Romont ( French pronunciation: [ʁɔmɔ̃] ; Arpitan : Remont [ʁəˈmɔ̃] ) is a municipality and capital of the district of Glâne in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland .
144-525: Romont is first mentioned in 1177 as in Rotundo Monte . In 1244 it was mentioned as Romont . The municipality was formerly known by its German name Remund , however, that name is no longer used. The oldest trace of human settlement in Romont is five Hallstatt era tumuli in the village of Bossens. The ruins of several other prehistoric settlements have been discovered including the foundation of
288-453: A Fachhochschule ). Of the 356 who completed tertiary schooling, 60.4% were Swiss men, 24.4% were Swiss women, 7.3% were non-Swiss men and 7.9% were non-Swiss women. The Canton of Fribourg school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten , followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following
432-572: 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
576-591: A Roman era building at Bochanat. The alleged founding of Romont in 921 by the Burgundian King Rudolph II is likely a legend. A document from 1177 from the Abbey of Hauterive mentions the Romont as a wooded hill. In 1239 Anselme (or Nantelme) sold the rights to Romont hill to Peter II of Savoy . At that time, Romont was part of the territory of the Bishop of Lausanne . In 1240 Peter II sent
720-600: A castellan to Romont to build a castle and found a village. A few years later, the Peace of Evian in 1244, confirmed the Savoy rights to Romont. The main castle (Grand Donjon), with a typical Savoy square floor plan, was completed before 1260. The original castle partially collapsed in 1579 and was rebuilt by Fribourg in 1591. Another castle with a round tower, formerly known as the Petit Donjon, but now known as Boyer-tower
864-744: 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
1008-534: A certain standardisation of production methods, which included techniques such as lathe-turning . Iron tyres were developed and refined in this period, leading to the invention of shrunk-on tyres in the La Tène period. The potter's wheel also appeared in the Hallstatt period. The extensive use of planking and massive squared beams indicates the use of long saw blades and possibly two-man sawing. The planks of
1152-583: A completely new cultural dynamic to the area expressed in pottery and bronzework, making it a typical western example of the western Hallstatt culture. The Lepontic Celtic language inscriptions of the area show the language of the Golasecca culture was clearly Celtic making it probable that the 13th-century BC precursor language of at least the western Hallstatt was also Celtic or a precursor to it. Lepontic inscriptions have also been found in Umbria , in
1296-431: 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,
1440-411: A few stone stelae (especially the famous Warrior of Hirschlanden ) are found at such burials. The daggers that largely replaced swords in chief's graves in the west were probably not serious weapons, but badges of rank, and used at the table. The material culture of Western Hallstatt culture was apparently sufficient to provide a stable social and economic equilibrium. The founding of Marseille and
1584-555: 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
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#17327977829681728-470: A large number of burials varying considerably in the number and richness of the grave goods, but with a high proportion containing goods suggesting a life well above subsistence level. It is now thought that at least most of these were not miners themselves, but from a richer class controlling the mines. Finds at Hallstatt extend from about 1200 BC until around 500 BC, and are divided by archaeologists into four phases: Hallstatt A–B (1200–800 BC) are part of
1872-497: A location for games and competitions. At the end of the Hallstatt period many major centres were abandoned and there was a return to a more decentralized settlement pattern. Urban centres later re-emerged across temperate Europe in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC during the La Tène period. The burials at Hallstatt itself show a movement over the period from cremation to inhumation , with grave goods at all times (see above). In
2016-652: 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
2160-494: 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
2304-683: 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 ,
2448-415: A solid dating in 778 ± 5 BC (Grave Barrow 8). Despite missing an older Dendro-date for HaC , the convention remains that the Hallstatt period begins together with the arrival of the iron ore processing technology around 800 BC. HaC is dated according to the presence of Mindelheim-type swords, binocular brooches, harp brooches, and arched brooches. Based on the quickly changing fashions of brooches, it
2592-454: A specific story. The Strettweg cult wagon from Austria (c. 600 BC) has been interpreted as representing a deer goddess or 'Great Nature Goddess' similar to Artemis . Hallstatt culture musical instruments included harps , lyres , zithers , woodwinds, panpipes , horns, drums and rattles. A small number of inscriptions have been recovered from Hallstatt culture sites. Markings or symbols inscribed on iron tools from Austria dating from
2736-547: 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
2880-457: 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
