99-401: Occitania ( French : Occitanie [ɔksitani] ; Occitan : Occitània [utsiˈtanjɔ] ; Catalan : Occitània [uksiˈtaniə] ) is the southernmost administrative region of metropolitan France excluding Corsica , created on 1 January 2016 from the former regions of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées . The Council of State approved Occitania as
198-572: 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 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
297-838: A historical region of southwestern Europe in which Occitan language was the main vernacular language . This territory was already united, in Roman times first as the Diocese of Vienne and then as the Seven Provinces ( Septem Provinciae ) and in Aquitaine at the beginning of the Middle Ages (Aquitanica, Visigoth kingdom of Toulouse), before the Frankish conquest. Occitania is characterized by "the Occitan culture", since
396-744: 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
495-431: 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,
594-448: A contingent of men at arms). In that year, the three entered into a perpetual union, after which their contribution of royal officers was summoned jointly rather than separately for each of the three sénéchaussées . Towards the end of the 14th century, the term "country of the three seneschalties" ( pays des trois sénéchaussées ), later to become known as Languedoc, designated the two bailiwicks of Bèucaire-Nimes and Carcassona , and
693-555: 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
792-652: 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
891-494: 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
990-683: 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 the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,
1089-547: 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 10
#17327935228031188-457: 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 is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As
1287-592: Is Fenouillèdes , the Occitan part of the department of Pyrénées-Orientales . French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) 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 ,
1386-437: 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
1485-472: 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
1584-489: 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
1683-652: 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
1782-563: 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
1881-404: 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
1980-469: 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
2079-828: 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
SECTION 20
#17327935228032178-639: 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 ,
2277-553: 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
2376-483: 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
2475-492: 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
2574-424: 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
2673-764: 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
2772-609: 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; 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
2871-624: The County of Foix , and the eastern parts of what was formerly Gascony ( Armagnac , Comminges , Couserans , Bigorre , Condomois , Nébouzan , Rivière-Verdun ), and Guiana ( Carcin , Roergue ). During the Ancien Régime , most of these territories lay within the jurisdiction of the Parlement of Toulouse , founded in 1443. Occitania ( Occitània or Óucitanìo in Occitan ) is
2970-627: The County of Roussillon in 1209). The new Province of Roussillon also known simply as Roussillon, brought together the medieval administrative courts, or vigueries , of Roussillon, Conflent , and the north of the County of Cerdanya which were part of the government structure of the Crown of Aragon 's (and attached to the Principality of Catalonia ) counties of Roussillon and Cerdanya ( governació dels comtats de Rosselló i Cerdanya in Catalan ) at
3069-609: 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
Occitania (administrative region) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3168-517: 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 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
3267-533: 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
3366-559: 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,
3465-399: 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 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
3564-531: The Haut-Agenais used the term Pais de Guiana in a campaign which evoked its historical identity to promote the Lot-et-Garonne and part of the valley of Dròt . This reference is now superseded in the promotion of tourism by the designation Pais del Dròt . The appellations Quercy and Roergue, in contrast, retain a strong identity. Gascony is the former province located on the territory of
3663-877: 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
3762-808: The Kingdom of France in the 13th century, following the Albigensian Crusade (1208–1229). This crusade aimed to put an end to what the Church considered the Cathar heresy , and enabled the Capetian dynasty to extend its influence south of the Loire . As part of this process, the former principalities of Trencavel (the Viscounty of Albi , Carcassona , Besièrs , Agde and Nimes ) were integrated into
3861-626: 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
3960-537: The Occitan linguistic area, in its Languedocien dialectal variant. They were possessions of the Counts of Toulouse from the 9th century, at various stages a minor branch or the main branch. Like the other possessions of the Counts of Toulouse, they were integrated for the first time with the French royal domain in 1271, and then yielded to the kings of England under the 1360 Treaty of Brétigny . The province of Quercy
4059-673: The Royal French Domain in 1224. The Counts of Toulouse followed them in 1271. The remaining feudal enclaves were absorbed progressively up to the beginning of the 16th century; the County of Gévaudan in 1258, the County of Melgueil ( Mauguiò ) in 1293, the Lordship of Montpellier in 1349 and the Viscounts of Narbonne in 1507. The territory falling within the jurisdiction of the Estates of Languedoc , which convened for
