��ode bm:Faransikan ga:Frainc�s iu:ᐅᐃᕖᑎᑐᑦ ka:ფრანგული ენა kw:Yeth Frynkek ln:Lifalasɛ na:Francise nds:Franzeusch sc:Limba frantzesa simple:French language th:ภาษาฝรั่งเศส vi:Tiếng Ph�p

French language

== Old discussion == I've removed the reference to various Canadian provinces. The list is of places where the French language is official. The Canadian law governing this matter is federal, and it gives official status to French throughout the country. user:Eclecticology ---- The Grammar page brings you here via a redirected French grammar, but there's no grammar on this page. Does anyone object to the idea of breaking the redirection, and making French Grammar a stub instead? User:Dduck 16:58, 13 Nov 2003 (UTC) ---- There is a column 'population density' in the list of countries where French is spoken. What purpose does that serve? To my mind it has no relevance. User:Popup 12:56, 2004 Feb 16 (UTC) ---- I don't know how to write it in English, so someone else will have to do it: Under writing system, the ''tr�mas'' accent is missing. Example: No�l (Christmas), Hawa� (Hawaii) etc. User:Mathieugp 14:59, 9 Mar 2004 (UTC) : I put ''tr�ma'' because the English words were all singular. Is ''tr�mas'' also singular? I'm not a native speaker. Also, do you know of examples of ü or ö in French? User:Quincy 03:04, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC) :: Tr�mas takes always an "s". I do not know of French words with ü or ö. There might be some rare ones however. The common ones are ë and ï. User:Mathieugp 16:43, 10 Mar 2004 (UTC) ::: It seems it doesn't always take an "s" after all. My mistake. User:Mathieugp 13:36, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC) :::There's a name Ha�y. Ren� Just Ha�y studied crystallography and his brother Valentin taught blind people. -User:PierreAbbat 04:49, 12 Mar 2004 (UTC) :::: I don't want to contradict a native French speaker, but every dictionary that I've checked lists tr�ma without an s in the singular. What's more, Google has 9,000 hits for "tr�ma," and only 829 for "tr�mas." For an example of �, I've found that the recent spelling reforms put a tr�ma over the u in "ambig�e," although the older spelling was "ambigu�." -User:Lesgles 06:07 12 Apr 2004 (UTC) ::::: Yes, it is spelled without and "s". It seems some people (such as me) think of the ''tr�ma'' as one of the two dots on the vowel. Therefore I used to think of it as ''les tr�mas'', but it seems it is the symbol with the two dots that is ''le tr�ma''. I never thought I'd need to learn a second language to come to realize this! :-) User:Mathieugp 13:42, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC) :::::: No worries. I've had similar realizations with English; for example, I always used to think that "parentheses" was a singular noun. :) -User:Lesgles 03:42 13 Apr 2004 (UTC) ::::: And yes, ''ambigu�'' has always been an ambiguous word... ;-) User:Mathieugp 13:42, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC) == La langue fran�aise == Why is french referred to as "la langue fran�aise" but not "le fran�ais"? After all, "la langue fran�aise" literally means "the french language" and "le fran�ais" means "(the) french". (I don't know that much about french, just wanted to ask.) --User:Cylauj 17:43, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC) : It could be "le fran�ais". That is how they have it on the French side of the wiki. -- User:Mathieugp 17:54, 23 Apr 2004 (UTC) :It's indeed either ''le fran�ais'' (i.e. "French") or ''la langue fran�aise'' ("the French language"). The second would perhaps be used in contexts where ambiguity is undesirable (because ''le fran�ais'' can mean "some general person of French citizenship"), or where some added pomp is desired (such as the names of official commissions). User:David.Monniaux 16:11, 3 May 2005 (UTC) ==Spelling reform== Question: There was a reform of the written standard in the mid 90's which now begins to be adopted (modification of the byzantine rules for composite names, of those for the circumflex and the umlaut, borrowed words to follow french grammatical rules, and a hundred or so anomalies (ph'es not from hellenic words and a few peculiarities of writing like imb�cile with imb�cillit�). As it is only recently beginning to see adoption (very few publications, still a lot of opposition by people who feel a passionate love of the spelling nenuphar (which was missed when words like sopha or phantasme were modified to use an f instead), or for various reasons), it is used according to the will of the writer; should it be mentionned somewhere in the article under the writing system heading? David : There is an article entitled Spelling reform which deals