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131-465: The Montreal Metro ( French : Métro de Montréal ) is a rubber-tired underground rapid transit system serving Greater Montreal , Quebec, Canada. The metro, operated by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), was inaugurated on October 14, 1966, during the tenure of Mayor Jean Drapeau . It has expanded since its opening from 22 stations on two lines to 68 stations on four lines totalling 69.2 kilometres (43.0 mi) in length, serving

262-744: 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

393-431: 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,

524-758: A computer. As of April 2024, the ARTM added an option to recharge an Opus card directly from the Chrono mobile app. In 2016, the STM is developing a smart phone application featuring NFC technology, which could replace the Opus card. Metro stations are equipped with MétroVision information screens displaying advertising, news headlines from the RDI , and MétéoMédia weather information, as well as STM-specific information regarding service changes, service delays and other information about using

655-422: A computerized visual recognition system. On station platforms, emergency points are available with a telephone connected to the command centre, an emergency power supply cut-off switch and a fire extinguisher. The power supply system is segmented into short sections that can be independently powered, so that following an incident a single train can be stopped while the others reach the nearest station. In tunnels,

786-555: 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

917-611: A moratorium May 19, 1976, to the all-out expansion desired by Mayor Jean Drapeau . Tenders were frozen, including those of Line 2 (Orange Line) after the Snowdon station and those of Line 5 (Blue Line) whose works were yet already underway. A struggle then ensued between the MUC and the Government of Quebec as any extension could not be done without the agreement of both parties. The Montreal Transportation Office might have tried to put

1048-614: A new government in Quebec rejected the project, replacing the Metro lines by commuter train lines in its own 1988 transport plan. Yet the provincial elections of 1989 approaching, the Line 7 (White Line) project reappeared and the extensions of Line 5 (Blue Line) to Anjou ( Pie-IX , Viau , Lacordaire , Langelier and Galeries d'Anjou ) and Line 2 (Orange Line) northward ( Deguire / Poirier , Bois-Franc and Salaberry ) were announced. At

1179-705: 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

1310-413: A raised path at trains level facilitates evacuation and allows people movement without walking on the tracks. Every 15 meters, directions are indicated by illuminated green signs. Every 150 meters, emergency stations with telephones, power switches and fire hoses can be found. At the ventilation shafts locations in the old tunnels or every 750 meters in recent tunnels sections (Laval), emergency exits reach

1441-494: 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

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1572-587: 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

1703-526: 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

1834-941: 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

1965-432: A subscription for Montreal only and commuter train tickets. Moreover, unlike the magnetic stripe cards , which had been sold alongside the new Opus cards up until May 2009, the contactless cards are not at risk of becoming demagnetized and rendered useless and do not require patrons to slide them through a reader. Since 2015, customers have been able to purchase an Opus card reader to recharge their personal card online from

2096-547: 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

2227-549: Is Georges-Vanier , with 773,078 entries in 2011. The network operations funding (maintenance, equipment purchase and salaries) is provided by the STM. Tickets and subscriptions cover only 40% of the actual operational costs, with the shortfall offset by the urban agglomeration of Montreal (28%), the Montreal Metropolitan Community (5%) and the Government of Quebec (23%). The STM does not keep separate accounts for Metro and buses services, therefore

2358-437: 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

2489-472: 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

2620-489: 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

2751-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including

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2882-462: 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

3013-491: Is covered by the federal government. Small investments to maintain the network in working order remain entirely the responsibility of the STM. Montreal Metro facilities are patrolled daily by 155 STM inspectors and 115 agents of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) assigned to the subway. They are in contact with the command centre of the Metro which has 2,000 cameras distributed on the network, coupled with

3144-652: 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

3275-503: 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

3406-404: 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

3537-484: Is not uncommon for travellers in these sections to let several trains pass before being able to board. Conditions at these stations worsen in summer because of the lack of air conditioning and heat generated by the trains. In 2014, the five most popular stations (in millions of inbound travellers) were Berri–UQAM (12.8), McGill (11.1), Bonaventure (8.1), Guy–Concordia (8.1) and Côte-Vertu (7.6); all of these but Côte-Vertu are located downtown. The least busy station

3668-469: 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

3799-828: 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

3930-576: 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 ,

4061-553: 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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4192-483: 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

