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110-479: Mont-Saint-Bruno Provincial Park ( French : Parc Provincial du Mont-Saint-Bruno ) is a small national park of Quebec located near the municipality of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville , 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) to the east of Montréal on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River . The park, with an area of 8.84 square kilometres (3.41 sq mi), notably includes Mont Saint-Bruno , one of

220-421: A grotto . The brothers finally sold all their land around Mount-Saint-Bruno to the government of Québec in 1976, and in 1990, the seminary was demolished. The apple orchard as well as an 0.51 hectares (1.3 acres) arboretum, which at one point was home to 176 species of trees and bushes, are the sole remainders of this religious community's presence on the flanks of the mountain. A quarry was exploited from 1928 to

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

440-431: 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,

550-555: 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

660-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on

770-494: 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

880-552: A school and an arboretum for the benefit of the neighboring population. In 1976, the Government of Quebec acquired part of the mountain. It established a park in 1985 that, since 1999, is managed by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SÉPAQ). The park sees approximately 750,000 visitors yearly, where hiking , cross-country skiing and alpine skiing are amongst the most popular activities enjoyed. The park

990-587: 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

1100-526: 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

1210-941: 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

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1320-547: 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

1430-437: 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

1540-779: 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

1650-472: 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

1760-473: Is accessible year round but does not possess lodging infrastructure. In summertime, it is possible to hike along a 30 kilometres (19 mi) network of trails, and to bike on the park's service roads. Between the months of August and October, the orchard is open for apple picking. In wintertime, cross-country skiing and hiking are the preferred activities. The Mont-Saint-Bruno national park, with Mont-Tremblant National Park and Mont-Orford National Park ,

1870-489: 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

1980-542: Is also forbidden in all parks except for existing installations. The park shares its administration center with the Îles-de-Boucherville National Park , about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the west, where its offices are located. The park is frequented by around 750,000 visitors yearly, which makes it the third most visited park of the province after the Gatineau Park and the Saguenay–St. Lawrence Marine Park . It

2090-430: 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

2200-462: 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

2310-652: 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

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2420-408: Is frequented by 38 species of mammals . The sole great mammal found in the park is the white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ). The most common mammals are the eastern grey squirrel ( Peromyscus leucopus ), the white-footed mouse ( Peromyscus leucopus ), the eastern chipmunk ( Tamias striatus ) and the groundhog ( Marmota monax ). Three threatened species find home within

2530-503: 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

2640-456: Is home to 574 plant species, 20% of the documented total in the province. Below 140 metres (460 ft) of altitude, the park's forest is dominated by maple and bitternut hickory ( Carya cordiformis ). Between 100 metres (330 ft) and 140 metres (460 ft), the forest is dominated by the sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ) together with the American tilia ( Tilia americana ) or

2750-404: 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

2860-468: Is named after mount Saint-Bruno , whose namesake is Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville , a municipality directly adjacent to the west flank of the mountain. The mount was known in the past as the "colline de Montarville" (hill of Montarville), from the name of the signory of Montarville. It was the establishment of the Saint-Bruno parish that provoked a gradual shift towards the current name. The parish itself

2970-469: 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

3080-828: 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

3190-546: Is one of three national parks in Québec that is also home to an alpine skiing resort. Ski Mont Saint-Bruno is a small station that started operating in 1965. It is known for its large ski school, currently 562 teachers strong with an attendance of around 30,000 students. The resort has 15 ski slopes and is visited by 300,000 skiers per season. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )

3300-576: 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 ,

3410-553: 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

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3520-483: 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

3630-547: Is the one that presents the most meridional climate of the Province. It is characterized by the presence of mixed forests dominated by the sugar maple , the yellow birch , the Canadian hemlock and the eastern white pine . Approximately 60% of the region is dedicated to intensive agriculture. Urbanization is also very important as it comprises Montréal , Québec City and Ottawa within its area. The Mont-Saint-Bruno park

3740-492: 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

3850-424: 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

3960-764: 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

4070-462: 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

4180-480: The Cooper's hawk ( Accipiter cooperii ), the eastern screech owl ( Megascops asio ), the great horned owl ( Bubo virginianus ), the barred owl ( Strix varia ), the northern goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis ), the broad-winged hawk ( Buteo platypterus ), the red-tailed hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis ) and the American kestrel ( Falco sparverius ). Five threatened species of birds can be found in

4290-539: 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

4400-485: 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

4510-559: 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,

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4620-877: 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

