French language
French | |
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français | |
Pronunciation | [fʁɑ̃sɛ] |
Native to | France, now worldwide (See geographical distribution below) |
Native speakers
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80 million (2016)[1] 274 million total speakers (2014)[2][3] |
Early forms
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Old French
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Latin (French alphabet) French Braille |
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Signed French (français signé) |
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Official status | |
Official language in
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Numerous international organisations |
Regulated by | Académie française (French Academy) |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | fr |
ISO 639-2 | fre (B) fra (T) |
ISO 639-3 | fra |
Glottolog | stan1290 [4] |
Linguasphere | 51-AAA-i |
Regions where French is the main language
Regions where it is an official language
Regions where it is a second language
Regions where it is a minority language
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Part of a series on the |
French language |
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History |
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Grammar |
Orthography |
Phonology |
French (le français [lə fʁɑ̃sɛ] ( listen) or la langue française [la lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛz]) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as all Romance languages. French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically 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) has largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as "Francophone" in both English and French.
French is an official language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie, the community of French-speaking countries. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the highest number) in France, the Canadian province of Quebec, the region of Wallonia in Belgium, western Switzerland, Monaco, certain other regions of Canada and the United States, and by various communities elsewhere. As of 2015, 40% of the francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania.[5]
French is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union.[6] 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language.[7] As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa and Asia. Most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast.[8] In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers,[5][9] and 190 million secondary speakers.[10] Approximately 270 million people are able to speak the language.[11] According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la francophonie, total French speakers will number approximately 500 million people in 2025 and 650 million people by 2050.[12] The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa.[5]
French has a long history as an international language of commerce, diplomacy, literature, and scientific standards and is an official language of many international organisations including the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, the WTO, the International Olympic Committee, and the ICRC. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese.[13]
Geographic distribution[edit]
Europe[edit]
Spoken by 12% of the European Union's population, French is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the EU after German, English and Italian; it is also the third-most widely known language of the Union after English and German (33% of the EU population report knowing how to speak English, 22% of Europeans understand German, 20% French).[6][15]
Under the Constitution of France, French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992[16] (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 (though these dispositions[clarification needed] are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words.
In Belgium, French is the 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 often as their primary language.[17]
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 Romandie, 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 Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais, Fribourg and Berne. French is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50.4%[18] of the population.
French is also an official language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley (Italy), while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands and in Andorra.
Africa[edit]
A plurality of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 Francophone countries can speak French as either a first or a second language.[8] This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language.[8] Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050.[20] French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign language).[21][22]
French is mostly a second language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast[23] and in Libreville, Gabon.[24] There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages.[25]
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.[26] It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years.[27][28] Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries,[29] but written forms of the language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world.
North and South America[edit]
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170127062948im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Arret.jpg/170px-Arret.jpg)
French is the second most common language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29.4% and the second language for 2.07 million or 6.4% of the entire population of Canada.[9] French is the sole official language in the province of Quebec, being the mother tongue for some 7 million people, or almost 80.1% (2006 Census) of the province. About 95.0% of the people of Quebec speak French as either their first or second language, and for some as their third language. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal, which is the world's 4th-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers.[30] 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, comprising just under 4% of the population.[31] Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario, the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are to be 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, 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 city of Ottawa, the Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it is on the other side of a river from Quebec, opposite the major city of Gatineau, and is required to offer governmental services in French as well as English.[citation needed]
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According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth[32] 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 remains the second most-spoken language in the states of Louisiana, Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire. Louisiana is home to many distinct dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French. Cajun French has the largest number of speakers, mostly living in Acadiana. According to the 2000 United States Census, there are over 194,000 people in Louisiana who speak French at home, the most of any state if Creole French is excluded.[33] 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.[34]
French is one of Haiti's two official languages. It is the principal language of writing, school instruction, and administrative use. It is spoken by all educated Haitians and is used in the business sector. It is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church masses. About 70–80% of the country's population have Haitian Creole as their first language; the rest speak French as a first language. The second official language is the recently standardized Haitian Creole, which virtually the entire population of Haiti speaks. Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages, drawing the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. Haitian Creole is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles.[35]
French is the official language of both French Guiana,[36] adjacent to Brazil and Suriname in South America, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon,[37] an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America.
Asia[edit]
Southeast Asia[edit]
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 years.[38] 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.[39] Since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the main foreign language of choice by English. French nevertheless maintains its colonial legacy by being spoken as a second language by the elderly and elite populations and is presently being revived in higher education and continues to be a diplomatic language in Vietnam.
Middle East[edit]
Lebanon[edit]
A former French colony, 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".[40] French language in Lebanon is widely used as a second language by the Lebanese people, and is taught in many schools as a secondary language along with Arabic and English. The language is also used on Lebanese pound bank notes, 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.[41] 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.[42] 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.[43] On social media, French was used on Facebook by just 10% of Lebanese in 2014, far behind English (78%).
Syria[edit]
Similarly to Lebanon, Syria was also a French League of Nations-mandate area until 1943, but the French language is largely extinct in the country and is only limited to some members of the elite and middle classes.
Israel[edit]
A significant French-speaking community is also present in Israel, primarily among the communities of French Jews in Israel, Moroccan Jews in Israel and Lebanese Jews. Many secondary schools offer French as a foreign language.
