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Sablon, Brussels

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The House of Egmond or Egmont ( French : Maison d'Egmond , Dutch : Huis Egmond ) is named after the Dutch town of Egmond , province of North Holland , and played an important role in the Netherlands during the Middle Ages and the Early modern period . The main lines Egmond-Geldern (Dukes of Geldern and Counts of Zutphen , extinct in 1538), Egmond-Gavere (Counts of Egmont , Princes of Gavere and Steenhuyze , extinct in 1682/1714) and Egmond-Buren-Leerdam (Counts of Buren and Leerdam , extinct in 1558) had high noble, princely rank.

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98-434: The Sablon ( French , pronounced [sablɔ̃] ) or Zavel ( Dutch , pronounced [ˈzaːvəl] ) is a neighbourhood and hill in the historic upper town of Brussels , Belgium. At its heart are twin squares: the larger Grand Sablon or Grote Zavel ("Large Sablon") square in the north-west and the smaller Petit Sablon or Kleine Zavel ("Small Sablon") square and garden in

196-744: 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

294-431: 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,

392-555: 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

490-705: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on

588-494: 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

686-587: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and

784-526: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only

882-941: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including L2 and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as

980-516: A straight line into the Senne river, joining it roughly at the current Place Fontainas/Fontainasplein . Its course is still followed by the streets in the area to this day. The Petit Sablon was the site of Saint John Hospital's cemetery, mentioned above, until it was moved. The present-day garden was created by the architect Henri Beyaert , and was inaugurated in 1890. It is surrounded by an ornate wrought iron fence inspired by one that once decorated

1078-547: 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

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1176-437: 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

1274-779: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl —languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien ) largely supplanted. French

1372-472: 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

1470-489: 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

1568-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including

1666-462: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as one of the most geographically widespread languages in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a de jure or de facto official, administrative, or cultural language. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share

1764-652: 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

1862-503: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English

1960-657: Is in the shape of a long triangle, around 50 m (160 ft) wide in the south-east, terminating in a point around 130 m (430 ft) to the north-west. When Brussels' residents mention the "Sablon" without qualification, they are usually referring to the Grand Sablon. The Grand Sablon was linked to the Petit Sablon by the Rue Bodenbroek / Bodenbroekstraat and the Rue des Sablons / Zavelstraat , though

2058-404: 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

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2156-469: 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

2254-828: 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

2352-576: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,

2450-657: Is the case with many other public squares in Brussels, the Grand Sablon has been partially transformed into a parking lot. A plan to refurbish the space is being investigated. Each year, the Sablon is the starting point for the Ommegang procession. On 20 November, it hosts the beginning of the Saint-Verhaegen/Sint-Verhaegen student parade (often shortened to St V ), which celebrates the founding of

2548-553: 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

2646-483: 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

2744-492: 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

2842-424: 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

2940-764: 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

3038-462: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as

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3136-473: The Coudenberg Palace . The fence is punctuated by tall stone pillars; atop each pillar is a statue of one or more historical professions, with 48 statues in total. To ensure that the statues were stylistically coherent, Beyaert asked the painter Xavier Mellery to design all of them, though they were executed by different sculptors. Each pillar has a unique design, as does each section of fence. In

3234-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of

3332-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains

3430-559: 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,

3528-637: The Guild of the brothers and sisters of Saint John's Hospital ceded the land to the Crossbowmen 's Guild. They built a modest chapel dedicated to Our Lady on the site, completed in 1318, setting off the transformation of the area. Legend has is that the chapel became famous after a local devout woman named Beatrijs Soetkens had a vision in which the Virgin Mary instructed her to steal the miraculous statue of Onze-Lieve-Vrouw op 't Stocxken ("Our Lady on

3626-877: 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

3724-626: 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

3822-1012: The United Nations , the European Union, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization , the World Trade Organization , the International Olympic Committee , the General Conference on Weights and Measures , and the International Committee of the Red Cross . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin

3920-722: The Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) universities. To the south-east of the church, and slightly uphill, lies the Square du Petit Sablon / Kleine Zavelsquare . It is a roughly rectangular garden, featuring trees, hedges, flowers and most notably, statues. In the Middle Ages , the Zavelbeek ("Sablon Brook") had its source in the Petit Sablon. It flowed in nearly

