110-704: The Gendarmerie ( French ) or Rijkswacht ( Dutch ) was the former national Gendarmerie force of the Kingdom of Belgium . It became a civilian police organisation in 1992, a status it retained until 1 January 2001, when it was, together with the other existing police forces in Belgium, abolished and replaced by the Federal Police and the Local Police. The word gendarme comes from Old French gens d'armes , meaning men-at-arms , whereas
220-1010: A "soft" civilian style uniform in keeping with the image required by the Community Oriented Policing-strategy. 1796: 1,080 Gendarmeries, including 76 officers and 1,002 lower ranks. 1830: 1,201 hommes répartis en 45 officiers + 1 156 gradés et gendarmes; 1866: 2,232 hommes répartis en 51 officiers + 2 181 gradés et gendarmes; 1914: 4,325 hommes répartis en 85 officiers + 4 240 gradés et gendarmes; 1921: 6,830 hommes répartis en 156 officiers + 6 674 gradés et gendarmes; 1960: 12,850 Gendarmes; including 350 officers and 12,500 lower ranks. 1969: 14,050 Gendarmes; including 550 officers + 13,500 lower ranks. 1975: 16,970 Gendarmes, including 870 officers and 16,100 lower ranks. 1986: 17,000 Gendarmes 1989: 15,900 Gendarmes French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
330-744: 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
440-751: A ceremonial Royal Escort was created as part of the Gendarmerie, wearing the full dress uniform that had distinguished mounted gendarmes prior to 1914. During the Second World War , the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was restricted to the role of administrative and legal police force, primarily concerned with road traffic. The majority of the Rijkswachters/Gendarmes refused to collaborate with the German occupiers. It
550-454: A complex extortion scheme involving IED attacks against a supermarket chain years before the Brabant killers started targeting supermarkets. This and all other evidence seemingly connecting him to the Brabant killers was considered inconclusive, but did little to allay the suspicion that he may have had inside information about the Brabant killers. He eventually died in 2005 while employed by
660-431: 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,
770-486: A confession to being the so-called Giant. A riot gun and ammunition basket labelled "Gendarmerie-Politie", were apparently dumped by the Brabant killers (possibly after having been stolen by them). Bonkoffsky had already been scrutinised as a potential suspect in 2000. Investigators utilising forensic DNA and fingerprints have definitely ruled him out as the Giant. In June 2020 Belgian detectives appealed for information on
880-555: 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
990-556: A former member (now deceased) of the French terrorist group OAS , and several others from the Front de la Jeunesse who conducted paramilitary firearms training in some of the forested areas that were later used by the Brabant killers. The WNP was a secret organisation. Speculation about a connection to the Brabant killers increased after former WNP members — including the only Gendarmerie — recalled being ordered to covertly surveil and compile
1100-408: A major increase in serious crimes (holdups, drug violations, terrorism, etc.). The Central Bureau of Investigations (CBO – Centraal Bureau voor Opsporingen (Dutch), BCR – Bureau Central des Recherches ) was created, as well as a centralized radio network. Tracker dogs were employed for the first time. During the 1980s, the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie suffered serious problems. Much of its equipment
1210-459: A new police organisation, structured in two departments: the Federal Police and the Local Police. In 2001, the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was dissolved. The ranks of the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie were: During much of its history the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie wore a distinctive black and red uniform with high-collared tunics, white aiguillettes and wide topped kepis , dating from the nineteenth century (see first photograph above). In simplified form, this
SECTION 10
#17327752706091320-422: A paramilitary far-right group that was investigated after a 1980 incident in which a member shot at a group of North Africans, causing one death and a national outcry. The killer was with a firearms enthusiast who was a friend of police officer Madani Bouhouche , and decades later let him stay in a French property after Bouhouche was released on licence from a life sentence for two murders. The milieu of WNP included
1430-652: 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
1540-494: 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
1650-532: A rental accommodation business owned by an old shooting and Westland New Post acquaintance. In 1983, on the basis of a forensic examination of a weapon, and a witness who said he had seen the Saab hidden, authorities charged the gun owner (a former municipal policeman) and several other men ("Borains") with the Brabant killings. Police said they obtained incriminating statements containing guilty knowledge. The Brabant killers' jewelry shop double murder occurred while
1760-446: A report on security arrangements at Belgian supermarkets of a large chain that was targeted by the killers. WNP had a genuine intelligence operative advising on covert techniques; NATO behind-the-lines units are known to have used the planning of robberies as a training exercise. Michel Libert , the former second-in-command of Westland New Post , admitted passing on Latinus's orders to gather detailed information on supermarkets with
1870-587: 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
1980-526: 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
2090-941: 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
2200-421: A separate double murder. Lammers fled the country after being accused of a sexual exposure against a child and accessing images of child sex abuse. After he was brought back from Serbia he appeared in a 2014 Belgian TV program in which he accused WNP leaders of being behind the Brabant killings, based on WNP reconnaissance on the supermarket chain whose premises were subjected to the murderous attacks of 1985. Libert
