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116-535: The monastery is recorded for the first time in 819, in a document mentioning its abbot, Sentimir. Plundered and destroyed, it was rebuilt by order of King Lothair of France in 981. Later it came under the protection of the Counts of Roussillon and later of the Kings of Aragon . The abbey church was enlarged and re-consecrated in 1153. In the 13th century it gained a marble cloister on the north-eastern side. Subsequently

232-572: A de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and

348-744: 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

464-431: 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,

580-780: A deterioration in relations between the King and his maternal relatives and a struggle with the new Holy Roman Empire. Despite this, Lothair wanted to maintain ties with Emperor Otto I by marrying Princess Emma of Italy (the only daughter of Empress Adelaide of Burgundy – second wife of Otto I, from her first marriage with King Lothair II , member of the Bosonids dynasty ) in early 966. In 962 Baldwin III, Count of Flanders , son, co-ruler, and heir of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders died and Arnulf bequeathed Flanders to Lothair. On Arnulf's death in 965, Lothair invaded Flanders and took many cities, but

696-555: 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

812-665: A fragmented kingdom, where the great magnates took lands, rights and offices almost without any regard for the authority of the king. Magnates like Hugh the Great and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois were always a veiled threat. In 955 Lothair and Hugh the Great together took Poitiers by siege. With Hugh the Great's death in 956 Lothair, only fifteen, came under the guardianship of his maternal uncle Bruno, archbishop of Cologne , brother of East Francia 's king Otto I . With Bruno's advice, Lothair mediated between Hugh's sons – Hugh Capet and Otto, Duke of Burgundy . The King gave Paris and

928-572: A great multitude of enemies, then returned to the Kingdom of the Franks covered with glory. The chronicler say: " As for the Emperor Otto, followed by those of his people who were able to escape, he returned to his country in the greatest confusion; after which neither he nor his army ever returned to France ". Contemporary documents speak of the event with the same triumphal accents: written after

1044-569: A letter Gerbert of Aurillac wrote to the Archbishop Adalbero that "Lothair is king of France in name alone; Hugh is, however, not in name but in effect and deed." Not long after, Archbishop Adalberon began openly pressing pro-Ottonian views and tried to influence Hugh Capet into relations with Otto III. When the King ordered the destruction of the fortifications that surrounded the monastery of Saint-Paul in Verdun, Adalberon refused on

1160-652: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on

1276-461: A relative of Emperor Otto I. The Imperial army advanced to Paris, where they faced Hugh Capet's army. On 30 November 978, Otto II and Charles, unable to take Paris, lifted their siege of the city and turned back. The Frankish royal army led by Lothair pursued and defeated them while crossing the river Aisne and being able to recover Laon, forcing Otto II to flee and take refuge in Aachen with Charles,

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1392-494: 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

1508-683: A result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ,

1624-711: A sister of certain Count Robert, Mayor of the Palace of his brother Charles: 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 ,

1740-547: 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

1856-457: A working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As

1972-437: 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

2088-472: 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

2204-489: 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

2320-652: 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

2436-563: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English

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2552-404: 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

2668-484: Is located next to the transept and nave. The façade has several Romanesque sculptures and tombstones of monks and local notables. The main portal has an architrave with bas-reliefs commissioned by abbot Guillaume and realized in 1020-21 in white marble from Céret . In the middle is portrayed Christ in majesty in a mandorla , supported by two archangels and flanked by two groups of three figures under arcades of Mozarabic horseshoe arches , over which to either side of

2784-469: 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

2900-828: 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

3016-639: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,

3132-553: 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

3248-483: 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

3364-492: 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

3480-424: 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

3596-573: The Commentary on the Apocalypse by Beatus of Liébana. The Saint-Génis lintel of Christ and the apostles is the oldest, preserved architectural example of sculpted Apocalyptic iconography. Prior to the dissemination of eleventh century manuscripts, the iconography of Christ in Majesty can be traced to ancient images of the enthroned ruler. The image of Christ in Majesty set above the portal of

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3712-764: 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

3828-609: The Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco; the Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to

3944-715: The Chronicon Andegavensi and the Chronicle of Saint-Maxence, among others), was recently challenged by historian Carlrichard Brülh. The failure of the alliance with the House of Anjou reinforced the power of the Robertians, and finally they supported Hugh Capet against Charles of Lower Lorraine in 987. Emerging from the crisis in Aquitaine, Lothair counted on the loyalty of ten powerful northern bishops of

