115-469: Gingalain Gingelein or Sir Gyngalyn/Gingalin ( French : Guinglain , Guinglan , Giglan , German : Wigalois , etc.), also known as Le Bel Inconnu , or The Fair Unknown , is a character from Arthurian legend whose exploits are recorded in numerous versions of a popular medieval romance . He was not even told his name, and unbeknownst to him, he is son of Sir Gawain and
230-399: A vavasor from Lalut . An unarmored Erec is keeping Guinevere and her maiden company while other knights participate in a stag hunt near Cardigan when a strange knight, a maiden, and his dwarf approach the queen and treat her servant roughly. At the queen's orders, Erec follows the knight, Yder , to a far off town where he meets and falls in love with Enide. He borrows a set of armor from
345-744: 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
460-431: 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,
575-555: 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
690-543: A gesture of final break-up and rejection, and he winds up marrying Blonde Esmeree, as was arranged for him to do. Although both women are enamored with the hero, the Fair Unknown's heart lies with Blanches Mains and he is only tepidly interested in Blonde Esmerée. But circumstances conspire otherwise. The Fair Unknown, having abruptly left Blanches Mains's company to tackle his main quest rescuing Blond Esmeree,
805-705: 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
920-460: A primary role in the formation of Arthurian romance and is influential up until the latest romances. Erec et Enide features many of the common elements of Arthurian romance, such as Arthurian characters, the knightly quest, and women or love as a catalyst to action. While it is not the first story to use conventions of the Arthurian characters and setting, Chrétien de Troyes is credited with
1035-494: 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
1150-587: 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
1265-526: 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
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#17327797327031380-941: 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
1495-547: A tournament before getting permission to leave with his wife. The central half of the poem begins some time later when rumors spread that Erec has come to neglect his knightly duties due to his overwhelming love for Enide and his desire to be with her. He overhears Enide crying over this and orders her to prepare for a journey to parts unknown. He commands her to be silent unless he speaks to her first, but she disobeys him to warn him when they are pursued by two different groups of knights. Both times, Erec scolds Enide before defeating
1610-547: 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
1725-437: 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
1840-500: Is Princess/Queen of Wales, and wishes to marry the hero. The Fair Unknown has a chance of reunion with White Hands, but when Arthur calls a tournament to entice him back, she helps by magically sending him to the joust, and he takes this to be a rejection. He is then married to Blonde Esmeree. His nickname differs depending on the version and language; he is known in Middle English as Libeaus Desconus . The Old French form
1955-779: 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
2070-472: 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
2185-463: Is actually Li Biaus Descouneüs compared with the Middle English poem's name "Libeaus Desconus". While "The Fair Unknown" may be the modern English translation of Li Biaus Descouneüs (modern French : Le Bel Inconnu ), this designation had already been used in the Middle English work, which appends the literal translated meaning of "Libeaus Desconus" as "Þe faire unknowe". Guinglain
2300-489: 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
2415-430: 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
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#17327797327032530-462: 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
2645-519: Is arguably an adaptation from Renaut's Bel Inconnu (BI), and scholars have disputed over this issue, but one solution is that Chestre drew from multiple version of the story. At any rate, the LD, BI, the Italian Carduino and German Wigalois share the same basic plot. There is also the French romance Gliglois , reconstructed from a (destroyed) 13-century manuscript, but this may not belong to
2760-470: Is contrasted with some of the more despicable characters, such as Oringle of Limors. Nevertheless, Enide's faithful disobedience of his command to silence saves his life. Another theme of the work is Christianity, as evidenced by the plot's orientation around the Christian Calendar: the story begins on Easter day, Erec marries Enide at Pentecost , and his coronation occurs at Christmas. In
2875-652: 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
2990-453: Is fighting Erec until Enide steps in and stops him, telling him of Erec's identity. The last quarter of the poem adds another episode, referred to as the "Joy of the Court," in which Erec frees King Evrain's nephew Maboagrain from an oath to his lover that had prevented him from leaving the forest until defeated in combat. This causes a great deal of celebration, and Enide learns that the maiden