Occitania (administrative region) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4158-627: The Vascones ) and Gascony in the 13th century, the territory was geographically diverse, situated between the Atlantic Ocean , Garona and the Pyrenees . Claiming a cultural identity based on evolving occupation, from the Aquitani peoples of Proto-Basque language to a Gascon population sharing a latinized Occitan dialect , it constitutes the current Gascon linguistic area . Between
4257-775: 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
4356-448: The 15th and the beginning of the 16th centuries, it was progressively integrated into the Royal French domain . Comenge yielded to the kings of France in 1443, extinguishing the local dynasty. Armagnac , Bigorre and Nebosan followed, with the county of Foix , in 1607. The County of Foix is an old French county created out of the County of Carcassonne in around 1050 for Bernard Roger , son of Roger I of Carcassonna . In 1398,
4455-399: The 17th century onward, there was only one intendance for the whole of Languedoc, with its seat in Montpellier. The former provinces of Gascony (in Gascon Gasconha , Occitan pronunciation: [ɡasˈkuɲɔ] ), and Guyenne ; in Occitan Guiana [ˈɡjanɔ] ) were historically part of the Great South-West of France ( Grand Sud-Ouest français ), and derived from
4554-455: 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;
4653-474: 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
4752-510: 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
4851-614: 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,
4950-471: The Counts of Toulouse, known colloquially as the Occitan cross , is used by the modern region and is also a popular cultural symbol. In 2021, Occitania had a population of 6,022,176. Enacted in 2014, the territorial reform of French regions had been subject to debate for many years. The reform law used as the new region's provisional name, the hyphenated names of its predecessors: Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées , in alphabetical order. As for most of
5049-408: 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
SECTION 50
#17327935228035148-416: 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
5247-410: 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 a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as
5346-441: 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 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
5445-472: The Middle Ages another expression of Romance culture in France and to a lesser extent in Italy , Spain and Monaco . It is presented and recognized on institutional sites of French communities, such as those of the Lot-et-Garonne County Council and the city of Agen . Most of the territory that came to be called Languedoc (the region where langue d'oc is spoken; in Occitan Lengadòc , pronounced [ˌleŋɡɔˈðɔ(k)] ) became attached to
5544-402: 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 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
5643-450: The Sovereign Council of Roussillon, independent of the Parlement of Toulouse . Currently, the name Roussillon is still the most widely used to designate this territory, being found in the denomination of the former region of Languedoc-Roussillon . Today, the territory is often subdivided into five unofficial traditional and natural comarques : Roussillon proper, Vallespir , Conflent , Upper Cerdanya and Capcir . A recent addition
5742-439: The border between the kingdom of France and the Principality of Catalonia lay further north, along a line of citadels ( Treaty of Corbeil ). These territories corresponded to the Catalan counties of Roussillon and Conflent , founded in the 9th century, as well as to the northern part of the County of Cerdanya , to which was added the former Vicounty of Castelnou, or Vallespir (the pagus of County of Besalú , united with
5841-493: The broader region, and refers to the historical use throughout that territory of the Occitan language and its various dialects, which are so named for the word òc , the Occitan word for oui or "yes". The circa 450,000 French Catalans living in the region (or Catalans of the North , as they mostly call themselves) expressed dismay at the regional assembly resolution, regarding the new name as ignoring their presence. On 10 September 2016, some 10,000 people (7,800 according to
5940-495: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Regional Council of Occitania Opposition (49) The Regional Council of Occitania ( French : Conseil régional d'Occitanie , Occitan : Conselh regional d'Occitània ) is the deliberative assembly of the region of Occitania , the southernmost administrative region of metropolitan France excluding Corsica . Carole Delga of Socialist Party
6039-407: The county passed to House of Grailly and, in 1458, King Charles VII of France raised it to the Peerage of France in favor of Gaston IV, Count of Foix . The county-peerage passed to the House of Albret in 1484, and then to House of Bourbon-Vendôme in 1548. In 1607, King Henry IV of France attached the county to the Royal French domain . From the time of the French Revolution , the county
SECTION 60
#17327935228036138-468: The creation of the Parlement of Bordeaux in 1462. From that time, they were generally grouped under the name of Haute-Guyenne , by opposition with Basse-Guyenne , which was dependent on the Parlement of Bordeaux. The territory of the former province of Guyenne (Guiana) that lies within the region corresponds with Quercy (the current department of Lot and the north of Tarn e Garona ), and with Roergue ( Avairon ). These two counties are thus part of
6237-436: The current departments of Gers ( Armanhac and Condomois ), Hautes-Pyrénées ( Bigorre ), Lanas in the neighboring region, and parts of other departments of the two regions of Aquitània and Midi-Pyrénées ( Comenge , Nebosan and Rivière-Verdun mainly in the south and west of Haute-Garonne , and Couserans in the western part of Ariège ). Successively called Aquitania , Novempopulania , Vasconia (territory of
6336-404: 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
