French language - Wikipedia

French language - Wikipedia
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Romance language
Not to be confused with
Lingua franca
French
Pronunciation
[fʁɑ̃sɛ]
Native to
France
Belgium
Switzerland
Monaco
Francophone Africa
Canada
, and other locations in the
Francophonie
Speakers
L1
: 74 million (2012–2024)
L2
: 238 million (2012–2022)
Total: 312 million
Language family
Indo-European
Italic
Latino-Faliscan
Latinic
Romance
Italo-Western
Western
Gallo
Iberian
Gallo-Romance
Gallo-Rhaetian?
Arpitan
Oïl
Oïl
Francien zone
French
Early forms
Old Latin
Vulgar Latin
Proto-Romance
Old Gallo-Romance
Old French
Middle French
Writing system
Latin script
French alphabet
French Braille
Signed forms
Signed French
français signé
Official status
Official language in
26 countries
and
10 dependent territories
Organizations including the
OIF
UN
IOC
CGPM
ICRC
EU
AU
NATO
WTO
and
CoE
Regulated by
Académie Française
(France)
Office québécois de la langue française
(Quebec)
Direction de la langue française
fr
(Belgium)
Language codes
ISO 639-1
fr
ISO 639-2
fre
fra
ISO 639-3
fra
Glottolog
stan1290
Linguasphere
51-AAA-i
Countries and regions where French is the native language of the majority
Countries and regions where French is an official or de facto official language, but not a majority native language
Countries, regions, and territories where French is an administrative or cultural language but with no official status
This article contains
IPA
phonetic symbols.
Without proper
rendering support
, you may see
question marks, boxes, or other symbols
instead of
Unicode
characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see
Help:IPA
Part of
a series
on the
French language
Langues d'oïl
Dialects
Creoles
Francophonie
History
Phonological history
Oaths of Strasbourg
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts
Anglo-Norman
Grammar
Adverbs
Articles and determiners
Pronouns
personal
Verbs
conjugation
morphology
passé composé
passé simple
Orthography
Alphabet
Reforms
Circumflex
Braille
Phonology
Elision
Liaison
Aspirated h
Help:IPA/French
French
[fʁɑ̃sɛ]
or
langue française
[lɑ̃ɡ
fʁɑ̃sɛːz]
) is a
Romance language
of the
Indo-European family
. Like all other
Romance
languages, it descended from the
Vulgar Latin
of the
Roman Empire
. French evolved from Northern
Old Gallo-Romance
, a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern
Gaul
. Its closest relatives are the other
langues d'oïl
—languages historically spoken in northern
France
and in southern
Belgium
, which French (
Francien
) largely supplanted. It was also
influenced
by native
Celtic languages
of Northern
Roman Gaul
and by the
Germanic
Frankish language
of the post-Roman
Frankish
invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous
French-based creole languages
, most notably
Haitian Creole
, were developed. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as
Francophone
in both
and French.
French is an
official language
in
26 countries
, as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with speakers in about 50 countries.
Most of these countries are members of the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
(OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the use or teaching of French. It is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 74 million are native speakers;
it is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France, Canada (
Quebec
), Belgium (
Wallonia
and the
Brussels-Capital Region
), western Switzerland (
Romandy
region), parts of Luxembourg, and Monaco.
Meanwhile, in Francophone Africa it is spoken mainly as a second language or
lingua franca
, though it has also become a native language in a small number of urban areas; in some North African countries like
Algeria
, despite not having official status, it is also a first language among some
upper classes
of the population alongside the indigenous ones, but only a second one among the general population.
In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including
L2
and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania.
French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the
European Union
Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language.
10
Many institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English,
German
and
Italian
; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the
Court of Justice of the European Union
).
11
French is also the 22nd
most natively spoken language
in the world,
12
the sixth
most spoken language by total number of speakers
, and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017
[update]
13
14
French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organizations including the
United Nations
, the European Union, the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
, the
World Trade Organization
, the
International Olympic Committee
, the
General Conference on Weights and Measures
, and the
International Committee of the Red Cross
History
Main article:
History of French
French is a
Romance language
(meaning that it is descended primarily from
Vulgar Latin
) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include
Old French
and
Middle French
Vulgar Latin in Gaul
Due to Roman rule, Latin was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti.
15
This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as
Franco-Provençal
The evolution of Latin in Gaul was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native
Gaulish
, which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the
fall of the Western Roman Empire
16
Because few Latin speakers settled in rural areas during Roman times, Latin there held little or no social value for the
peasantry
; as a result, 90% of the total population of Gaul remained indigenous in origin. The urban aristocracy, who used Latin for trade, education or official uses, sent their children to Roman schools and administered lands for Rome. In the fifth century, at the time of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the vast majority of the (predominantly rural) population remained Gaulish speakers. They shifted to Latin as their native speech only one century after the
Frankish
conquest of Gaul, adopting the
prestige language
of their urban literate elite. This eventual spread of Latin can be attributed to the social migration from the focus of urban power to village-centred economies and legal
serfdom
17
18
19
The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable
Romanization
16
Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the
Vulgar Latin
dialects that developed into French
19
16
contributing
loanwords
and
calques
(including
oui
20
the word for "yes"),
21
sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence,
22
23
24
and influences in conjugation and word order.
21
25
15
Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by the gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish.
26
The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the
Petit Robert
27
which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240.
28
Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life (
chêne
bille
, etc.), animals (
mouton
cheval
, etc.), nature (
boue
, etc.), domestic activities (ex.
berceau
), farming and rural units of measure (
arpent
lieue
borne
boisseau
), weapons,
29
and products traded regionally rather than further afield.
30
This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being the last to hold onto Gaulish.
30
29
Old French
Main article:
Old French
The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there.
31
A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke
langues d'oïl
while the population in the south spoke
langues d'oc
31
One
langue d'oïl
became
Old French
. The Old French period spanned between the late 8th
32
and mid-14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French used different word orders, just as Latin did, because
it had a case system
retaining the distinction between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects.
33
The period is marked by a heavy
superstrate
influence from the Germanic
Frankish language
, which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of
V2 word order
34
a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary
35
) including the impersonal singular pronoun
on
(a calque of Germanic
man
), and the name of the language itself.
Up until its later stages,
Old French
, alongside the
langue d'oc
called
Old Occitan
, maintained a relic of the old nominal
case system
of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated
diphthongs
such as
-eau
, which would later be leveled as monophthongs.
citation needed
The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in the
Oaths of Strasbourg
and the
Sequence of Saint Eulalia
, while
Old French literature
began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the
Vie de Saint Alexis
), or wars and royal courts, notably including the
Chanson de Roland
, the
Matter of Britain
, as well as
a cycle focused
on
William of Orange
citation needed
During the period of the
Crusades
, French became so dominant in the
Mediterranean Sea
that it became the
lingua franca
(literally 'Frankish language'). Due to increased contact with
Arabs
(who referred to the Crusaders as
Franj
), numerous
Arabic loanwords entered French
, such as
amiral
(admiral),
alcool
(alcohol),
coton
(cotton) and
sirop
(syrup), as well as scientific terms such as
algébre
(algebra),
alchimie
(alchemy) and
zéro
(zero).
