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FrenchlanguageWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Frenchlanguage
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

French(lefranais[lf
s]orlalanguefranaise[lal

f
sz])isaRomancelanguageoftheIndoEuropeanfamily.
ItdescendedfromtheVulgarLatinoftheRomanEmpire,as
didlanguagessuchasItalian,Portuguese,Spanish,
Romanian,Catalanandothers.Frenchhasevolvedfrom
GalloRomance,thespokenLatininGaul,andmore
specificallyinNorthernGaul.Itsclosestrelativesarethe
otherlanguesd'ollanguageshistoricallyspokenin
northernFranceandinsouthernBelgium,whichFrench
(Francien)haslargelysupplanted.Frenchwasalso
influencedbynativeCelticlanguagesofNorthernRoman
GaullikeGalliaBelgicaandbythe(Germanic)Frankish
languageofthepostRomanFrankishinvaders.Today,owing
toFrance'spastoverseasexpansion,therearenumerous
Frenchbasedcreolelanguages,mostnotablyHaitianCreole.
AFrenchspeakingpersonornationmaybereferredtoas
"Francophone"inbothEnglishandFrench.
Frenchisanofficiallanguagein29countries,mostofwhich
aremembersoflafrancophonie,thecommunityofFrench
speakingcountries.Itisspokenasafirstlanguage(in
descendingorderofthehighestnumber)inFrance,the
CanadianprovinceofQuebec,westernSwitzerland,the
regionofWalloniainBelgium,Monaco,certainpartsof
CanadaandtheUnitedStates,andbyvariouscommunities
elsewhere.Asof2015,40%ofthefrancophonepopulation
(includingL2andpartialspeakers)isinEurope,35%insub
SaharanAfrica,15%inNorthAfricaandtheMiddleEast,
8%intheAmericas,and1%inAsiaandOceania.[1]
Frenchisthefourthmostwidelyspokenmothertongueinthe
EuropeanUnion.[3]1/5ofnonFrancophoneEuropeansspeak
French.[4]AsaresultofFrenchandBelgiancolonialism
fromthe17thand18thcenturyonward,Frenchwas
introducedtonewterritoriesintheAmericas,Africaand
Asia.MostsecondlanguagespeakersresideinFrancophone
Africa,inparticularGabon,Algeria,Mauritius,Senegaland
IvoryCoast.[5]In2015,Frenchwasestimatedtohave77to
110millionnativespeakers,[1][6]and190millionsecondary
speakers.[7]Approximately270millionpeopleareableto
speakthelanguage.[8]Accordingtoademographic
projectionledbytheUniversitLavalandtheRseau
Dmographiedel'Agenceuniversitairedelafrancophonie,
totalFrenchspeakerswillnumberapproximately500million
peoplein2025and650millionpeopleby2050.[9]The
OrganisationinternationaledelaFrancophonieestimates700
millionby2050,80%ofwhomwillbeinAfrica.[1]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language

French
franais
Pronunciation [f
s]
Nativeto

France,nowworldwide
(Seegeographicaldistribution
below)

Native
speakers

80million(2015)[1]
220milliontotalspeakers

Language
family

IndoEuropean

Earlyforms

OldFrench

Italic
Romance
WesternRomance
GalloRomance
Ol
French

MiddleFrench
French
Writing
system

Latin(Frenchalphabet)
FrenchBraille

Signedforms

SignedFrench
(franaissign)
Officialstatus

Official
languagein

29countries
Belgium
Benin
BurkinaFaso
Burundi
Cameroon
Canada
CentralAfricanRepublic
Chad
Comoros
IvoryCoast
DemocraticRepublicofthe
Congo
Djibouti
EquatorialGuinea
France
Gabon
Guinea
Haiti
Luxembourg
Madagascar
Mali
Monaco
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Frenchhasalonghistoryasaninternationallanguageof
commerce,diplomacy,literature,andscientificstandardsand
isanofficiallanguageofmanyinternationalorganisations
includingtheUnitedNations,theEuropeanUnion,NATO,
theWTO,theInternationalOlympicCommittee,andthe
ICRC.In2011,BloombergBusinessweekrankedFrenchthe
thirdmostusefullanguageforbusiness,afterEnglishand
StandardMandarinChinese.[10]

Niger
RepublicoftheCongo
Rwanda
Senegal
Seychelles
Switzerland
Togo
Vanuatu
Administrative/cultural
Algeria
Cambodia
Laos
Lebanon
Morocco
Mauritius
Mauritania
Tunisia
Vietnam

Contents
1 Geographicdistribution
1.1 Europe
1.2 Africa
1.3 NorthandSouthAmerica
1.4 Asia
1.5 MiddleEast
1.6 OceaniaandAustralasia
2 Dialects
3 History
4 Currentstatusandeconomic,culturaland
institutionalimportance
5 Phonology
6 Writingsystem
6.1 Alphabet
6.2 Orthography
7 Grammar
8 Vocabulary
8.1 Numerals
9 Words
10 Seealso
11 Notesandreferences
12 Furtherreading
13 Externallinks
13.1 Organizations
13.2 Coursesandtutorials
13.3 Onlinedictionaries
13.4 Vocabulary

15dependententities
AostaValley(Italy)
FrenchGuiana
FrenchPolynesia
Guadeloupe
Jersey
Louisiana(USA)
Maine(USA)
Martinique
Mayotte
NewCaledonia
Runion
SaintBarthlemy
SaintMartin
SaintPierreandMiquelon
WallisandFutuna

Numerousinternational
organisations
Regulatedby

Geographicdistribution
Europe
Spokenby12%oftheEUpopulation,Frenchisthefourth
mostwidelyspokenmothertongueintheEuropeanUnion,
afterGerman,EnglishandItalianitisalsothethirdmost
widelyknownlanguageoftheUnion,afterEnglishand
German(33%oftheEUpopulationreportknowinghowto
speakEnglish,whilst22%ofEuropeansunderstandGerman
and20%French).[3][12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language

Acadmiefranaise(French
Academy)
Languagecodes

ISO6391

fr

ISO6392

fre(B)
fra(T)

ISO6393

fra

Glottolog

stan1290(http://glottolog.org/
resource/languoid/id/stan1290)[2]

Linguasphere

51AAAi

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KnowledgeofFrenchinthe
EuropeanUnionandcandidate
countries[11]

FrenchlanguageWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Underthe
Constitutionof
France,Frenchhas
beentheofficial
languageofthe
Republicsince
1992[13](althoughthe
RegionswhereFrenchisthemainlanguage
ordinanceofVillers
Regionswhereitisanofficiallanguage
Cottertsmadeit
Regionswhereitisasecondlanguage
mandatoryforlegal
documentsin1539).
Regionswhereitisaminoritylanguage
Francemandatesthe
useofFrenchin
officialgovernmentpublications,publiceducationexceptinspecific
cases(thoughthesedispositionsareoftenignored)andlegalcontracts
advertisementsmustbearatranslationofforeignwords.

InBelgium,FrenchistheofficiallanguageofWallonia(excludingapartoftheEastCantons,whichare
Germanspeaking)andoneofthetwoofficiallanguagesalongwithDutchoftheBrusselsCapitalRegion,
whereitisspokenbythemajorityofthepopulationoftenastheirprimarylanguage.[14]
FrenchisoneofthefourofficiallanguagesofSwitzerland(alongwithGerman,ItalianandRomansh)andis
spokeninthewesternpartofSwitzerlandcalledRomandie,ofwhichGenevaisthelargestcity.Thelanguage
divisionsinSwitzerlanddonotcoincidewithpoliticalsubdivisions,andsomecantonshavebilingualstatus:for
example,citiessuchBiel/BienneandcantonssuchasValais,FribourgandBerne.Frenchisthenativelanguage
ofabout23%oftheSwisspopulation,andisspokenby50.4%[15]ofthepopulation.
FrenchisalsoanofficiallanguageofLuxembourg,Monaco,andAostaValley(Italy),whileFrenchdialects
remainspokenbyminoritiesontheChannelIslands.

