Nguesso loyalist victory
105-699: The Congolese Party of Labour ( French : Parti congolais du travail , PCT) is the ruling party of the Republic of the Congo . Founded in 1969 by Marien Ngouabi , it was originally a pro- Soviet , Marxist–Leninist vanguard party which founded the People's Republic of the Congo . It took a more moderate left-wing stance following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 and adopted social democracy as its principal ideology in 2006. Denis Sassou Nguesso
210-492: A Johannesburg -based businessman, with funds being sent to the offshore accounts of three other South African businessmen. The offshore accounts were managed by the BVI -based Exotek Management Services, which in turn acted as a middleman of Armscor, the owner of the equipment. Several weeks after the start of the war Lissouba ordered two Mil Mi-17 helicopters, four transport aircraft and 290 trucks, while initiating payments through
315-416: A Soviet -style socialist one-party state , it was essentially a military regime with a strongly ethno-regional character. Members of the southern ethnic groups, who were far more numerous than northerners, were included in the power structure, but the top leaders were consistently northerners. Ideologically, the party represented a spectrum of Marxist–Leninist views and suffered from internecine struggles in
420-485: A three-day uprising in 1963 , the Congo fell under the influence of scientific socialism , establishing relations with the Eastern Bloc and becoming a single-party People's Republic. Two regime changes took place as the country faced a rise in ethnic tensions, with Denis Sassou Nguesso assuming presidency in 1979. In 1990, the country made its first steps towards a multiparty political system, eventually leading to
525-744: 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". 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..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
630-497: A Paris bank account. On 27 June 1997 a $ 1-million payment was received by Lissouba's South African partner, who in turn delivered two Mil Mi-17 helicopters to Lissoba's troops. On 11 July 1997 the Congolese government paid a total of $ 7.7 million for the 28 helicopters. In October 1997, having ousted Lissouba and assumed power, Sassou-Nguesso sent invoices to Exotek stating that all contracts and payments remained in force. However,
735-431: 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,
840-555: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
945-480: A heart attack in 1986, he was considered a national hero. Serious unrest in 1990 resulted in the collapse of the PCT regime. Sassou Nguesso was forced to introduce multi-party politics in 1990 and then call a National Conference in 1991. The National Conference saw severe criticism of Sassou Nguesso and repudiated PCT rule; it set up a non-PCT transitional government and reduced Sassou Nguesso to figurehead status. The PCT
1050-532: A joint operation, evacuating 6,000 foreign citizens through the Brazzaville Airport as warring parties agreed to a three-day ceasefire in the area. At the same time Lissouba personally visited Rwanda , Uganda and Namibia , attempting to gain the support of their leaders. He publicly accused the Cobra of employing supporters of former Zairian president Mobutu Sese Seko , prompting the president of
1155-508: A leftist ideologue who was one of the PCT's top-ranking leaders, was accused of organizing a bomb plot and removed from the leadership at the 1984 party congress. A powerful faction in the party, led by François-Xavier Katali , favored a hard-line pro- Soviet position; Sassou Nguesso was able to marginalize the Katali faction at the 1984 congress. Katali was demoted to a minor government ministry, but suffered no further punishment; when he died of
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#17327729458351260-705: 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
1365-494: 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 to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
1470-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
1575-474: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
1680-941: 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
1785-547: 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. 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
1890-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), 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
1995-779: 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 Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken 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 ) largely supplanted. French
2100-472: 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. The use of English
2205-489: 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). Given
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#17327729458352310-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including
2415-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
2520-652: 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. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
2625-503: 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. 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
2730-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
2835-469: 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%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
2940-828: 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
3045-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. 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 ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
3150-599: Is the President of the PCT Central Committee, and Pierre Moussa is the Secretary-General of the PCT. The PCT was founded by President Marien Ngouabi on 29 December 1969, and was Congo-Brazzaville's sole ruling party from its inception. From the outset, it was heavily dominated by military officers from the sparsely populated north of Congo-Brazzaville. Although the PCT regime was designed as
3255-553: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
Congolese Party of Labour - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-483: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% 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