United Arab Emirates and Qatar[edit]
The UAE has the status in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie as an observer state, and Qatar has the status in the organization as an associate state. However, in both countries French is not spoken by almost any of the general population or migrant workers, but spoken by a small minority of those who invest in Francophone countries or have other financial or family ties. Their entrance as observer and associate states respectively into the organisation was aided a good deal by their investments into the Organisation and France itself.[44]
Oceania and Australasia[edit]
![](http://web.archive.org./web/20170127062948im_/https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/CFP_500_recto.jpg/170px-CFP_500_recto.jpg)
French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu where 45% of the population can speak French.[45] In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia, 97% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas only 1% have no knowledge of French.[46] In French Polynesia, 95% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas only 2% have no knowledge of French.[47] In the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna, 78% of the population can speak, read and write French, whereas 17% have no knowledge of French.[48]
Dialects[edit]
- Acadian French
- African French including sub-branch Maghreb French (North African French)
- Aostan French
- Belgian French
- Cambodian French
- Canadian French
- Cajun French
- Guianese French
- Haitian French
- Indian French
- Jersey Legal French
- Lao French
- Louisiana French
- Meridional French
- Metropolitan French
- Missouri French
- New Caledonian French
- Newfoundland French
- New England French
- Quebec French
- South East Asian French
- Swiss French
- Vietnamese French
- West Indian French
History[edit]
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.
French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations (lingua franca) in the 17th century. 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.[49][50] Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was also written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language.[51]
Current status and economic, cultural and institutional importance[edit]
French remains one of the most important diplomatic languages,[24][unreliable source?] with the language being one of the official languages of the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization of American States, the Eurovision Song Contest, the European Space Agency, World Trade Organisation and the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Médecins sans Frontières, and Médecins du Monde.[52] Given the demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, Forbes released an article in 2014 which claimed that French "could be the language of the future".[53]
French is a court language. It is one of the official languages of the main international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies such 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, the World Trade Organization Appellate Body, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Court of Human Rights.[54]
In 1997, George Werber published in Language Today a comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages".[55] In his article, Werber ranked French as being the second – after English – most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish.[55] His criteria were not solely the numbers of native speakers, but also included the number of secondary speakers (which tends to be specially high for French among fellow world languages); the economic power of the countries using the language; the number of major areas in which the language is used; the number of countries using the language, and their respective population; and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Werber highlighted in particular that French benefits from a considerable linguistic prestige).[55] In 2008, Werber reassessed his article, and concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged."[55]
Knowledge of French is widely considered to be a crucial skill for 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%).[56]
Phonology[edit]
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.
- Nasals: The velar nasal /ŋ/ can occur in final position in borrowed (usually English) words: parking, camping, swing. The palatal nasal /ɲ/ can occur in word initial position (e.g., gnon), but it is most frequently found in intervocalic, onset position or word-finally (e.g., montagne).
- Fricatives: French has three pairs of homorganic fricatives distinguished by voicing, i.e., labiodental /f/~/v/, dental /s/~/z/, and palato-alveolar /ʃ/~/ʒ/. Notice that /s/~/z/ are dental, like the plosives /t/~/d/ and the nasal /n/.
- French has one rhotic whose pronunciation varies considerably among speakers and phonetic contexts. In general, it is described as a voiced uvular fricative, as in [ʁu] roue, "wheel". Vowels are often lengthened before this segment. It can be reduced to an approximant, particularly in final position (e.g., fort), or reduced to zero in some word-final positions. For other speakers, a uvular trill is also common, and an apical trill [r] occurs in some dialects.
- Lateral and central approximants: The lateral approximant /l/ is unvelarised in both onset (lire) and coda position (il). In the onset, the central approximants [w], [ɥ], and [j] each correspond to a high vowel, /u/, /y/, and /i/ respectively. There are a few minimal pairs where the approximant and corresponding vowel contrast, but there are also many cases where they are in free variation. Contrasts between /j/ and /i/ occur in final position as in /pɛj/ paye, "pay", vs. /pɛi/ pays, "country".
French pronunciation follows strict rules based on spelling, but French spelling is often based more on history than phonology. The rules for pronunciation vary between dialects, but the standard rules are:
- final consonants: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n, p and g are normally silent. (A consonant is considered "final" when no vowel follows it even if one or more consonants follow it.) The final letters f, k, q, and l, however, are normally pronounced. The final c is sometimes pronounced like in bac, sac, roc but can also be silent like in blanc or estomac. The final r is usually silent when it follows an e 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 s in les amants or vous avez; some are optional, depending on dialect and register, for example, the first s in deux cents euros or euros irlandais; and some are forbidden, for example, the s in beaucoup d'hommes aiment. The t of et is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in set phrases like pied-à-terre.
- Doubling a final n and adding a silent e at the end of a word (e.g., chien → chienne) makes it clearly pronounced. Doubling a final l and adding a silent e (e.g., gentil → gentille) adds a [j] sound if the l is preceded by the letter i.