with spelling reforms for various languages, including English, French, Russian etc. -- User:Mathieugp 18:03, 5 Jun 2004 (UTC) ==Impact of regional languages== ''Some linguists estimate that 10% of the French today understand a local dialect (although they may not speak it).'' I removed it, since the claim sounds quite far-fetched to me and no reference was given – it could just be a statistic made on the spot. User:David.Monniaux 16:40, 22 Aug 2004 (UTC) --->This claim can be found in Kidd and Reynolds, Contemporary French Cultural Studies, NY: Oxford U Press, 2000, p. 98. : "Within metropolitain France, the best available estimates suggest that regional dialects or languages are known by around 10 per cent of the total population, or about 30 per cent if the highest (but doubtful) estimates of the Occitan-speakers are accepted (Ager 1990, 29)." The Ager reference is for D. Ager, Sociolinguistics and Contemporary French, Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 1990. I have reinstated the line. == Sorting / Collation == Many languages which make use of diacritics and ligatures have special ways of incorporating them when Alphabetical order lists. Commonly, words differing only by the use of diacritics or otherwise equivalent ligatures have a "2nd level" of sorting whereby words without these special forms of letters come before those with special forms. :Probably true also for diacritics in French, indeed. But maybe not for ligatures "oe" which don't play a role (you don't have pairs of words that only differ with respect to such ligatures). User:FvdP I have heard that in the case of French it's even more complex because proper French alphabetization requires that accents at the end of the word must be compared before accents at the beginning of the word. Is this true? I think a section on collation whatever the answer, would be a useful addition. — User:Hippietrail 09:43, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I've never heard of such a thing and don't know what the rationale would be for it (and I'm a native -- but not a language technician.) User:FvdP == Orthography/sounds == How about Sounds of French and/or Orthography of French articles? These would probably be quite appropriate. Spanish and Portuguese havce "sounds of" article. These could be used to point out allophonic variation (such as the various admissible rs) and recent sound disappearances.--User:Circeus 17:35, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC) :All done! I've moved the phonology section to a new article. I've made a lots of notes on allophones and phonemes. A good review from European speakers would be appreciated.--User:Circeus 19:05, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Help! == We'd like to add the correct pronunciation of the name of composer Pierre Boulez in International Phonetic Alphabet for English to the article about him, but we're having some diffculty deciding whether the final consonant is a Voiceless alveolar fricative or a Voiced alveolar fricative... I hope that perhaps one of the people who keep an eye on the French language page can help us out. (See Talk:Pierre Boulez; thanks!) User:David Sneek 12:48, 10 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Nos anc�tres les Gaulois == Removed the bold part in: ''Although in the past many Frenchmen liked to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors (''nos anc�tres les Gaulois'') '''to make fun of their own origines'' ''' because it was probably more serious than that. AFAIK, traditional history manuals (first half of XXth century) tended to begin with the Gallic roots of France (and of Belgium, regarding belgian manuals). That was not for fun, but in order to give a sense of historic depth to the French nation (respectively "Belgian Nation"). User:FvdP 19:08, 27 Dec 2004 (UTC) :Just to say I agree. User:SeeSchloss 00:04, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I add that it was in fact very serious, and that it was deeply tied with the French nationalism of the late XIXth and early XXth century, as was e.g. the glorification of Vercingetorix. Nowadays, however, the phrase epitomizes this nationalism and is cited to ridicule this ideology and its associated obsolete theories. I suppose that's where the confusion came from. User:Rorro 15:11, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::Right. This phrase is often cited nowadays as a kind of laughable nationalistic one, especially as a reference to when it was used in manuals used in then oversea colonies or protectorates (though I do not know whether this really happened a lot that history classes in Africa etc. were taught that way). But one century ago, people