Africa
Apluralityoftheworld'sFrenchspeakingpopulationlivesinAfrica.Accordingtothe2007reportbythe
OrganisationinternationaledelaFrancophonie,anestimated115millionAfricanpeoplespreadacross31
FrancophonecountriescanspeakFrenchaseitherafirstorasecondlanguage.[5]Thisnumberdoesnotinclude
thepeoplelivinginnonFrancophoneAfricancountrieswhohavelearnedFrenchasaforeignlanguage.[5]Due
totheriseofFrenchinAfrica,thetotalFrenchspeakingpopulationworldwideisexpectedtoreach700million
peoplein2050.[17]Frenchisthefastestgrowinglanguageonthecontinent(intermsofeitherofficialorforeign
language).[18][19]
FrenchismostlyasecondlanguageinAfrica,butithasbecomeafirstlanguageinsomeurbanareas,suchas
theregionofAbidjan,IvoryCoast[20]andinLibreville,Gabon.[21]ThereisnotasingleAfricanFrench,but
multipleformsthatdivergedthroughcontactwithvariousindigenousAfricanlanguages.[22]
SubSaharanAfricaistheregionwheretheFrenchlanguageismostlikelytoexpand,becauseoftheexpansion
ofeducationandrapidpopulationgrowth.[23]Itisalsowherethelanguagehasevolvedthemostinrecent
years.[24][25]SomevernacularformsofFrenchinAfricacanbedifficulttounderstandforFrenchspeakersfrom
othercountries,[26]butwrittenformsofthelanguageareverycloselyrelatedtothoseoftherestoftheFrench
speakingworld.

NorthandSouthAmerica
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Frenchisthesecondmostcommon
languageinCanada,afterEnglish,and
bothareofficiallanguagesatthefederal
level.Itisthefirstlanguageof9.5
millionpeopleor29.4%andthesecond
languagefor2.07millionor6.4%ofthe
entirepopulationofCanada.[6]Frenchis
thesoleofficiallanguageintheprovince
ofQuebec,beingthemothertonguefor
some7millionpeople,oralmost80.1%
(2006Census)oftheprovince.About
95.0%ofthepeopleofQuebecspeak
Frenchaseithertheirfirstorsecond
The"arrt"signs(Frenchfor
Countriesusuallyconsideredpart
language,andforsomeastheirthird
"stop")areusedinCanada
ofFrancophoneAfrica.
language.Quebecisalsohometothe
whiletheEnglishstop,
Theirpopulationwas392millionin
cityofMontreal,whichistheworld's
whichisalsoavalidFrench
2015anditisforecasttoreach847
fourthlargestFrenchspeakingcity,by
word,isusedinFranceas
[16]
wellasotherFrench
millionin2050.
numberoffirstlanguagespeakers.[27]
speakingcountriesand
Countriessometimesconsidered
NewBrunswickandManitobaarethe
regions.
onlyofficiallybilingualprovinces,
asFrancophoneAfrica
thoughfullbilingualismisenactedonly
Countriesthatarenot
inNewBrunswick,whereaboutonethirdofthepopulationis
FrancophonebutareMembersor
Francophone.Frenchisalsoanofficiallanguageofalloftheterritories
ObserversoftheOIF
(NorthwestTerritories,Nunavut,andYukon).Outofthethree,Yukon
hasthemostFrenchspeakers,comprisingjustunder4%ofthe
[28]
population. Furthermore,whileFrenchisnotanofficiallanguageinOntario,theFrenchLanguageServices
Actensuresthatprovincialservicesaretobeavailableinthelanguage.TheActappliestoareasoftheprovince
wheretherearesignificantFrancophonecommunities,namelyEasternOntarioandNorthernOntario.
Elsewhere,sizableFrenchspeakingminoritiesarefoundinsouthernManitoba,NovaScotia,andthePortau
PortPeninsulainNewfoundlandandLabrador,wheretheuniqueNewfoundlandFrenchdialectwashistorically
spoken.SmallerpocketsofFrenchspeakersexistinallotherprovinces.ThecityofOttawa,theCanadian
capital,isalsoeffectivelybilingual,asitisontheothersideofariverfromQuebec,oppositethemajorcityof
Gatineau,andisrequiredtooffergovernmentalservicesinFrenchaswellasEnglish.
AccordingtotheU.S.CensusBureau(2011),Frenchisthefourth[29]mostspokenlanguageintheUnitedStates
afterEnglish,Spanish,andChinese,whenallformsofFrenchareconsideredtogetherandalldialectsof
Chinesearesimilarlycombined.FrenchremainsthesecondmostspokenlanguageinthestatesofLouisiana,
Maine,VermontandNewHampshire.Louisianaishometomanydistinctdialects,collectivelyknownas
LouisianaFrench.CajunFrenchhasthelargestnumberofspeakers,mostlylivinginAcadiana.Accordingto
the2000UnitedStatesCensus,thereareover194,000peopleinLouisianawhospeakFrenchathome,themost
ofanystateifCreoleFrenchisexcluded.[30]NewEnglandFrench,essentiallyavariantofCanadianFrench,is
spokeninpartsofNewEngland.MissouriFrenchwashistoricallyspokeninMissouriandIllinois(formerly
knownasUpperLouisiana),butisnearlyextincttoday.[31]
FrenchisoneofHaiti'stwoofficiallanguages.Itistheprincipallanguageofwriting,schoolinstruction,and
administrativeuse.ItisspokenbyalleducatedHaitiansandisusedinthebusinesssector.Itisalsousedin
ceremonialeventssuchasweddings,graduationsandchurchmasses.About7080%ofthecountry's
populationhaveHaitianCreoleastheirfirstlanguagetherestspeakFrenchasafirstlanguage.Thesecond
officiallanguageistherecentlystandardizedHaitianCreole,whichvirtuallytheentirepopulationofHaiti
speaks.HaitianCreoleisoneoftheFrenchbasedcreolelanguages,drawingthelargemajorityofitsvocabulary
fromFrench,withinfluencesfromWestAfricanlanguages,aswellasseveralEuropeanlanguages.Haitian
CreoleiscloselyrelatedtoLouisianaCreoleandthecreolefromtheLesserAntilles.[32]

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Asia
India
Puducherry(orPondicherry)isaformerFrenchcolonyinIndiaunder
theFrenchIndiaEmpire.TheFrenchlanguageenjoysdejureofficial
statusinPondicherry.ItisoneofthefewplacesinIndiawherealarge
Frenchspeakingpopulationcanbefound.Duetothelocalpopulationof
FrancoIndians(peopleofmixedIndianandFrenchheritageresidentin
Pondicherry)andaconstantinfluxofFrenchtouristsalongwitha
dynamicpopulationofFrenchresidentsfrommainlandFranceand
patronageofFrenchcultureandlanguagebytheFrenchgovernment,
FrenchlanguagestillenjoysastrongpresenceinPondicherry.
FrenchlanguagespreadintheUnited
States.Countiesmarkedinlighter
pinkarethosewhere612%ofthe
populationspeaksFrenchathome
mediumpink,1218%darkerpink,
over18%.Frenchbasedcreole
languagesarenotincluded.

SoutheastAsia

FrenchwastheofficiallanguageofthecolonyofFrenchIndochina,
comprisingmoderndayVietnam,Laos,andCambodia.Itcontinuesto
beanadministrativelanguageinLaosandCambodia,althoughits
influencehaswanedinrecentyears.[33]IncolonialVietnam,theelites
primarilyspokeFrench,whilemanyservantswhoworkedinFrench
householdsspokeaFrenchpidginknownas"TyBi"(nowextinct).AfterFrenchruleended,SouthVietnam
continuedtouseFrenchinadministration,education,andtrade.[34]SincetheFallofSaigonandtheopeningof
aunifiedVietnam'seconomy,Frenchhasgraduallybeeneffectivelydisplacedasthemainforeignlanguageof
choicebyEnglish.Frenchneverthelessmaintainsitscoloniallegacybybeingspokenasasecondlanguageby
theelderlyandelitepopulationsandispresentlybeingrevivedinhighereducationandcontinuestobea
diplomaticlanguageinVietnam.