- elision or vowel dropping: Some monosyllabic function words ending in a or e, such as je and que, drop their final vowel when placed before a word that begins with a vowel sound (thus avoiding a hiatus). The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g., *je ai is instead pronounced and spelled → j'ai). This gives, for example, the same pronunciation for l'homme qu'il a vu ("the man whom he saw") and l'homme qui l'a vu ("the man who saw him"). However, for Belgian French the sentences are pronounced differently; in the first sentence the syllable break is as "qu'il-a", while the second breaks as "qui-l'a". It can also be noted that, in Quebec French, the second example (l'homme qui l'a vu) is more emphasized on l'a vu.
Writing system[edit]
Alphabet[edit]
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 not usually used now because of the French official keyboard. Yet, they cannot be changed for "oe" and "ae" in formal and literary texts. "æ" is sometimes replaced with "é" (from Latin loanwords, like "ténia" not "tænia").
Orthography[edit]
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-)]
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.
On the other hand, a given spelling usually leads to a predictable sound. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.
French writing, as with any language, is affected by the spoken language. In Old French, the plural for animal was animals. The /als/ sequence was unstable 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) by the letter x, resulting in a written form animax. As the French language further evolved, the pronunciation of au turned into /o/ so that the u 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: n and m. When n or m follows a vowel or diphthong, the n or m becomes silent and causes the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e., pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to allow part of the air to leave through the nostrils). Exceptions are when the n or m is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes en- and em- are always nasalized. The rules are more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
- Digraphs: French uses not only diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, but also specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended.
- Gemination: Within words, double consonants are generally not pronounced as geminates in modern French (but geminates can be heard in the cinema or TV news from as recently as the 1970s, and in very refined elocution they may still occur). For example, illusion is pronounced [ilyzjɔ̃] and not [ilːyzjɔ̃]. But gemination does occur between words. For example, une info ("a news item" or "a piece of information") is pronounced [ynɛ̃fo], whereas une nympho ("a nymphomaniac") is pronounced [ynːɛ̃fo].
- Accents are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes based on etymology alone.
- Accents that affect pronunciation
- The acute accent (l'accent aigu) é (e.g., école—school) means that the vowel is pronounced /e/ instead of the default /ə/.
- The grave accent (l'accent grave) è (e.g., élève—pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced /ɛ/ instead of the default /ə/.
- The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe) ê (e.g. forêt—forest) shows that an e is pronounced /ɛ/ and that an ô is pronounced /o/. In standard French, it also signifies a pronunciation of /ɑ/ for the letter â, but this differentiation is disappearing. In the mid-18th century, the circumflex was used in place of s after a vowel, where that letter s was not pronounced. Thus, forest became forêt and hospital became hôpital.
- The diaeresis (le tréma) (e.g., naïf—naive, Noël—Christmas) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one, not combined, and is not a schwa.
- The cedilla (la cédille) ç (e.g., garçon—boy) means that the letter ç is pronounced /s/ in front of the back vowels a, o and u (c is otherwise /k/ before a back vowel). C is always pronounced /s/ in front of the front vowels e, i, and y, thus ç is never found in front of front vowels.
- Accents with no pronunciation effect
- The circumflex does not affect the pronunciation of the letters i or u , nor, in most dialects, a. It usually indicates that an s came after it long ago, as in île (isle, compare with English island). 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 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.
- Accents that affect pronunciation
Some proposals exist to simplify the existing writing system, but they still fail to gather interest.[57][58][59][60]
In 1990, a reform accepted some changes.
Grammar[edit]
French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including
- the loss of Latin declensions
- only two grammatical genders
- the development of grammatical articles from Latin demonstratives
- new tenses formed from auxiliaries
French declarative 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 like "Parlez-vous français ?" when asking a question rather than just "Vous parlez français ?" Both questions mean the same thing; however, a rising inflection is always used on both of them whenever asking a question, especially on the second one. Specifically, the first translates into "Do you speak French?" while the second one is literally just "You speak French?" To avoid inversion while asking a question, 'Est-ce que' (literally 'is it that') may be placed in the beginning of the sentence. "Parlez-vous français ?" may become "Est-ce que vous parlez français ?"
Vocabulary[edit]
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
- éteindre / extinguish
- noyau / nucleus
- surhomme / superman
- ensoleillement / insolation
There are also noun-noun and adjective-adjective pairs:
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 the linguistic policy of the French language academies of France and Quebec has been to provide French equivalents 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, with varying rates of success for the French equivalent.
- 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 Slavic languages and Baltic languages, 10 from Basque and 144 (about 3%) from other languages.[61]
One study analyzing the degree of differentiation of Romance languages in comparison to Latin estimated that among the languages analyzed French has the greatest distance from Latin.[62] Lexical similarity is 89% with Italian, 80% with Sardinian, 78% with Rhaeto-Romance, and 75% with Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese.[63][64][63]
Numerals[edit]
The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 80 to 99.
The French word for 80 is quatre-vingts, literally "four twenties", and the word for 75 is soixante-quinze, literally "sixty-fifteen". This reform arose after the French Revolution to unify the different counting systems (mostly vigesimal near the coast, because of Celtic (via Breton) and Viking influences).
This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).
In Old French (during the Middle Ages), all numbers from 30 to 99 could be said in either base 10 or base 20, e.g. vint et doze (twenty and twelve) for 32, dous vinz et diz (two twenties and ten) for 50, uitante for 80, or nonante for 90.[65]
Belgian French, Swiss French, Aostan French[66] and the French used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi are different in this respect.