3024-457: Is Gules, a Castle Argent masoned and with portcullis Sable embattled with a Tower dexter higher than sinister, and in chief an escutcheon Gules a Cross Argent. Romont has a population (as of December 2020) of 5,417. As of 2008, 33.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of 13.7%. Migration accounted for 8.2%, while births and deaths accounted for 3.4%. Most of
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#17327977829683168-437: 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
3312-404: Is May, with an average of 14.2, but with only 123 mm (4.8 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year is February with an average of 81 mm (3.2 in) of precipitation over 10.6 days. In Romont about 1,081 or (27.3%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education , and 356 or (9.0%) have completed additional higher education (either university or
3456-499: Is a net importer of workers, with about 1.8 workers entering the municipality for every one leaving. Of the working population, 13.1% used public transportation to get to work, and 60.6% used a private car. From the 2000 census, 2,843 or 71.7% were Roman Catholic , while 254 or 6.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church . Of the rest of the population, there were 120 members of an Orthodox church (or about 3.03% of
3600-472: 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
3744-540: Is almost identical to the length of a measuring stick found at Borum Eshøj in Denmark (0.7855 m), dating from the Bronze Age (c. 1350 BC). Pythagorean triangles were likely used in building construction to create right angles , and some buildings had ground plans with dimensions corresponding to Pythagorean rectangles. At least the later periods of Hallstatt art from the western zone are generally agreed to form
3888-547: Is almost no narrative content such as scenes of combat depicted. These characteristics were continued into the succeeding La Tène style. Imported luxury art is sometimes found in rich elite graves in the later phases, and certainly had some influence on local styles. The most spectacular objects, such as the Strettweg Cult Wagon , the Warrior of Hirschlanden and the bronze couch supported by "unicyclists" from
4032-489: 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
4176-433: Is either rivers or lakes. Of the built up area, industrial buildings made up 4.4% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 6.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 6.1%. Power and water infrastructure, as well as other special developed areas, made up 1.6% of the area Out of the forested land, 12.2% of the total land area is heavily forested and 1.4% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of
4320-652: 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
4464-563: 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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4608-404: 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
4752-469: 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
4896-828: 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
5040-700: Is part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites . Romont is twinned with the town of In the 2011 federal election the most popular party was the CVP which received 27.4% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the SP (26.5%), the SVP (20.4%) and the FDP (9.7%). The CVP received about the same percentage of the vote as they did in the 2007 Federal election (25.7% in 2007 vs 27.4% in 2011). The SPS retained about
5184-410: Is reflected in the finds from there. Hallstatt D is succeeded by the La Tène culture . Hallstatt C is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords mixed amongst the bronze ones. Inhumation and cremation co-occur. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, daggers, almost to the exclusion of swords, are found in western zone graves ranging from c. 600 –500 BC. There are also differences in
5328-639: 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 ,
5472-553: 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
5616-483: 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
5760-492: 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
5904-424: 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
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6048-411: Is thought to have been organized on a tribal basis, though very little is known about this. Settlement size was generally small, although a few of the largest settlements, like Heuneburg in the south of Germany , were towns rather than villages by modern standards. However, at the end of the period these seem to have been overthrown or abandoned. According to Paul Reinecke 's time-scheme from 1902,
6192-547: The Alps , and extending into northern Italy . Parts of Britain and Iberia are included in the ultimate expansion of the culture. The culture was based on farming, but metal-working was considerably advanced, and by the end of the period long-range trade within the area and with Mediterranean cultures was economically significant. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, and perhaps those with other skills. Society
6336-764: 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
6480-489: The Bronze Age Urnfield culture . In this period, people were cremated and buried in simple graves. In phase B, tumulus (barrow or kurgan ) burial becomes common, and cremation predominates. The "Hallstatt period" proper is restricted to HaC and HaD (800–450 BC), corresponding to the early European Iron Age . Hallstatt lies in the area where the western and eastern zones of the Hallstatt culture meet, which