3105-578: Is followed by a revelation in the form of a voice in his head which told him his baptismal name was Guinglain, his mother was Blanchemal the Fay, and his father Gawain. Although the hero begins by addressing "Dear God,..", the hero's amour, Lady of the White Hands, aka Fairy of the Ile d'Or (cf. § Love interests ), later reveals it was actually her own voice that informed him of his name, after he despatched
3220-556: Is granted. The king sends out to discover the youth's name, but the youth cannot provide what he does not know, and he is given the nickname "Fair Unknown". A maidservant named Helie (or Hélie) from Wales (Gales) then arrives at court, seeking a knight to take up an adventure to rescue her master, the Princess/Queen. The adventure is that of the Fearsome Kiss ( Old French : Fier Baissier ). No knight seems willing, when
3335-503: 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
3450-426: Is her cousin. Erec and Enide then travel to Nantes , where they are crowned King and Queen in a lavishly described ceremony. Erec and Enide displays the themes of love and chivalry that Chrétien de Troyes continues in his later work. Tests play an important part in character development and marital fidelity. Erec's testing of Enide is not condemned in the fictive context of the story, especially when his behaviour
3565-404: 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
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3680-464: Is later reunited with Blanches Mains and is forgiven; but when Blanches Mains helps him with her magic to attend Arthur's tournament (cf. § Intervening adventures ), he interprets this as her jilting him, and accepts Arthur's design to keep him at his court, relenting to his matchmaking with Esmeree the Queen of Gales as wife. Yet the readership's expectation to grant Fair Unknown his requited love for
3795-545: Is meant to be a positive portrayal of women or whether Enide's free speech should be seen as good or bad. Erec criticizes and threatens Enide for warning him of danger, but it is Enide's refusal to stay silent that not only awakens Erec, but that ends the fighting between Erec and Guivret when Erec is weakened. Erec's masculinity is also the reason that he and Enide go on a journey in the first place: his inactivity causes many to speculate that Enide has somehow weakened him, making him an object of ridicule. Chrétien de Troyes played
3910-469: 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
4025-828: 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
4140-576: 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 ,
4255-553: 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
4370-713: Is the later revealed Baptised name of the title character in Le Bel Inconnu , a 6266 line French poem by Renaut de Beaujeu , completed some time after 1191 and before 1212/13, which survive in the unique Chantilly, Bibliothèque du Château / Musée Condé , MS. 472. The character's adventures were later retold in Robert de Blois 's Beausdous (third quarter of 13th century). There are also cognate tales remade in English, Italian, and German. The Middle English version Libeaus Desconus (LD, of 2232 lines) by Thomas Chestre
4485-483: 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
4600-492: 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
4715-424: 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
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4830-590: Is told to the reader at this point. The hidden identity constitutes a mystery or enigma element common to other medieval writings. In the BI, the mention of the name is withheld until midpoint into the poem after he completes the quest of the Kiss, this delay being a deliberate ploy by the author to enhance the dramatic effect. In contrast, the Middle English Libeaus Desconus immediately divulges
4945-764: 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
5060-462: 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
5175-470: The Bel Inconnu cycle after all. The basic plot is shared by the various language versions, the Bel Inconnu , Middle English Libeas Desconus , Carduino (Car.), and Wigalois (Wig.), but the differences are considerable, as shown in the comparative study. During the 19th century into the 20th, there was a plurality of scholars favoring the opinion that there was a lost original French version which
5290-539: 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
5405-485: 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
5520-559: 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,
5635-877: 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
5750-626: 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
5865-670: The Three Welsh Romances included in the Mabinogion . Many authors explicitly acknowledge their debt to Chrétien, while others, such as the author of Hunbaut [ fr ] , betray their influence by suspiciously emphatic assurance that they are not plagiarizing. However, these tales are not always precisely true to Chrétien's original poem, such as in Geraint and Enid , in which Geraint (unlike Erec) suspects Enid of infidelity. Erec and Enide has come down to