In Belgium, Switzerland and in the Aosta Valley, 70 and 90 are septante and nonante. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, 80 can be quatre-vingts (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or huitante (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg). Octante had been used in Switzerland in the past, but is now considered archaic,[67] while in the Aosta Valley 80 is huitante.[66] In Belgium and in its former African colonies, however, quatre-vingts is universally used.
It should also be noted that French, like most European languages, uses a space to separate thousands[68] where English uses a comma or (more recently) a space. The comma is used in French numbers as a decimal point: 2,5 = deux virgule cinq.
Units[edit]
Cardinal numbers in French, from 1 to 20, are as follows:
- One: un/une /œ̃/ (m) ~ /yn/ (f)
- Two: deux /dø/
- Three: trois /tʁwɑ/
- Four: quatre /katʁ/
- Five: cinq /sɛ̃k/
- Six: six /sis/
- Seven: sept /sɛt/
- Eight: huit /ɥit/
- Nine: neuf[a] /nœf/
- Ten: dix /dis/
- Eleven: onze /ɔ̃z/
- Twelve: douze /duz/
- Thirteen: treize /tʁɛz/
- Fourteen: quatorze /katɔʁz/
- Fifteen: quinze /kɛ̃z/
- Sixteen: seize /sɛz/
- Seventeen: dix-sept /dissɛt/
- Eighteen: dix-huit /diz‿ɥit/
- Nineteen: dix-neuf /diznœf/
- Twenty: vingt /vɛ̃/
After Twenty, numbers use base ten logic (vingt et un, vingt-deux, vingt-trois...)
Tens[edit]
Cardinal numbers in French, by tens from 10 to 100, are as follows:
- Ten: dix /dis/
- Twenty: vingt /vɛ̃/
- Thirty: trente /tʁɑ̃t/
- Forty: quarante /ka.ʁɑ̃t/
- Fifty: cinquante /sɛ̃.kɑ̃t/
- Sixty: soixante /swa.sɑ̃t/
- Seventy: soixante-dix /swa.sɑ̃t.dis/ or septante[b] /sɛp.tɑ̃t/
- Eighty: quatre-vingts /ka.tʁɘ.vɛ̃/, huitante[c] /ɥi.tɑ̃t/ or octante[d] /ɔk.tɑ̃t/
- Ninety: quatre-vingt-dix /ka.tʁɘ.vɛ̃.dis/ or nonante[e] /nɔ.nɑ̃t/
- One hundred: cent /sɑ̃(t)/
After One hundred, numbers use base ten logic (cent dix, cent vingt, cent trente...)
Hundreds[edit]
Cardinal numbers in French, by hundreds from 100 to 2000, are as follows:
- One hundred: cent /sɑ̃(t)/
- Two hundred: deux cents
- Three hundred: trois cents, (Archaism: quinze-vingts)
- Four hundred: quatre cents
- Five hundred: cinq cents
- Six hundred: six cents
- Seven hundred: sept cents
- Eight hundred: huit cents
- Nine hundred: neuf cents
- One thousand: mille[f]
- One thousand one hundred: onze cents or mille cent[g]
- One thousand two hundred: douze cents or mille deux cents[g]
- One thousand three hundred: treize cents or mille trois cents[g]
- One thousand four hundred: quatorze cents or mille quatre cents[g]
- One thousand five hundred: quinze cents or mille cinq cents[g]
- One thousand six hundred: seize cents or mille six cents[g]
- One thousand seven hundred: dix-sept cents or mille sept cents
- One thousand eight hundred: dix-huit cents or mille huit cents
- One thousand nine hundred: dix-neuf cents or mille neuf cents
- Two thousand: deux mille
After deux mille (2000), only the second option is used (deux mille cent, deux mille deux cents, deux mille trois cents...)
The words vingt and cent take the plural -s only when they are the last word of the number: quatre-vingts (eighty) and quatre-vingt-un (eighty-one), cinq cents (five hundred) and cinq cent trente (five hundred and thirty). When a number using vingt or cent is used as an ordinal numeral adjective, the words vingt or cent stay unchanged.[73]
Scales[h][edit]
Cardinal numbers in French, by exponentiation points, from 100 to 1020, are as follows:
- One: un/une /œ̃/ (m) ~ /yn/ (f)
- Ten: dix /dis/
- One hundred: cent /sɑ̃(t)/
- One thousand: mille /mil/
- Ten thousand: dix mille
- Hundred thousand: cent mille
- One million: un million /mi.ljɔ̃/
- Ten million: dix millions
- Hundred million: cent millions
- One billion: un milliard
- Ten billion: dix milliards
- Hundred billion: cent milliards
- One trillion: un billion /bi.ljɔ̃/
- Ten trillion: dix billions
- Hundred trillion: cent billions
- One quadrillion: un billiard
- Ten quadrillion: dix billiards
- Hundred quadrillion: cent billiards
- One quintillion: un trillion
- Ten quintillion: dix trillions
- Hundred quintillion: cent trillions
Notes
- ^ It has been suggested that Nine and New homophonographs are related and that it would be an unusual preservation of the octal number system speculated to be formerly used in proto-Indo-European language, though the evidence supporting this is slim.[69]
- ^ Septante is used in Belgium and in Switzerland. Its use is dated in Eastern France and archaic elsewhere in France.