6624-609: 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
6768-637: The Burgundian Wars (1474) it housed nearly 1,500 residents. It was the center of the bailiwick and an important link between Fribourg and the Savoy possessions in the Lake Geneva . Presumably around 1285–1293, but certainly no later than 1328, it was granted town rights modeled after the rights of Moudon . During the Burgundian Wars, Bern and Fribourg looted and burned the city twice. Romont remained loyal to its Savoy rulers until
6912-609: 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
7056-517: 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
7200-533: 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
7344-559: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
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#17327977829687488-399: 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
7632-579: The Hochdorf Chieftain's Grave are one of a kind in finds from the Hallstatt period, though they can be related to objects from other periods. More common objects include weapons, in Ha D often with hilts terminating in curving forks ("antenna hilts"). Jewellery in metal includes fibulae , often with a row of disks hanging down on chains, armlets and some torcs . This is mostly in bronze, but "princely" burials include items in gold. The origin of
7776-622: The Hohmichele burial chamber (6th c. BC), which were over 6m long and 35 cm wide, appear to have been sawn by a large timber-yard saw. The construction of monumental buildings such as the Vix palace further demonstrates a "mastery of geometry and carpentry capable of freeing up vast interior spaces." Analyses of building remains in Silesia have found evidence for the use of a standard unit of length (equivalent to 0.785 m). Remarkably, this
7920-877: 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
8064-626: 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
8208-445: The Vače situla is a Slovenian example from near the final period. The style is also found on bronze belt plates, and some of the vocabulary of motifs spread to influence the emerging La Tène style. According to Ruth and Vincent Megaw , "Situla art depicts life as seen from a masculine viewpoint, in which women are servants or sex objects; most of the scenes which include humans are of
8352-775: 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
8496-401: The secondary sector and there were 60 businesses in this sector. 1,714 people were employed in the tertiary sector , with 230 businesses in this sector. There were 1,983 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.0% of the workforce. In 2008 the total number of full-time equivalent jobs was 2,460. The number of jobs in the primary sector
8640-466: The 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries BC, developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC ( Late Bronze Age ) and followed in much of its area by the La Tène culture . It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic speaking populations. It is named for its type site , Hallstatt , a lakeside village in the Austrian Salzkammergut southeast of Salzburg , where there
8784-413: The 1536 Bernese conquest of Vaud. During the conquest by the Protestant Bernese troops, Romont was able to ally with Catholic Fribourg and retain the traditional faith. It was capital of the bailiwick of Romont until 1798, and until 1803 the capital of the same district. During the Stecklikrieg in 1802, Romont continued to support the Helvetic Republic . Between 1803 and 1848 it was the capital of
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#17327977829688928-455: 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;
9072-474: 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
9216-453: The 7th to early 6th century BC bear signs possibly resembling Greek or Etruscan letters. A single-word inscription (possibly a name) on a locally produced ceramic sherd from Montmorot in eastern France, dating from the late 7th to mid-6th century BC, has been identified as either Gaulish or Lepontic , written in either a 'proto-Lepontic' or Etruscan alphabet. A fragment of an inscription painted on local pottery has also been recovered from
9360-400: The 7th-6th century BC inscription from Montmorot "is at the beginning of a still limited series of documents attesting to the use of alphabetic signs and the use of writing in Eastern Gaul during the entire period characterised by the appearance, development and end of the Hallstattian 'princely phenomenon'. ... The first transmission of the alphabet north of the Alps, at the end of the 7th or in
9504-510: 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
9648-614: 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,
9792-433: The Celtic word for "king", written in the Lepontic alphabet. According to Olivier (2010), "this graffito represents one of the earliest attested occurrences of the word rîx which designates the "king" in the Celtic languages. ... It would also seem to represent the first co-occurrence in the Celtic world of a funerary archaeological context and a contemporaneous linguistic qualification as ‘royal’.” According to Verger (1998)