36
Middle French
Main article:
Middle French
Within Old French many dialects emerged but the
Francien
dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period between the mid-14th to the early 17th centuries.
37
31
Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect.
31
The status of French as a global language of administration and diplomacy is not merely a product of modern history, but the result of a process of state-building that began in the
Crusader states
38
The transition towards French as a formal language began in the
Kingdom of Jerusalem
. Facing a crisis of authority during the
War of the Lombards
of the mid-13th century, the nobility replaced Latin with Outremer French—a koiné of Parisian, Norman, and Picard dialects—to codify the
Assizes of Jerusalem
. For the knights and jurists of Outremer, this refined vernacular became a vital tool for legal security in matters of property and inheritance, distinguishing them from Byzantines, Muslims, and newly arrived European crusaders. The military elite, who often lacked academic training in Latin, standardized laws they could read and debate in their native tongue.
38
This made Jerusalem the first state to implement French for legal and administrative security, three decades before France itself. This administrative model "rebounded" to Europe through
Louis IX
, who, after his stay in the Levant (1250–1254), professionalized the French chancery. This trajectory reached its legal peak with the
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts
(1539), where
Francis I
mandated French as the exclusive language for all legal acts and official communications, effectively ending the official role of Latin and centralizing the state around the Parisian standard.
38
Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules.
Robert Estienne
published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar.
39
Politically, the first government authority to adopt Modern French as the official language was the
Aosta Valley
in 1536, three years before
France
itself.
40
Modern French
During the 17th century, French replaced
Latin
as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations (
lingua franca
). It retained this role until approximately the middle of the 20th century, when it was
replaced by English
as the United States became the dominant global power following the
Second World War
41
42
Stanley Meisler of the
Los Angeles Times
said that the fact that the
Treaty of Versailles
was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language.
43
During the
Grand Siècle
(17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as
Cardinal Richelieu
and
Louis XIV
, enjoyed a period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the
Académie française
to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France.
Near the beginning of the 19th century, the
French government
began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages (
patois
) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with
Henri Grégoire
's "Report on the necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language".
44
When public education was made
compulsory
, only French was taught and the use of any other (
patois
) language was punished. The goals of the
public school system
were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as
Occitania
and
Brittany
. Instructions given by a French official to teachers in the
department
of
Finistère
, in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language".
45
The prefect of
Basses-Pyrénées
in the
French Basque Country
wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the
Basque language
with French..."
45
Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process was known in the Occitan-speaking region as
Vergonha
46
French in the 21st Century
In the 21st century, the French language has undergone significant transformations in both linguistic and sociopolitical contexts. Linguistically, French is increasingly shaped by regional variations, particularly those emerging from sub-Saharan Africa. Youth sociolects and vernacular influences, such as
Camfranglais
in Cameroon and
Nouchi
in Côte d'Ivoire, have given rise to hybrid linguistic forms that not only dominate local informal communication but are also gaining traction in Francophone popular culture, music, and social media across the broader Francosphere.
47
48
49
While there is significant variation in spoken French, written French stays largely consistent. While French is a significant language on the internet ranking fourth, only approximately 65.5% of Francophones have access to the internet.
50
51
In the 21st century, French remains a major language for business, diplomacy, and culture though its use, geography, and sociopolitical context continues to shift with declines in some areas (including academia) and growth in others.
51
52
On a global scale, the number of French speakers continues to rise, largely attributable to demographic growth in
sub-Saharan Africa
, where French serves as an official, educational, and administrative language in numerous states. French now serves as a language of instruction in the educational systems serving approximately 93 million pupils from 36 countries and governments worldwide, 24 of which are located in the Africa–Indian Ocean and Middle East regions, either as the sole language or in combination with others.
50
51
Notably, 80% of students attending French-language schools are in Africa, where French is commonly used both for teaching and as a shared means of communication among different communities.
50
51
The majority of Francophones in the sub-Saharan region and the
Maghreb
are young, and are found in the 15–24 age group.
50
51
This growth contrasts with the declining presence of French in parts of Asia, particularly in former French colonies such as
Vietnam
Laos
, and
Cambodia
, where it has been largely replaced by local languages and English in both public life and education, though significant immigrant populations from these regions continue in France and other francophone regions.
50
51
53
In sociopolitical terms, French remains deeply entangled in debates over language, identity, and historical legacy. In the
Republic of the Congo
, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
, and
Cameroon
, (among others) French remains the undisputed language of government, formal education, and major media. The 2022 OIF report highlights that in
Kinshasa
Brazzaville
Abidjan
, and
Yaoundé
, French serves as the dominant vehicular language, so entrenched that many urban children acquire it alongside local vernaculars as a de facto first language.
50
51
Several
Sahelian
states have formally curtailed French as part of postcolonial language-planning. Many governments and residents perceive it to be a remnant of colonial rule, in a complex context of cultural and political sovereignty discussions, local and Russian propaganda, political and military conflicts, and other factors.
50
51
54
55
56
57
58
In July 2023,
Mali
’s constitutional referendum demoted French from "official" to merely "working" status while elevating thirteen indigenous tongues to constitutional parity.
59
Burkina Faso
’s transitional authorities have announced similar plans to strip French of its official role, framing these moves as assertions of cultural sovereignty as well as a closer relationship to Russian than France.
60
Yet in both
Bamako
and
Ouagadougou
, French endures as the lingua franca of higher education, national media, and interethnic commerce. The language being primarily spoken by secondary-language speakers who have mixed use of the language but reflecting the complicated role of the language in these contexts amidst French military withdrawal in Africa, rising nationalism, shifting alliances, and other factors.
61
62
50
51
In longstanding Francophone strongholds, policymakers now seek a more balanced multilingual landscape.
Senegal
’s government has expanded Wolof-language programming on public television and begun renaming colonial-era names in
Dakar
, even though French remains the sole constitutional language and continues to dominate academia.
63
This reflects a real commitment seen in Senegal and elsewhere to shift from French to local languages or English.
64
65
66
Algeria
has mandated
Arabic
-medium instruction in formerly Francophone private schools and introduced English tracks at its universities, framed as part of a broader multilingual strategy but in the context of diplomatic issues with France, yet French persists in judicial proceedings, international business, and everyday urban speech in
Algiers
and
Oran
and debate continues internally on language in the country.
67
68
69
Meanwhile, in
Morocco
and
Tunisia
, French continues to enjoy high prestige, both governments maintain bilingual curricula in secondary and tertiary education, and French remains the lingua franca of tourism, scientific research, and many private-sector enterprises.