4060-609: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of

4176-517: The Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only a second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and

4292-533: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains

4408-559: 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,

4524-399: The French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as

4640-877: 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

4756-626: 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

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4872-557: The Upper Lorraine (at that time ruled by a regent, Beatrix, widow of Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine and sister of Hugh Capet). Lothair then hoped to receive the full sovereignty over Lotharingia. Nevertheless, the quick failure of Henry II's plans foiled the project: by mid-984 Empress Theophanu and Archbishop Willingis of Mainz were able to rescue Otto III and to regain control over Empire. The subsequent peace concluded at Worms between Henry II and Theophanu reaffirmed

4988-775: The World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin

5104-514: The 13th century cloister are in late Romanesque style. It has been suggested that they could originally have been painted. 42°32′36″N 2°55′19″E  /  42.54333°N 2.92194°E  / 42.54333; 2.92194 Lothair of France Lothair ( French : Lothaire ; Latin : Lothārius ; 941 – 2 March 986), sometimes called Lothair II , III or IV , was the penultimate Carolingian king of West Francia , reigning from 10 September 954 until his death in 986. Lothair

5220-506: 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;

5336-773: 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

5452-587: The Ardennes (uncle of Godfrey I) and Theodoric I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (nephew of Hugh Capet). After returning to Laon, Lothair forced Adalberon to build a fortress in Verdun to prevent the city from being taken by the Imperial forces. He also forced him to write to the Archbishops of Egbert of Trier , Willigis of Mainz and Ebergar of Cologne , stating that he, Lothair, was the true and only heir of

5568-510: 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

5684-614: 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,

5800-418: The Carolingian Empire. When the caliph of Córdoba , Al-Mansur , sacked Barcelona in 985, Lothair was ill and could offer no assistance to Borrell II, Count of Barcelona , who had sent envoys to Verdun . This contributed to the final split between the Hispanic March and the Frankish crown during the reign of his successors. At this point Lothair's power seemed markedly less than that of Hugh Capet. In

5916-404: The Chancellor-Arbishop Adalberon of Reims and his namesake Bishop Adalberon of Laon . In 977, Charles accused Queen Emma of adultery with Bishop Adalberon of Laon. The Synod of Sainte-Macre, led by Archbishop Adalberon of Reims, took place in Fismes to discuss the matter. Due to a lack of evidence, both the Queen and Bishop were absolved, but Charles, who maintained the rumors, was expelled from

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6032-429: The Church is an appropriate choice of iconography as it reminds humble worshippers that they are entering God's home. As a result of the Saint-Génis lintel, such visual manifestations of God in the eyes of humans or theophany started to appear on almost every church building. The apostles, set into Mozarabic horseshoe arches, are reminiscent of early Christian sarcophagi in their occupation of architectural space; however,

6148-435: The County and the Bishopric of Verdun. In the meanwhile, following a meeting between the King and the Duke of the Franks, Theodoric I of Upper Lorraine was released. In early 986 Lothair intended to attack Cambrai , an imperial city but one dependent on the Archbishoprics of Reims and Liège; he thought that he could convince Bishop Rothard to surrender the city in exchange for his appointment as Archbishop of Rheims (following

6264-408: 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

6380-479: The Empress against the Duke of Bavaria. In the name of Theophanu, Adalberon offered Lothair the recovery of Lotharingia. Shortly after Lothair formally claimed the guardianship of his infant nephew Otto III and the custody of the Lotharingia. Thanks to Adalberon, Lothair obtained the homage of several major Lotharingian nobles including Godfrey I, Count of Verdun , a member of the House of Ardennes . In addition, he reconciled with his brother Charles, who hoped to obtain

6496-416: 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

6612-419: The House of Ardennes, supported this rapprochement. In July 980 Lothair and Otto II met at Margut-sur-Chiers on the Frankish border, and concluded a peace treaty. As a part of the agreement, Lothair renounced his rights to Lotharingia, allowing Otto II to turn his military attention to the Byzantine Italy, which he wanted to conquer. This peace was perceived negatively by the Robertians , who were excluded from