4323-492: 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

4454-424: 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

4585-764: 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

4716-462: 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

4847-713: The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), mandated to manage and integrate road transport and public transportation in Greater Montreal; and the Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM, publicly known as exo), which took over all operations from the former Agence métropolitaine de transport. RTM now operates Montreal's commuter rail and metropolitan bus services, and is the second busiest such system in Canada after Toronto 's GO Transit . Announced in 1998 by

4978-484: The De Maisonneuve Boulevard . It would extend between the English-speaking west at Atwater station and French-speaking east at Frontenac . Line 2 ( Orange Line ) was to run from north of the downtown, from Crémazie station through various residential neighbourhoods to the business district at Place-d'Armes station . Construction of the first two lines began May 23, 1962, under the supervision of

5109-539: 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

5240-485: 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

5371-503: The Exo commuter rail system, which links the metropolitan area to the outer suburbs via six interchange stations ( Bonaventure , Lucien-L'Allier , Vendôme , De la Concorde , Sauvé , and Parc ) and the réseau express métropolitain (REM), scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2023. The fares for Exo, the REM and the Metro for zone A are only valid on the island of Montreal. In order to take

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5502-559: 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,

5633-877: 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

5764-570: The Island of Montreal . After being awarded, in May 1970, the 1976 Summer Olympics , a loan of $ 430 million ($ 2.7 billion in 2016) was approved by the MUC on February 12, 1971, to fund the extensions of Line 1 (Green Line) and Line 2 (Orange Line) and the construction of a transverse line: Line 5 (Blue Line) . The Government of Quebec agreed to bear 60% of the costs. The work on the extensions started October 14, 1971, with Line 1 (Green Line) towards

5895-634: The New York City Subway and Mexico City Metro . In 2023, 303,969,500 trips on the Metro were completed. With the Metro and the newer driverless, steel-wheeled Réseau express métropolitain , Montreal has one of North America's largest urban rapid transit systems, attracting the second-highest ridership per capita behind New York City . Urban transit began in Montreal in 1861 when a line of horse-drawn cars started to operate on Craig (now St-Antoine ) and Notre-Dame streets. Eventually, as

6026-681: The North Shore at Deux-Montagnes , was completely renovated in the early 1990s and effectively replaced the planned third line. The next line would thus be numbered 5 (Blue Line) . Subsequently, elements of the line, particularly the Deux-Montagnes commuter train, became the first line of the Réseau Express Métropolitain . The Montreal municipal administration asked municipalities of the South Shore of

6157-626: 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

6288-682: The Orange and Green Lines . The frequency decreases to 12 minutes during late nights. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) operates Metro and bus services in Montreal, and transfers between the two are free inside a 120-minute time frame after the first validation. On July 1, 2022, the ARTM reorganized its fare system into 4 zones: A, B, C, and D. The island of Montreal was placed in zone A and fares for zones B, C and D can be bought separately or together. The Metro fares are fully integrated with

6419-618: The Pink Line as part of her campaign for the office of Mayor of Montreal. The new route would have 29 stations and would primarily northeastern Montreal with the downtown areas, as well as the western end of NDG and Lachine. The project has since been added to Quebec's 10-year infrastructure plan, and feasibility studies for the line's western section began in June 2021. The Montreal Metro consists of four lines, which are usually identified by their colour or terminus station. The terminus station in

6550-573: The Saint Lawrence River which one would be interested in the Metro and Longueuil got the link. Line 4 (Yellow Line) would therefore pass under the river, from Berri-de-Montigny station , junction of Line 1 (Green Line) and Line 2 (Orange Line) , to Longueuil . A stop was added in between to access the site of Expo 67, built on two islands of the Hochelaga Archipelago in the river. Saint Helen's Island , on which

6681-569: The Snowdon) station in 1988. Because it was not crowded, the STCUM at first operated Line 5 (Blue Line) weekdays only from 5:30 am to 7:30 pm and was circulating only three-car trains instead of the nine car trains in use along the other lines. Students from the University of Montreal , the main source of customers, obtained extension of the closing time to 11:10 pm and then 0:15 am in 2002. In

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6812-520: 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