- ^ Huitante is used in Vaud, Valais, Fribourg, archaic in France.
- ^ Octante is used, but dated, in Romandie and in Southern France. Its use is archaic in other parts of France.
- ^ Nonante is used in Belgium, Switzerland and, dated, in Eastern France, archaic in other parts of France.
- ^ Formerly singular of the now invariable mille, mil is now only used in formal documents to write dates between mil un (1001) and mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf (1999).[70]
- ^ a b c d e f While both styles are correct and concurrently used, numbers above mille and under deux mille are usually counted by hundreds from onze cents up to seize cent quatre-vingt-dix-neuf and are then indifferently counted both styles[71] in informal language while the count by adding hundreds to one thousand, like in mille cent, mille six cents, is favoured in written language, especially in juridical, administrative and scientific works.[72]
- ^ Nota Bene that English use the short scale while French use the long scale.
Words[edit]
English | French | Quebec accent | Touraine accent |
---|---|---|---|
French | Français (people) or français (language) | ![]() |
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English | Anglais (people) or anglais (language) | ![]() |
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Yes | Oui (si when countering an assertion or a question expressed in the negative) | ![]() |
![]() |
No | Non | ![]() |
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Hello! | Bonjour ! (formal) or Salut ! (informal) or "Allô" (Quebec French or when answering on the telephone) | [bõʒuːʁ] | ![]() |
Good evening! | Bonsoir ! | [bõswɑːʁ] | ![]() |
Good night! | Bonne nuit ! | [bɔn nɥi] | ![]() |
Goodbye! | Au revoir ! | ![]() |
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Have a nice day! | Bonne journée ! | ![]() |
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Please/if you please | S’il vous plaît (formal) or S’il te plaît (informal) | ![]() |
![]() |
Thank you | Merci | [mɛʁsi] | ![]() |
You are welcome | De rien (informal) or Ce n’est rien (informal) ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) or Je t’en prie (informal) or Bienvenue (Quebec) | [də ʁjẽ] | ![]() |
I am sorry | Pardon or Désolé or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female) or Excuse-moi (informal) / Excusez-moi (formal) / "Je regrette" | ![]() ![]() |
![]() ![]() |
Who? | Qui ? | ![]() |
![]() |
What? | Quoi ? (←informal; used as "What?" in English) or Pardon ? (←formal; used the same as "Excuse me?" in English) | [kwa] | ![]() |
When? | Quand ? | ![]() |
![]() |
Where? | Où ? | [u] | ![]() |
Why? | Pourquoi ? | ![]() |
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What is your name? | Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal) or Comment t’appelles-tu ? (informal) | [kɔmã vu z‿aple vu], [kɔmã t‿apɛl t͡sy] | ![]() ![]() |
My name is... | Je m'appelle... | ![]() |
|
Which | Quel/Quels(pl.)/Quelle(fem.) | [kɛl] | [kɛl] |
Because | Parce que / Car | ![]() |
![]() |
Because of | À cause de | [a kou̯z dœ] | ![]() |
Therefore, | Donc | [dõːk] | ![]() |
Maybe | Peut-être | ![]() |
![]() |
How? | Comment ? | [kɔmã] | ![]() |
How much? | Combien ? | [kõbjẽ] | ![]() |
I do not understand. | Je ne comprends pas. | ![]() |
![]() |
Yes, I understand. | Oui, je comprends. Except when responding to a negatively posed question, in which case Si is used preferentially over Oui | ![]() |
![]() |
I agree | Je suis d’accord. "D’accord" can be used without je suis. | [ʒə sɥi dakɑɔ̯ʁ] | [ʒø sɥi dakɔʁ] |
Help! | Au secours ! (à l’aide !) | ![]() |
![]() |
At what time...? | À quelle heure...? | [a kɛl aœ̯ʁ] | [a kɛl œʁ] |
Today | Aujourd'hui | [oʒuʁd͡zɥi] | [oʒuʁdɥi] |
Can you help me, please? | Pouvez-vous m’aider s’il vous plaît ? / Pourriez-vous m’aider s’il vous plaît ? (formal) or Peux-tu m’aider s’il te plaît ? / Pourrais-tu m’aider s’il te plaît (informal) | [puve vu mɛːde sɪl vu plɛ] | [puve vu mede sil vu plɛ] |
Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? | [u sõ le twalɛt] | ![]() |
Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous (l')anglais ? / Est-ce que vous parlez (l')anglais ? | ![]() |
![]() |
I do not speak French. | Je ne parle pas français. | [ʒœ nœ paʁl pɔ fʁãsɛ] | [ʒø nø paʁl pa fʁɒ̃sɛ] |
I do not know. | Je sais pas. (syntax mistake[74] and over-familiar[75]) Je ne sais pas. Je ne sais. (formal, rare) |
![]() [ʒœ n(œ) se pɔ] [ʒœ n(œ) se] |
[ʒø sɛ pa] [ʒø n(ø) sɛ pa] [ʒø n(ø) sɛ] |
I know. | Je sais. | [ʒœ se] | [ʒø sɛ] |
I am thirsty. | J’ai soif. (literally, "I have thirst") | [ʒe swaf] | [ʒe swaf] |
I am hungry. | J’ai faim. (literally, "I have hunger") | [ʒe fẽ] | [ʒɛ fæ̃] |
How are you? / How are things going? / How is everything? | Comment allez-vous ? (formal) or Ça va ? / Comment ça va ? (informal) | [kɔmã t‿ale vu] | [kɔmɒ̃ t‿ale vu] |
I am (very) well / Things are going (very) well // Everything is (very) well | Je vais (très) bien (formal) or Ça va (très) bien. / Tout va (très) bien (informal) | [ʒœ vɛ (tʁɛ) bjẽ] | [ʒø vɛ (tʁɛ) bjæ̃] |