3465-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . 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 . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
3570-424: 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. 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. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
3675-404: The 1992 general elections . The elections concluded with Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS) candidate Pascal Lissouba winning the presidential race, Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development 's (MCDDI) Bernard Kolelas coming second, and Congolese Labor Party 's (PCT) Sassou Nguesso running third. Kolelas and Sassou Nguesso were dissatisfied with the outcome of
3780-583: The 1993 parliamentary elections , the Ninja and Cobra militia launched a civil war against the Cocoye. The conflict ended in December 1994, leaving 2,000 people dead and many more displaced. Despite remaining in power, Lissouba failed to fully implement the peace accords signed at the end of the war, as the country's militias retained their weapons. High unemployment rates, an atmosphere of political uncertainty, and
3885-764: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while 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. The majority of
3990-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
4095-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . 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. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
4200-424: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Laurent Kabila , to send several hundred soldiers to Lissouba's aid. On 29 September 1997, shells have fallen in several districts of Kinshasa left twenty-one dead. For forty-eight hours, the army of Kinshasa responded by firing at Brazzaville "more than a hundred shells", according to residents of the Congolese capital. They indicated that Kabila's artillery fired both on
4305-485: 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
Congolese Party of Labour - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. 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. Politically,
4515-877: 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
4620-657: The March 2002 presidential election with 89.4% of the vote; there were no serious opposition candidates. The PCT won 53 out of 137 seats in the National Assembly in the May–June 2002 parliamentary election ; together with smaller, allied parties, it held a parliamentary majority. At the party's Fifth Extraordinary Congress in December 2006, Sassou-Nguesso was re-elected as President of the Central Committee of
4725-626: 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 , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
4830-735: The Rwandan genocide . A large number of Rwandan refugees who fled the DRC (formerly Zaire) in May 1997 after the fall of Mobutu, took part in the conflict—approximately 600 Rwandans Hutus joined militias formed by Sassou, with others fighting against him. Allegations regarding the involvement of Cuba on the side of the Cobras have been made, with others accusing UNITA of aiding the Ninja militia. In September 1997, following Sassou's refusal to accept five ministerial portfolios, Lissouba granted Bernard Kolelas
4935-1012: 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 . 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 . Due to Roman rule, Latin
5040-467: The 1970s, which sometimes turned violent. Some leaders on the left-wing of the party, such as Ange Diawara and Claude-Ernest Ndalla , favored a radical pro-Chinese position; they unsuccessfully attempted a coup d'etat against Ngouabi in February 1972. The right wing of the party, which was derided as having only a superficial commitment to Marxism–Leninism, was represented by Joachim Yhombi Opango ;
5145-408: The 1972 plot was inspired by the left wing's loathing for Yhombi Opango. Ngouabi was assassinated under unclear circumstances in March 1977 and succeeded by Yhombi Opango, whose opponents in the PCT were angered by his rightist deviationism and perceived marginalization of the party, and they ousted him in a February 1979 technical coup , installing Denis Sassou Nguesso —another career officer from
5250-455: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. 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;
5355-474: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . 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. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
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#17327729458355460-510: 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, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth 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
5565-614: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. 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. In colonial Vietnam,
5670-408: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
5775-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) 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 Old Occitan , maintained
5880-435: The North, under the control of General Sassou N'Guesso, and on the South, in the hands of supporters of President Lissouba. "They even bombarded the presidential palace" said a source, who confirmed that "this is where several shots came from on Monday." The outbreak of the Congolese civil war coincided with the ongoing internal conflict in Angola . During the presidency of Pascal Lissouba , Congo provided active support to
5985-500: The PCT and Ambroise Noumazalaye was re-elected as Secretary-General of the PCT; the Central Committee elected at the 2006 congress included more than 500 members (there were previously less than 150 members), while the Political Bureau elected on the same occasion included more than 60 members and the Permanent Secretariat included 15 members. Social democracy was also adopted as the party's new principal ideology. The political landscape in Congo-Brazzaville has been highly fractured since