50
51
Québec
has doubled down on French through
Bill 96
(An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec), assented on 1 June 2022. Bill 96 reaffirms French as the province's sole official language, tightens requirements for French language services and commercial signage, and expands the Charter of the French Language's scope which are measures designed to counter anglophone pressures and reinforce cultural identity.
70
Similarly, countries such as
Madagascar
Central African Republic
Chad
, and
Haiti
, have legally committed to French alongside local languages.
71
72
73
Overall, French remains a practical and widely accepted medium of communication, particularly where linguistic diversity demands a neutral lingua franca.
50
51
Despite regional tensions or reductions in certain contexts, French continues to expand as a global language of diplomacy, development, and multilateral cooperation.
50
51
Several non-Francophone countries, including
Rwanda
Ethiopia
Ghana
, and even countries outside Africa such as
Moldova
and the
United Arab Emirates
, have joined or expanded their involvement in the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
(OIF).
74
Their participation reflects an interest in leveraging French for international diplomacy, educational exchange, and regional economic integration.
50
51
75
French is also used for collaboration on public health, economic development, business and local governance including through the
Association internationale des maires francophones
(AIMF) and other organizations.
76
77
78
Francophone collaboration today spans an increasingly diverse set of domains. In media, international broadcasters such as TV5Monde, Radio France Internationale (RFI), and France 24 play key roles in disseminating French-language content worldwide, especially across Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Caribbean.
79
80
In education, institutions like the
Agence universitaire de la Francophonie
(AUF) and
Espace Francophone pour la Recherche, Développement et l’Innovation
support research and academic partnerships between Francophone universities across five continents.
81
82
In culture, the arts, and sports events like the
Jeux de la Francophonie
foster artistic exchange and culture and reflect increased francophone art and culture emerging outside of Europe and used in local communities around the world including new francophone social media,
francophone cinema
, TV,
francophone literature
, art,
francophone music
, and sport.
83
84
85
86
Future
According to a demographic projection led by the
Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie
, the total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and over 1 billion by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in
sub-Saharan Africa
87
OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa.
In the
European Union
, French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains the preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the
Court of Justice of the European Union
, where it is the sole internal working language, or the
Directorate-General for Agriculture
. Since 2016,
Brexit
has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union.
88
Geographic distribution
Main articles:
Francophonie
and
Geographical distribution of French speakers
Distribution of native French speakers in 6 countries in 2023
Europe
Main article:
European French
Knowledge of French in the
European Union
and candidate countries
89
Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English.
90
Under the
Constitution of France
, French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992,
91
although the
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts
made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words.
In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of
Wallonia
(excluding a part of the
East Cantons
, which are
German-speaking
) and one of the two official languages—along with
Dutch
—of the
Brussels-Capital Region
, where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language.
92
French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and
Romansh
, and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called
Romandy
, of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some
cantons
have bilingual status: for example, cities such as
Biel/Bienne
and cantons such as
Valais
Fribourg
and
Bern
. French is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50%
93
of the population.
Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of
Luxembourg
, where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of
Monaco
At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in the
Aosta Valley
region of
Italy
(the first government authority to adopt Modern French as the official language in 1536, three years before France itself),
94
in which is spoken as a first language by 1.25% of the population and as a second one by approximately 50%.
95
French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the
Channel Islands
; it is also spoken in
Andorra
and is the main language after
Catalan
in
El Pas de la Casa
. The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of
Saarland
, with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French.
96
97
Africa
Main article:
African French
Official status of French in Africa as of 2025
[update]
Countries in which it is an official
de jure
language
Regions in which is spoken as a native language
Countries of Africa by percentage of French speakers in 2023
0–10% Francophone
11–20% Francophone
21–30% Francophone
31–40% Francophone
41–50% Francophone
>50% Francophone
The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa; while it is an official language in 18 countries, it is not spoken as a first language by the majority, acting mainly as a second one or a
lingua franca
due to the many indigenous languages spoken in the territories.
98
According to a 2023 estimate from the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
, an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories
can speak French as either a
first
or a
second language
99
100
only 1.2 million of these spoke it as a first language according to
Ethnologue
101
This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. There is not a single
African French
, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous
African languages
102
Language and slang from francophone Africa, particularly as popularized through music, are playing a growing role in influencing French across the francophone world.
103
While spoken mainly as a second language, French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa among some communities in urban areas or the elite class. This is especially true in the cities of
Abidjan
104
105
Kinshasa
, and
Lubumbashi
106
107
108
109
Douala
110
111
Libreville
112
113
Antananarivo
114
Cotonou,
115
and Brazzaville.
116
However, in contrast to Central Africa and most of West Africa where French had been entrenched, countries in North Africa and the
Sahel
have generally distanced themselves from the language due to colonial connections.
117
For example,
Algeria
intermittently attempted to remove the use of French in favor of a strong native language (see
Arabization
), and French has recently also been removed as an official language in
Mali
Burkina Faso
, and
Niger
in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.
59
118
119
Despite these changes and the emergence of English as a global lingua franca, French today remains a major language in the societies of
Morocco
, Algeria and
Tunisia
120
Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050.
121
122
123
French was the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages).
124
125
Sub-Saharan Africa
is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth.
126
It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years.
127
128
Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries,
129
but written forms of the language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world.
Americas
Further information:
Languages of North America
Languages of South America
Languages of the Caribbean
, and
French language in Canada
Canada
French language distribution in Canada
Regions where French is the main language and an official language at both the federal and provincial level
Regions where French is an official language at the federal level but not a majority native language or an official language at the provincial level
The
"arrêt" signs
(French for "stop") are used in the Canadian province of Québec, while the English stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France and other French-speaking countries and regions.
French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the
2021 Canadian census
, it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population).
130
131
Although French is spoken throughout Canada, it is mostly present in
Quebec
, with significant Francophone populations also being found in
New Brunswick
, especially the region of
Acadia
, and parts of
Northern
and
Eastern Ontario
132
133
French is the sole official language in the province of
Quebec
, where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it.
130
Quebec is also home to the city of
Montreal
, which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers.
134
135
New Brunswick
and
Manitoba
are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories (
Northwest Territories
Nunavut
, and
Yukon
). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population.
136
Furthermore, while French is not an official language in
Ontario
, the
French Language Services Act
ensures that provincial services are available in the language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely
Eastern Ontario
and
Northern Ontario
. Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba,
Nova Scotia
, Prince Edward Island and the
Port au Port Peninsula
in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique
Newfoundland French
dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of
Ottawa
, the Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English,
137
and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of
Gatineau
United States
French language spread in the United States. Counties marked in lighter pink are those where 6–12% of the population speaks French at home; medium pink, 12–18%; darker pink, over 18%.
French-based creole languages
are not included.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
(2011), French is the fourth
138
most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of
Maine
and
Vermont
. In
Louisiana
, it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of
Connecticut
Rhode Island
, and
New Hampshire
139
Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as
Louisiana French
New England French
, essentially a variant of
Canadian French
, is spoken in parts of
New England
Missouri French
was historically spoken in
Missouri
and
Illinois
(formerly known as
Upper Louisiana
), but is nearly extinct today.