I am (very) bad / Things are (very) bad / Everything is (very) bad | Je vais (très) mal (formal) or Ça va (très) mal / Tout va (très) mal (informal) | [ʒœ vɛ (tʁɛ) mal] | [ʒø vɛ (tʁɛ) mal] |
I am all right/so-so / Everything is all right/so-so | Assez bien or Ça va comme ci, comme ça or simply Ça va.. (Sometimes said: « Couci, couça. », informal: "bof") i.e. « Comme ci, comme ça. ») | [ase bjẽ] | [ase bjæ̃] |
I am fine. | Ça va bien. | [sa vɔ bjẽ] | [sa va bjæ̃] |
(How) may I help you? / Do you need help? / | (Comment) puis-je vous aider ? Avez-vous besoin d'aide ? | [(kɔmã) pɥiʒ vu z‿ɛːde] | [(kɔmɑ̃) pɥiʒ vu z‿ede] |
See also[edit]
- Alliance Française
- Francophonie
- Français fondamental
- Francization
- French language in the United States
- French language in Canada
- French AZERTY keyboard
- French poetry
- French proverbs
- Language education
- 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
- Official bilingualism in Canada
- Francophobia
- Francophilia
- Varieties of French
Notes and references[edit]
- ^ "Ethnologue: French". Retrieved 14 November 2016.
- ^ http://www.thelocal.fr/20141106/french-speakers-world-language-english
- ^ http://www.francophonie.org/Welcome-to-the-International.html
- ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian, eds. (2016). "Standard French". Glottolog 2.7. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
- ^ a b c "The status of French in the world". Retrieved 23 April 2015.
- ^ a b European Commission (June 2012), "Europeans and their Languages" (PDF), Special Eurobarometer 386, Europa, p. 5, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-06, retrieved 7 September 2014
- ^ "Why Learn French".
- ^ a b c (French) La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007 published by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Nathan, Paris, 2007.
- ^ a b "Qu'est-ce que la Francophonie?".
- ^ "The World's Most Widely Spoken Languages".
- ^ "French language is on the up, report reveals".
- ^ "Agora: La francophonie de demain". Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ Lauerman, John (30 August 2011). "Mandarin Chinese Most Useful Business Language After English". Bloomberg Business. New York. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015.
French, spoken by 68 million people worldwide and the official language of 27 countries, was ranked second [to Mandarin].
- ^ EUROPA, data for EU25, published before 2007 enlargement.
- ^ "Language knowledge in Europe".
- ^ Novoa, Cristina; Moghaddam, Fathali M. (2014). "Applied Perspectives: Policies for Managing Cultural Diversity". In Benet-Martínez, Verónica; Hong, Ying-Yi. The Oxford Handbook of Multicultural Identity. Oxford Library of Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 468. ISBN 978-0-19-979669-4. LCCN 2014006430. OCLC 871965715.
It is important to note, however, that not all countries have an official language. Until 1992, France had discouraged the use of regional languages ... in schools and businesses, but had stopped short of making an official language declaration. In 1992, the government ratified ... a constitutional amendment that made French the sole official language of the Republic ...
- ^ Van Parijs, Philippe, Professor of economic and social ethics at the UCLouvain, Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the KULeuven. "Belgium's new linguistic challenge" (PDF). KVS Express (supplement to newspaper De Morgen) March–April 2006: Article from original source (pdf 4.9 MB) pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy – Directorate–general Statistics Belgium. Archived from the original (pdf 0.7 MB) on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 5 May 2007. – The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimates of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.
- ^ Le français et les langues ... – Google Books. Books.google.com. 1 January 2007. ISBN 978-2-87747-881-6. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- ^ United Nations. "World Population Prospects: The 2015 Revision" (XLS). Retrieved 2015-08-23.
- ^ "French language growing, especially in Africa – Francophonie – RFI". Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- ^ "Agora: La francophonie de demain". Retrieved 2011-06-13.
- ^ "Bulletin de liaison du réseau démographie" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- ^ (French) Le français à Abidjan : Pour une approche syntaxique du non-standard by Katja Ploog, CNRS Editions, Paris, 2002.
- ^ a b "L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde". CEFAN (Chaire pour le développement de la recherche sur la culture d’expression française en Amérique du Nord, Université Laval (in French). Jacques Leclerc. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- ^ (French) "En Afrique, il est impossible de parler d'une forme unique du français mais..."
- ^ France-Diplomatie Archived 27 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. "Furthermore, the demographic growth of Southern hemisphere countries leads us to anticipate a new increase in the overall number of French speakers."