MiddleEast
Lebanon
AformerFrenchcolony,LebanondesignatesArabicasthesoleofficiallanguage,whileaspeciallawregulates
caseswhenFrenchcanbepubliclyused.Article11ofLebanon'sConstitutionstatesthat"Arabicistheofficial
nationallanguage.AlawdeterminesthecasesinwhichtheFrenchlanguageistobeused".[35]Frenchlanguage
inLebanoniswidelyusedasasecondlanguagebytheLebanesepeople,andistaughtinmanyschoolsasa
secondarylanguagealongwithArabicandEnglish.ThelanguageisalsousedonLebanesepoundbanknotes,
onroadsigns,onLebaneselicenseplates,andonofficialbuildings(alongsideArabic).
Today,FrenchandEnglisharesecondarylanguagesofLebanon,withabout40%ofthepopulationbeing
Francophoneand40%Anglophone.[36]TheuseofEnglishisgrowinginthebusinessandmediaenvironment.
Outofabout900,000students,about500,000areenrolledinFrancophoneschools,publicorprivate,inwhich
theteachingofmathematicsandscientificsubjectsisprovidedinFrench.[37]ActualusageofFrenchvaries
dependingontheregionandsocialstatus.OnethirdofhighschoolstudentseducatedinFrenchgoontopursue
highereducationinEnglishspeakinginstitutions.Englishisthelanguageofbusinessandcommunication,with
Frenchbeinganelementofsocialdistinction,chosenforitsemotionalvalue.[38]Onsocialmedia,Frenchwas
usedonFacebookbyjust10%ofLebanesein2014,farbehindEnglish(78%).
Syria

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SimilarlytoLebanon,SyriawasalsoaFrenchLeagueofNationsmandate
areauntil1943,buttheFrenchlanguageislargelyextinctinthecountry
andisonlylimitedtosomemembersoftheeliteandmiddleclasses.

FrenchlanguageinLebanon

Israel
AsignificantFrenchspeakingcommunityisalsopresentinIsrael,
primarilyamongthecommunityofFrenchJewsinIsrael,MoroccanJews
inIsrael,LebaneseJewsandmanysecondaryschoolsofferFrenchasa
foreignlanguage.
UnitedArabEmirates
TheUnitedArabEmirateshasjoinedtheOrganisationinternationaledela
Francophonieasanobserver,andQatarhasjoinedasa"memberstate".
However,inbothcountriesFrenchisnotspokenbyalmostanyofthe
generalpopulationormigrantworkers,butspokenbyasmallminorityof
thosewhoinvestinFrancophonecountriesorhaveotherfinancialor
familyties.Theirentranceintotheorganisationwasaidedagooddealby
theirinvestmentsintotheOrganisationandFranceitself.[39]

TownsigninStandardArabicand
Frenchattheentranceof
RechmayainLebanon.

Anobsolete100Lebanesepound
notewithinscriptions"Banquedu
Liban"and"Centlivres".

OceaniaandAustralasia
FrenchisanofficiallanguageofthePacificIslandnationofVanuatuwhere
45%ofthepopulationcanspeakFrench.[40]IntheFrenchspecial
collectivityofNewCaledonia,97%ofthepopulationcanspeak,readand
writeFrench,whereasonly1%havenoknowledgeofFrench.[41]In
FrenchPolynesia,95%ofthepopulationcanspeak,readandwrite
French,whereasonly2%havenoknowledgeofFrench.[42]Inthe
FrenchcollectivityofWallisandFutuna,78%ofthepopulationcan
speak,readandwriteFrench,whereas17%havenoknowledgeof
French.[43]

Dialects
AcadianFrench
AfricanFrenchincludingsubbranchMaghrebFrench(North
AfricanFrench)
AostanFrench
BelgianFrench
CambodianFrench
CanadianFrench
CajunFrench
GuianeseFrench
HaitianFrench
IndianFrench
JerseyLegalFrench
LaoFrench
LouisianaFrench
MeridionalFrench
MetropolitanFrench
MissouriFrench
NewCaledonianFrench
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language

Lebaneselicenseplatewith
inscription"Liban".

FrenchculturalcenterinDeirel
Qamar,Lebanon

A500CFPfranc(4.20
US$5.65)banknote,usedin
FrenchPolynesia,New
CaledoniaandWallisand
Futuna.

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NewfoundlandFrench
NewEnglandFrench
QuebecFrench
SouthEastAsianFrench
SwissFrench
VietnameseFrench
WestIndianFrench

DialectsoftheFrenchlanguageintheworld

History
FrenchisaRomancelanguage(meaningthatitisdescendedprimarilyfromVulgarLatin)thatevolvedoutof
theGalloRomancedialectsspokeninnorthernFrance.
FrenchreplacedLatinasthemostimportantlanguageofdiplomacyandinternationalrelations(linguafranca)
inthe17thcentury.Itretainedthisroleuntilapproximatelythemiddleofthe20thcentury,whenitwasreplaced
byEnglishastheUnitedStatesbecamethedominantglobalpowerfollowingtheSecondWorldWar.[44][45]
StanleyMeisleroftheLosAngelesTimessaidthatthefactthattheTreatyofVersailleswasalsowrittenin
EnglishaswellasFrenchwasthe"firstdiplomaticblow"againstthelanguage.[46]

Currentstatusandeconomic,culturalandinstitutionalimportance
Frenchremainsoneofthemostimportantdiplomaticlanguages,[21]withthelanguagebeingoneoftheofficial
languagesoftheUnitedNations,theEuropeanUnion,NATO,theInternationalOlympicCommittee,the
CouncilofEurope,theOrganisationforEconomicCooperationandDevelopment,OrganizationofAmerican
States,theEurovisionSongContest,theEuropeanSpaceAgency,WorldTradeOrganisationandtheNorth
AmericanFreeTradeAgreement.ItisalsoaworkinglanguageinnonprofitorganisationssuchastheRed
Cross,AmnestyInternational,MdecinssansFrontires,andMdecinsduMonde.[47]Giventhedemographic
prospectsoftheFrenchspeakingnationsofAfrica,Forbesreleasedanarticlein2014whichclaimedthat
French"couldbethelanguageofthefuture".[48]
Frenchisacourtlanguage.Itisoneoftheofficiallanguagesofthemaininternationalandregionalcourts,
tribunals,anddisputesettlementbodiessuchastheAfricanCourtonHumanandPeoples'Rights,the
CaribbeanCourtofJustice,theCourtofJusticefortheEconomicCommunityofWestAfricanStates,theInter
AmericanCourtofHumanRights,theInternationalCourtofJustice,theInternationalCriminalTribunalforthe
formerYugoslavia,InternationalCriminalTribunalforRwanda,theInternationalTribunalfortheLawofthe
SeatheInternationalCriminalCourt,theWorldTradeOrganizationAppellateBody,theCourtofJusticeofthe
EuropeanUnion,andtheEuropeanCourtofHumanRights.[49]
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In1997,GeorgeWerberpublishedinLanguageTodayacomprehensiveacademicstudyentitled"TheWorld's
10mostinfluentiallanguages".[50]Inhisarticle,WerberrankedFrenchasbeingthesecondafterEnglish
mostinfluentiallanguageoftheworld,aheadofSpanish.[50]Hiscriteriawerenotsolelythenumbersofnative
speakers,butalsoincludedthenumberofsecondaryspeakers(whichtendstobespeciallyhighforFrench
amongfellowworldlanguages)theeconomicpowerofthecountriesusingthelanguagethenumberofmajor
areasinwhichthelanguageisusedthenumberofcountriesusingthelanguage,andtheirrespective
populationandthelinguisticprestigeassociatedwiththemasteryofthelanguage(Werberhighlightedin
particularthatFrenchbenefitsfromaconsiderablelinguisticprestige).[50]In2008,Werberreassessedhis
article,andconcludedthathisfindingswerestillcorrectsince"thesituationamongthetoptenremains
unchanged."[50]
KnowledgeofFrenchiswidelyconsideredtobeacrucialskillforbusinessownersintheUnitedKingdoma
2014studyfoundthat50%ofBritishmanagersconsideredFrenchtobeavaluableassetfortheirbusiness,thus
rankingFrenchasthemostsoughtafterforeignlanguagethere,aheadofGerman(49%)andSpanish(44%).[51]