6435-481: The east, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on the northeast and Nouvelle-Aquitaine on the west and northwest, as well as foreign borders of Andorra ( Canillo , Encamp , La Massana , Ordino ) and Spain ( Aragon and Catalonia ) on the south. The largest communes of Occitania are (population as of 2017): The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 171.2 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 7.3% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power
6534-414: The eastern part of Tolosa (Toulouse), retained under the Treaty of Brétigny . At that time, the County of Foix , which belonged to the seneschal of Carcassona until 1333 before passing to Toulouse, ceased to belong to Languedoc. In 1542, the province was divided into two généralités : Toulouse for Haut-Languedoc, and Montpellier for Bas-Languedoc. This lasted until the French Revolution in 1789. From
6633-448: 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
6732-489: 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
6831-406: 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
6930-400: The first time in 1346, shrank progressively, becoming known during the Ancien Régime as the province of Languedoc . The year 1359 marked a turning point in the history of the province. The three bailiwicks ( sénéchaussées ) of Bèucaire , Carcassona and Tolosa had the status of bonnes villes (towns granted privileges and protection by the king of France in return for providing
7029-439: 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 ,
7128-829: 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
7227-519: 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
7326-479: 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
7425-612: 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 ,
7524-479: 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
7623-418: The medieval duchies of Vasconia , Aquitaine and then Guyenne . Today, only the eastern regions of the two provinces are part of Occitania. These areas correspond essentially to the territories acquired by the kings of England , dukes of Guyenne, under the treaty of Brétigny of 1360, and which then remained under the jurisdiction of the provincial appellate court of Toulouse ( Parlement of Toulouse ) after
7722-495: The merged regions, a permanent name was then proposed by the new regional council to replace that provisional name. On 24 June 2016, the Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées adopted the name Occitania after lengthy public consultation. The provisional name of the region was withdrawn on 30 September 2016, when the new name took effect. Occitania, the new name, derives from the historical appellation of
7821-420: 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
7920-412: The new name of the region on 28 September 2016, coming into effect on 30 September 2016. The modern administrative region is named after the larger cultural and historical region of Occitania , which corresponds with the southern third of France. The region of Occitania as it is today covers a territory similar to that ruled by the Counts of Toulouse in the 12th and 13th centuries. The banner of arms of
8019-534: 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
8118-477: The police) demonstrated in Perpignan , demanding that the merged region name contain the words Pays catalan (literal translation: "Catalan country"). Occitania is the second-largest region in mainland France, covering an area of 72,724 km (28,079 sq mi); it has a population of 5,845,102 (2017). It has a Mediterranean coast on the southeast and is neighboured by Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur on
8217-471: 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
8316-471: 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
8415-531: The time of their attachment to France. Roussillon was subject to direct taxation as a pays d'imposition (taxing country) and did not have representation through the Estates (a provincial assembly, the provincial assembly of Roussillon, was created on 15 August 1787). It formed both a government and an intendance and reported to the Secretary of State for War as a border province. It had sovereign jurisdiction:
8514-466: 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
8613-679: 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
8712-508: 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
8811-485: 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
8910-536: 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
9009-402: 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
9108-895: Was 26,000 euros or 86% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 102% of the EU average. Following the creation of the region in 2016, Carole Delga , a member of the Socialist Party , was elected to the presidency of the Regional Council of Occitania . The Hôtel de région , where the Regional Council of Occitania meets, is situated in Toulouse . The new administrative region includes provinces and territories of diverse cultural and historical origin: Languedoc (High and Low Languedoc), Països Catalans ( Roussillon , Cerdanya , Vallespir , Conflent , Capcir ),
9207-462: Was definitely reunited with the Crown in 1472; Roergue , possession of the counts of Armagnac, did not follow until 1607. Both came within the province of Guyenne, under military rule from 1561. Together, they became the généralité of Montauban from 1635, which then became the province of Haute-Guyenne in 1779. Today, the name Guyenne no longer has administrative or political currency, although
9306-819: 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
9405-554: Was fully incorporated into the department of Ariège . The Occitan dialect traditionally spoken there is Languedocien . The Ancien Régime province of Roussillon , which had formerly been integrated with the Catalan counties , the Kingdom of Majorca , and the Principality of Catalonia within the Crown of Aragon , was attached to the Crown of France under the Treaty of the Pyrenees , signed on 7 November 1659. Prior to this treaty,
9504-400: 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
9603-708: 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
9702-542: 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
9801-570: 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 ,
#802197