140
French also survived in isolated pockets along the
Gulf Coast
of what was previously French
Lower Louisiana
, such as
Mon Louis Island
, Alabama and
DeLisle, Mississippi
(the latter only being discovered by linguists in the 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct.
Caribbean
French is one of two official languages in
Haiti
alongside
Haitian Creole
. It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language; the rest largely speak French as a first language.
141
As a
French Creole language
, Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the
Lesser Antilles
142
French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in the Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the
French West Indies
, namely
Guadeloupe
Saint Barthélemy
Saint Martin
, and
Martinique
Other Caribbean French Creoles
In the countries of
Dominica
Grenada
St Lucia
Trinidad
143
Venezuela
144
and
Panama
145
French based
creoles
are used in lesser capacities,
146
being secondary languages.
147
It should be understood that Creoles are distinct from French although they are occasionally intelligible (depending on the Creole and how much French influence the language received). The Creoles of Venezuela and Panama are dying/severely endangered. In Trinidad and Grenada creole (known colloquially as Patwa) are only spoken by elders although revitalisation efforts are growing. In Dominica and St Lucia standard French is also used unofficially as a third language and some people use French and French creoles interchangeably.
Other territories
French is the official language of both
French Guiana
on the South American continent,
148
and of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
149
an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America.
Asia
Southeast Asia
See also:
French language in Vietnam
French language in Laos
, and
French language in Cambodia
French was the official language of the colony of
French Indochina
, comprising modern-day
Vietnam
Laos
, and
Cambodia
. It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades.
150
In colonial Vietnam, the elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as "
Tây Bồi
" (now extinct). After French rule ended,
South Vietnam
continued to use French in administration, education, and trade.
151
However, since the
Fall of Saigon
and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually declined in modern Vietnam: it has been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English, and slightly under 1% of the population was fluent in French in 2018.
152
Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as the other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language.
153
All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF).
Lebanon
See also:
French language in Lebanon
Town sign in
Standard Arabic
and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya
in Lebanon
A former French
mandate
Lebanon
designates
Arabic
as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used".
154
The
French language in Lebanon
is a widespread second language among the
Lebanese people
, and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on
Lebanese pound
banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese
license plates
, and on official buildings (alongside Arabic).
Today, French and English are secondary languages of
Lebanon
, with about 40% of the population being
Francophone
and 40% Anglophone.
155
The use of English is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French.
156
Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value.
157
India
See also:
Indian French
French was the official language of
French India
, consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as
Puducherry
. It continued to be an
official language of the territory
even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965.
158
A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of the language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English.
158
159
Oceania
A 500-
CFP franc
(€4.20; US$5.00) banknote, used in
French Polynesia
New Caledonia
and
Wallis and Futuna
French is an official language of the
Pacific Island
nation of
Vanuatu
, where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023.
100
It is the sole official language in the French special collectivity of
New Caledonia
and the overseas collectivities of
Wallis and Futuna
and
French Polynesia
160
In New Caledonia, 97% of the population can speak, read and write French
161
while in French Polynesia this figure is 95%,
162
and in Wallis and Futuna, it is 84%.
163
In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal, French increasingly tends to displace the native
Polynesian languages
as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census.
164
162
In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census.
163
165
Varieties
Main article:
Varieties of French
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African French
Maghreb French
(North African French)
Aostan French
Belgian French
Cambodian French
Canadian French
Acadian French
Newfoundland French
New England French
Ontario French
Quebec French
French French
Guianese French
Meridional French
Haitian French
Indian French
Jersey Legal French
Lao French
Louisiana French
Cajun French
Missouri French
South East Asian French
Swiss French
Vietnamese French
West Indian French
Varieties of the French language in the world
Current status and importance
According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022
[update]
166
without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses.
167
French is regarded as an influential
world language
because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism,
jurisprudence
, education, and diplomacy,
168
though its use, geography, and sociopolitical context continues to shift with declines in some areas, including academia, and growth in others.
51
Given the demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future";
169
despite this growth in parts of Central and West Africa, where it had been entrenched as an official, administrative and educational language in numerous states, countries in North Africa and the Sahel have generally distanced themselves from the language due to colonial connections: some countries such as
Algeria
intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and it was removed as an official language in
Mali
Burkina Faso
and
Niger
in 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.
59
118
Its use is also largely declined in parts of Asia, particularly in former French colonies such as Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, where it has been replaced by local languages and English in both public life and education.
50
51
In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the
UN Secretariat
's only two working languages
170
), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the
European Union
, an official language of
NATO
, the
International Olympic Committee
, the
Council of Europe
, the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Organization of American States
(alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the
Eurovision Song Contest
, one of eighteen official languages of the
European Space Agency
World Trade Organization
and the least used of the three official languages in the
North American Free Trade Agreement
countries. It is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the
Red Cross
(alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian),
Amnesty International
(alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian),
Médecins sans Frontières
(used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and
Médecins du Monde
(used alongside English).
171
Significant as a judicial language, French is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the
African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
, the
Caribbean Court of Justice
, the
Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States
, the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights
, the
International Court of Justice
, the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
, the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea
the
International Criminal Court
and the
World Trade Organization Appellate Body
. It is the sole internal working language of the
Court of Justice of the European Union
, and makes with English the
European Court of Human Rights
's two working languages.
172
In 1997, George Weber published, in
Language Today
, a comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most
influential
language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations, the economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the
linguistic prestige
associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged."
173
Knowledge of French is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%).
174
MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in the workplace.
175
In 2011,
Bloomberg Businessweek
ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and
Standard Mandarin Chinese
176
Phonology
Main article:
French phonology
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Spoken French (Africa)
Consonant phonemes in French
Bilabial
Labiodental
Dental
Alveolar
Palatal
Postalveolar
Velar
Uvular
Nasal
Stop
voiceless
voiced
Fricative
voiceless
voiced
Approximant
plain
labial
Lateral Approximant
Vowel phonemes in French
Oral
Front
Central
Back
unrounded
rounded
Close
Close-mid
Open-mid
/(
ɛː
Open
Nasal
Front
Back
unrounded
rounded
Open-mid
ɛ̃
œ̃
ɔ̃
Open
ɑ̃
Although there are many French regional accents, foreign learners normally use only one variety of the language.
There are a maximum of 17 vowels in French, not all of which are used in every dialect:
/a/,
/ɑ/,
/e/,
/ɛ/,
/ɛː/,
/ə/,
/i/,
/o/,
/ɔ/,
/y/,
/u/,
/œ/,
/ø/,
plus the nasalized vowels
/ɑ̃/,
/ɛ̃/,
/ɔ̃/
and
/œ̃/
. In France, the vowels
/ɑ/
/ɛː/
and
/œ̃/
are tending to be replaced by
/a/
/ɛ/
and
/ɛ̃/
in many people's speech, but the distinction of
/ɛ̃/
and
/œ̃/
is present in
Meridional French
. In Quebec and Belgian French, the vowels
/ɑ/
/ə/
/ɛː/
and
/œ̃/
are present.