Phonology
AlthoughtherearemanyFrenchregionalaccents,foreignlearnersnormallyuseonlyonevarietyofthe
language.
Thereareamaximumof17vowelsinFrench,notallofwhichareusedineverydialect:/a/,//,/e/,//,/
/,//,/i/,/o/,//,/y/,/u/,//,//,plusthenasalizedvowels/
/,//
,/
/and/
/.InFrance,thevowels//,
//and/
/aretendingtobereplacedby/a/,//and//
inmanypeople'sspeech,butthedistinctionof//
and/
/ispresentinMeridionalFrench.InQuebecandBelgianFrench,thevowels//,//,//and/
/
arepresent.
Voicedstops(i.e.,/b,d,/)aretypicallyproducedfullyvoicedthroughout.
Voicelessstops(i.e.,/p,t,k/)areunaspirated.
Nasals:Thevelarnasal//canoccurinfinalpositioninborrowed(usuallyEnglish)words:parking,
camping,swing.Thepalatalnasal//canoccurinwordinitialposition(e.g.,gnon),butitismost
frequentlyfoundinintervocalic,onsetpositionorwordfinally(e.g.,montagne).
Fricatives:Frenchhasthreepairsofhomorganicfricativesdistinguishedbyvoicing,i.e.,labiodental
/f/~/v/,dental/s/~/z/,andpalatoalveolar//~//.Noticethat/s/~/z/aredental,liketheplosives/t/~/d/and
thenasal/n/.
Frenchhasonerhoticwhosepronunciationvariesconsiderablyamongspeakersandphoneticcontexts.In
general,itisdescribedasavoiceduvularfricative,asin[u]roue,"wheel".Vowelsareoftenlengthened
beforethissegment.Itcanbereducedtoanapproximant,particularlyinfinalposition(e.g.,fort),or
reducedtozeroinsomewordfinalpositions.Forotherspeakers,auvulartrillisalsocommon,andan
apicaltrill[r]occursinsomedialects.
Lateralandcentralapproximants:Thelateralapproximant/l/isunvelarisedinbothonset(lire)andcoda
position(il).Intheonset,thecentralapproximants[w],[],and[j]eachcorrespondtoahighvowel,/u/,
/y/,and/i/respectively.Thereareafewminimalpairswheretheapproximantandcorrespondingvowel
contrast,buttherearealsomanycaseswheretheyareinfreevariation.Contrastsbetween/j/and/i/occur
infinalpositionasin/pj/paye,"pay",vs./pi/pays,"country".
Frenchpronunciationfollowsstrictrulesbasedonspelling,butFrenchspellingisoftenbasedmoreonhistory
thanphonology.Therulesforpronunciationvarybetweendialects,butthestandardrulesare:
finalconsonants:Finalsingleconsonants,inparticulars,x,z,t,d,n,pandgarenormallysilent.(A
consonantisconsidered"final"whennovowelfollowsitevenifoneormoreconsonantsfollowit.)The
finallettersf,k,q,andl,however,arenormallypronounced.Thefinalcissometimespronouncedlikein
bac,sac,rocbutcanalsobesilentlikeinblancorestomac.Thefinalrisusuallysilentwhenitfollows
aneinawordoftwoormoresyllables,butitispronouncedinsomewords(hiver,super,canceretc.).
Whenthefollowingwordbeginswithavowel,however,asilentconsonantmayonceagainbe
pronounced,toprovidealiaisonor"link"betweenthetwowords.Someliaisonsaremandatory,
forexamplethesinlesamantsorvousavezsomeareoptional,dependingondialectandregister,
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forexample,thefirstsindeuxcentseurosoreurosirlandaisandsomeareforbidden,forexample,
thesinbeaucoupd'hommesaiment.Thetofetisneverpronouncedandthesilentfinalconsonant
ofanounisonlypronouncedinthepluralandinsetphraseslikepiedterre.
Doublingafinalnandaddingasilenteattheendofaword(e.g.,chienchienne)makesit
clearlypronounced.Doublingafinallandaddingasilente(e.g.,gentilgentille)addsa[j]
soundifthelisprecededbytheletteri.
elisionorvoweldropping:Somemonosyllabicfunctionwordsendinginaore,suchasjeandque,drop
theirfinalvowelwhenplacedbeforeawordthatbeginswithavowelsound(thusavoidingahiatus).The
missingvowelisreplacedbyanapostrophe.(e.g.,*jeaiisinsteadpronouncedandspelledj'ai).This
gives,forexample,thesamepronunciationforl'hommequ'ilavu("themanwhomhesaw")andl'homme
quil'avu("themanwhosawhim").However,forBelgianFrenchthesentencesarepronounced
differentlyinthefirstsentencethesyllablebreakisas"qu'ila",whilethesecondbreaksas"quil'a".It
canalsobenotedthat,inQuebecFrench,thesecondexample(l'hommequil'avu)ismoreemphasizedon
l'avu.

Writingsystem
Alphabet
Frenchiswrittenwiththe26lettersofthebasicLatinscript,withfourdiacriticsappearingonvowels
(circumflexaccent,acuteaccent,graveaccent,diaeresis)andthecedillaappearingin"".
Therearetwoligatures,""and"",buttheyarenotusuallyusednowbecauseoftheFrenchofficial
keyboard.Yet,theycannotbechangedfor"oe"and"ae"informalandliterarytexts.""issometimesreplaced
with""(fromLatinloanwords,like"tnia"not"tnia").

