French (français)

French is a member of the Gallo-Romance branch of the Romance language family. It is spoken by about 267 million people in as a native language about by about 79 million people, as a second language by about 187 million people, and as a foreign language by many more people. It is the third most spoken language in Europe, after German and English, and is also spoken in parts of Africa, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania.

French at a glance

Native name: français [fʁ̥ɒ̃sɛ]
Language family: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Western Romance, Gallo-Romance, Oïl
Number of speakers: c. 354 million
Spoken in: France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and many other countries
First written: 842 AD
Writing system: Latin script
Status: official language in France, and also in Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu

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Status of French

French is an official language in Belgium, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, Guinea, Haiti, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Monaco, Niger, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland, Togo, and Vanuatu.

There are also French speakers in Algeria, Cambodia, Laos, Lebanon, Morocco, Mauritius, Mauritania, Tunisia, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Jersey, Martinique, Mayotte, New Caledonia, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, and in parts of the USA, particularly Louisiana.

French was widely used as a diplomatic language from the 17th century until the middle of the 20th century, when English replaced it in that role. It is still used in many international organisations, such as NATO, the UN, EU institutions, and the World Trade Organisation.

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Written French

French first appeared in writing in 842 AD, when it was used in the Strasbourg Oaths. Before then, Latin was the language used for literature throughout Europe. During the 10th and 11th centuries, French appeared in a number of documents and religious writings. However, French literature didn't start to take off until the late 12th / early 13th century. The first great work of French literature was the 'Chanson de Roland' (Song of Roland), which was published in about 1200.

The French alphabet (l'alphabet français)

French pronunciation

A recording of the French alphabet by Pascal Couteau

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French pronunciation

Notes

ay = [ɛji] before a consonant, [aj] elsewhere
c = [s] before i, e or y but [k] elsewhere
g = [ʒ] before i, e or y but [g] elsewhere
i = [ i ̭] before vowels, but [i] elsewhere
ie = [i] at the end of a word, [j̃ɛ] before n, [je] elsewhere.
ill =[j] after vowel(s): e.g. travailler [tʁava'je]
m and n are mute at the ends of words and preceeding vowels are nasalized.
At the ends of words, r, s, t, x and z are mute, unless the next word begins with a vowel, e.g. vous êtes [vuz εt]
u = [ɥ] before vowels, but [y] elsewhere
x when in final position = [s~z~Ø]
k and w only appear in loan words
y is used mainly loanwords but also in placenames
Letters with accents are not considered part of the French alphabet
The ligature Œ is used in certain French words, and in words of Greek origin, to represent a single sound (/œ/ or /ø/). In alphabetical ordering it is treated as o plus e
The ligature Æ is used in a few words of Latin or Greek origin. In alphabetical ordering it is treated as a plus e

Learn how to pronounce French:

Brought to you by FrenchPod101

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Canadian French

Here are some of the differences in the pronunciation of Canadian French.

In all words except loan words, the letter before the vowels i and u is pronounced [dzi] and [dzy], as in dimanche [dzimãːʃ]. For the other vowels, nasal vowels and consonant clusters, remains , d, .
In all words except loan words, the letter before the vowels i, u and y are pronounced [tsi] [tsy] and [tsi], as in tige [tsiːʒ]. In all other instances, follows its usual pattern.
The presence of these lax vowels /ʏ/, / ɪ/, /ʊ/ (allophonic to their tense counterparts: /y/, /i/, /u/ but not all words have interchangeable pronunciation), e.g. the word pile is usually only realized as [pɪl]
These pairs are allophonic: /ɛ̃/, /ẽ/, /ĩ/, /ɑ/̃ and /ã/, /œ̃/ and /ũ/, /ɔ/̃ and /õ/, /ɲ/ and /ŋ/. also has the allophone /ɔ/.

also has the pronunciations of /a/, /ɑ/ (less) and /we/, /wɛ/ (the latter two being used more in informal speech).

The existence of diphthongs (considered to be informal speech) where long vowels exist. e.g. pâte can be either [pɑːt(ə)] or diphthongized as [pɑʊt] informally

More information about French pronunciation

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Sample text

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

Hear a recording of this text by Jean-Marie Cletz from France

Hear a recording of this text by Xavier G. from Canada

Translation

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.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample videos in French

- Learn French with FrenchPod101
- French Uncovered - Learn French Through the Power of Story
- Frantastique: French learning Online
- Learn French with Glossika
- French learning software
- Learn French with Lingoda
Find French Tutors with LanguaTalk

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Links

Information about the French language
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Français
http://about-france.com/french/french-language.htm
https://www.britannica.com/topic/French-language

Online French lessons
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/french/
http://ilovelanguages.org/french.php
https://www.loecsen.com/en/learn-french
https://www.elearningfrench.com/intermediate-french-course-online-free.html
http://www.jefrench.com/basic-french-lessons/basic-french-lesson-1/
https://lilata.com/en/learn-french-app/
http://www.frenchpod101.com/

Find French Tutors, Teachers and Lesson Help

Learn French - Complete Course from Beginner's to Advanced levels

Apprendre l'anglais, l'espagnol, le français

More French-related links

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Romance languages

Aragonese, Aranese, Aromanian, Asturian, Catalan, Corsican, Dalmatian, Emilian-Romagnol, Extremaduran, Fala, Franco-Provençal, French, Friulian, Galician, Gallo, Gascon, Genoese, Guernésiais, Istro-Romanian, Istriot, Italian, Jèrriais, Ladino, Ladin, Ligurian, Lombard, Lorrain, Megleno-Romanian, Mirandese, Moldovan, Monégasque, Mozarabic, Neapolitan, Occitan, Occitan (Auvergnat), Occitan (Languedocien), Occitan (Limousin), Occitan (Provençal), Picard, Piedmontese, Portuguese, Romanian, Romansh, Sardinian, Sicilian, Spanish, Valencian, Venetian, Walloon

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page last modified: 09.06.24

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