9936-509: The Czech Republic, Vix , Sainte-Colombe-sur-Seine and Lavau in France, Hochdorf , Hohmichele and Grafenbühl in Germany, and Mitterkirchen in Austria. A model of a chariot made from lead has been found in Frög , Carinthia , and clay models of horses with riders are also found. Wooden "funerary carts", presumably used as hearses and then buried, are sometimes found in the grandest graves. Pottery and bronze vessels, weapons, elaborate jewellery made of bronze and gold , as well as
10080-429: The Early Iron Age due to the so-called "Hallstatt-Plateau" , a phenomenon where radiocarbon dates cannot be distinguished between 750 and 400 BC. There are workarounds however, such as the wiggle matching technique. Therefore, dating in this time-period has been based mainly on Dendrochronology and relative dating . For the beginning of HaC wood pieces from the Cart Grave of Wehringen (Landkreis Augsburg) deliver
10224-408: The Eastern Hallstatt culture are indefensible and archeologically unsubstantiated. Trade with Greece is attested by finds of Attic black-figure pottery in the elite graves of the late Hallstatt period. It was probably imported via Massilia ( Marseilles ). Other imported luxuries include amber , ivory (as found at the Grafenbühl Tomb ) and probably wine . Red kermes dye was imported from
10368-538: 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
10512-484: 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
10656-643: 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
10800-606: 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
10944-451: 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
11088-455: The Romont prefecture, then it became the capital of the district of Glâne. Romont has an area, as of 2009, of 10.9 square kilometers (4.2 sq mi). Of this area, 7.32 km (2.83 sq mi) or 67.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.48 km (0.57 sq mi) or 13.6% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.07 km (0.80 sq mi) or 19.0% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.03 km (7.4 acres) or 0.3%
11232-512: The agricultural land, 37.9% is used for growing crops and 28.2% is pastures, while 1.1% is used for orchards or vine crops. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is the capital of the Glâne district. It is located at the intersection of the roads to Fribourg, Lausanne and Bulle and is on the border with the Canton of Vaud . The blazon of the municipal coat of arms
11376-410: The alignment was marked with a large timber palisade. The knowledge required to create these alignments would have required long-term observation of the skies, possibly over several generations. At Glauberg other ditches and postholes associated with the mound may have been used to observe astronomical phenomena such as the solstices , with the whole ensemble functioning as a calendar . According to
11520-712: The archaeologist Allard Mees, the numerous burials within the Magdalenenberg mound were positioned to mirror the constellations as they appeared at the time of the summer solstice in 618 BC. Mees argues that the Magdalenenberg represented a lunar calendar and that knowledge of the 18.6 year lunar standstill cycle would have enabled the prediction of lunar eclipses . According to Mees many other burial mounds in this period were also aligned with lunar phenomena. An analysis of Hallstatt period burials by Müller-Scheeßel (2005) similarly suggested that they were oriented towards specific constellations. According to Gaspani (1998)
11664-510: The area which saw the emergence of the Terni culture, which had strong similarities with the Celtic cultures of Hallstatt and La Tène. The Umbrian necropolis of Terni , which dates back to the 10th century BC, was virtually identical in every aspect to the Celtic necropolis of the Golasecca culture. Older assumptions of the early 20th century of Illyrians having been the bearers of especially
11808-409: The central Hallstatt regions toward the end of the period (Ha D), very rich graves of high-status individuals under large tumuli are found near the remains of fortified hilltop settlements. Tumuli graves had a chamber, rather large in some cases, lined with timber and with the body and grave goods set about the room. There are some chariot or wagon burials , including Býčí Skála and Brno-Holásky in
11952-517: The construction rate of new housing units was 4.6 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2010, was 0.66%. Notes: The Trappist Abbaye de la Fille-Dieu , Romont Castle , the Vitromusée/Musée suisse du vitrail et des arts du verre, the collegiate church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption, and the town's fortifications are listed as Swiss heritage sites of national significance . The entire village of Romont
12096-519: 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
12240-626: The diagonals of the rectangular Hochdorf burial chamber were also aligned with the major lunar standstill. 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 ,
12384-552: The early Iron Age (Ha C, 800-650 BC) show continuity with symbols from the Bronze Age Urnfield culture , and are thought to be related to mining and the metal trade. Inscriptions engraved on situlas or cauldrons from the Hallstatt cemetery in Austria, dating from c. 800-500 BC, have been interpreted as numerals, letters and words, possibly related to Etruscan or Old Italic scripts. Weights from Bavaria dating from
12528-401: The early period of Celtic art . Decoration is mostly geometric and linear, and best seen on fine metalwork finds from graves (see above). Styles differ, especially between the west and east, with more human figures and some narrative elements in the latter. Animals, with waterfowl a particular favourite, are often included as part of other objects, more often than humans, and in the west there