6943-448: The Western world experienced an economic boom and Quebec underwent its Quiet Revolution . From August 1, 1960, many municipal services reviewed the project and on November 3, 1961, the Montreal City Council voted appropriations amounting to $ 132 million ($ 1.06 billion in 2016) to construct and equip an initial network 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) in length. The 1961 plan reused several previous studies and planned three lines carved into

7074-425: The $ 292 million operating costs, before electricity costs (9%). Heavy investment (network extensions) is entirely funded by the provincial government. Renovations and service improvements are subsidized up to 100% by the Government of Canada, the province and the urban agglomeration. For example, 74% of the rolling stock replacement cost is paid for by Quebec while 33% of the bill for upgrades to ventilation structures

7205-424: The 1944 plans and extending it all the way to Boulevard Crémazie , right by the D'Youville maintenance shops . By this point, construction was already well underway on Canada's first subway line in Toronto under Yonge Street , which would open in 1954. Still, Montreal councillors remained cautious and no work was initiated. For some of them, including Jean Drapeau during his first municipal term, public transit

7336-455: 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;

7467-474: 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

7598-510: 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

7729-614: 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,

7860-406: The Director of Public Works, Lucien L'Allier. On June 11, 1963, the construction costs for tunnels being lower than expected, Line 2 (Orange Line) was extended by two stations at each end and the new termini became the Henri-Bourassa and Bonaventure stations. The project, which employed more than 5,000 workers at its height, and cost the lives of 12 of them, ended on October 14, 1966. The service

7991-408: 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

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8122-509: The Exo, REM or Metro trains from Montreal to Laval (zone B), you must have the corresponding fares for that zone; for example, an all modes AB fare. Fare payment is via a barrier system accepting magnetic tickets and RFID -like contactless cards. A rechargeable contactless smart card called Opus was unveiled on April 21, 2008; it provides seamless integration with other transit networks of neighbouring cities by being capable of holding multiple transport tickets: tickets, books or subscriptions,

8253-416: 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

8384-411: The Government of Quebec created a supra-municipal agency, the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT), whose mandate is to coordinate the development of transport throughout the Greater Montreal area. The AMT was responsible, among others, for the development of the Metro and suburban trains. On June 1, 2017, the AMT was disbanded and replaced by two distinct agencies by the Loi 76 (English: Law 76),

8515-430: The Ontario border to Autoroute 25 is part of the Trans-Canada Highway . The Metropolitan Autoroute portion in Montreal is the busiest highway in Quebec, the busiest section of the Trans-Canada Highway , as well as the second busiest highway section overall in Canada after Highway 401 in Toronto. Two sections of Autoroute 40 were not part of the original plans: The original intention was to bypass Trois-Rivières to

8646-414: The Parisian influence - as the rubber tired trains could use steeper grades and accelerate faster. 80% of the tunnels were built through rock, as opposed to the traditional cut-and-cover method used for the construction of the Yonge Subway in Toronto. The main line, or Line 1 ( Green Line ) was to pass between the two most important arteries, Saint Catherine and Sherbrooke streets, more or less under

8777-440: The STCUM, the project to extend Line 2 (Orange) past the Henri-Bourassa terminus to the city of Laval , passing under the Rivière des Prairies , was launched March 18, 2002. The extension was decided and funded by the Government of Quebec. The AMT received the mandate of its implementation but the ownership and operation of the line stayed with the Société de transport de Montréal (STCUM successor). The work completed, opening to

8908-402: The beginning of the 1990s, there was a significant deficit in public finances across Canada, especially in Quebec, and an economic recession. Metro ridership decreased and the Government of Quebec removed subsidies for the operation of urban public transport. Faced with this situation, the extensions projects were put on hold and the MUC prioritized the renovation of its infrastructures. In 1996,

9039-423: The city centre and the Saint-Lawrence River to link the emerging South Shore neighbourhoods but faced the opposition of railway companies. The Montreal Tramways Company (MTC) was the first to receive the approval of the provincial government in 1913 and four years to start construction. The reluctance of elected city officials to advance funds foiled this first attempt. The issue of a subway remained present in

9170-399: The city grew, a comprehensive network of streetcar lines provided service in most of the city. But urban congestion started to take its toll on streetcar punctuality, so the idea of an underground system was soon considered. In 1902, as European and American cities were inaugurating their first subway systems , the Canadian federal government created the Montreal Subway Company to promote