Orthography
Frenchspelling,likeEnglishspelling,tendstopreserveobsoletepronunciationrules.Thisismainlydueto
extremephoneticchangessincetheOldFrenchperiod,withoutacorrespondingchangeinspelling(see
Vocabularybelow).Moreover,someconsciouschangesweremadetorestoreLatinorthography(aswithsome
Englishwordssuchas"debt"):
OldFrenchdoit>Frenchdoigt"finger"(Latindigitus)
OldFrenchpie>Frenchpied"foot"[Latinpes(stem:ped)]
Asaresult,itcanbedifficulttopredictthespellingofawordbasedonthesound.Finalconsonantsare
generallysilent,exceptwhenthefollowingwordbeginswithavowel(seeLiaison(French)).Forexample,the
followingwordsendinavowelsound:pied,aller,les,finit,beaux.Thesamewordsfollowedbyavowel,
however,maysoundtheconsonants,astheydointheseexamples:beauxarts,lesamis,piedterre.
Ontheotherhand,agivenspellingusuallyleadstoapredictablesound.Inparticular,agivenvowel
combinationordiacriticpredictablyleadstoonephoneme.
Frenchwriting,aswithanylanguage,isaffectedbythespokenlanguage.InOldFrench,thepluralforanimal
wasanimals.The/als/sequencewasunstableandwasturnedintoadiphthong/aus/.Thischangewasthen
reflectedintheorthography:animaus.Theusending,verycommoninLatin,wasthenabbreviatedbycopyists
(monks)bytheletterx,resultinginawrittenformanimax.AstheFrenchlanguagefurtherevolved,the
pronunciationofauturnedinto/o/sothattheuwasreestablishedinorthographyforconsistency,resultingin
modernFrenchanimaux(pronouncedfirst/animos/beforethefinal/s/wasdroppedincontemporaryFrench).
Thesameistrueforchevalpluralizedaschevauxandmanyothers.Inaddition,castelpl.castelsbecame
chteaupl.chteaux.
Nasal:nandm.Whennormfollowsavowelordiphthong,thenormbecomessilentandcausesthe
precedingvoweltobecomenasalized(i.e.,pronouncedwiththesoftpalateextendeddownwardsoasto
allowpartoftheairtoleavethroughthenostrils).Exceptionsarewhenthenormisdoubled,or
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immediatelyfollowedbyavowel.Theprefixesenandemarealwaysnasalized.Therulesaremore
complexthanthisbutmayvarybetweendialects.
Digraphs:Frenchusesnotonlydiacriticstospecifyitslargerangeofvowelsoundsanddiphthongs,but
alsospecificcombinationsofvowels,sometimeswithfollowingconsonants,toshowwhichsoundis
intended.
Gemination:Withinwords,doubleconsonantsaregenerallynotpronouncedasgeminatesinmodern
French(butgeminatescanbeheardinthecinemaorTVnewsfromasrecentlyasthe1970s,andinvery
refinedelocutiontheymaystilloccur).Forexample,illusionispronounced[ilyzj]
andnot[ilyzj]
.But
geminationdoesoccurbetweenwords.Forexample,uneinfo("anewsitem"or"apieceofinformation")
ispronounced[ynf
o],whereasunenympho("anymphomaniac")ispronounced[ynf
o].
Accentsareusedsometimesforpronunciation,sometimestodistinguishsimilarwords,andsometimes
basedonetymologyalone.
Accentsthataffectpronunciation
Theacuteaccent(l'accentaigu)(e.g.,coleschool)meansthatthevowelispronounced
/e/insteadofthedefault//.
Thegraveaccent(l'accentgrave)(e.g.,lvepupil)meansthatthevowelispronounced/
/insteadofthedefault//.
Thecircumflex(l'accentcirconflexe)(e.g.fortforest)showsthataneispronounced//
andthatanispronounced/o/.InstandardFrench,italsosignifiesapronunciationof//for
theletter,butthisdifferentiationisdisappearing.Inthemid18thcentury,thecircumflex
wasusedinplaceofsafteravowel,wherethatletterswasnotpronounced.Thus,forest
becamefortandhospitalbecamehpital.
Thediaeresis(letrma)(e.g.,nafnaive,NolChristmas)asinEnglish,specifiesthat
thisvowelispronouncedseparatelyfromtheprecedingone,notcombined,andisnota
schwa.
Thecedilla(lacdille)(e.g.,garonboy)meansthattheletterispronounced/s/infront
ofthebackvowelsa,oandu(cisotherwise/k/beforeabackvowel).Cisalways
pronounced/s/infrontofthefrontvowelse,i,andy,thusisneverfoundinfrontoffront
vowels.
Accentswithnopronunciationeffect
Thecircumflexdoesnotaffectthepronunciationofthelettersioru,nor,inmostdialects,a.
Itusuallyindicatesthatanscameafteritlongago,asinle(isle,comparewithEnglish
island).Theexplanationisthatsomewordssharethesameorthography,sothecircumflexis
putheretomarkthedifferencebetweenthetwowords.Forexample,dites(yousay)/dtes
(yousaid),orevendu(ofthe)/d(pastfortheverbdevoir=must,haveto,oweinthis
case,thecircumflexdisappearsinthepluralandthefeminine).
Allotheraccentsareusedonlytodistinguishsimilarwords,asinthecaseofdistinguishing
theadverbslando("there","where")fromthearticlela("the"femininesingular)andthe
conjunctionou("or"),respectively.
Someproposalsexisttosimplifytheexistingwritingsystem,buttheystillfailtogatherinterest.[52][53][54][55]
In1990,areformacceptedsomechanges.

Grammar
FrenchgrammarsharesseveralnotablefeatureswithmostotherRomancelanguages,including
thelossofLatindeclensions
onlytwogrammaticalgenders
thedevelopmentofgrammaticalarticlesfromLatindemonstratives
newtensesformedfromauxiliaries
Frenchdeclarativewordorderissubjectverbobjectalthoughapronounobjectprecedestheverb.Sometypes
ofsentencesallowfororrequiredifferentwordorders,inparticularinversionofthesubjectandverblike
"Parlezvousfranais?"whenaskingaquestionratherthanjust"Vousparlezfranais?"Bothquestionsmean
thesamethinghowever,arisinginflectionisalwaysusedonbothofthemwheneveraskingaquestion,
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especiallyonthesecondone.Specifically,thefirsttranslatesinto"DoyouspeakFrench?"whilethesecondone
isliterallyjust"YouspeakFrench?"Toavoidinversionwhileaskingaquestion,'Estceque'(literally'isitthat')
maybeplacedinthebeginningofthesentence."Parlezvousfranais?"maybecome"Estcequevousparlez
franais?"

Vocabulary
ThemajorityofFrenchwordsderivefromVulgarLatinorwereconstructedfromLatinorGreekroots.Inmany
casesasingleetymologicalrootappearsinFrenchina"popular"ornativeform,inheritedfromVulgarLatin,
andalearnedform,borrowedlaterfromClassicalLatin.Thefollowingpairsconsistofanativenounanda
learnedadjective:
brother:frre/fraternelfromLatinfrater/fraternalis
finger:doigt/digitalfromLatindigitus/digitalis
faith:foi/fidlefromLatinfides/fidelis
eye:il/oculairefromLatinoculus/ocularis
HoweverahistoricaltendencytogalliciseLatinrootscanbeidentified,whereasEnglishconverselyleans
towardsamoredirectincorporationoftheLatin:
rayonnement/radiation
teindre/extinguish
noyau/nucleus
surhomme/superman
ensoleillement/insolation
Therearealsonounnounandadjectiveadjectivepairs:
thing/cause:chose/causefromLatincausa
cold:froid/frigidefromLatinfrigidum
ItcanbedifficulttoidentifytheLatinsourceofnativeFrenchwords,becauseintheevolutionfromVulgar
Latin,unstressedsyllableswereseverelyreducedandtheremainingvowelsandconsonantsunderwent
significantmodifications.
MorerecentlythelinguisticpolicyoftheFrenchlanguageacademiesofFranceandQuebechasbeentoprovide
Frenchequivalentsto(mainlyEnglish)importedwords,eitherbyusingexistingvocabulary,extendingits
meaningorderivinganewwordaccordingtoFrenchmorphologicalrules.Theresultisoftentwo(ormore)co
existingtermsfordescribingthesamephenomenon,withvaryingratesofsuccessfortheFrenchequivalent.
mercatique/marketing
financefantme/shadowbanking
blocnotes/notepad
ailire/wingsuit
tierslieu/coworking
Itisestimatedthat12%(4,200)ofcommonFrenchwordsfoundinatypicaldictionarysuchasthePetit
LarousseorMicroRobertPlus(35,000words)areofforeignorigin(whereGreekandLatinlearnedwordsare
notseenasforeign).About25%(1,054)oftheseforeignwordscomefromEnglishandarefairlyrecent
borrowings.Theothersaresome707wordsfromItalian,550fromancientGermaniclanguages,481fromother
GalloRomancelanguages,215fromArabic,164fromGerman,160fromCelticlanguages,159fromSpanish,
153fromDutch,112fromPersianandSanskrit,101fromNativeAmericanlanguages,89fromotherAsian
languages,56fromotherAfroAsiaticlanguages,55fromSlaviclanguagesandBalticlanguages,10from
Basqueand144(about3%)fromotherlanguages.[56]

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OnestudyanalyzingthedegreeofdifferentiationofRomancelanguagesincomparisontoLatinestimatedthat
amongthelanguagesanalyzedFrenchhasthegreatestdistancefromLatin.[57]Lexicalsimilarityis89%with
Italian,80%withSardinian,78%withRhaetoRomance,and75%withRomanian,Spanishand
Portuguese.[58][59][58]