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#17327797327035980-1012: 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
6095-403: The fay Blanchemal. The nameless youth arrives King Arthur's Court, and is granted a boon to be knighted. He earns the nickname "Fair Unknown", then accepts his main quest, to save the Princess/Queen of Gales (Wales), brought by the Welsh maidservant Hélie. He undergoes a number of side-quests, including his succoring of the Maid of the White Hands, ( French : La Pucelle à Blanches Mains , aka
6210-480: The "Fearsome Kiss", namely, the ordeal of breaking an evil enchanter's spell by exchanging a "Kiss" with a serpent and causing it to transform back into a woman's form. This dispelling of the snake-woman's curse is common to BI and LD, and also occurs in the second cantare of Carduino. In BI, the serpent or rather guivre ( cog. wyvern ) draws near and kisses him. The enchanted and transformed woman introduces herself as Blonde Esmerée of Gales(Wales), claiming to be
6325-441: The 12th century, conventional love stories tended to have an unmarried heroine, or else one married to a man other than the hero. This was a sort of unapproachable, chaste courtly love. However, in Erec and Enide , Chrétien addressed the less conventionally romantic (for the time period) concept of love within marriage. Erec and Enide marry before even a quarter of the story is over, and their marriage and its consequences are actually
6440-455: 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;
6555-474: 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
6670-510: 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
6785-614: 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,
6900-408: 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
7015-416: 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
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#17327797327037130-480: The Middle English version is based on some simpler original French version (unlike Renaud's which is padded with additional material such as the squire). In his first enemy encounter, Bel Inconnu defeats the knight Blioblïeris who defends the Perillous Ford ( Gue Perilleus ), after which he is challenged by Blioblïeris's two (or three) cronies, including "Willaume de Salebrant". LD sets the hero's first fight against William of Salebraunche at "Castle Adventurous.. upon
7245-594: The Vale Perilous" (or "Pont/Bridge Perilous"). But the most significant of the side-quests is his aiding The Maiden of the White Hands ( Old French : La Pucelle as Blances Mains ), foiling the plans of her unwanted suitor Malgier le Gris ("Malgier the Grey") by defeating and killing him. The victory earns him the title to this kingdom and claim to wed the Maid himself, and they are enamored of each other. Bel Inconnu overspends his time here in leisurely amorous idleness ( recreantise ), but leaves abruptly upon remembering his main quest/adventure, to complete his obligation to
7360-607: The Welsh princess. The Maiden of the White Hands is also called at one point "Lady of the White Hands" ( Old French : Demoiselles as Blances Mains ), whom he had succored earlier.. She is also referred to as a veritable "Fay" or "Fairy" of Ile d'Or by commentators as she was an enchantress manifesting magical powers. After completing his main quest, he will have a chance to revisit the Pucelle to apologise for his abrupt departure after their initial acquaintance, and she will then reveal she had been aiding him all along using her magical powers. Arriving in Wales, Bel Inconnu accomplishes
7475-402: The acknowledged queen ( roïne ) of Wales, whose [capital] city is Snowdon . In LD, she is the Lady of Snowdon, given in text as the Queen of Sinadoune (var. Lady of Synadowne), who had been transformed by two magicians into the shape of a serpent with a woman's face. In Carduino , the chained serpent becomes the beautiful Beatrice upon a kiss. In BI, the accomplishment of the "Fearsome Kiss"
7590-408: The catalysts for the adventures that comprise the rest of the poem. Gender also plays an important role. Enide is notable for being very beautiful, as Erec asks to bring her along so that she can retrieve the sparrow-hawk towards the start of the story. Enide is also outspoken despite Erec's instruction for her to stay silent, however, and there is debate between scholars about whether Erec and Enide
7705-423: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Erec et Enide Erec and Enide ( French : Érec et Énide ) is the first of Chrétien de Troyes ' five romance poems, completed around 1170. It is one of three completed works by the author. Erec and Enide tells the story of the marriage of the titular characters, as well as
7820-404: 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
7935-443: The direct source of) the tales of Gareth , Percival , and especially La Cote Mal Taile . The heraldic device of Le Bel Inconnu is described as lion of ermine on field of azure colour, and this is observed to be an appropriation of the author's own Beaujeu (Bâgé) family coat of arms. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