6090-443: The PCT, was launched in December 2007: the Rally of the Presidential Majority (RMP). While the member parties of the RMP preserved their distinct identities, the grouping provided for some degree of consolidation and improved organization among Sassou Nguesso's supporters. In the 2008 local elections , the RMP parties ran joint candidate lists. At the PCT's Sixth Extraordinary Congress, held in Brazzaville in July 2011, Pierre Ngolo
6195-437: The PCT. In the parliamentary election held on 24 June and 5 August 2007, the PCT won 46 seats; although it was again the largest party, the fractionalization of the political landscape ensured that it fell well short of a parliamentary majority. The combined parties of the Presidential Majority supporting Sassou Nguesso won an overwhelming majority: 125 out of 137 seats. After the election, a large grouping of parties, including
6300-412: The anti-government UNITA guerrillas, who in turn supplied Congo with diamonds. Angola seized the opportunity to destroy UNITA's last supply line by entering the conflict on Sassou-Nguesso's side. France also supported the Cobra militia by offering armaments, aiming to secure its interests in the country's oil industry. The conflict was also influenced by the aftermaths of the First Congo War and of
6405-405: The civilian population, selecting their targets on the basis of ethnicity. On 16 June 1997, Lissouba and Sassou-Nguesso unsuccessfully held talks in Libreville , Gabon , organized with the mediation of the United Nations , the European Union , France and a number of African countries. On 17 June 1997, French soldiers and a number of US Marine Corps troops present in the capital conducted
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#17327729458356510-503: The conclusion of the engagement, which left at least 1000 people dead. On 29 December 1999, amidst continuous government offensives, a total of 2,000 Ninja and Cocoye rebels surrendered to the authorities after signing a peace agreement with the government, officially ending the conflict. On 1 June 1997, in preparation for the upcoming war, President Lissouba approved the purchase of 28 South African Air Force Aérospatiale SA 330 Puma helicopters. All transactions were conducted through
6615-429: The conflict, as Ninja and Nsiloulou militia seized control of several areas in the south of the country. On 14 November 1998 Ninja militants launched an attack on Mindouli , killing 41 civilians, including six members of a local mediation committee. On 18 December 1998 Cocoye rebels captured the town of Nkayi , conducting summary executions of government officials and ethnic Mbochis; government forces regained control of
6720-407: The continuation of the civil war of 1993–1994 and involved militias representing three political candidates. The conflict ended following the intervention of the Angolan military , which reinstated former president Denis Sassou Nguesso to power. The Republic of the Congo (Congo-Brazzaville) gained its independence from France in 1960, and soon entered a period of political turbulence. Following
6825-451: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Republic of the Congo Civil War (1997%E2%80%9399) The Second Republic of the Congo Civil War , also known as the Second Brazzaville-Congolese Civil War , was the second of two ethnopolitical civil conflicts in the Republic of the Congo which lasted from 5 June 1997 to 29 December 1999. The war served as
6930-404: 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". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
7035-453: The early 1990s. In an effort to consolidate support for Sassou Nguesso, an initiative to "refound" the PCT as a broader party was attempted in 2006. Although backed by Secretary-General Noumazalaye, the effort encountered firm opposition from PCT "conservatives", led by Justin Lekoundzou , who wanted to preserve the PCT as a distinct party. Noumazalaye died in November 2007, and Prime Minister Isidore Mvouba became Interim Secretary-General of
7140-448: 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." Knowledge of French
7245-408: The elections, and created an alliance against Lissouba. Tensions continued to rise as Kolelas, Lissouba and Sassou formed the Ninja , Cocoye , and Cobra militia respectively. The militia drew members from their leaders' ethnic and political backgrounds: the Mbochi supported Sassou, and the Ni bo lek and the Lari sided with Lissouba and Kolelas respectively. Citing electoral fraud during
7350-489: 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. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
7455-406: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . 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
7560-401: The following day, declaring himself president. He effectively incorporated the Cobra militia into the national army, without fully disbanding them. After capturing the capital, Cobra militiamen spread out over the city, detaining and executing dozens of enemy combatants and political opponents and looting their property. A parallel Angolan offensive on Pointe-Noire met with little resistance, as
7665-915: 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. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
7770-829: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. 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, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
7875-519: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. 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). French
7980-479: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. 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". The French language in Lebanon
8085-612: 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 ,
8190-479: The last to hold onto Gaulish. 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. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
8295-610: The majority of government troops surrendered. Forced out of Brazzaville, Cocoye and Ninja fighters regrouped, initiating clashes in the northern cities of Impfondo , Ouesso and Owando as well as Pointe-Noire. In April 1998 Cocoye insurgents captured the Moukoukoulou Hydroelectric Dam located in the Bouenza department , killing several employees and cutting off the electric supply to Pointe-Noire for several weeks. On 29 August 1998 Ninja guerrillas killed