Voiced stops (i.e.,
/b,
d,
ɡ/
) are typically produced fully voiced throughout.
Voiceless stops (i.e.,
/p,
t,
k/
) are unaspirated.
The velar nasal
/ŋ/
can occur in final position in borrowed (usually English) words:
parking, camping, swing
The palatal nasal
/ɲ/
, which is written ⟨gn⟩, can occur in word initial position (e.g.,
gnon
), but it is most frequently found in intervocalic, onset position or word-finally (e.g.,
montagne
).
French has three pairs of homorganic fricatives distinguished by voicing, i.e., labiodental
/f/~/v/
, dental
/s/~/z/
, and palato-alveolar
/ʃ/~/ʒ/
/s/~/z/
are dental, like the plosives
/t/~/d/
and the nasal
/n/
French has one rhotic whose pronunciation varies considerably among speakers and phonetic contexts. In general, it is described as a
voiced uvular fricative
, as in
[ʁu]
roue
, "wheel". Vowels are often lengthened before this segment. It can be reduced to an approximant, particularly in final position (e.g.,
fort
), or reduced to zero in some word-final positions. For other speakers, a uvular trill is also common, and an apical trill
[r]
occurs in some dialects. The cluster /ʁw/ is generally pronounced as a labialised voiced uvular fricative
[ʁʷ]
, such as in
[ʁʷa]
roi
, "king", or
[kʁʷaʁ]
croire
, "to believe".
Lateral and central approximants: The lateral approximant
/l/
is unvelarised in both onset (
lire
) and coda position (
il
). In the onset, the central approximants
[w]
[ɥ]
, and
[j]
each correspond to a high vowel,
/u/
/y/
, and
/i/
respectively. There are a few
minimal pairs
where the approximant and corresponding vowel contrast, but there are also many cases where they are in free variation. Contrasts between
/j/
and
/i/
occur in final position as in
/pɛj/
paye
, "pay", vs.
/pɛi/
pays
, "country".
The lateral approximant /l/ can be
delateralised
when word- or morpheme-final and preceded by /i/, such as in /tʁavaj/
travail
, "work", or when a word ending in ⟨al⟩ is pluralised, giving ⟨aux⟩ /o/.
French pronunciation follows strict rules based on spelling, but French spelling is often based more on history than phonology. The rules for pronunciation vary between dialects, but the standard rules are:
Final single consonants, in particular
and
, are normally silent. (A consonant is considered "final" when no vowel follows it even if one or more consonants follow it.) The final letters
, and
, however, are normally pronounced. The final
is sometimes pronounced, as in
bac
sac
roc
, but can also be silent, as in
blanc
or
estomac
. The final
is usually silent when it follows an
in a word of two or more syllables, but it is pronounced in some words (
hiver
super
cancer
etc.).
When the following word begins with a vowel, however, a silent consonant
may
once again be pronounced, to provide a
liaison
or "link" between the two words. Some liaisons are
mandatory
, for example the
in
les amants
or
vous avez
; some are
optional
, depending on
dialect
and
, for example, the first
in
deux cents euros
or
euros irlandais
; and some are
forbidden
, for example, the
in
beaucoup d'hommes aiment
. The
of
et
is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in
set phrases
like
pied-à-terre
Doubling a final
and adding a silent
at the end of a word (e.g.,
chien
chienne
) makes it clearly pronounced. Doubling a final
and adding a silent
(e.g.,
gentil
gentille
) adds a [j] sound if the
is preceded by the letter
Some monosyllabic function words ending in
or
, such as
je
and
que
, drop their final vowel when placed before a word that begins with a vowel sound (thus avoiding a
hiatus
). The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g.,
je ai
is instead pronounced and spelled
j'ai
). This gives, for example, the same pronunciation for
l'homme qu'il a vu
("the man whom he saw") and
l'homme qui l'a vu
("the man who saw him"). However, in Belgian French the sentences are pronounced differently; in the first sentence the syllable break is as "
qu'il-a
", while the second breaks as "
qui-l'a
". It can also be noted that, in
Quebec French
, the second example (
l'homme qui l'a vu
) has more emphasis on
l'a vu
Writing system
Alphabet
Main articles:
French alphabet
and
French braille
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French is written with the 26 letters of the basic
Latin script
, with four diacritics appearing on vowels (
circumflex
accent,
acute accent
grave accent
diaeresis
) and the
cedilla
appearing in "ç".
There are two
ligatures
, "œ" and "æ", but they are often replaced in contemporary French with "oe" and "ae", because the ligatures do not appear on the
AZERTY
keyboard layout used in French-speaking countries. However, this
ambiguous
is nonstandard in formal and literary texts.
Orthography
Main articles:
French orthography
and
Reforms of French orthography
French spelling, like English spelling, tends to preserve obsolete pronunciation rules. This is mainly due to extreme phonetic changes since the Old French period, without a corresponding change in spelling. Moreover, some conscious changes were made to restore Latin orthography (as with some English words such as "debt"):
Old French
doit
> French
doigt
"finger" (Latin
digitus
Old French
pie
> French
pied
"foot" [Latin
pes
(stem:
ped-
)]
French orthography is
morphophonemic
. While it contains 130
graphemes
that denote only 36
phonemes
, many of its spelling rules are likely due to a consistency in morphemic patterns such as adding suffixes and prefixes.
177
Many given spellings of common morphemes usually lead to a predictable sound. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic generally leads to one phoneme. However, there is not a one-to-one relation of a phoneme and a single related grapheme, which can be seen in how
tomber
and
tombé
both end with the /e/ phoneme.
178
Additionally, there are many variations in the pronunciation of consonants at the end of words, demonstrated by how the
in
paix
is not pronounced though at the end of
Aix
it is.
As a result, it can be difficult to predict the spelling of a word based on the sound. Final consonants are generally silent, except when the following word begins with a vowel (see
Liaison (French)
). For example, the following words end in a vowel sound:
pied
aller
les
finit
beaux
. The same words followed by a vowel, however, may sound the consonants, as they do in these examples:
beaux-arts
les amis
pied-à-terre
French writing, as with any language, is affected by the spoken language. In Old French, the plural for
animal
was
animals
. The
/als/
sequence was unstable
further explanation needed
and was turned into a diphthong
/aus/
. This change was then reflected in the orthography:
animaus
. The
us
ending, very common in Latin, was then abbreviated by copyists (monks) to the letter
, resulting in a written form
animax
. As the French language further evolved, the pronunciation of
au
turned into
/o/
so that the
was reestablished in orthography for consistency, resulting in modern French
animaux
(pronounced first
/animos/
before the final
/s/
was dropped in contemporary French). The same is true for
cheval
pluralized as
chevaux
and many others. In addition,
castel
pl.
castels
became
château
pl.
châteaux
Nasal
and
. When
or
follows a vowel or diphthong, the
or
becomes silent and causes the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e., pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to allow part of the air to leave through the nostrils). Exceptions are when the
or
is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes
en-
and
em-
are always nasalized. The rules are more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
Digraphs
: French uses not only
diacritics
to specify its large range of vowel sounds and
diphthongs
, but also specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended.