- ^ (French) "Le français, langue en évolution. Dans beaucoup de pays francophones, surtout sur le continent africain, une proportion importante de la population ne parle pas couramment le français (même s'il est souvent la langue officielle du pays). Ce qui signifie qu'au fur et à mesure que les nouvelles générations vont à l'école, le nombre de francophones augmente : on estime qu'en 2015, ceux-ci seront deux fois plus nombreux qu'aujourd'hui."
- ^ (French) c) Le sabir franco-africain: "C'est la variété du français la plus fluctuante. Le sabir franco-africain est instable et hétérogène sous toutes ses formes. Il existe des énoncés où les mots sont français mais leur ordre reste celui de la langue africaine. En somme, autant les langues africaines sont envahies par les structures et les mots français, autant la langue française se métamorphose en Afrique, donnant naissance à plusieurs variétés."
- ^ (French) République centrafricaine: Il existe une autre variété de français, beaucoup plus répandue et plus permissive : le français local. C'est un français très influencé par les langues centrafricaines, surtout par le sango. Cette variété est parlée par les classes non instruites, qui n'ont pu terminer leur scolarité. Ils utilisent ce qu'ils connaissent du français avec des emprunts massifs aux langues locales. Cette variété peut causer des problèmes de compréhension avec les francophones des autres pays, car les interférences linguistiques, d'ordre lexical et sémantique, sont très importantes. (One example of a variety of African French that is difficult to understand for European French speakers).
- ^ "What are the largest French-speaking cities in the world? | Tourist Maker". Retrieved 2016-10-06.
- ^ "Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)". 2.statcan.ca. December 7, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
- ^ Language Use in the United States: 2011, American Community Survey Reports, Camille Ryan, Issued August 2013
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3 – Language Spoken at Home: 2000.
- ^ Ammon, Ulrich; International Sociological Association (1989). Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 306–308. ISBN 0-89925-356-3. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- ^ Ministère de l'Éducation nationale
- ^ French Guiana History, Language and Culture at World Travel Guide
- ^ Saint Pierre and Miquelon at CIA World Factbook
- ^ French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms, International Herald Tribune, 16 October 1993: "In both Cambodia and Laos, French remains the official second language of government."
- ^ "The role of English in Vietnam's foreign language policy: A brief history". The role of English in Vietnam's foreign language policy: A brief history.
- ^ Prof. Dr. Axel Tschentscher, LL.M. "Article 11 of the Lebanese Constitution". Servat.unibe.ch. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
- ^ OIF 2014, p. 217.
- ^ OIF 2014, p. 218.
- ^ OIF 2014, p. 358.
- ^ [1]
- ^ Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. "Estimation du nombre de francophones dans le monde1" (PDF). Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- ^ INSEE, Government of France. "P9-1 – Population de 14 ans et plus selon la connaissance du français, le sexe, par commune, "zone" et par province de résidence" (XLS) (in French). Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- ^ Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF). "Recensement 2007 – Langues : Chiffres clés" (in French). Archived from the original on 8 September 2009. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- ^ INSEE, Government of France. "Tableau Pop_06_1 : Population selon le sexe, la connaissance du français et l'âge décennal" (XLS) (in French). Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- ^ The World's 10 Most Influential Languages Top Languages. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- ^ The French language today: a linguistic introductionGoogle Books Retrieved 27 June 2011
- ^ Meisler, Stanley. "Seduction Still Works : French—a Language in Decline." Los Angeles Times. March 1, 1986. p. 2. Retrieved on May 18, 2013.
- ^ The French Ministry of Foreign affairs. "France-Diplomatie - Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development". France Diplomatie :: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development.
- ^ Want To Know The Language Of The Future? The Data Suggests It Could Be...French, Forbes, March 21, 2014
- ^ On the Linguistic Design of Multinational Courts—The French Capture, forthcoming in 14 INT’L J. CONST. L. (2016), Mathilde Cohen
- ^ a b c d The World's 10 most influential languages, George Werber, 1997, Language Today, retrieved on scribd.com
- ^ Foreign languages 'shortfall' for business, CBI says, Judith Burns, BBC News, 22 June 2014
- ^ (French) Fonétik.fr writing system proposal.
- ^ (French) Ortofasil writing system proposal.
- ^ (French) Alfograf writing system proposal.
- ^ (French) Ortograf.net writing system proposal.
- ^ Walter & Walter 1998.
- ^ Pei, Mario (1949). Story of Language. ISBN 03-9700-400-1.
- ^ a b Ethnologue report for language code:ita (Italy) – Gordon, Raymond G., Jr. (ed.), 2005. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Online version
- ^ Brincat (2005)
- ^ Einhorn, E. (1974). Old French: A Concise Handbook. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-521-09838-6.
- ^ a b Jean-Pierre Martin, Description lexicale du français parlé en Vallée d'Aoste, éd. Musumeci, Quart, 1984.
- ^ "Septante, octante (huitante), nonante". langue-fr.net (in French).. See also the English Wikipedia article on Welsh language, especially the section "Counting system" and its note on the influence of Celtic in the French counting system.
- ^ "Questions de langue: Nombres (écriture, lecture, accord)" (in French). Académie française. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
Dans un souci de lisibilité, on sépare les milliers par une espace insécable dans les nombres exprimant une quantité : 1 000 m, 342 234 euros, 1 234 °C, etc.