8050-467: The disenchanted lady gladly. He has no desire for anyone else. Contrarily however, modern commentating explains that Chestre's Libeaus Desconus also dilly-dallies ( recreantise ) for a long while at the Ile d'Ore and "experiences the interrelations of knightly prowess and love" with the enchantress, there named Dame Amoure ( dame d'amour ). There is a prose rendering by Claude Platin (1530) entitled Hystoire de Giglan et de Geoffroy de Maience , which admixes
8165-448: 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
8280-594: 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
8395-469: The enchanter Mabon (cf. § Messenger and enchanters ). This is vaguely paralleled in the German Wig. version, according to some commentators, where the hero after fighting a dragon (unconnected with the enchanter), wakes from unconsciousness, finding himself stripped naked by robbers and not knowing his whereabouts, but is able to verify his own presence of mind, being able to recall that his mother
8510-500: The enchantress is addressed by the poet in the very end, in a tantalizing and frustrating manner, for he quip that he would be willing to compose such a sequel, if only his Fair Lady were to grant him with a "favorable glance ( bel sanblant )". This "naughty ending" has disappointed modern critics, who even accused him of flippancy on a sober romantic theme. As for the Libeaus desconus , Schofield categorically pronounced "[LD] marries
8625-426: The enchantress of the Ile d'Or) who becomes his mistress, but he leaves abruptly in un-chivalric manner to return to his main quest (at the city of Snowdon). He defeats the enchanter Mabon and accomplishes the "Fearsome Kiss" upon a serpent to dispel the transformation of the princess of Wales, after which a voice reveals to him his name, Guinglain, and his parentage. The princess discloses her name as Blonde Esmeree; she
8740-439: The fighting reopens his injuries and Erec falls down as though dead. Enide is found by Count Oringle of Limors, who takes Erec's body with him and tries to marry Enide. Enide's anguish is enough to wake up Erec, who kills the count and forgives Enide for having broken her silence throughout their journey. Guivret hears of Erec's supposed death and sends a thousand men to seize the castle to avenge his friend, but he doesn't realize he
8855-516: 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
8970-915: 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 ,
9085-829: 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
9200-524: The invention of the Arthurian romance genre by establishing expectation with his contemporary audience based on its prior knowledge of the subjects. Enide is notable in Chrétien's work for being the only woman to be named in the title. Popular in its own day, the poem was translated into several other languages, notably German in Hartmann von Aue 's Erec and Welsh in Geraint and Enid , one of
9315-500: The journey they go on to restore Erec's reputation as a knight after he remains inactive for too long. Consisting of about 7000 lines of Old French , the poem is one of the earliest known Arthurian romances in any language, predated only by the Welsh prose narrative Culhwch and Olwen . Approximately the first quarter of Erec and Enide recounts the tale of Erec , son of Lac, and his marriage to Enide , an impoverished daughter of
9430-699: The knights. When they stay overnight in a village, a count visits and threatens to kill Erec if Enide doesn't sleep with him. She warns Erec the next morning and they escape, but the count and a hundred knights give chase, and Enide breaks her silence again to warn Erec. Erec defeats a seneschal and a count before he and Enide flee into the forest, where he defeats and befriends Guivret the Short, an Irish lord with family connections to Pembroke and Scotland. Erec and Enide continue travelling until they find King Arthur's men, but Erec refuses their hospitality and continues travelling. He rescues Cadof of Cabruel from two giants, but
9545-519: 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
9660-479: 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
9775-612: 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 ,
9890-479: 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
10005-595: The name of the youth as Gingelein and his father as Gawain to the readership in the opening scenes of the poem, in the youth or enfance segment of the work. The youth aims his travel to where Arthur holds his court which the Englishman places at Glastonbury . Arthur's court also differs in other versions, Camelot in Car., and Karidôl ( Carlisle ) in Wig. The nameless youth abruptly asks King Arthur for an unspecified boon, which
10120-420: 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
10235-652: 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;
10350-534: 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
10465-471: 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
10580-647: The present day in seven manuscripts and various fragments. The poem comprises 6,878 octosyllables in rhymed couplets . A prose version was made in the 15th century. The first modern edition dates from 1856 by Immanuel Bekker, followed by an edition in 1890 by Wendelin Foerster. Wittig has compared aspects of the story to that of Dido , Queen of Carthage and Aeneas in Virgil 's Aeneid . Enide does not lose her lover or commit suicide but many connections can be shown between Erec's gradual maturing process throughout