9301-433: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Quebec Autoroute 40 The western terminus of Autoroute 40 is located at the Ontario –Quebec border, where it continues as Highway 417 towards Ottawa ; the eastern terminus is in Boischatel , where it transitions into Route 138 at the end of the freeway. The portion of Autoroute 40 from

9432-519: 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

9563-641: The direction of travel is used to differentiate between directions. The Yellow Line is the shortest line, with three stations, built for Expo 67 . Metro lines that leave the Île de Montréal are the Orange Line, which continues to Laval, and the Yellow Line, which continues to Longueuil . Metro service starts at 05:30, and the last trains start their run between 00:30 and 01:00 on weekdays and Sunday, and between 01:00 and 01:30 on Saturday. During rush hour, there are two to four minutes between trains on

9694-546: The east to reach the site where the Olympic Stadium was to be built and Autoroute 25 ( Honoré-Beaugrand station) that could serve as a transfer point for visitors arriving from outside. The extensions were an opportunity to make improvements to the network, such as new trains, larger stations and even semi-automatic control. The first extension was completed in June 1976 just before the Olympics. Line 1 (Green Line)

9825-448: 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

9956-594: 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

10087-516: 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

10218-448: The first phase of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) opened between Gare Centrale and Brossard . The system is independent of, but connects to and hence complements, the Metro. Built by CDPQ Infra , part of the Quebec pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec , the line will eventually run north-south across Montreal, with interchanges with the Metro at Gare Centrale (Bonaventure), McGill and Édouard-Montpetit. Following

10349-426: The following figures include both activities. In 2016, direct operating revenue planned by the STM totalled $ 667 million. To compensate for the reduced rates, the city will pay $ 513 million plus $ 351 million from Quebec. For a budget of $ 1.53 billion, salaries account for 57% of expenditures, followed in importance by financial expenses (22%) resulting from a 2.85 billion debt. For the Metro only, wages represented 75% of

10480-915: 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 ,

10611-829: 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

10742-629: The government in front of a fait accompli by awarding large contracts to build the tunnel between Namur station and the Bois-Franc station just before the moratorium was in force. In 1977, the newly elected government partially lifted the moratorium on the extension of Line 2 (Orange Line) and the construction of Line 5 (Blue Line) . In 1978, the STCUM proposed a map which includes a western extension of Line 5 (Blue Line) that includes stations in N.D.G., Montreal West, Ville St. Pierre, Lachine, LaSalle, and potentially beyond. Line 2 (Orange Line)

10873-456: The government preferred the option of converting existing railway lines to overground Metro ones. The mayors of the MUC, initially reluctant, accepted this plan when Quebec promised in February 1981 to finance future extensions fully. The moratorium was then modestly lifted on Line 2 (Orange Line) that reached Du Collège station in 1984 and finally Côte-Vertu station in 1986. This line took

11004-811: The idea in Canada. Starting in 1910, many proposals were tabled but the Montreal Metro would prove to be an elusive goal. The Montreal Street Railway Company , the Montreal Central Terminal Company and the Montreal Underground and Elevated Railway Company all undertook fruitless negotiations with the city. A year later, the Comptoir Financier Franco-Canadien and the Montreal Tunnel Company proposed tunnels under

11135-475: The jobless masses. World War II and the war effort in Montreal resurrected the idea of a metro. In 1944, the MTC proposed a two-line network, with one line running underneath Saint Catherine Street and the other under Saint Denis , Notre-Dame and Saint Jacques Streets. In 1953, the newly formed public Montreal Transportation Commission replaced streetcars with buses and proposed a single subway line reusing

11266-401: 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

11397-479: 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

11528-612: 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 ,

11659-408: The largest number of users compared to its population. However, this growth was not continuous: in the late 1960s and early 1990s, ridership declined during some periods. From 1996 to 2015, the number of passengers grew. Today, portions of the busiest lines, such as Line 1 between Berri–UQAM and McGill stations and Line 2 between Jean-Talon and Champ-de-Mars, experience overcrowding during peak hours. It

11790-479: 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

11921-509: The late 1980s, the original network length had nearly quadrupled in twenty years and exceeded that of Toronto, but the plans did not stop there. In its 1983–1984 scenario, the MUC planned a new underground Metro Line 7 (White Line) ( Pie-IX station to Montréal-Nord ) and several surface lines numbered Line 6 ( Du College station to Repentigny ), Line 8 ( Radisson station to Pointe-aux-Trembles ), Line 10 ( Vendome station to Lachine ) and Line 11 ( Angrignon terminus to LaSalle ). In 1985,