En revanche, dans les nombres ayant fonction de numérotage (pages, dates, articles de code), les chiffres ne sont jamais séparés : page 1254 of the 1992 edition, article 1246 of the Civil Code.
La virgule (et non le point comme chez les anglo‑saxons) sépare la partie entière de la partie décimale : π vaut environ 3,14 ; 14,5 est la moitié de 29. - ^ Winter, Werner (1991). "Some thoughts about Indo-European numerals". In Gvozdanović, Jadranka. Indo-European numerals. Trends in Linguistics. 57. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 13–14. ISBN 3-11-011322-8. Retrieved 2013-06-09.
- ^ "Questions de langue: 'An deux mil' ou 'an deux mille'?" (in French). Académie française. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
L’Académie n’admet (et ne privilégie) la variante mil de mille, dans les dates, que lorsque le numéral au singulier est suivi d’un ou plusieurs autres nombres.
- ^ Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'imprimerie nationale (in French) (6th ed.). Paris: Imprimerie nationale. March 2011. p. 41. ISBN 978-2-7433-0482-9. Au-delà de mille, on compte habituellement : ↲ onze, douze, treize, quatorze, quinze, seize cents ↲ plutôt que : ↲ mille cent, mille deux cents, mille trois cents... ↲ mais on emploiera indifféremment : ↲ dix-sept cents ou mille sept cents...
- ^ "Questions de langue: Nombres (écriture, lecture, accord)" (in French). Académie française. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
Pour les dates (et les nombres en général) entre 1000 et 2000, il y a concurrence entre deux lectures : mille six cent trente‑cinq ou seize cent trente‑cinq.
Aucune de ces formes ne peut être considérée comme fautive. Cependant, dans l’usage courant, on dit plutôt onze cents, douze cents, etc. : onze cents francs, seize cents euros, tandis que dans la langue écrite, et notamment dans un texte juridique, administratif ou scientifique, on préférera les formes : mille cent, mille deux cents, etc. - ^ "Questions de langue: Nombres (écriture, lecture, accord)" (in French). Académie française. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
Vingt et cent se terminent par un s quand ils sont précédés d’un nombre qui les multiplie, mais ils restent invariables s’ils sont suivis d’un autre nombre ou de mille. On dira ainsi : deux cents euros mais deux cent vingt euros ; quatre‑vingts hommes mais quatre‑vingt‑deux hommes. Ils restent également invariables lorsqu’ils sont employés comme adjectifs numéraux ordinaux : page deux cent ; page quatre‑vingt ; l’an mille neuf cent.
En revanche, vingt et cent varient devant millier, million, milliard, qui sont des noms et non des adjectifs numéraux : deux cents millions d’années ; trois cents milliers d’habitants. - ^ "Ne". Dire, Ne pas dire. Académie française. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2014. On néglige trop souvent de faire entendre l’adverbe ne, en faisant de pas l’unique marque de négation : Je veux pas, je sais pas. Cette habitude, répandue dans le langage parlé, est une véritable faute.
- ^ "Pas". Trésor de la langue française informatisé. Analyse et traitement informatique de la langue française. Retrieved 30 May 2014. − Pop. ou très fam. [Avec suppression de ne]
Further reading[edit]
- Nadeau, Jen-Benoît, and Julie Barlow (2006). The Story of French. First U.S. ed. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-34183-0
External links[edit]
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For a list of words relating to French language, see the French language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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French edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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French edition of Wikisource, the free library |
Organizations[edit]
- Fondation Alliance française: an international organization for the promotion of French language and culture (French)
- Agence de promotion du FLE: Agency for promoting French as a foreign language
Courses and tutorials[edit]
- Français interactif: interactive French program, University of Texas at Austin
- French Language Course, historic online course, oldest online course
- Tex's French Grammar, University of Texas at Austin
- Free online French grammar
- French lessons at Wikiotics: podcasts, vocabulary quizzes, and more
Online dictionaries[edit]
- Oxford Dictionaries French Dictionary
- Collins Online English↔French Dictionary
- Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales: monolingual dictionaries (including the Trésor de la langue française), language corpora, etc.
Vocabulary[edit]
Numbers[edit]
- Smith, Paul. "French, Numbers". Numberphile. Brady Haran.
Books[edit]
- (French) La langue française dans le monde 2010(Full book freely accessible)
Articles[edit]
- French language
- Languages of France
- Languages of Algeria
- Languages of Belgium
- Languages of Benin
- Languages of Burkina Faso
- Languages of Burundi
- Languages of Cambodia
- Languages of Cameroon
- Languages of Canada
- Languages of Chad
- Languages of the Comoros
- Languages of Djibouti
- Languages of French Guiana
- Languages of French Polynesia
- Languages of Gabon
- Languages of Guinea
- Languages of Haiti
- Languages of Ivory Coast
- Languages of Laos
- Languages of Luxembourg
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- Languages of Mauritania
- Languages of Mauritius
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- Languages of Rwanda
- Languages of Saint Martin
- Languages of Senegal
- Languages of Seychelles
- Languages of Switzerland
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- Languages of the Republic of the Congo
- Languages of the United States
- Languages of Togo
- Languages of Tunisia
- Languages of Vanuatu
- Languages of Vietnam
- Subject–verb–object languages
- Fusional languages