would consider it seriously. User:David.Monniaux 16:03, 3 May 2005 (UTC) == Cleaning? == Can somebody clean up/check to improve the top section? It's awful in design and way too busy as is. --User:Circeus 16:23, 31 Dec 2004 (UTC) == Translation in progress == This article is being translated to its at the Swedish Wikipedia. Any input on either translation or facts will be much appreciated. --karmosin 11:00, Feb 7, 2005 (UTC) :Translation is for now considered complete. More translations of French grammar might be of interest later, but the phonology will have to wait until a proper IPA-template has been created at Swedish wikipedia. --User:Karmosin 15:41, Feb 8, 2005 (UTC) == 2/3 == ''Because of the Norman conquest, perhaps as much as two thirds of modern English comes from French.'' I think the only way this could possibly be true is if it is limited to vocabulary. And I doubt even 2/3 of English words are derived from French. Does anyone have information on this? :What is the source for this claim? And what, specificially, does it mean? That 2/3 of English words are derived from French? That 2/3 of the grammar of English is French in origin? That 2/3 of English phonemes come from French? -- User:Temtem 20:41, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC) :I'm removing this claim until someone can come up with some support for it. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the vocabulary of English is about half Germanic and half Romance (including French and Latin). This says nothing of the language's grammar, morphology, phonology, etc. -- User:Temtem 02:15, Apr 28, 2005 (UTC) ==Native speakers in France== How can you say that all but 180,000 of the 60+ million residents of France are native speakers of French? (This info is in the table). Although many immigrants to France come from nominally French-speaking countries, many more do not and even for those that do come from countries where French may be used (Algeria and the like), it's very unlikely that in most cases French would be these immigrants' native (home) language. Does anyone have a link for how many native speakers of French there actually are in France? User:Moncrief 20:10, Apr 27, 2005 (UTC) ==Romance expert's input required== I've started a page on The verb \"to be\" in Indo-European languages, which is intended to place the irregular paradigms in a historical context. Left to my own devices I will no doubt eventually get round to filling in the info on French, Spanish and Italian, but it would be better if one of you who is at home in the Romance field could go over there, check everything, complete the second table and make any necessary comments underneath it. And then, if and when you are happy that it is useful to you, link it from the various romance language sites. (My own area of competence, and the necessesity for starting the page in the first place, lie on the Germanic side!) --User:Doric Loon 21:07, 22 May 2005 (UTC) :Actually, the more specific article Romance copula is where the detailed info on Frog belongs. — User:Chameleon 19:08, 24 May 2005 (UTC) ==French in Canada== I do not understand where the number of 9,662,100 for native French speakers in Canada come from. Here are the numbers available from the Website of Statistics Canada: Using the latest available census data (year 2001) for language by mother tongue, including single and multiple responses, we get 6,864,615. [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo11a.htm Population by mother tongue, by provinces and territories (2001 Census) ] Using the latest available census data (year 2001) for knowledge of official language, including single and multiple responses, we get 9,178,100. [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo15a.htm Population by knowledge of official language, by provinces and territories (2001 Census)] If my numbers are correct there are 6,864,615 native French speakers in Canada. Can someone confirm? If we all get this number, it should be inserted in the right place in the table. -- User:Mathieugp 22:20, 22 May 2005 (UTC) == words that the english have borrowed from the french == == french/english == == frenchin english == == french in english ==

French language

Main article: French language O�l languages Languages of France

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

F

FA | FB | FC | FD | FE | FG | FH | FI | FJ | FK | FL | FM | FN | FO | FP | FR | FS | FT | FU | FW | FX | FY | FZ |

Words begining with French_language:

French-language
French-language_newspapers
French-language_operas
French-language_poets
French_Language
French_language
French_language
French_language
French_language/Proven
French_Language_Wikipedia