12052-420: 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

12183-490: The newspapers but World War I and the following recession prevented any execution. The gradual return to financial health during the 1920s brought the MTC project back and attracted support from the premier of Quebec . This new attempt was stalled by the Great Depression , which saw the city's streetcar ridership atrophy. A subway proposal was next made by Mayor Camillien Houde in 1939 as a way to provide work for

12314-401: The north (the existing A-40 through downtown would have been Autoroute 755 and the concurrency with Autoroute 55 would have been simply A-55). In addition, a different route was originally planned around Quebec City south of Jean Lesage International Airport (the existing 12 km (7 mi) segment of Autoroute 40 between Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Autoroute 73 would have been

12445-533: The north, east and centre of the Island of Montreal with connections to Longueuil , via the Yellow Line , and Laval , via the Orange Line . The Montreal Metro is Canada's busiest rapid transit system in terms of daily ridership, delivering an average of 1,009,600 daily unlinked passenger trips per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. It is North America's third busiest rapid transit system, behind

12576-652: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;

12707-459: The older MR-63 trains. Tunnels are being repaired and several stations, including Berri–UQAM , have been several years in rehabilitation. Many electrical and ventilation structures on the surface are in 2016 completely rebuilt to modern standards. In 2020, work to install cellular coverage in the Metro was completed. Station accessibility has also been improved, with over 26 of the 68 stations having elevators installed since 2007. In August 2023,

12838-473: The opening of Line 5 ( Blue ) in the 1980s, various governments have proposed extending the line east to Anjou . In 2013, a proposal to extend the line to Anjou was announced by the STM and the Quebec government. On April 9, 2018, premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced their commitment to fund and complete the extension, then planned to open in 2026. In March 2022, it

12969-570: 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 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

13100-534: 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

13231-471: 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

13362-524: The public happened April 28, 2007. This extension added 5.2 kilometres (3.2 mi) to the network and three stations in Laval ( Cartier , De la Concorde and Montmorency). As of 2009, ridership increased by 60,000 a day with these new stations. Since 2004, most of the STM's investments have been directed to rolling stock and infrastructure renovation programs. New trains ( MPM-10 ) have been delivered, replacing

13493-471: 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

13624-487: The rock under the city centre to the most populated areas of the city. The City of Montreal (and its chief engineer Lucien L'Allier ) were assisted in the detailed design and engineering of the Metro by French consultant SOFRETU , owned by the operator of the Paris Métro . The French influence is clearly seen in the station design and rolling stock of the Metro. Rubber tires were chosen instead of steel ones, following

13755-505: The shape of an "U" linking the north of the island to the city centre and serving two very populous axes. The various moratoriums and technical difficulties encountered during the construction of the fourth line stretched the project over fourteen years. Line 5 (Blue Line) , which runs through the centre of the island of Montreal , crossed the east branch of Line 2 (Orange Line) at the Jean-Talon station in 1986 and its west branch at

13886-453: The station of the same name was built, was massively enlarged and consolidated with several nearby islands (including Ronde Island) using backfill excavated during the construction of the Metro. Notre Dame Island , adjacent, was created from scratch with the same material. Line 4 (Yellow Line) was completed on April 1, 1967, in time for the opening of the World's Fair. The first Metro network

14017-784: The surface. 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 , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are

14148-401: The system. By the end of 2014, the STM had installed screens in all 68 stations. Berri–UQAM station was the first station to have these screens installed. Montreal Metro ridership has more than doubled since it opened: the number of passengers increased from 136 million in 1967 to 357 million in 2014. Montreal has one of North America's busiest public transportation systems with, after New York,

14279-580: The time, and a 1967 study, "Horizon 2000", imagined a network of 160 kilometres (99 mi) of tunnels for the year 2000. In 1970, the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) was created. This group was made of municipalities that occupy the Island of Montreal and the city of Montreal was the biggest participant. MUC's mission was to provide standardized services at a regional level, one of them being transportation. The MUC Transportation Commission