8400-420: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". 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
8505-536: The north—in power. The elevation of Sassou Nguesso, who represented the PCT's left-wing, marked a return to party orthodoxy. Sassou Nguesso was neither a radical leftist nor an ideologue; his policies were generally marked by pragmatism, and he sought warm relations with the West as well as the Eastern Bloc . As Sassou Nguesso consolidated power, PCT factionalism was less pronounced during the 1980s, although internal power struggles continued. Jean-Pierre Thystère Tchicaya ,
8610-652: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
8715-534: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). 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. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
8820-849: The party, while understanding the need for change". In the July–August 2012 parliamentary election , the PCT won a parliamentary majority for the first time in the multiparty era, obtaining 89 out of 139 seats. The party has since remained the largest in the National Assembly, increasing its share of seats both in the 2017 and 2022 parliamentary elections. The party had about 70,000 members in 1990; by 2005, it had about 250,000 members. UPDP – MAR – AGIR coalition government UFD - UR - Club 2002 coalition government Club 2002 - UFD coalition government French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
8925-565: The police commissioner of Mindouli . On 26 September 1998 Ninja rebels assassinated the deputy prefect of Goma Tse Tse. On 9 October 1998 Ninja rebels set fire to the police station and prefecture offices of Kinkala . The Ntsiloulou militia was formed in the Pool department in 1998, with the ethnic Lari forming the backbone of the group. It allied itself with the Ninja militia, launching attacks against government troops and their civilian supporters. The last quarter of 1998 marked an escalation in
9030-475: The position of Prime Minister, as the Ninja militia officially entered the conflict on the side of the government. Between 11–12 October 1997, Angolan air force fighter jets conducted a number of air strikes on Cocoye positions within the capital Brazzaville . On 16 October 1997 Cobra militia supported by tanks and a force of 1,000 Angolan troops cemented their control of Brazzaville, having ousted Lissouba two days earlier. Denis Sassou Nguesso assumed power on
9135-471: 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. A leading world language , French
9240-471: The rest largely speak French as a first language. 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 . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
9345-472: The steady flow of firearms coming from regional conflicts contributed to the rise of the militia movement within the country. Violent disputes continued with each faction preparing for the upcoming 1997 elections. On 5 June 1997, anticipating a Sassou-led coup , Lissouba ordered the Cocoye militia to detain Sassou and forcibly disarm the Cobra militia, thus initiating a second civil war. Fighting soon engulfed
9450-466: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
9555-760: The town three days later. Elements of the Chadian and Angolan armies were deployed to the areas of Bouenza , Niari and Lekoumou as well as the Pool department, aiming to counter increased rebel activity. On 16 December 1998 a band of 300 Ninja militants infiltrated the Bacongo and Makelekele neighborhoods of Brazzaville, starting clashes that lasted four days. The areas were targeted by heavy mortar and artillery shelling which caused widespread destruction, internally displacing 200,000 civilians. Widespread looting and summary executions were carried out by government forces following
9660-679: 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. 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
9765-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
9870-485: 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
9975-406: The whole city, with the Cobra, Cocoye and Ninja militias each controlling areas within the capital. The government recruited Ukrainian mercenaries to fly attack helicopters, later mobilizing them in a bombing campaign of Cobra-controlled areas. Both sides actively shelled densely populated areas, causing a high civilian death toll. Combatants engaged in numerous instances of extortion and harassment of
10080-536: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
10185-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. 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 . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
10290-417: 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 the French colonial empire , 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
10395-819: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
10500-407: Was elected as Secretary-General of the PCT. His election as Secretary-General was considered surprising. It had been widely expected that the post would go to a more prominent figure, but Sassou Nguesso chose Ngolo, reportedly viewing him as a skilled organizer and as relatively uncontroversial. He was reportedly viewed as a "man of compromise": "an open conservative, anxious to preserve the identity of
10605-400: 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. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
10710-570: Was in opposition from 1992 to 1997, during the presidency of Pascal Lissouba . Although Marxist–Leninist ideology was abandoned, the party remained loyal to Sassou Nguesso and it continued to be dominated by key figures from the one-party era. Sassou Nguesso ultimately returned to power in the June–October 1997 civil war . Denis Sassou Nguesso, presidential candidate of both the PCT and the United Democratic Forces coalition, won
10815-708: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . 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. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
10920-594: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
11025-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. 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. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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