6728-440: The Imperial troops. A great battle, which remained undecided, took place in Mons . Although Lothair secretly encouraged this war, he did not intervene directly to help his brother. Charles took advantage of the situation and established himself in Lotharingia. His main interest was to break the harmony between Lothair and the House of Ardennes , loyal to Emperor Otto II and very powerful in Lotharingia and to which belonged both

6844-410: The Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as

6960-441: The Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to

7076-402: The OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as a second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and

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7192-409: The Saint-Génis figures are purely decorative in their two-dimensionality and do not conform to principles of natural form or space. In contrast to sculptors who were more concerned with placing material beings in a three-dimensional space, the Saint-Génis artist created a sculpture that corresponded more closely with ancient relics or altar frontals. Ultimately, the Saint-Génis lintel was a springboard in

7308-431: The Upper Lotharingia since the late 950. Rewarding Charles, who had questioned the honor of the wife of the King of the Franks, was a way to offend the King himself. In August 978 Lothair mounted an expedition into Lorraine accompanied by Hugh Capet and upon their crossing the Meuse river took Aachen , but did not capture Otto II or Charles. Lothair then sacked the imperial Palace of Aachen for three days, and reversed

7424-419: The abbey declined, and in 1507 was united with Montserrat Abbey . During the French Revolution , the monks were expelled and the complex divided between several owners. The church was reopened to worship in 1846, as the village's parish church dedicated to Saint Michael . The cloister, which had been dismantled and sold, was bought back and re-installed in its original location in the 1980s. The abbey church

7540-410: The additional weight of the roof vaults. The ceilings of the apses were also modified and decorated with frescoes, of which only a few traces remain today. The church kept the Latin Cross plan typical of Romanesque architecture , with a nave, transept and three apses. In the 17th century the church was enriched with Baroque altars. The exterior has two bell towers from different ages. The larger one

7656-460: The consequence of placing the dynasty of Robertians in a prominent place in the person of Hugh Capet, whose contemporaries attested that he faithfully served king Lothair. The fight with the Emperor strengthened the power of Hugh Capet, which was shown in 980 when he captured Montreuil-sur-Mer from Arnulf II, Count of Flanders . Lothair wanted to thwart the ambitions of his exiled brother Charles, and decided to follow his father's steps to secure

7772-404: 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

7888-424: The deposition of Adalberon) and Prince-Bishop of Liège (whose Prince-Bishop Notger finally escaped to Ottonian territory ); but the King suddenly died at Laon on 2 March 986. He received a magnificent funeral and was buried next to his father Louis IV in the choir of Saint-Remi of Reims. One year after the change of dynasty, Lothair's kingdom seemed indestructible because, even if Lotharingia had not submitted,

8004-425: The direction of the bronze eagle of Charlemagne to face east instead of west. In retaliation Otto II, accompanied by Charles, invaded West Francia in October 978 and ravaged Reims , Soissons (where he stopped at the Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons for devotions ) and Laon . Lothair was able to escape from the Imperial troops, but Charles was proclaimed King of the Franks in Laon by Bishop Dietrich I of Metz ,

8120-448: 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

8236-489: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as

8352-700: The end of the Carolingian pretensions over Lotharingia and the triumph of the House of Ardennes, which strengthened its control there. Lothair refused to renounce the land which he considered rightfully belonging to him: he decided to make an alliance with Henry II, and on 1 February 985 their combined forces arrived to the banks of the Rhine in Brissach. This alliance worried Adalberon of Reims, who contacted Hugh Capet. Henry II did not keep his alliance with Lothair, so

8468-516: 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

8584-915: 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 ,

8700-474: The founding of the Kingdom of the Franks by the Merovingian dynasty . Queen Gerberga made an arrangement with her brother-in-law Hugh the Great , Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris , who had been an adversary of Lothair's father. In exchange for supporting Lothair's rule Hugh was given rule over Duchy of Aquitaine and much of the Kingdom of Burgundy as more or less a regent. Lothair inherited

8816-829: 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

8932-459: The grounds that his hungry soldiers no longer were able to keep the city. Furious, Lothair wanted to bring Adalberon to justice. On 11 May 986, Adalberon was summoned to an assembly at Compiègne under false pretences (among them, that he placed his nephew and namesake Adalberon in the bishopric seat of Verdun without royal consent ) and charged the surprised archbishop with treason. Alerted, Hugh Capet marched on Compiègne with 6,000 men and dispersed