Gemination
: Within words, double consonants are generally not pronounced as geminates in modern French (but geminates can be heard in the cinema or TV news from as recently as the 1970s, and in very refined elocution they may still occur). For example,
illusion
is pronounced
[ilyzjɔ̃]
and not
[ilːyzjɔ̃]
. However, gemination does occur between words; for example,
une info
("a news item" or "a piece of information") is pronounced
[ynɛ̃fo]
, whereas
une nympho
("a nymphomaniac") is pronounced
[ynːɛ̃fo]
Accents
are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes based on etymology alone.
Accents that affect pronunciation
The
acute accent
l'accent aigu
(e.g.,
cole
—school) means that the vowel is pronounced
/e/
instead of the default
/ə/
The
grave accent
l'accent grave
(e.g.,
él
ve
—pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced
/ɛ/
instead of the default
/ə/
The
circumflex
l'accent circonflexe
(e.g.
for
—forest) shows that an
is pronounced
/ɛ/
and that an
is pronounced
/o/
. In standard French, it also signifies a pronunciation of
/ɑ/
for the letter
, but this differentiation is disappearing. In the mid-18th century, the circumflex was used in place of
after a vowel, where that letter
was not pronounced. Thus,
forest
became
forêt
hospital
became
hôpital
, and
hostel
became
hôtel
Diaeresis
or
tréma
): over
or
, indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one:
naïve
Noël
clarification needed
The combination of
with diaeresis following
oë
[ɔɛ]
) is nasalized in the regular way if followed by
Sam
oë
ns
[wɛ̃]
The combination of
with diaeresis following
is either pronounced
[ɛ]
Raph
aë
Isr
aë
[aɛ]
) or not pronounced, leaving only the
St
aë
[a]
) and the
is nasalized in the regular way if
aë
is followed by
Saint-S
aë
ns
[ɑ̃]
A diaeresis on
only occurs in some proper names and in modern editions of old French texts. Some proper names in which
appears include
Aÿ
(a commune in
Marne
, formerly
Aÿ-Champagne
),
Rue des Cloÿs
(an alley in Paris),
Croÿ
(family name and hotel on the Boulevard Raspail, Paris),
Château du Faÿ
fr
(near
Pontoise
),
Ghÿs
(name of Flemish origin spelt
Ghijs
where
in handwriting looked like
to French clerks),
L'Haÿ-les-Roses
(commune near Paris),
Pierre Louÿs
(author),
Moÿ-de-l'Aisne
(commune in
Aisne
and a family name), and
Le Blanc de Nicolaÿ
(an insurance company in eastern France).
The diaeresis on
appears in the Biblical proper names
Archélaüs
Capharnaüm
Emmaüs
Ésaü
, and
Saül
, as well as French names such as
Haüy
. Nevertheless, since the 1990 orthographic changes, the diaeresis in words containing
guë
(such as
aiguë
or
ciguë
) may be moved onto the
aigüe
cigüe
, and by analogy may be used in verbs such as
j'argüe
In addition, words coming from German retain their
umlaut
and
) if applicable but use often French pronunciation, such as
Kärcher
(trademark of a pressure washer).
The
cedilla
la cédille
(e.g.,
gar
on
—boy) means that the letter
is pronounced
/s/
in front of the back vowels
and
is otherwise
/k/
before a back vowel).
is always pronounced
/s/
in front of the front vowels
, and
; thus
is never found in front of front vowels. This letter is used when a front vowel after ⟨c⟩, such as in
France
or
placer
, is replaced with a back vowel. To retain the pronunciation of the ⟨c⟩, it is given a cedilla, as in
or
plaçons
Accents with no pronunciation effect
The circumflex does not affect the pronunciation of the letters
or
, nor, in most dialects,
. It usually indicates that an
came after it long ago, as in
île
(from former
isle
, compare with English word "isle"). The explanation is that some words share the same orthography, so the circumflex is put here to mark the difference between the two words. For example,
dites
(you say) /
dîtes
(you said), or even
du
(of the) /
dû
(past participle for the verb
devoir
= must, have to, owe; in this case, the circumflex disappears in the plural and the feminine).
All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs
là
and
où
("there", "where") from the article
la
("the" feminine singular) and the conjunction
ou
("or"), respectively.
Some proposals exist to simplify the existing writing system, but they still fail to gather interest.
179
180
181
182
In 1990, a
reform
accepted some changes to French orthography. At the time the proposed changes were considered to be suggestions. In 2016, schoolbooks in France began to use the newer recommended spellings, with instruction to teachers that both old and new spellings be deemed correct.
183
Grammar
Main article:
French grammar
French is a moderately
inflected
language.
Nouns
and most
pronouns
are inflected for
number
(singular or plural, though in most nouns the plural is pronounced the same as the singular even if spelled differently);
adjectives
, for number and
gender
(masculine or feminine) of their nouns;
personal pronouns
and a few other pronouns, for
person
, number, gender, and
case
; and
verbs
, for
tense
aspect
mood
, and the person and number of their
subjects
. Case is primarily marked using
word order
and
prepositions
, while certain verb features are marked using
auxiliary verbs
. According to the French lexicogrammatical system, French has a rank-scale hierarchy with clause as the top rank, which is followed by group rank, word rank, and morpheme rank. A French clause is made up of groups, groups are made up of words, and lastly, words are made up of morphemes.
184
French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including
the loss of
Latin declensions
the loss of the neuter gender
the development of grammatical
articles
from Latin
demonstratives
the loss of certain Latin
tenses
and the creation of new tenses from auxiliaries.
Nouns
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does not
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Every French
noun
is either masculine or feminine. Because French nouns are not inflected for gender, a noun's form cannot specify its gender. For nouns regarding the living, their
grammatical genders
often correspond to that which they refer to. For example, a male teacher is an
enseignant
while a female teacher is an
enseignante
. However, plural nouns that refer to a group that includes both masculine and feminine entities are always masculine. So a group of two male teachers would be
enseignants
. A group of two male teachers and two female teachers would still be
enseignants
. However, a group of two female teachers would be
enseignantes
. In many situations, including in the case of
enseignant
, both the singular and plural form of a noun are pronounced identically. The article used for singular nouns is different from that used for plural nouns and the article provides a distinguishing factor between the two in speech. For example, the singular
le professeur
or
la professeure
(the male or female teacher, professor) can be distinguished from the plural
les professeur(e)s
because
le
/lə/,
la
/la/, and
les
/le(s)/ are all pronounced differently. With
enseignant
, however, for both singular forms the
le
la
becomes
l'
, and so the only difference in pronunciation is that the ⟨t⟩ on the end of masculine form is silent, whereas it is pronounced in the feminine. If the word was to be followed by a word starting with a vowel, then liaison would cause the ⟨t⟩ to be pronounced in both forms, resulting in identical pronunciation. There are also some situations where both the feminine and masculine form of a noun are the same and the article provides the only difference. For example,
le dentiste
refers to a male dentist while
la dentiste
refers to a female dentist. Furthermore, a few nouns' meanings depend on their gender. For example,
un livre
(masculine) refers to a book, while
une livre
a (feminine) is a pound.