12672-448: 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
12816-594: 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
12960-688: The end of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age were divided into four periods: Bronze Age Urnfield culture: Early Iron Age Hallstatt culture: Paul Reinecke based his chronological divisions on finds from the south of Germany. Already by 1881 Otto Tischler had made analogies to the Iron Age in the Northern Alps based on finds of brooches from graves in the south of Germany. It has proven difficult to use radiocarbon dating for
13104-471: The feasts in which the situlae themselves figure, of the hunt or of war". Similar scenes are found on other vessel shapes, as well as bronze belt-plaques. The processions of animals, typical of earlier examples, or humans derive from the Near East and Mediterranean, and Nancy Sandars finds the style shows "a gaucherie that betrays the artist working in a way that is uncongenial, too much at variance with
13248-516: 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
13392-498: The first half of the 6th century, seems to be only the beginning of a process that was regularly renewed until the second half of the fifth century." The monumental burial mounds at Glauberg and Magdalenenberg in Germany featured structures aligned with the point of the major lunar standstill , which occurs every 18.6 years. At Glauberg this took the form of a 'processional avenue' lined by large ditches, whilst at Magdalenenberg
13536-915: 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 ,
13680-829: 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
13824-454: 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
13968-479: 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
14112-612: 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 ,
14256-479: 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
14400-453: The late Hallstatt site of Bragny-sur-Saône in eastern France, dating from the 5th century BC. A letter inscribed on a gold cup was deposited in a princely tomb at Apremont in eastern France, dating from c. 500 BC. Another fragmentary inscription on pottery was found in a princely burial near Bergères-les-Vertus in north-eastern France, dating from late 5th century BC (at the beginning of La Tène A). The inscription has been identified as
14544-464: The lower Secondary students may attend a three or four year optional upper Secondary school. The upper Secondary school is divided into gymnasium (university preparatory) and vocational programs. After they finish the upper Secondary program, students may choose to attend a Tertiary school or continue their apprenticeship . During the 2010–11 school year, there were a total of 1,569 students attending 86 classes in Romont. A total of 895 students from
14688-494: The mine workings themselves, the salt has preserved many organic materials such as textiles, wood and leather, and many abandoned artifacts such as shoes, pieces of cloth, and tools including miner's backpacks, have survived in good condition. In 1846, Johann Georg Ramsauer (1795–1874) discovered a large prehistoric cemetery near Hallstatt , Austria ( 47°33′40″N 13°38′31″E / 47.561°N 13.642°E / 47.561; 13.642 ), which he excavated during
14832-420: The movement and storage of goods, 97 or 7.3% were in a hotel or restaurant, 3 or 0.2% were in the information industry, 56 or 4.2% were the insurance or financial industry, 81 or 6.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 162 or 12.2% were in education and 120 or 9.1% were in health care. In 2000, there were 1,686 workers who commuted into the municipality and 924 workers who commuted away. The municipality
14976-610: The municipality attended any school, either in the municipality or outside of it. There were 8 kindergarten classes with a total of 153 students in the municipality. The municipality had 15 primary classes and 316 students. During the same year, there were 42 lower secondary classes with a total of 917 students. There were 3 upper Secondary classes, with 66 upper Secondary students. The municipality had 18 special Tertiary classes, with 117 specialized Tertiary students. As of 2000, there were 759 students in Romont who came from another municipality, while 149 residents attended schools outside
15120-538: The municipality. The municipality has a railway station, Romont FR , on the Lausanne–Bern and Bulle–Romont lines . It has regular service to Geneva Airport , Lucerne , Bern , Bulle , Allaman , and Fribourg/Freiburg . Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European archaeological culture of the Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from
15264-528: The municipality. There were 1,842 married individuals, 249 widows or widowers and 176 individuals who are divorced. As of 2000, there were 1,667 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household. There were 609 households that consist of only one person and 140 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 1,627 apartments (83.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 120 apartments (6.2%) were seasonally occupied and 202 apartments (10.4%) were empty. As of 2009,
15408-532: The narrative scenes of the eastern zone, from Hallstatt C onwards, is generally traced to influence from the Situla art of northern Italy and the northern Adriatic, where these bronze buckets began to be decorated in bands with figures in provincial Etruscan centres influenced by Etruscan and Greek art. The fashion for decorated situlae spread north across neighbouring cultures including the eastern Hallstatt zone, beginning around 600 BC and surviving until about 400 BC;