14410-466: 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

14541-489: The turnaround loop, Senneville Road was used during the 1976 Summer Olympics for the men's road team time trial cycling race. In 1997, the highway (apart from the portion served by the Metropolitan Autoroute) was renamed Autoroute Félix-Leclerc after the late Quebec artist and political activist Félix Leclerc . Prior to 1997, Autoroute 40 east of Montreal had four different names, the first section

14672-679: 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

14803-508: 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

14934-485: 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

15065-476: The western end of Autoroute 440 , thus explaining the exit numbering starting at 12). While the right-of-ways of both bypasses still exist and may still be developed in the future as congestion increases, there are no immediate plans to renew construction. A 25 km (16 mi) stretch of the highway in Pointe-Claire , from roughly St. John's Boulevard, near Fairview Pointe-Claire Shopping Centre, to

15196-536: 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

15327-402: 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

15458-539: Was a thing of the past. In 1959, a private company, the Société d'expansion métropolitaine, offered to build a rubber-tired metro but the Transportation Commission wanted its own network and rejected the offer. This would be the last missed opportunity, for the re-election of Jean Drapeau as mayor and the arrival of his right-hand man, Lucien Saulnier , would prove decisive. In the early 1960s ,

15589-632: Was announced that the federal government had agreed to provide $ 1.3 billion to the extension, with further costs to be covered by the provincial government. The 6-kilometre (3.7 mi) extension will include five new stations, two bus terminals, a pedestrian tunnel connecting to the Pie-IX BRT and a new park-and-ride. Overall, the project is estimated to cost around $ 5.8 to $ 6.4 billion and is scheduled to be completed in 2030. Initial construction work began in August 2022. In 2017, Valérie Plante proposed

15720-466: Was chosen in November 1962 to hold the 1967 Universal Exposition ( Expo 67 ). Having to make a choice, the city decided that a number 4 line (Yellow Line) linking Montreal to the South Shore suburbs following a plan similar to those proposed early in the 20th century was more necessary. Line 3 was never built and the number was never used again. The railway, already used for a commuter train to

15851-467: Was completed with the public opening of Line 4 (Yellow Line) on April 28, 1967. The cities of Montreal , Longueuil and Westmount had assumed the entire cost of construction and equipment of $ 213.7 million ($ 1.6 billion in 2016). Montreal became the seventh city in North America to operate a subway. The 1960s being very optimistic years, Metro planning did not escape the general exuberance of

15982-819: 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

16113-463: 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

16244-420: Was gradually extended westward to Place-Saint-Henri station in 1980 and to Snowdon station in 1981. As the stations were completed, the service was extended. In December 1979 Quebec presented its "integrated transport plan" in which Line 2 (Orange Line) was to be tunnelled to Du Collège station and Line 5 (Blue Line) from Snowdon station to Anjou station. The plan proposed no other underground lines as

16375-652: 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

16506-457: Was later extended to the southwest to reach the suburbs of Verdun and LaSalle with the Angrignon as the terminus station, named after the park and zoo. This segment opened at September 1978. In the process, further extensions were planned and in 1975 spending was expected to reach reached $ 1.6 billion ($ 7.3 billion in 2016). Faced with these soaring costs, the Government of Quebec declared

16637-543: Was named Autoroute de la Rive-Nord (North Shore Autoroute) between Montréal and Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures (km 87 to 196, 209 to 296). A segment in Trois-Rivières east of Autoroute 55 that was named Autoroute de Francheville (Francheville Autoroute) (km 196 to 207). Between Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures and Autoroute 73 in Quebec City (km 296 to 307) it was called Autoroute Charest . Finally, between

16768-528: Was opened gradually between October 1966 and April 1967 as the stations were completed. A third line was planned. It was to use Canadian National Railway (CN) tracks passing under the Mount Royal to reach the northwest suburb of Cartierville from the city centre. Unlike the previous two lines, trains were to be partly running above ground. Negotiations with the CN and municipalities were stalling as Montreal

16899-594: 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

17030-570: 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 ,

17161-456: Was thus created at the same time to serve as prime contractor for the Metro extensions. It merged all island transport companies and became the Société de transport de la communauté urbaine de Montréal (STCUM) in 1985 and then the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) in 2002. The success of the Metro increased the pressure to extend the network to other populated areas, including the suburbs on

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