Verbs
Main article:
French verbs
Moods and tense-aspect forms
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The French language consists of both finite and non-finite moods. The finite moods include the
indicative mood
indicatif
), the
subjunctive mood
subjonctif
), the
imperative mood
impératif
), and the
conditional mood
conditionnel
). The non-finite moods include the
infinitive
mood (
infinitif
), the
present participle
participe présent
), and the
past participle
participe passé
).
Finite moods
Indicative (
indicatif
The indicative mood makes use of eight tense-aspect forms. These include the
present
présent
), the
simple past
passé composé
and
passé simple
), the
past imperfective
imparfait
), the
pluperfect
plus-que-parfait
), the
simple future
futur simple
), the
future perfect
futur antérieur
), and the
past perfect
passé antérieur
). Some forms are less commonly used today. In today's spoken French, the
passé composé
is used while the
passé simple
is reserved for formal situations or for literary purposes. Similarly, the
plus-que-parfait
is used for speaking rather than the older
passé antérieur
seen in literary works.
Within the indicative mood, the
passé composé
plus-que-parfait
futur antérieur
, and
passé antérieur
all use auxiliary verbs in their forms.
Indicatif
Présent
Imparfait
Passé composé
Passé simple
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st person
j'aime
nous aimons
j'aimais
nous aimions
j'ai aimé
nous avons aimé
j'aimai
nous aimâmes
2nd person
tu aimes
vous aimez
tu aimais
vous aimiez
tu as aimé
vous avez aimé
tu aimas
vous aimâtes
3rd person
il/elle aime
ils/elles aiment
il/elle aimait
ils/elles aimaient
il/elle a aimé
ils/elles ont aimé
il/elle aima
ils/elles aimèrent
Futur simple
Futur antérieur
Plus-que-parfait
Passé antérieur
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st person
j'aimerai
nous aimerons
j'aurai aimé
nous aurons aimé
j'avais aimé
nous avions aimé
j'eus aimé
nous eûmes aimé
2nd person
tu aimeras
vous aimerez
tu auras aimé
vous aurez aimé
tu avais aimé
vous aviez aimé
tu eus aimé
vous eûtes aimé
3rd person
il/elle aimera
ils/elles aimeront
il/elle aura aimé
ils/elles auront aimé
il/elle avait aimé
ils/elles avaient aimé
il/elle eut aimé
ils/elles eurent aimé
Subjunctive (
subjonctif
The subjunctive mood only includes four of the tense-aspect forms found in the indicative: present (
présent
), simple past (
passé composé
), past imperfective (
imparfait
), and pluperfect (
plus-que-parfait
).
Within the subjunctive mood, the passé composé and plus-que-parfait use auxiliary verbs in their forms.
Subjonctif
Présent
Imparfait
Passé composé
Plus-que-parfait
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st person
j'aime
nous aimions
j'aimasse
nous aimassions
j'aie aimé
nous ayons aimé
j'eusse aimé
nous eussions aimé
2nd person
tu aimes
vous aimiez
tu aimasses
vous aimassiez
tu aies aimé
vous ayez aimé
tu eusses aimé
vous eussiez aimé
3rd person
il/elle aime
ils/elles aiment
il/elle aimât
ils/elles aimassent
il/elle ait aimé
ils/elles aient aimé
il/elle eût aimé
ils/elles eussent aimé
Imperative (
imperatif
The imperative is used in the present tense (with the exception of a few instances where it is used in the perfect tense). The imperative is used to give commands to you (
tu
), we/us (
nous
), and plural you (
vous
).
Imperatif
Présent
Singular
Plural
1st person
aimons
2nd person
aime
aimez
Conditional (
conditionnel
The conditional makes use of the present (
présent
) and the past (
passé
).
The passé uses auxiliary verbs in its forms.
Conditionnel
Présent
Passé
Singular
Plural
Singular
Plural
1st person
j'aimerais
nous aimerions
j'aurais aimé
nous aurions aimé
2nd person
tu aimerais
vous aimeriez
tu aurais aimé
vous auriez aimé
3rd person
il/elle aimerait
ils/elles aimeraient
il/elle aurait aimé
ils/elles auraient aimé
Voice
French uses both the
active voice
and the
passive voice
. The active voice is unmarked while the passive voice is formed by using a form of verb
être
("to be") and the past participle.
Example of the active voice:
Elle aime le chien.
" She loves the dog.
Marc a conduit la voiture.
" Marc drove the car.
Example of the passive voice:
Le chien est aimé par elle.
" The dog is loved by her.
La voiture a été conduite par Marc.
" The car was driven by Marc.
However, unless the subject of the sentence is specified, generally the pronoun
on
"one" is used:
On aime le chien.
" The dog is loved. (Literally "one loves the dog.")
On conduit la voiture.
" The car is (being) driven. (Literally "one drives the car.")
Word order is
subject–verb–object
although a pronoun object precedes the verb. Some types of sentences allow for or require different word orders, in particular
inversion
of the subject and verb, as in "
Parlez-vous français ?
" when asking a question rather than "
Vous parlez français ?
" Both formulations are used, and carry a rising inflection on the last word. The literal English translations are "Do you speak French?" and "You speak French?", respectively. To avoid inversion while asking a question, "
Est-ce que
" (literally "is it that") may be placed at the beginning of the sentence. "
Parlez-vous français ?
" may become "
Est-ce que vous parlez français ?
" French also uses
verb–object–subject
(VOS) and
object–subject–verb
(OSV) word order. OSV word order is not used often and VOS is reserved for formal writings.