15552-420: 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
15696-534: 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
15840-652: The penetration by Greek and Etruscan culture after c. 600 BC , resulted in long-range trade relationships up the Rhone valley which triggered social and cultural transformations in the Hallstatt settlements north of the Alps. Powerful local chiefdoms emerged which controlled the redistribution of luxury goods from the Mediterranean world that is also characteristic of the La Tène culture . The apparently largely peaceful and prosperous life of Hallstatt D culture
15984-461: The population (as of 2000) speaks French (3,322 or 83.8%) as their first language, Portuguese is the second most common (245 or 6.2%) and German is the third (93 or 2.3%). There are 27 people who speak Italian . As of 2008, the population was 49.7% male and 50.3% female. The population was made up of 1,342 Swiss men (30.0% of the population) and 879 (19.7%) non-Swiss men. There were 1,466 Swiss women (32.8%) and 780 (17.5%) non-Swiss women. Of
16128-589: The population in the municipality, 1,210 or about 30.5% were born in Romont and lived there in 2000. There were 1,112 or 28.1% who were born in the same canton, while 439 or 11.1% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 1,027 or 25.9% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25.2% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 61.3% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 13.5%. As of 2000, there were 1,697 people who were single and never married in
16272-416: The population) did not answer the question. Romont has an average of 131.5 days of rain or snow per year and on average receives 1,256 mm (49.4 in) of precipitation . The wettest month is June during which time Romont receives an average of 129 mm (5.1 in) of rain or snow. During this month there is precipitation for an average of 11.7 days. The month with the most days of precipitation
16416-512: The population), there were 5 individuals (or about 0.13% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 77 individuals (or about 1.94% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 253 (or about 6.38% of the population) who were Islamic . 175 (or about 4.41% of the population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 273 individuals (or about 6.89% of
16560-400: The pottery and brooches . Burials were mostly inhumations. Halstatt D has been further divided into the sub-phases D1–D3, relating only to the western zone, and mainly based on the form of brooches. Major activity at the site appears to have finished about 500 BC, for reasons that are unclear. Many Hallstatt graves were robbed, probably at this time. There was widespread disruption throughout
16704-471: 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
16848-471: 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
16992-542: The same popularity (22.9% in 2007), the SVP retained about the same popularity (21.6% in 2007) and the FDP lost popularity (20.7% in 2007). A total of 1,118 votes were cast in this election, of which 24 or 2.1% were invalid. As of 2010, Romont had an unemployment rate of 5.7%. As of 2008, there were 100 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 34 businesses involved in this sector. 1,109 people were employed in
17136-469: The second half of the 19th century. Eventually the excavation would yield 1,045 burials, although no settlement has yet been found. This may be covered by the later village, which has long occupied the whole narrow strip between the steep hillsides and the lake. Some 1,300 burials have been found, including around 2,000 individuals, with women and children but few infants. Nor is there a "princely" burial, as often found near large settlements. Instead, there are
17280-605: The south as well; it was found at Hochdorf . Notable individual imports include the Greek Vix krater (the largest known metal vessel from Western classical antiquity), the Etruscan lebes from Sainte-Colombe-sur-Seine , the Greek hydria from Grächwil , the Greek cauldron from Hochdorf and the Greek or Etruscan cauldron from Lavau . The largest settlements were mostly fortified, situated on hilltops, and frequently included
17424-487: The temper of the craftsmen and the craft". Compared to earlier styles that arose organically in Europe "situla art is weak and sometimes quaint", and "in essence not of Europe". Except for the Italian Benvenuti Situla , men are hairless, with "funny hats, dumpy bodies and big heads", though often shown looking cheerful in an engaging way. The Benevenuti Situla is also unusual in that it seems to show
17568-466: 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
17712-619: 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
17856-508: 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
18000-485: 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
18144-627: The very rich grave at Vix . The Heuneburg is thought to correspond to the Celtic city of ' Pyrene ' mentioned by Herodotus in 450 BC. Other important sites include the Glauberg , Hohenasperg and Ipf in Germany, the Burgstallkogel in Austria and Molpír in Slovakia . However, most settlements were much smaller villages. The large monumental site of Alte Burg may have had a religious or ceremonial function, and possibly served as