2310-547: 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
SECTION 20
#17327752706092420-522: A view to robberies, but denied knowing of any purpose to the assignments beyond developing clandestine skills. Marcel Barbier , an enforcer-type WNP member who lived with Libert, was arrested in August 1983 after a shooting, and became suspected in a double murder at a synagogue a year earlier. Latinus went to police and informed them that Barbier and another WNP member had committed the synagogue murders, and that he (Latinus) had helped Barbier get rid of
2530-437: 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
2640-779: 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
2750-472: 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
2860-489: 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
2970-430: 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
3080-462: 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
3190-471: Is believed that individual gendarmes assisted the Belgian Resistance. These actions were not tolerated by the occupation authorities and from 1942 onwards the corps was deprived of many of its functions. After the war, the service was reorganized. New units were created, and at the end of 1957, new legislation relating to the fundamental role of the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was passed, envisaged in
3300-652: 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
3410-503: 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
Gendarmerie (Belgium) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3520-404: 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
3630-469: 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
3740-828: 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
3850-576: 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 ,
3960-553: 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
4070-483: 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
4180-492: 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
4290-424: 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
4400-711: 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
4510-462: 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
Gendarmerie (Belgium) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-539: 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
4730-485: 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
4840-559: 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,
4950-877: 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
5060-626: 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
5170-1012: 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
5280-413: The "Borains" accused were in detention. After it was found that a German ballistic experts' report discrediting the main hard evidence against the accused had been suppressed by the prosecutor, charges against the "Borains" were dismissed, and the freed men furiously alleged they had been coerced in abusive 36 hour interrogations, and supplied with details for false confessions. The original "Borains" suspect
5390-506: 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;
5500-770: 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
5610-498: The Brabant killers, Gladio, and the by-then defunct Belgian far-right organisation Westland New Post led by Paul Latinus is mentioned in the 1992 BBC Timewatch documentary series Operation Gladio , directed by Allan Francovich , in which it is suggested that Latinus said that his organisation was sanctioned by the Belgian government. In March 1981, Paul Latinus and members of Front de la Jeunesse founded Westland New Post ,
SECTION 50
#17327752706095720-703: 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
5830-614: 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,
5940-465: The Constitution of 1830. This law confirmed the functions of the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie and its independence from the administrative authorities. The Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was separated from the Belgian Army Territorial Defense Force , and became a fourth department within the military. The Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was also authorised to create its own training establishments. During the 1960s conditions of service improved considerably. This period also saw
6050-414: The Dutch name, rijkswacht , means guard of the realm . In 1795, the Belgian provinces came under French rule. It was at this time that the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was created. This military force had been created a short time before in France itself to replace the Marechaussee (mounted corps of marshals) of the former monarchy. The legislation which organised the new gendarmerie service in Belgium
6160-408: 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
6270-416: 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
6380-416: The basis of the already existing constabulary . The Rijkswachters/Gendarmes operated throughout the country. From its creation, the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie was formally part of the Belgian Army . The major strikes and tense social conditions of the 1930s brought important changes in the organization of the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie, in particular through the expansion of the mobile units created in 1913. In 1938
6490-440: The case and the offer of a substantial reward resulted in a vast number of tips from ordinary Belgians with personal scores to settle, thereby diverting investigative resources from viable suspects. Most suspects date back to the beginning of the investigation, and have been repeatedly questioned over the years. The latest was Christiaan Bonkoffsky, ex-Gendarmerie unit Group Diane , who before his alcohol-related 2015 death made
6600-410: The case was officially closed on 28 June 2024. As a result of these robberies, security was increased at many stores in the region — including armed guards. In November 1986, the discovery in a canal of various items and weapons taken or used in the gang's crimes provided important evidence. A long running dispute erupted over the find, amid assertions that the location was checked in 1985; therefore