33
Vocabulary
Root languages of
loanwords
185
(25.1%)
Other
Germanic languages
(20.6%)
Italian
(16.8%)
Other
Romance languages
(15.3%)
Celtic
(3.81%)
Persian
and
Sanskrit
(2.67%)
Native American
(2.41%)
Other Asian languages (2.12%)
Afro-Asiatic
(6.45%)
Balto-Slavic
(1.31%)
Basque
(0.24%)
Other languages (3.43%)
The majority of French words derive from
Vulgar Latin
or were constructed from
Latin
or
Greek
roots. In many cases, a single etymological root appears in French in a "popular" or native form, inherited from Vulgar Latin, and a learned form, borrowed later from
Classical Latin
. The following pairs consist of a native noun and a learned adjective:
brother:
frère
fraternel
from Latin
frater
fraternalis
finger:
doigt
digital
from Latin
digitus
digitalis
faith:
foi
fidèle
from Latin
fides
fidelis
eye:
œil
oculaire
from Latin
oculus
ocularis
However, a historical tendency to
Gallicise
Latin roots can be identified, whereas English conversely leans towards a more direct incorporation of the Latin:
rayonnement
radiation
from Latin
radiatio
éteindre
extinguish
from Latin
exstinguere
noyau
nucleus
from Latin
nucleus
ensoleillement
insolation
from Latin
insolatio
There are also noun-noun and adjective-adjective pairs:
thing/cause:
chose
cause
from Latin
causa
cold:
froid
frigide
from Latin
frigidum
It can be difficult to identify the Latin source of native French words because in the evolution from
Vulgar Latin
, unstressed syllables were severely reduced and the remaining vowels and consonants underwent significant modifications.
More recently (1994) the linguistic policy (
Toubon Law
) of the French language academies of France and Quebec has been to provide French equivalents
186
to (mainly English) imported words, either by using existing vocabulary, extending its meaning or deriving a new word according to French morphological rules. The result is often two (or more) co-existing terms for describing the same phenomenon.
mercatique
marketing
finance fantôme
shadow banking
bloc-notes
notepad
ailière
wingsuit
tiers-lieu
coworking
It is estimated that 12% (4,200) of common French words found in a typical
dictionary
such as the
Petit Larousse
or
Micro-Robert Plus
(35,000 words) are of foreign origin (where
Greek
and
Latin
learned words are not seen as foreign). About 25% (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707 words from Italian, 550 from ancient
Germanic languages
, 481 from other
Gallo-Romance languages
, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160 from
Celtic languages
, 159 from Spanish, 153 from
Dutch
, 112 from
Persian
and
Sanskrit
, 101 from
Native American languages
, 89 from other
Asian languages
, 56 from other
Afro-Asiatic languages
, 55 from
Balto-Slavic languages
, 10 from
Basque
and 144 (about 3%) from other languages.
185
One study analyzing the similarity of seven Romance languages to Vulgar Latin in terms of accent vocalization estimated that among the languages analyzed, French was the most differentiated language from Vulgar Latin in this respect.
187
The French language's
lexical similarity
to a selection of other Romance languages is 89% with Italian, 80% with Sardinian, 78% with Rhaeto-Romance, and 75% with Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese.
188
Numerals
The numeral system used in the majority of Francophone countries employs both
decimal
and
vigesimal
counting. After the use of unique names for the numbers 1–16, those from 17 to 69 are counted by tens, while
twenty
vingt
) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 70 to 99. The French word for 80 is
quatre-vingts
, literally "four twenties", and the word for
75
is
soixante-quinze
, literally "sixty-fifteen". The vigesimal method of counting is analogous to the archaic English use of
score
, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).
Belgian
Swiss
, and
Aostan French
189
as well as that used in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rwanda
and
Burundi
, use different names for 70 and 90, namely
septante
and
nonante
. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, 80 can be
quatre-vingts
(Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or
huitante
(Vaud, Valais, Fribourg). The
Aosta Valley
similarly uses
huitante
189
for 80. Conversely, Belgium and in its former African colonies use
quatre-vingts
for 80.
In
Old French
(during the
Middle Ages
), all numbers from 30 to 99 could be said in either base 10 or base 20, e.g.
vint et doze
(twenty and twelve) for 32,
dous vinz et diz
(two twenties and ten) for 50,
uitante
for 80, or
nonante
for 90.
190
The term
octante
was historically used in Switzerland for 80, but is now considered archaic.
191
French, like most European languages, uses a space to separate thousands.
192
The comma (French:
virgule
) is used in French numbers as a decimal point, i.e. "2,5" instead of "2.5". In the case of currencies, the currency markers are substituted for decimal point, i.e. "5$7" for "5 dollars and 7
cents
".
Example text
Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in French:
Tous les êtres humains naissent libres et égaux en dignité et en droits. Ils sont doués de raison et de conscience et doivent agir les uns envers les autres dans un esprit de fraternité.
193
Article 1 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
in English:
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
194
See also
France portal
Language portal
Alliance Française
– International network for the promotion of the French language and culture
Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
AZERTY
– Keyboard layout used for French
Français fondamental
– Simplified version of French
Francization
– Expansion of the French language
Francophile
– Strong interest in or love of French people, culture, and history
Francophobia
– Hostility towards French people
Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Francophonie
– French-speaking world
French language in Canada
French language in the United States
French poetry
– Poetry written in French
Glossary of French expressions in English
Influence of French on English
Language education
– Process and practice of acquiring a language
List of countries where French is an official language
List of English words of French origin
List of French loanwords in Persian
List of French words and phrases used by English speakers
List of German words of French origin
Official bilingualism in Canada
– Policy of equal status for English and French languages
Varieties of French
Notes
Dots: cities with native transmission, typically a minority.
29 full members of the
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
(OIF):
Benin
Burkina Faso
Burundi
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Comoros
DR Congo
Republic of the Congo
Côte d'Ivoire
Djibouti
Egypt
Equatorial Guinea
Gabon
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Madagascar
Mali
Mauritania
Mauritius
Morocco
Niger
Rwanda
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Seychelles
Togo
, and
Tunisia
One associate member of the OIF:
Ghana
Two observers of the OIF:
Gambia
and
Mozambique
One country not member or observer of the OIF:
Algeria
Two French territories in Africa:
Réunion
and
Mayotte
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at
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"...sixty-eight or more Celtic words in standard Latin; not all of these came down into Romance.... did not survive among the people. Vulgar speech in Gaul used many others... at least 361 words of Gaulish provenance in French and Provençal. These Celtic words fell into more homely types than... borrowings from Germanː agriculture... household effects... animals... food and drink... trees... body -- 17 (
dor
durnu
), dress... construction... birds... fish... insects...
pièce
< *
pettia
, and the remainder divided among weapons, religion, literature, music, persons, sickness and mineral. It is evident that the peasants were the last to hold to their Celtic. The count on the Celtic element was made by Leslie Moss at the University of North Carolina... based on unanimity of agreement among the best lexicographers...
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13 May 2012 at the
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Ortofasil writing system proposal
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(in French)
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(in French)
Ortograf.net writing system proposal
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{{
cite book
}}
ISBN / Date incompatibility (
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5 April
2015
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Further reading
Marc Fumaroli (2011).
When the World Spoke French
. Translated by Richard Howard. New York Review of Books.
ISBN
978-1-59017-375-6
Nadeau, Jean-Benoît, and Julie Barlow (2006).
The Story of French
. (First U.S. ed.) New York: St. Martin's Press.
ISBN
0-312-34183-0
Ursula Reutner
(2017).
Manuel des francophonies
. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter.
ISBN
978-3-11-034670-1
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