18288-668: The west and north, their growth perhaps overlapping with the final years of the Hallstatt culture. Occasional iron artefacts had been appearing in central and western Europe for some centuries before 800 BC (an iron knife or sickle from Ganovce in Slovakia, dating to the 18th century BC, is possibly the earliest evidence of smelted iron in Central Europe). By the later Urnfield (Hallstatt B) phase, some swords were already being made and embellished in iron in eastern Central Europe, and occasionally much further west. Initially iron
18432-488: The western Hallstatt zone, and the salt workings had by then become very deep. By then the focus of salt mining had shifted to the nearby Hallein Salt Mine , with graves at Dürrnberg nearby where there are significant finds from the late Hallstatt and early La Tène periods, until the mid-4th century BC, when a major landslide destroyed the mineshafts and ended mining activity. Much of the material from early excavations
18576-536: 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
18720-647: The workshops of bronze, silver and gold smiths. Major settlements are known as 'princely seats' (or Fürstensitze in German), and are characterized by elite residences, rich burials, monumental buildings and fortifications. Some of these central sites are described as urban or proto-urban, and as "the first cities north of the Alps". Typical sites of this type are the Heuneburg on the upper Danube surrounded by nine very large grave tumuli, and Mont Lassois in eastern France near Châtillon-sur-Seine with, at its foot,
18864-402: 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
19008-400: Was 76, of which 68 were in agriculture and 8 were in forestry or lumber production. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 1,059 of which 666 or (62.9%) were in manufacturing and 360 (34.0%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 1,325. In the tertiary sector; 526 or 39.7% were in wholesale or retail sales or the repair of motor vehicles, 72 or 5.4% were in
19152-610: Was a rich salt mine, and some 1,300 burials are known, many with fine artifacts. Material from Hallstatt has been classified into four periods, designated "Hallstatt A" to "D". Hallstatt A and B are regarded as Late Bronze Age and the terms used for wider areas, such as "Hallstatt culture", or "period", "style" and so on, relate to the Iron Age Hallstatt C and D. By the 6th century BC, it had expanded to include wide territories, falling into two zones, east and west, between them covering much of western and central Europe down to
19296-511: Was built around 1250–1260, most likely by Peter II. The town's ring wall had three gate towers which faced toward Billens, Mézières, and Fribourg. The walls were demolished in 1842–1854. Between 1843 and 1865, five fires destroyed the gothic center of town, which was replaced with more modern buildings. Romont was one of the most important cities in the Vaud region. At the end of the 13th Century, its population numbered more than 1,000 and before
19440-583: Was dispersed, and is now found in many collections, especially German and Austrian museums, but the Hallstatt Museum in the town has the largest collection. It is probable that some if not all of the diffusion of Hallstatt culture took place in a Celtic -speaking context. In northern Italy the Golasecca culture developed with continuity from the Canegrate culture . Canegrate represented
19584-425: Was disrupted, perhaps even collapsed, right at the end of the period. There has been much speculation as to the causes of this, which remain uncertain. Large settlements such as Heuneburg and the Burgstallkogel were destroyed or abandoned, rich tumulus burials ended, and old ones were looted. There was probably a significant movement of population westwards, and the succeeding La Tène culture developed new centres to
19728-819: 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
19872-400: 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
20016-652: 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
20160-507: Was possible to divide HaD into three stages (D1-D3). In HaD1 snake brooches are predominant, while in HaD2 drum brooches appear more often, and in HaD3 the double-drum and embellished foot brooches. The transition to the La Tène period is often connected with the emergence of the first animal-shaped brooches, with Certosa -type and with Marzabotto -type brooches. The community at Hallstatt
20304-467: Was rather exotic and expensive, and sometimes used as a prestige material for jewellery. Iron swords became more common after c. 800 BC , and steel was also produced from 800 BC as part of the production of swords. The production of high-carbon steel is attested in Britain after c. 490 BC . The remarkable uniformity of spoked-wheel wagons from across the Hallstatt region indicates
20448-594: 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
20592-570: 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 ,
20736-484: Was untypical of the wider, mainly agricultural, culture, as its booming economy exploited the salt mines in the area. These had been worked from time to time since the Neolithic period, and in this period were extensively mined with a peak from the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The style and decoration of the grave goods found in the cemetery are very distinctive, and artifacts made in this style are widespread in Europe. In
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