4730-586: The Monteregian Hills which peaks at 218 metres (715 ft). The mountain is shared with the Ski Mont Saint-Bruno ski resort, a quarry and a small Canadian Forces ( 5th GSS ) training camp. Despite its relatively small size, the mountain is known for its rich fauna and flora . Situated at the heart of the old signory of Montarville, its many lakes have permitted the construction and exploitation of many water mills , contributing to

4840-626: 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

4950-738: The Trinitarian Order , the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and the Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel all purchased land parcels around the mountain to flee from Montreal's sprawling urbanization and to meet the food requirements of their schools. The Brothers of Saint-Gabriel would leave the greatest imprint on the mountain. They moved in 1912 close to the Villa Grand-Coteau, which

5060-1012: 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

5170-401: The blue-spotted salamander ( Ambystoma laterale ), the four-toed salamander ( Hemidactylium scutatum ), the red-backed salamander ( Plethodon cinereus ), the American toad ( Anaxyrus americanus ), the gray tree frog ( Hyla versicolor ), the spring peeper ( Pseudacris crucifer ), the wood frog ( Lithobates sylvatica ), the leopard frog ( Lithobates pipiens ),

5280-406: The northern map turtle ( Graptemys geographica ), the common garter snake ( Thamnophis sirtalis ), the redbelly snake ( Storeria occipitomaculata ) and the ringneck snake ( Diadophis punctatus ). Its amphibian population is composed of 14 (62% of the province's total) species, the eastern newt ( Notophthalmus viridescens ), the spotted salamander ( Ambystoma maculatum ),

5390-428: The pickerel frog ( Lithobates palustris ), the green frog ( Lithobates clamitans ), the mink frog ( Lithobates septentrionalis ) and the bullfrog ( Lithobates catesbeiana ). Four of those species are threatened, the four-toed salamander, the pickerel frog, the northern map turtle and the ringneck snake. 13 species of fish have been counted in the park's lakes, the pumpkinseed ( Lepomis gibbosus ),

5500-462: The red oak ( Quercus rubra ). Also found in the park are the Canadian hemlock ( Tsuga canadensis ), the American hophornbeam ( Ostrya virginiana ), the yellow birch ( Betula alleghaniensis ), the moosewood ( Viburnum lantanoides ) and the northern whitecedar ( Thuja occidentalis ). 24 plan species found in the park are threatened species . Those plants are: The park

5610-428: The smallmouth bass ( Micropterus dolomieu ), the yellow perch ( Perca flavescens ), the white sucker ( Catostomus commersonii ), the brown bullhead ( Ameiurus nebulosus ), the golden shiner ( Notemigonus crysoleucas ), the common carp ( Cyprinus carpio ), the black crappie ( Pomoxis nigromaculatus ), the goldfish ( Carassius auratus ), the bluntnose minnow ( Pimephales notatus ),

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5720-459: The tessellated darter ( Etheostoma olmstedi ), the rock bass ( Ambloplites rupestris ) and the blacknose shiner ( Notropis heterolepis ). No trace of indigenous occupation has been found in the park. However, it is likely that the territory was occupied during the archaic period beginning at least 8,000 years ago and continuing through the Sylvicole (1000 B.C. to 1500 A.D.) until

5830-506: 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;

5940-836: 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

6050-401: The Boucher family sold the seigneury to François-Pierre Bruneau, a lawyer from Montreal who in turn passed it to his cousin, Olivier-Théophile (who was the first professor of anatomy at McGill University in 1851. On his death, in 1855, the seigneury ceased to exist. In 1897, Edson Loy Pease, a rich banker from Montreal, acquired 405 hectares (1,000 acres) of the mountain. In 1899, this terrain

6160-510: 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

6270-614: 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,

6380-408: 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

6490-416: 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

6600-451: The Mont-Saint-Bruno national park has been administered by the Société des établissements de plein air du Québec (SÉPAQ) since 1999. The SÉPAQ oversees the provision of activities and services as well as park protection and promotion. The exploitation of natural resources for forestry, mining or energy production is forbidden, as it is in any other of Quebec's parks, and so are hunting, trapping and poaching. The passage of gas or oil pipelines

6710-412: The Montreal region, the seigneury of Saint-Bruno used water rather than wind to power its mills, which at one point numbered five and were all built between 1725 and 1816. Their hydraulic power was harnessed for grinding wheat, tanning leather, carding and spinning wool and sawing wood. The sole mill that is still standing to this day is the grain mill, rebuilt in 1761 on the site of the first mill. In 1825,