Numerals
TheFrenchcountingsystemispartiallyvigesimal:twenty(vingt)isusedasabasenumberinthenamesof
numbersfrom80to99.
TheFrenchwordfor80isquatrevingts,literally"fourtwenties",andthewordfor75issoixantequinze,
literally"sixtyfifteen".ThisreformaroseaftertheFrenchRevolutiontounifythedifferentcountingsystems
(mostlyvigesimalnearthecoast,becauseofCeltic(viaBreton)andVikinginfluences).
ThissystemiscomparabletothearchaicEnglishuseofscore,asin"fourscoreandseven"(87),or"threescore
andten"(70).
InOldFrench(duringtheMiddleAges),allnumbersfrom30to99couldbesaidineitherbase10orbase20,
e.g.vintetdoze(twentyandtwelve)for32,dousvinzetdiz(twotwentiesandten)for50,uitantefor80,or
nonantefor90.[60]
BelgianFrench,SwissFrench,AostanFrench[61]andtheFrenchusedintheDemocraticRepublicofthe
Congo,RwandaandBurundiaredifferentinthisrespect.
InBelgium,SwitzerlandandintheAostaValley,70and90areseptanteandnonante.InSwitzerland,
dependingonthelocaldialect,80canbequatrevingts(Geneva,Neuchtel,Jura)orhuitante(Vaud,Valais,
Fribourg).OctantehadbeenusedinSwitzerlandinthepast,butisnowconsideredarchaic,[62]whileinthe
AostaValley80ishuitante.[61]InBelgiumandinitsformerAfricancolonies,however,quatrevingtsis
universallyused.
ItshouldalsobenotedthatFrench,likemostEuropeanlanguages,usesaspacetoseparatethousands[63]where
Englishusesacommaor(morerecently)aspace.ThecommaisusedinFrenchnumbersasadecimalpoint:2,5
=deuxvirgulecinq.
Units
CardinalnumbersinFrench,from1to20,areasfollows:
One:un/une/
/(m)~/yn/(f)
Two:deux/d/
Three:trois/tw/
Four:quatre/kat/
Five:cinq/sk
/
Six:six/sis/
Seven:sept/st/
Eight:huit/it/
Nine:neuf[a]/nf/
Ten:dix/dis/
Eleven:onze/
z/
Twelve:douze/duz/
Thirteen:treize/tz/
Fourteen:quatorze/katz/
Fifteen:quinze/kz
/
Sixteen:seize/sz/
Seventeen:dixsept/disst/
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Eighteen:dixhuit/dizit/
Nineteen:dixneuf/diznf/
Twenty:vingt/v/
AfterTwenty,numbersusebasetenlogic(vingtetun,vingtdeux,vingttrois...)
Tens
CardinalnumbersinFrench,bytensfrom10to100,areasfollows:
Ten:dix/dis/
Twenty:vingt/v/
Thirty:trente/t
t/
Forty:quarante/ka.
t/
Fifty:cinquante/s.
k
t/
Sixty:soixante/swa.s
t/
Seventy:soixantedix/swa.s
t.dis/orseptante[b]/sp.t
t/
[c]
Eighty:quatrevingts/ka.t.v/
,huitante /i.t
t/oroctante[d]/k.t
t/
[e]
Ninety:quatrevingtdix/ka.t.v.
dis/ornonante /n.n
t/
Onehundred:cent/s
(t)/
AfterOnehundred,numbersusebasetenlogic(centdix,centvingt,centtrente...)
Hundreds
CardinalnumbersinFrench,byhundredsfrom100to2000,areasfollows:
Onehundred:cent/s
(t)/
Twohundred:deuxcents
Threehundred:troiscents,(Archaism:quinzevingts)
Fourhundred:quatrecents
Fivehundred:cinqcents
Sixhundred:sixcents
Sevenhundred:septcents
Eighthundred:huitcents
Ninehundred:neufcents
Onethousand:mille[f]
Onethousandonehundred:onzecentsormillecent[g]
Onethousandtwohundred:douzecentsormilledeuxcents[g]
Onethousandthreehundred:treizecentsormilletroiscents[g]
Onethousandfourhundred:quatorzecentsormillequatrecents[g]
Onethousandfivehundred:quinzecentsormillecinqcents[g]
Onethousandsixhundred:seizecentsormillesixcents[g]
Onethousandsevenhundred:dixseptcentsormilleseptcents
Onethousandeighthundred:dixhuitcentsormillehuitcents
Onethousandninehundred:dixneufcentsormilleneufcents
Twothousand:deuxmille
Afterdeuxmille(2000),onlythesecondoptionisused(deuxmillecent,deuxmilledeuxcents,deuxmilletrois
cents...)
Thewordsvingtandcenttakethepluralsonlywhentheyarethelastwordofthenumber:quatrevingts
(eighty)andquatrevingtun(eightyone),cinqcents(fivehundred)andcinqcenttrente(fivehundredand
thirty).Whenanumberusingvingtorcentisusedasanordinalnumeraladjective,thewordsvingtorcentstay
unchanged.[68]
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Scales[h]
CardinalnumbersinFrench,byexponentiationpoints,from100to1020,areasfollows:
One:un/une/
/(m)~/yn/(f)
Ten:dix/dis/
Onehundred:cent/s
(t)/
Onethousand:mille/mil/
Tenthousand:dixmille
Hundredthousand:centmille
Onemillion:unmillion/mi.lj
/
Tenmillion:dixmillions
Hundredmillion:centmillions
Onebillion:unmilliard
Tenbillion:dixmilliards
Hundredbillion:centmilliards
Onetrillion:unbillion/bi.lj/
Tentrillion:dixbillions
Hundredtrillion:centbillions
Onequadrillion:unbilliard
Tenquadrillion:dixbilliards
Hundredquadrillion:centbilliards
Onequintillion:untrillion
Tenquintillion:dixtrillions
Hundredquintillion:centtrillions
Notes
a.IthasbeensuggestedthatNineandNewhomophonographsarerelatedandthatitwouldbeanunusualpreservationof
theoctalnumbersystemspeculatedtobeformerlyusedinprotoIndoEuropeanlanguage,thoughtheevidence
supportingthisisslim.[64]
b.SeptanteisusedinBelgiumandinSwitzerland.ItsuseisdatedinEasternFranceandarchaicelsewhereinFrance.
c.HuitanteisusedinVaud,Valais,Fribourg,archaicinFrance.
d.Octanteisused,butdated,inRomandieandinSouthernFrance.ItsuseisarchaicinotherpartsofFrance.
e.NonanteisusedinBelgium,Switzerlandand,dated,inEasternFrance,archaicinotherpartsofFrance.
f.Formerlysingularofthenowinvariablemille,milisnowonlyusedinformaldocumentstowritedatesbetweenmil
un(1001)andmilneufcentquatrevingtdixneuf(1999).[65]
g.Whilebothstylesarecorrectandconcurrentlyused,numbersabovemilleandunderdeuxmilleareusuallycountedby
hundredsfromonzecentsuptoseizecentquatrevingtdixneufandarethenindifferentlycountedbothstyles[66]in
informallanguagewhilethecountbyaddinghundredstoonethousand,likeinmillecent,millesixcents,isfavoured
inwrittenlanguage,especiallyinjuridical,administrativeandscientificworks.[67]
h.NotaBenethatEnglishusetheshortscalewhileFrenchusethelongscale.

Words

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English

French

Quebecaccent

Touraineaccent

French

Franais(people)orfranais(language)

[f
s]

English

Anglais(people)oranglais(language)

[l]

[f

s]
[
l]

Yes

Oui(siwhencounteringanassertionor
aquestionexpressedinthenegative)

[wi]

[wi]

No

Non

[n]

[n]

Hello!