10695-466: The princess Blonde Esmerée in BI the female messenger is named Elene in LD, and in both works she is accompanied by a dwarf. There are two men with power to cast and remove the serpent enchantment; in the BI, an elder brother named Mabon ( Old French : Mabons ), and the younger, a knight named Evrain the Cruel ( Evrains li Fier ). In LD, the captors are named Mabon and Irain. When Bel Inconnu rescues
10810-508: The princess and out of gratitude, she offers herself to him in marriage. But he had already been proposed marriage by the Maiden of the White Hands. Bel Inconnu is having his reunion with the Pucelle à Blanches Mains when King Arthur holds a tournament with the intent to lure Gingalain back to court—and to steer his decision of marriage more towards the newly crowned Queen of Wales. In joining
10925-471: 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
11040-461: The story of (Arthurian) knight Jaufre known from Provençal romance. Gingalain also appears in Thomas Malory 's Le Morte d'Arthur , in which he is killed along with his brothers Sir Florence and Sir Lovell when Mordred and Agravain expose Guinevere 's affair with Lancelot . The Fair Unknown motif was very popular in medieval romance; Gingalain's story is clearly related to (if not
11155-482: The task. But the youth will have the chance to prove himself in a number of adversarial encounters and adventures before arriving at the main quest in Wales. In the journey, he will be accompanied by Helie, her dwarf, and the squire named Robert assigned to Bel Inconnu by the king. In LD, Car., and Wig., no obvious figure corresponding to this squire, which is taken as corroborative key evidence by Schofield and others that
11270-466: 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
11385-417: The tournament, Gingalain would have to forfeit his love for Pucelle and never see her again. He decides to join the tournament regardless of the sacrifices he would have to make. Pucelle altruistically offers to aid him with her powers; she transports him out of her castle with a horse, a squire, and armour to be able to join the tournament. This magical send-off by Blanches Mains is regarded by Bel Inconnu to be
11500-679: 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
11615-508: 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
11730-485: 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
11845-547: The vavasor and goes with Enide to claim a sparrow-hawk that belongs to the most beautiful maiden in the town. Erec challenges and defeats Yder for the sparrow-hawk and they return to Enide's father, who gives permission for the two to marry. Erec refuses to accept gifts of new clothes for Enide and takes her to Arthur's court in her ragged chemise. In spite of her appearance, the courtiers recognize Enide's inherent nobility and Queen Guinevere dresses her in one of her own richly embroidered gowns. Erec and Enide are married, and Erec wins
11960-536: 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
12075-402: 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
12190-424: The youth requests that his promised bonn be permission to accept this adventure. Arthur at first tries to dissuade, fearing it may be too dangerous, but relents, after enlisting the youth as a knights of his court. Helie however is unhappy with the choice of an unproven knight, "the worst rather than best". In the Middle English version, the messenger named Elene (Elaine) also complains that a child has been assigned to
12305-409: Was Queen Floriê of Syria and his father Gâwein. However, this he already knew, and this was not the moment of revelation. The names of the female messengers and the enchanters imprisoning the ladies are also similar. The acceptance of the ordeal of the "Fearsome Kiss" is beseeched at the beginning of the tale by a female messenger arriving at Arthur's court, namely Hélie, the lady-in-waiting serving
12420-417: 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
12535-819: 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
12650-400: 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
12765-652: 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
12880-532: Was most influential, also felt that a version of the Perceval/Peredur tale has been blended in. That BI had borrowed material from Erec et Enide as suggested by Mennung, and later extensively demonstrated by Schofield, is a point that is affirmed by recent authorities. In Bel Inconnu , a youth appears at Arthur's court in Caerleon and no knowledge of even his own name, and nothing of his youth
12995-594: 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
13110-549: Was the common source for both Renaut's Bel Inconnu and the English Libeaus . The view was held by Gaston Paris , Albert Mennung, William Henry Schofield , and Emmanuel Philipot, with Max Kaluza who edited LD named as detractor. However, modern Arthurian reference material sides with Kaluza, describing the English work as an adaptation of Renaut, though Thomas Chestre in crafting his Middle English version may have had recourse to multiple sources. Schofield, whose works
13225-570: 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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