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6820-654: The administrative region of Montérégie . The composition and geological origin of mount Saint-Bruno is similar to that of the other Monteregian hills. Formed by an intrusion of magma in the Earth's crust associated with a hotspot created by the opening of the Atlantic Ocean approximately 124 million years ago, the Monteregian hills have been exposed to the elements by the progressive erosion of their paleozoic sedimentary layers, which are softer than their core of metamorphic and igneous rocks that typically form plutons . Contrary to popular belief, they are not volcanoes. The mountain owes its present rounded aspect to

6930-460: The aim of increasing the territory covered by the park from 5.78 square kilometres (2.23 sq mi) to 7.79 square kilometres (3.01 sq mi) by annexing land belonging to the city and the Department of National Defence , the latter comprising the summit of the mountain. Finally, on the 27th of July 2012, the government of Québec announced that the area of the park was to be increased to its limits established back in 2000. Limits over which

7040-462: The arrival of the French in the 16th century. The native indigenous culture associated with Mont-Saint-Bruno is that of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians , who disappeared around 1580. In 1710, the seigneury of Montarville was conceded to Pierre Boucher, son of the neighboring seigneur of Boucherville. However, it was 30 years before the seigneury began to develop, due to a lack of navigable waterways in close enough proximity. Contrary to other seigneuries of

7150-436: The cities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Montreal , Quebec. There are also fossils of oceanic fish such as capelin . The Sea also left ancient raised shorelines in the former coastal regions, and the Leda clay deposits in areas of deeper water. The northern shore of the lake was in southern Quebec where outcrops of the Canadian Shield form Eardley Escarpment . This escarpment still has distinctive plants that may date back to

7260-411: The climate is the most clement. The average annual temperature in the park is 6 °C (43 °F); the season where it stays above 0 °C (32 °F) lasts 149 days on average and the annual insolation is 2000 hours. The mountain gets 1,014 millimetres (39.9 in) of precipitation, of which 239 centimetres (94 in) is snowfall. Although the mountain stands at only 218 metres (715 ft),

7370-406: The conditions on the summit are a bit harsher than at the bottom, which in consequence causes altitudinal zonation . As the altitude increases, the vegetation passes from sugar maple , bitternut hickory at the base, to northern red oak , sugar maple on the summit. According to the ecological framework of Canada, the park is located in the ecoregion of the Saint-Lawrence lowlands . This region

7480-432: The confines of the park, all of them bats: the silver-haired bat ( Lasionycteris noctivagans ), the hoary bat ( Lasiurus cinereus ) and the eastern red bat ( Lasiurus borealis ). 234 species of bird can be observed in Mont-Saint-Bruno National Park, which is 72% of all bird species represented in the province of Québec. Amongst them are many birds of prey such as the red-shouldered hawk ( Buteo lineatus ),

7590-511: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Champlain sea The mass of ice from the continental ice sheets had depressed the rock beneath it over millennia. At the end of the last glacial period, while the rock was still depressed, the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa River valleys, as well as modern Lake Champlain , at that time Lake Vermont , were below sea level and flooded with rising worldwide sea levels, once

7700-404: 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

7810-448: 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

7920-594: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as

8030-516: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of

8140-915: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,

8250-829: 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

8360-603: The hydrographic network of the park is well developed. It comprises five lakes, one bog , two artificial ponds and many streams, all of them part of the Richelieu River watershed . The du Moulin, Seigneurial and des Bouleaux lakes are used for the municipal water supply of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville. The climate of the Saint-Lawrence lowlands is moderate, subhumid and continental. It is a region in Quebec where

8470-406: The ice no longer prevented the ocean from flowing into the region. As the land gradually rose again, in the process known as isostatic rebound , the sea coast gradually retreated to its current location. The sea lasted from about 13,000 years ago to about 10,000 years ago and was continuously shrinking during that time, since the rebounding continent was slowly rising above sea level. At its peak,

8580-427: The intrusion of magma. Mount Saint-Bruno is an inselberg that reaches 218 metres (715 ft) in altitude, above a plain with an average altitude of 30 metres (98 ft). Its highest summits are situated on its north-eastern flank and form an ellipse around the "lac des Bouleaux" (Birch Lake). Its outer terrain gradually recedes towards the south-east and is punctuated by water-filled dips. Despite its small size,