Bonjour!(formal)orSalut!(informal)
or"All"(QuebecFrenchorwhen
answeringonthetelephone)

[bu]

[bu]

Goodevening!

Bonsoir!

[bsw]

[bswa]

Goodnight!

Bonnenuit!

[bnni]

[bnni]

Goodbye!

Aurevoir!

[vw]

[o()vwa]

Haveaniceday! Bonnejourne!

[bnune]

[bnune]

Please/ifyou
please

Silvousplat(formal)orSilteplat
(informal)

[slvupl]

[silvupl]

Thankyou

Merci

[msi]

Derien(informal)orCenestrien
(informal)("itisnothing")orJevousen
Youarewelcome
[dj]
prie(formal)orJetenprie(informal)
orBienvenue(Quebec)

[m
si]
[dj
]

Iamsorry

PardonorDsolorJesuisdsol(if
male)/Jesuisdsole(iffemale)or
Excusemoi(informal)/Excusezmoi
(formal)/"Jeregrette"

[pad
]/ [dezle]

[pad]/ [dezle]

Who?

Qui?

[ki]

[ki]

What?

Quoi?(informalusedas"What?"in
English)orPardon?(formalused
[kwa]
thesameas"Excuseme?"inEnglish)

When?

Quand?

Where?

O?

Why?

Pourquoi?

Whatisyour
name?

Commentvousappelezvous?(formal)
orCommenttappellestu?(informal)

Mynameis...

Jem'appelle...

Which

Quel/Quels(pl.)/Quelle(fem.)

Because

Parceque/Car

Becauseof

[k
]
[u]
[pu
kwa]
[kmvuzaplevu],
[kmtaplt
sy]
[kl]

[kwa]
[k
]
[u]
[pu
kwa]
[km
vuzaplevu],
[km
taplt
sy]
[mapl]
[kl]

[pa
sk]

[pa
s()k]

causede

[akou
zd]

[akozd]

Therefore,

Donc

[dk]

[dk]

Maybe

Peuttre

How?

Comment?

[km]

Howmuch?

Combien?

[kbj]

Idonot
understand.

Jenecomprendspas.

Yes,I
understand.

Oui,jecomprends.Exceptwhen
respondingtoanegativelyposed

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[pta
t
]

[ptt
]
[km
]
[kbj
]

[nkp
p]

[nkp

pa]

[wikp
]

[wikp

]
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question,inwhichcaseSiisused
preferentiallyoverOui
Iagree

Jesuisdaccord."Daccord"canbe
usedwithoutjesuis.

Help!

Ausecours!(laide!)

Atwhattime...?

quelleheure...?

Today

Aujourd'hui

[sidak
]
[osku]
[akla
]
[oud
zi]

Pouvezvousmaidersilvousplat?/
Pourriezvousmaidersilvousplat?
Canyouhelpme,
[puvevumdeslvu
(formal)orPeuxtumaidersilte
please?
pl]
plat?/Pourraistumaidersilteplat
(informal)

[sidak]
[osku]
[akl]
[oudi]
[puvevumedesilvu
pl]

Wherearethe
toilets?

Osontlestoilettes?

Doyouspeak
English?

Parlezvous(l')anglais?/Estceque
vousparlez(l')anglais?

Idonotspeak
French.

Jeneparlepasfranais.

Idonotknow.

Jesaispas.(syntaxmistake[69]andover
[sep]
familiar[70])
[n()sep]
Jenesaispas.
[n()se]
Jenesais.(formal,rare)

[spa]
[n()spa]
[n()s]

Iknow.

Jesais.

[se]

[s]

Iamthirsty.

Jaisoif.(literally,"Ihavethirst")

[eswaf]

[eswaf]

Iamhungry.

Jaifaim.(literally,"Ihavehunger")

[ef]

[f
]

Howareyou?/
Howarethings
going?/Howis
everything?

Commentallezvous?(formal)ora
va?/Commentava?(informal)

[kmtalevu]

[km
talevu]

[v(t)bj]

[v(t)bj
]

Iam(very)well/
Thingsaregoing Jevais(trs)bien(formal)orava
(very)well//
(trs)bien./Toutva(trs)bien
Everythingis
(informal)
(very)well

[usletwalt]
[skvupalell]
[npalpfs]

[usletwalt]
[palevu
l]
[npalpaf
s]

Iam(very)bad/
Thingsare(very) Jevais(trs)mal(formal)orava
[v(t)mal]
bad/Everything (trs)mal/Toutva(trs)mal(informal)
is(very)bad

[v(t)mal]

Assezbienoravacommeci,comme
Iamallright/so
aorsimplyava..(Sometimessaid:
so/Everythingis
Couci,coua.,informal:"bof")i.e.
allright/soso
Commeci,commea.)

[asebj]

[asebj
]

Iamfine.

[savbj]

[savabj
]

[(km)pivu
zde]

[(km
)pivuzede]

avabien.

(How)mayI
(Comment)puisjevousaider?Avez
helpyou?/Do
vousbesoind'aide?
youneedhelp?/

Seealso
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AllianceFranaise
Franaisfondamental
Francization
FrenchlanguageintheUnitedStates
FrenchlanguageinCanada
FrenchAZERTYkeyboard
Frenchproverbs
Languageeducation
ListofcountrieswhereFrenchisanofficiallanguage
ListofEnglishwordsofFrenchorigin
ListofFrenchloanwordsinPersian
ListofFrenchwordsandphrasesusedbyEnglishspeakers
OfficialbilingualisminCanada
Francophobia
Francophilia
VarietiesofFrench