6710-596: The case, the most recent arrests are of the now-retired original senior detectives themselves, for alleged evidence tampering. The gang abruptly ceased their activities in 1985. The ensuing chaotic investigation failed to catch them or even make serious inroads into solving the case. This led to a parliamentary inquiry and public discussion, both of which revolved around the possibility that the gang members were Belgian or foreign state security elements either carrying out covert missions (disguising targeted assassinations) or conducting political terrorism. The investigation into
SECTION 60
#17327752706096820-405: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Brabant killers The Brabant killers are a group of unidentified criminals responsible for a series of violent attacks that mainly occurred in the Belgian province of Brabant between 1982 and 1985. A total of 28 people died and 22 were injured. The actions of
6930-439: The crimes were largely for material reward and escalated out of bravado. On the other hand, odd elements were also evident: The gang is believed to have had at least one helper on its last raid. In 1986, weapons that the gang had were found along with bullet proof jackets and other items in a canal about 30 km outside Brussels. The Winchester pump shotguns used in the massacres were never found. Certain events surrounding
7040-404: 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
7150-448: 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
7260-489: 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
7370-426: The existing police forces. The parliamentary commission, which investigated the errors that were made during the search for the missing children, stated that the three police organisations did not work effectively and efficiently together. There were problems with cooperation and vital information was not exchanged. Parliament, both the majority and the opposition, decided to abolish the existing structures, and created
7480-406: 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
7590-439: 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 ,
7700-455: The gang, believed to consist of a core of three men, made it Belgium's most notorious unsolved crime spree. The active participants were known as The Giant ( French : Le Géant ; a tall man who may have been the leader); the Killer ( Le Tueur ; the main shooter) and the Old Man ( Le Vieux ; a middle aged man who drove). The identities and whereabouts of the "Brabant killers" are unknown. Although significant resources are still dedicated to
7810-715: 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
7920-478: The getaway — had been found burned out in 1985 in woods relatively close by to the canal, however it was said the condition of the items meant they could not have been immersed since that time. The items taken and paraphernalia they disposed of seemed to indicate that the gang were shooting enthusiasts involved in drug dealing and burglaries, combining their criminal activity with daytime jobs such as food preparation or scrap metal dealing. Under this interpretation,
8030-424: The gratuitous violence and small-time takings that were the Brabant killers' hallmark. Bouhouche was a former gendarme and gun shop owner suspected and known to have been involved in a number of violent crimes. He was arrested in 1986 for the murder of Juan Mendez, an acquaintance of his who had expressed his fear that some weapons stolen from him by Bouhouche had been used in the Brabant killers crimes. Although he
8140-571: The identity of man in a photograph sent to police in 1986. They reissued a photo of a man holding a SPAS-12 in a forest. The photo was reissued on the orders of a judge. They also appealed for information on the identity of a man with a 3.5 cm wine stain birthmark on the nape of his neck who took part in one of the gang's raids on a Delhaize supermarket in Beersel on the southern outskirts of Brussels in October 1983. A special extension to
8250-473: The inactivity of the Brabant Killers gang between December 1983 and September 1985, and them having a seemingly intensified grudge against society during the supermarket massacres of 27 September and 9 November 1985. Barbier was convicted for the synagogue murders. His co-accused, WNP member Eric Lammers, was acquitted of murder but received 5 years for other offences, and in 1991 was convicted of
8360-535: The lack of satisfactory performance in the Brabant killers case was among the reasons for the subsequent abolishing of the Belgian Gendarmerie. A connection to the clandestine stay-behind network S.D.R.A VIII ( Operation Gladio ) has also been suggested. However, an official parliamentary inquiry found no substantive evidence that the network was involved in any terrorist acts or that criminal groups had infiltrated it. A supposed connection between
8470-519: 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
8580-479: 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
8690-612: 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 ,
8800-479: 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
8910-518: The line of investigation proved fruitless. The law enforcement agencies hunting the killers made many mistakes during the early years of the investigation, often as a result of rivalries among the various authorities. Among the worst oversights were failure to preserve cars the gang modified and dumped, and loss of items with fingerprints. The original investigating magistrate was criticized for lack of professionalism by mishandling evidence and not considering alternatives to his hypotheses. Publicity about
9020-621: The murder weapon. This caused dissension within the WNP as Latinus was seen as having betrayed a member of the organisation. Also in 1983 several members of WNP who were in Front de la Jeunesse (Belgium) were convicted of organising it as an illegal militia, and given terms in prison. Leading WNP members were also arrested for unauthorised possession of low-level classified NATO documents. Latinus committed suicide in April 1984, and his followers formed rival cliques. Some theories have connected these facts to