8690-519: 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

8800-479: 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

8910-612: 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 ,

9020-531: The last glaciation period and the grinding action of glacier movement. It was partially submerged by the Champlain sea , which has left shallow deposits of clay , sand, sandy gravel and gravel . The massif 's composition is mainly of peridotite accompanied by gabbro and syenite surrounded by shale and siltstone dating from the Ordovician (approximately 500 million years ago) and metamorphosed by

9130-479: 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

9240-494: The level of today's Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The best evidence of this former sea is the vast clay plain deposited along the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers. This resulted in distinctive forest types, and large wetlands. Other modern evidence of the sea can be seen in the form of fossils of whales ( belugas , fin whales , and bowhead whales ), walruses and other pinnipeds, and marine shells that have been found near

9350-493: The middle of the 1940s and left a gash in the mountain with a width of 115 metres (377 ft), a length of 140 metres (460 ft) and a depth of 40 metres (130 ft) on its steepest flank. In 1965, the Ski Mont Saint-Bruno ski resort was opened. With time, the proximity of this resort to the urban region of Montreal has made Mont-Saint-Bruno a well known ski school. In 1969, the city of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville acquired 1.5 square kilometres (0.58 sq mi) of land in

9460-497: The mountain in order to protect the lakes that form its drinking water supply. Following requests to protect the mountain, the government of Québec purchased all the land in 1975 and 1976 to make the mountain a park and a fishing and hunting reserve. Public hearings were held in 1982 aimed at creating a provincial park. In 2001, the status of the park was modified, along with that of all other of Quebec's provincial park, to "parc national". In 2000, public hearings were conducted again with

9570-420: 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

9680-589: 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;

9790-534: 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

9900-439: The park had full administration rights, but were not officially part of its territory. This increase in land coverage included a mire and the main hills that the park was previously missing. A few more lots were again annexed to the park in 2013, giving it its current area. As is the case for Quebec's other national parks (with the exception of Pingualuit and Kuururjuaq national parks, which are administered by Nunavik parks),

10010-492: The park, the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ), the sedge wren ( Cistothorus platensis ), the Cerulean warbler ( Setophaga cerulea ), the chimney swift ( Chaetura pelagica ) and the common nighthawk ( Chordeiles minor ). Seven species of reptiles are present in the park (43% of the province's total), the common snapping turtle ( Chelydra serpentina ), the painted turtle ( Chrysemys picta ),

10120-471: 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

10230-453: The region's economical success. A building from one of those mills, the "Vieux Moulin" (Old Mill), still stands to this day and is used as a rest area for skiers and hikers in different seasons. At the beginning of the 20th century, the mountain became a luxury resort and a sought-after area for the food needs of various religious communities. One of those communities, the Brothers of Christian Instruction of St Gabriel , went as far as building

10340-471: 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

10450-561: The sea extended inland as far south as Lake Champlain and somewhat farther west than the city of Ottawa , Ontario, and farther up the Ottawa River past Pembroke . At one time Glacial Lake Iroquois became an arm of the Champlain Sea called Gilbert Gulf. The remaining glaciers fed the sea during that time, making it more brackish than typical seawater. It is estimated that the sea was as much as 150 metres (490 ft) above

10560-466: 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

10670-679: 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

10780-508: 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

10890-485: 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

11000-536: 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

11110-402: 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

11220-417: 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

11330-532: Was at that time the property of the Society of Jesus. In 1922, the latter sold the Brothers all their land in the area, including the villa. The acquisition became profitable very quickly, in part because of its apple orchards, and also because of its dairy production. In 1925, they constructed a seminary that became the most important school of this congregation in Québec. In 1930, they built a cemetery and in 1954,

11440-819: 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

11550-400: 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

11660-652: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates

11770-531: Was named as a tribute to the Bruneau family, its early financial contributors. The park covers an area of 8.84 square kilometres (3.41 sq mi). It comprises part of mont Saint-Bruno , one of the nine Monteregian Hills and is 218 metres (715 ft) high. It is located about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Montreal and is surrounded by the municipalities of Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville , Sainte-Julie and Saint-Basile-le-Grand , all three belonging to

11880-594: 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

11990-537: Was sold to the Mount Bruno Association, an organization created to manage the domain in shared ownership, presided by Pease until his death in 1930. The association built 10 resorts between 1899 and 1940 that are now within the park. The Pease domain, located on the lac du Moulin, was destroyed by flames in 1941. At the beginning of the 20th century, four religious communities, the Society of Jesus ,

12100-570: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,

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