Notesandreferences
1."ThestatusofFrenchintheworld".Retrieved23April2015.
2.Hammarstrm,HaraldForkel,RobertHaspelmath,MartinBank,Sebastian,eds.(2016)."StandardFrench".
Glottolog2.7.Jena:MaxPlanckInstitutefortheScienceofHumanHistory.
3.EuropeanCommission(June2012),"EuropeansandtheirLanguages"(PDF),SpecialEurobarometer386,Europa,
p.5,archivedfromtheoriginal(PDF)on20160106,retrieved7September2014
4."WhyLearnFrench".
5.(French) LaFrancophoniedanslemonde20062007(http://www.amazon.fr/dp/2098821778)publishedbythe
OrganisationinternationaledelaFrancophonie.Nathan(http://www.nathan.fr),Paris,2007.
6."Qu'estcequelaFrancophonie?".
7."TheWorld'sMostWidelySpokenLanguages".
8."Frenchlanguageisontheup,reportreveals".
9."Agora:Lafrancophoniededemain".Retrieved13June2011.
10.Lauerman,John(30August2011)."MandarinChineseMostUsefulBusinessLanguageAfterEnglish".Bloomberg
Business.NewYork.Archivedfromtheoriginalon29March2015."French,spokenby68millionpeopleworldwide
andtheofficiallanguageof27countries,wasrankedsecond[toMandarin]."
11.EUROPA(http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf),dataforEU25,publishedbefore2007
enlargement.
12."LanguageknowledgeinEurope".
13.Novoa,CristinaMoghaddam,FathaliM.(2014)."AppliedPerspectives:PoliciesforManagingCulturalDiversity".
InBenetMartnez,VernicaHong,YingYi.TheOxfordHandbookofMulticulturalIdentity.OxfordLibraryof
Psychology.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.p.468.ISBN9780199796694.LCCN2014006430.
OCLC871965715."Itisimportanttonote,however,thatnotallcountrieshaveanofficiallanguage.Until1992,
Francehaddiscouragedtheuseofregionallanguages...inschoolsandbusinesses,buthadstoppedshortofmaking
anofficiallanguagedeclaration.In1992,thegovernmentratified...aconstitutionalamendmentthatmadeFrenchthe
soleofficiallanguageoftheRepublic..."
14.VanParijs,Philippe,ProfessorofeconomicandsocialethicsattheUCLouvain,VisitingProfessoratHarvard
UniversityandtheKULeuven."Belgium'snewlinguisticchallenge"(pdf0.7MB).KVSExpress(supplementto
newspaperDeMorgen)MarchApril2006:Articlefromoriginalsource(pdf4.9MB)pages3436republishedby
theBelgianFederalGovernmentService(ministry)ofEconomyDirectorategeneralStatisticsBelgium.Retrieved
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21."L'amnagementlinguistiquedanslemonde".CEFAN(Chairepourledveloppementdelarecherchesurlaculture
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23.FranceDiplomatie(http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/Francepriorities_1/francophonyfrenchlanguage_1113/frenchla
nguage_1934/frenchlanguageintheworld_3441/thefrenchlanguageintheworldanexpandingcommunity_4289.ht
ml)"Furthermore,thedemographicgrowthofSouthernhemispherecountriesleadsustoanticipateanewincreasein
theoverallnumberofFrenchspeakers."
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uneproportionimportantedelapopulationneparlepascourammentlefranais(mmes'ilestsouventlalangue
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francophonesaugmente:onestimequ'en2015,ceuxciserontdeuxfoisplusnombreuxqu'aujourd'hui.(http://www.c
ecif.com/?page=la_francophonie)"
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africainessontenvahiesparlesstructuresetlesmotsfranais,autantlalanguefranaisesemtamorphoseenAfrique,
donnantnaissanceplusieursvarits."
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languescentrafricaines,surtoutparlesango.Cettevaritestparleparlesclassesnoninstruites,quin'ontpu
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linguistiques,d'ordrelexicaletsmantique,sonttrsimportantes.(OneexampleofavarietyofAfricanFrenchthatis
difficulttounderstandforEuropeanFrenchspeakers).
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47.TheFrenchMinistryofForeignaffairs."FranceDiplomatieMinistryofForeignAffairsandInternational
Development".FranceDiplomatie::MinistryofForeignAffairsandInternationalDevelopment.
48.WantToKnowTheLanguageOfTheFuture?TheDataSuggestsItCouldBe...French(http://www.forbes.com/sites/
pascalemmanuelgobry/2014/03/21/wanttoknowthelanguageofthefuturethedatasuggestsitcouldbefrench/),
Forbes,March21,2014
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(2016),MathildeCohen
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s/weber/repweber.htm),GeorgeWerber,1997,LanguageToday,retrievedonscribd.com
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BBCNews,22June2014
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53.(French) Ortofasilwritingsystemproposal(http://sites.google.com/site/ortofasil/).
54.(French) Alfografwritingsystemproposal(http://www.alfograf.net/).
55.(French) Ortograf.netwritingsystemproposal(http://ortograf.net/).
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RaymondG.,Jr.(ed.),2005.Ethnologue:LanguagesoftheWorld,Fifteenthedition.Dallas,Tex.:SILInternational.
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62."Septante,octante(huitante),nonante".languefr.net(inFrench)..SeealsotheEnglishWikipediaarticleonWelsh
language,especiallythesection"Countingsystem"anditsnoteontheinfluenceofCelticintheFrenchcounting
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originalon1January2015.Retrieved15November2015."Dansunsoucidelisibilit,onsparelesmilliersparune
espaceinscabledanslesnombresexprimantunequantit:1000m,342234euros,1234C,etc.
Enrevanche,danslesnombresayantfonctiondenumrotage(pages,dates,articlesdecode),leschiffresnesont
jamaisspars:page1254ofthe1992edition,article1246oftheCivilCode.
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danslesdates,quelorsquelenumralausingulierestsuividunouplusieursautresnombres."
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nationale.March2011.p.41.ISBN9782743304829.Audeldemille,oncomptehabituellement:onze,douze,
treize,quatorze,quinze,seizecentspluttque:millecent,milledeuxcents,milletroiscents...maison
emploieraindiffremment:dixseptcentsoumilleseptcents...
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originalon1January2015.Retrieved15November2015."Pourlesdates(etlesnombresengnral)entre1000
et2000,ilyaconcurrenceentredeuxlectures:millesixcenttrentecinqouseizecenttrentecinq.
Aucunedecesformesnepeuttreconsidrecommefautive.Cependant,danslusagecourant,onditpluttonze
cents,douzecents,etc.:onzecentsfrancs,seizecentseuros,tandisquedanslalanguecrite,etnotammentdansun
textejuridique,administratifouscientifique,onprfreralesformes:millecent,milledeuxcents,etc."
68."Questionsdelangue:Nombres(criture,lecture,accord)"(inFrench).Acadmiefranaise.Archivedfromthe
originalon1January2015.Retrieved15November2015."Vingtetcentseterminentparunsquandilssontprcds
dunnombrequilesmultiplie,maisilsrestentinvariablessilssontsuivisdunautrenombreoudemille.Ondira
ainsi:deuxcentseurosmaisdeuxcentvingteurosquatrevingtshommesmaisquatrevingtdeuxhommes.Ilsrestent
galementinvariableslorsquilssontemployscommeadjectifsnumrauxordinaux:pagedeuxcentpage
quatrevingtlanmilleneufcent.
Enrevanche,vingtetcentvarientdevantmillier,million,milliard,quisontdesnomsetnondesadjectifsnumraux:
deuxcentsmillionsdannestroiscentsmilliersdhabitants."

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69."Ne".Dire,Nepasdire.Acadmiefranaise.3November2011.Retrieved30May2014.Onngligetropsouventde
faireentendreladverbene,enfaisantdepasluniquemarquedengation:Jeveuxpas,jesaispas.Cettehabitude,
rpanduedanslelangageparl,estunevritablefaute.
70."Pas".Trsordelalanguefranaiseinformatis.Analyseettraitementinformatiquedelalanguefranaise.Retrieved
30May2014.Pop.outrsfam.[Avecsuppressiondene]

Furtherreading
Nadeau,JenBenot,andJulieBarlow(2006).TheStoryofFrench.FirstU.S.ed.NewYork:St.Martin's
Press.ISBN0312341830

Externallinks
Organizations
FondationAlliancefranaise(http://www.fondationalliancefr.or
g/):aninternationalorganizationforthepromotionofFrench
languageandculture(French)
AgencedepromotionduFLE(http://www.fle.fr/en/):Agencyfor
promotingFrenchasaforeignlanguage

Coursesandtutorials

Foralistofwordsrelating
toFrenchlanguage,seethe
Frenchlanguagecategory
ofwordsinWiktionary,
thefreedictionary.
Frencheditionof
Wikipedia,thefree
encyclopedia

Frencheditionof
Franaisinteractif(http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/):interactive
Wikisource,thefree
Frenchprogram,UniversityofTexasatAustin
library
FrenchLanguageCourse,historiconlinecourse,oldestonline
course(http://www.jumpgate.com/languages/french/)
Tex'sFrenchGrammar(http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/),UniversityofTexasatAustin
FreeonlineFrenchgrammar(http://aboutfrance.com/french/frenchgrammar.htm)
FrenchlessonsatWikiotics(http://wikiotics.org/en/French_lessons):podcasts,vocabularyquizzes,and
more

Onlinedictionaries
OxfordDictionariesFrenchDictionary(http://www.oxforddictionaries.com)
CollinsOnlineEnglishFrenchDictionary(http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/englishfrench)
Centrenationalderessourcestextuellesetlexicales(http://www.cnrtl.fr/):monolingualdictionaries
(includingtheTrsordelalanguefranaise),languagecorpora,etc.

Vocabulary
SwadeshlistinEnglishandFrench
Numbers
Smith,Paul."French,Numbers".Numberphile.BradyHaran.
Books
(French)Lalanguefranaisedanslemonde2010(http://www.francophonie.org/IMG/pdf/langue_francai

se_monde_integral.pdf)(Fullbookfreelyaccessible)
Articles

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"ThestatusofFrenchintheworld(http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/frenchforeignpolicy/francophony
1113/thestatusoffrenchintheworld/)."MinistryofForeignAffairs(France)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=French_language&oldid=742867071"
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