4018-506: 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;

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4116-836: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed

4214-412: The 20th century. The execution of Lamoral, Count of Egmont in 1568 helped spark the Dutch Revolt that eventually led to the independence of the Netherlands, while Anna van Egmond-Buren, known as Anna van Buren in the Netherlands, was the first wife of William the Silent , the leader of this national uprising. Ironically, in 1573 both Egmond Abbey and Egmond Castle were destroyed on order of William

4312-510: 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

4410-614: 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,

4508-408: 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

4606-416: 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

4704-432: The Netherlands. In the late 15th century, the senior branch became the sovereign Dukes of Guelders , whilst the younger branch split into the Counts of Egmond (elevated to become Princes of Gavere in 1553) and the Counts of Buren and Leerdam . The senior branches of the family moved out in the 16th and 17th centuries, but illegitimate branches (such as that of the Bavarian Counts of Geldern-Egmond ) flourished well into

4802-407: The Silent. Though the family name may not be carried, direct descendants of the family are in existence, thus, not extinct. For the earlier lords, see List of Lords and Counts of Egmont . Shield: Or, seven chevronels gules . The Egmond coat of arms is depicted in the medieval Gelre Armorial (folio 83v) The Irish Perceval family, which erroneously claims descent from the house of Egmond,

4900-403: The aristocracy in favour of newer, more chic neighbourhoods, such as the Leopold Quarter . In the 20th century, the Square du Grand Sablon / Grote Zavelsquare was occupied by a more modest populace, characterised by small workshops and warehouses. At the end of the 1960s, the character of the area began to change yet again. Multiple antique stores moved to the area, following demolitions in

4998-423: The best indication of what the area was like at the height of its splendour; the grandiose houses of the Lannoys and the Mérode-Westerloo family still stand on the Rue aux Laines. In 1566, the Culemborg Mansion on the Rue des Petits Carmes / Karmelietenstraat was the site of the drafting of the Compromise of Nobles , which ultimately led to the Dutch Revolt . To eliminate any trace of this seditious act against

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5096-614: The centre of the garden stands a fountain-sculpture by Charles-Auguste Fraikin of the Counts of Egmont and Horn , who were symbols of resistance against the Spanish tyranny that sparked the Dutch Revolt . This monument was initially in front of the King's House on the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), the site of their execution. It is surrounded by a semicircle of ten statues of 16th-century political figures, intellectuals and artists. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )

5194-420: The centre, which would last until 1615. After the pond was filled in, a fountain was erected in its place in 1661. Water was brought to the fountain by a new conduit from Obbrussel (now Saint-Gilles ). This fountain was replaced in 1751 by the present Fountain of Minerva  [ fr ] , which was a posthumous gift from the exiled British nobleman Thomas Bruce, 2nd Earl of Ailesbury , who wished to thank

5292-431: The church, and all buildings immediately adjacent to it were demolished starting in 1872, opening up new views of the church. On that occasion, buildings not directly adjacent to the church were renovated and improved. From the 19th to early 20th centuries, the Grand Sablon became a renowned site for a sport called jeu de balle or balle pelote  [ fr ] , a ball game similar to modern handball . Though

5390-454: The church. The church became the site of the baptisms of princes; Archduchess Mary of Austria 's baptismal cortège went to Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon instead of the Church of St. Michael and St. Gudula (now a cathedral), which had previously held the honour. Governor Margaret of Austria made it the site of her religious devotions as well. In 1530, it saw the greatest July procession in its history. These symbols of royal favour would ensure

5488-478: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French House of Egmond Besides the main and secondary lines that have died out, there were also some illegitimate lines of the family, including the Egmond van Merenstein (extinct in 1559), Egmond van Kenenburg (extinct in 1703), Egmond van de Nijenburg (Imperial Barons; extinct in 1747) and Egmond van Cranenburch . Today there are still