9048-575: The inertia of the Empire could let him consider new conquests. According to Richerus: "He was looking for new advantages that could further extend his kingdom. His policy was very successful, and the condition of the Kingdom, favored by the capture of the great nobles, was strong." In fact, in his last years, Lothar deployed both diplomatically and militarily exceptional activity intending to conquer Lotharingia. With his wife Emma of Italy , Lothair had two sons: Lothair also had two illegitimate sons with

9164-717: The king decided to advance to the Lotharingia alone. At first, he tried to obtain the support of Hugh Capet, but he refused to overthrow his sister and nephew; however, he did not support either party clearly, favoring the Ottonian hegemony. Finally, Lothair obtained the support of the most powerful Counts of the kingdom, Odo I, Count of Blois and Herbert III, Count of Meaux . Shortly thereafter, they invaded Upper Lotharingia, besieged Verdun and, by March of 985, had captured several important prisoners: Godfrey I of Verdun (brother of Adalberon) and his son Frederick, Sigfried, Count of

9280-456: The kingdom and their vassals, and the alliance with the powerful House of Vermandois in the person of Herbert III, Count of Vermandois , his nephew – as son of his half-sister Gerberge of Lorraine . But Herbert III was relatively old and the bishops who had served his father Louis IV were more inclined towards spiritual tasks than to the defense of royal interests. Lothair lacked the ability to implement any large project of conquest consistent with

9396-517: The kingdom by Lothair. The House of Ardennes and the Lotharingian party, who were favorable to an agreement with Otto II, seemed all-powerful at the court of Lothair. Otto II, however, committed the mistakes of restoring the County of Hainaut to Reginar IV and Lambert I, and of appointing Charles as Duke of Lower Lorraine, a region corresponding to the northern half of Lotharingia, separate from

9512-519: 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

9628-479: 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

9744-612: 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 ,

9860-479: 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

9976-399: The mandorla is the inscription ANNO VIDESIMO QUARTO RENNATE ROTBERTO REGE WILIELMUS GRATIA ABA ISTA OPERA FIERI IUSSIT IN ONORE SANCTI GENESII CENOBII QUE VOCANT FONTANES, which translates to "In the twenty-fourth year of the reign of King Robert, William, by the grace [of God] abbot, ordered this work to be made in honour of Saint Genesius the hermit, which is called Fontanes." The 24th year of

10092-746: The meeting before a verdict could be reached. Some historians believe that the intervention of Hugh Capet was less motivated by the defence of Adalberon than to obtain the release of his nephew, the young Duke Theodoric I of Upper Lorraine. Lothair could have intended to strengthen his stranglehold on Verdun and its region by forcing Adalberon to pursue his nephew Adalberon of Verdun, son of Count Godfrey I. Lothair could not afford an open war against Hugh Capet because he would end up caught between two fronts. He then released his Lorraine prisoners, but Godfrey I chose to stay in prison rather than surrender Mons , in Hainaut , and force his son to give up all claims over

10208-420: 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

10324-584: The negotiations. The Peace of Margut led the Frankish kingdom to be included in the Ottonian orbit, and consequently weakened the influence of the Robertians within the royal government in favor of the Lotharingian nobility. Afraid of being caught between the Carolingian and Ottonian kings, Hugh Capet went to Rome in 981 to contact with Otto II in order to establish his own alliance. Lothair then gave instructions for his capture once he returned. To counter

10440-445: The noticeable age difference between them – Louis was fifteen while Adelaide was a forty-year-old woman – and Louis' debauched lifestyle caused the end of the marriage in 984, with Lothair supporting his son while Adelaide took refuge with Count William I of Provence , who soon became her fourth husband. However, the existence of the marriage, despite being recorded by relative contemporary and later sources (Richerus, Rodulfus Glaber ,

10556-534: 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

10672-403: The power of Hugh Capet as Duke of the Franks, Lothair – following the advice of his wife Emma and Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou – decided to marry his son and heir Louis to Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou , Geoffrey I's sister and the widow of two powerful southern lords, Count Stephen of Gévaudan and Count Raymond of Toulouse, Prince of Gothia . The project of Lothair was ambitious: the restoration of