9130-420: 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
9240-589: 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;
9350-534: 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
9460-471: 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
9570-471: 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
9680-623: The robbery of the Delhaize supermarket in Aalst on 9 November 1985 served to further strengthen media-fuelled rumours of a connection between the gang and elements of the Belgian military and the Belgian Gendarmerie in particular. For example, the supermarket was hit despite patrols passing it every twenty minutes and gendarmes close to the scene did not engage or pursue the robbers. Although no such connection has been officially proven,
9790-608: The supervision of the Ministry of Defence, were removed. This restructuring occurred after the 'black' 1980s of the Brabant killers , Heysel Stadium disaster , Cellules Communistes Combattantes (CCC), and other criminal and terrorist activity, against which the Gendarmerie was deemed ineffective. At the end of the 1990s, following adverse reports arising from the Dutroux Affair , the Belgian government decided to dissolve
9900-478: The supposed victims of these assassinations was the banker Léon Finné, who was shot by the gang during the robbery of the Delhaize supermarket in Overijse on 27 September 1985. Notorious professional criminals, including Patrick Haemers and Madani Bouhouche (both now dead) have been canvassed as likely suspects. Haemers's height made him an apparent fit for the Brabant gang's 'Giant', but his known crimes lacked
10010-466: 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
10120-679: 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
10230-508: 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
10340-485: 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
10450-436: The weapons could not have been there from before that time and a second search must have been done with guilty knowledge. In 2019, the now-retired officers responsible for ordering the 1986 search were officially questioned on suspicion of manipulating the investigation, but they protested that original search of the canal was not an underwater inspection by frogmen, as done in 1986. A Volkswagen Golf car — similar to that used in
10560-536: 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
10670-402: 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
10780-613: Was a law dated 17 April 1798, which remained in force until 1957. In 1815, the Belgian provinces became part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands , ruled by King William I . The Dutch renamed the Gendarmerie the " Royal Marechaussee " and reorganised the force. In 1830 the Belgian Revolution occurred. After obtaining its independence, the new Belgian state created its own national Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie on
10890-417: 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
11000-577: Was arrested as a suspect soon after the program was broadcast, but released without charge after 48 hours. In 2018 a former subordinate of Libert publicly accused him of being the 'Giant', although without any official reaction. Libert went on television to yet again deny the allegations, and said the accuser had mental health difficulties. Various conspiracy theories link the killings to political scandals, illegal gun-running mafias , and legitimate businesses, suggesting they were done to disguise targeted assassinations. It has been suggested that one of
11110-819: 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
11220-400: 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
11330-708: 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
11440-462: Was outdated, it was significantly understrength, and there were serious financial issues. It was also the period of fighting communist cells ( CCC ), serious and deadly criminal activities by gangs (like the Brabant killers , a case that was never solved) and hooliganism ( Heysel Stadium disaster ). Several parliamentary commissions blamed the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie for poor investigations and law enforcement work in these cases. The Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie
11550-539: Was released in 1988, police had found that Bouhouche had anonymously rented garages to store stolen cars, weapons he had stolen in a 1981 burglary of a Gendarmerie guard station in Etterbeek , and false duplicate car plates, some of which could have a connection to the Brabant killers. Also, items thought to have been abandoned by the Brabant killers turned out to include several TV remote controls adapted for triggering explosions, not unlike Bouhouche had intended to use in
11660-409: Was retained as full dress wear until the late 1960s. It was thereafter replaced by a more modern uniform comprising a dark blue peaked cap with red piping, dark blue coat with open collar and red Gendarmerie insignia, a light blue shirt with tie, dark blue trousers with red piping (a single stripe on the side of the leg) and the distinctive shoulder rank insignia. All modern Belgian police officers wear
11770-594: 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
11880-570: 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 ,
11990-408: Was threatened with disbandment, and drastic measures were taken to reorganise several units and to improve public relations. On 1 January 1992, the Rijkswacht/Gendarmerie lost its formal military status, resulting in major changes in policies, procedures, and staff regulation. Demilitarisation allowed the force to concentrate all its resources on civilian police work. Its military functions, as well as
12100-412: Was unsuccessfully approached for information in 2015. An initially promising lead for the enquiry concerned a member of a family of Romany origin that was well known in the underworld, who led a group of armed robbers. He was charged with being one of the Brabant Killers and at one point made (later retracted) admission to having participated without his gang in the massacres, but provided no details, and
#608391