10788-471: 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

10904-487: The previous Frankish tradition and to mobilize the aristocracy around him. Emperor Otto II suddenly died on 7 December 983, leaving as heir his three-year-old son Otto III . Henry II, Duke of Bavaria , as the nearest Ottonian relative, obtained the regency of the kingdom without much opposition and abducted Otto III in hopes of being proclaimed king himself. Adalberon of Reims, eager to support Otto III and his mother Empress Theophanu , tried to convince Lothair to support

11020-582: The puppet-King he wanted to impose on West Francia. In West Francia the hasty retreat of Emperor Otto II had a considerable impact and long after was evoked as a great victory of Lothair. Thus, written in 1015, the Chronicles of Sens gives an epic description: there Lothair was exalted as a warrior-king who pursued the German Emperor to the heart of Lorraine, destroying on the banks of the Argonne

11136-621: The reign of King Robert II of France was 1020-21. A similar sculpture, perhaps by the same artist, is also present in the Abbey of St. Andrew, 4 km from Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines Abbey. The Christ in Majesty is an Apocalyptic theme that became a common icon depicted in church portals beginning in the early eleventh century in Catalonia. Throughout the eleventh century, people in northern Spain and southern France were exposed to Apocalyptic iconography through widely circulated manuscripts such as

11252-471: 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

11368-560: The retirement of Otto II, a diploma of the Abbey of Marmoutier near Tours dated during the reign " of the great King Lothair, in his twenty-sixth year (of rule; although apparently wrong), in which he attacked the Saxon and forced the Emperor to escape ". These retrospectives were observed by some historians such as Karl Ferdinand Werner as one of the first manifestations of national feeling. The unity of Western Franks against Otto II had

11484-417: The royal Carolingian presence in the semi-independent south of West Francia, and – according to Richerus – to gain support of southern nobles in his fight against the Robertians. The wedding between Adelaide-Blanche and Prince Louis took place in 982 at Vieille-Brioude , Haute-Loire , and they both were immediately crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine by Adelaide's brother Bishop Guy of le Puy. However, soon

11600-542: The succession for his own son. On 8 June 979 Prince Louis was crowned as associated ruler or Junior King ( iunior rex ) – although he did not actually assume power until Lothair's death in 986 – being the second time of this new practice in the kingdom of West Francia, which later was adapted by the Capetians. After this, Lothair began to approach the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishops of Reims and Laon, with

11716-586: The title of dux francorum ( Duke of the Franks ) to Hugh Capet, and invested Otto with the Duchy of Burgundy in 956. The guardianship of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne lasted until 965 and oriented Lothair towards policy of submission towards East Francia , which was evolving into the German Holy Roman Empire . Despite his youth, Lothair wanted to rule alone and reinforced his authority over his vassals. This desire of political independence led to

11832-466: 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

11948-414: The tradition of architectural sculpture and by the twelfth century, such portal carvings became a standard feature of church entrances and facades. The cloister was built in the 13th century, and was already completed in 1271. It has been supposed that a cloister existed here before, which would be the one depicted near the figures in the portal architrave, but no traces of it remain. The capitals supporting

12064-679: 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

12180-508: 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

12296-485: 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

12412-536: 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

12528-402: 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

12644-523: Was born in Laon near the end of 941, as the eldest son of King Louis IV and Gerberga of Saxony . He succeeded his father on 10 September 954 at the age of thirteen and was crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi by Artald of Reims , Archbishop of Reims on 12 November 954. Lothair had already been associated with the throne since the illness of his father in 951, this being a custom in the royal succession since

12760-819: 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

12876-662: Was eventually repulsed by the supporters of Arnulf II, Count of Flanders . He temporarily remained in control of Arras and Douai . Lothair attempted to increase his influence in the Lotharingia , once held by his family, and in turn Emperor Otto II encouraged resistance to Lothair's overtures. In 976 the brothers Reginar IV, Count of Mons and Lambert I, Count of Louvain , after being dispossessed from their paternal inheritance by Emperor Otto II , made an alliance with Charles (King Lothair's younger brother) and Otto, Count of Vermandois and with an army they marched against

12992-400: 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

13108-652: 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

13224-404: Was most likely built at the same time as the original monastery, in the 8th century. Of the original church there remain some of the foundation structures, which show its plan to have included a main apse and two deep side apses, with a long transept. The 1153 enlargement, with the addition of the vaulted ceiling over the transept and nave, led to the reconstruction of the walls in order to support

13340-594: 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

13456-570: 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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