5586-404: 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

5684-405: The division between the two Sablons was accentuated by the Rue de la Régence / Regentschapstraat cutting through the area. In the 16th century, the Grand Sablon was known as the Peerdemerct ( Middle Dutch for "Horse market", Latin : Forum Equorum ), due to the horse market that was held there from 1320 to 1754. The place was also known as the Zavelpoel ("Sandy pond") due to a pond in

5782-448: 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

5880-489: 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

5978-440: The extramarital lines of the Imperial Counts of Geldern-Egmond (today Mirbach-Geldern-Egmond ) and the Barons of IJsselstein (also IJsselstein or Ysselstein). They were one of the principal noble families of the County of Holland during the Middle Ages. The family said to be descendants of the Kings of Friesland and early Counts of future Holland, maintained some power due to its hereditary position as Voogd (Advocate) of

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6076-406: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of

6174-439: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,

6272-715: 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

6370-508: The king, the Duke of Alba razed the mansion to the ground in 1568. The proximity of the cemetery was already an irritation to its aristocratic neighbours in 1554, but it would be another century and a half before the government of Brussels recognised that the situation had become unbearable. They reported that corpses "were often neglected and left in only half-covered graves, from which dogs had several times pulled parts off and run around in broad daylight with arms and legs in their mouths". It

6468-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French

6566-424: 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

6664-501: 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 ,

6762-428: 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

6860-409: The lasting prosperity of the Sablon area. The Wolweide ("Wool meadow") area, corresponding loosely to the current Rue aux Laines / Wolstraat , was an extension of the Sablon, stretching to the slopes of the Galgenberg hill (French: Mont aux potences ; "Gallows Mount"), where the current Palace of Justice stands. In the 16th century, Brussels' most prominent noblemen established themselves on

6958-409: The little stick") in Antwerp , bring it to Brussels, and place it in the chapel of the Crossbowmen's Guild. The woman stole the statue, and through a series of miraculous events, was able to transport it to Brussels by boat in 1348. It was then solemnly placed in the chapel and venerated as the guild's patron. The guild also promised to hold an annual procession, called an Ommegang , in which the statue

7056-407: The nearby Mont des Arts area. Bit by bit, the Sablon became a desirable area once again, giving rise to the neologism "sablonisation", a local version of gentrification . Recently, a number of chocolatiers and confectioners have come to the area, which is once again the heart of the Brussels upper class. The Square du Grand Sablon / Grote Zavelsquare lies to the north-west of the church. It

7154-485: 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

7252-589: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;

7350-534: 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

7448-458: The people of Brussels for their hospitality. The fountain was renovated in 1999. The Grand Sablon was often the stage for festivals and competitions, but also for tragic events. On 1 June 1568, it was the site of a mass execution, as 18 signatories of the Compromise of Nobles were decapitated. The Grand Sablon is nowadays a genuine neighbourhood with residents and small businesses, while at

7546-595: The powerful Egmond Abbey in North Holland . They built their residence in Egmond aan den Hoef and became the Lords of Egmond . Thanks to a number of judicious marriages they were able to add the strategically important Lordship of IJsselstein and the semi-sovereign territory of the Lords of Arkel to their domains. The family achieved even greater prominence in the period of Burgundian and Habsburg rule over

7644-471: 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

7742-471: 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

7840-465: The same time being a popular place to stroll and a tourist attraction. Surrounding the square are numerous antique stores, fashionable boutiques, hotels, restaurants, an auction house , and numerous pastry shops and well-known Belgian chocolatiers, including Neuhaus , Pierre Marcolini and Godiva . On Saturdays and Sundays, the Grand Sablon hosts the Sablon Antiques and Books Market. As

7938-530: The south-east, divided by the Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon and the Rue de la Régence / Regentschapstraat . This area is served by Brussels-Chapel railway station and Brussels-Central railway station , as well as the tram stop Petit Sablon / Kleine Zavel (on lines 92 and 93). The Sablon lies near the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg neighbourhood, and lay not far outside the first walls of Brussels . It

8036-455: The sport is no longer played much today, it enjoyed immense popularity at the time. The Kings of the Belgians would frequently be seen among the spectators of a match; Leopold II explained that he would frequently come watch the games, as he lived in the area. The social composition of the neighbourhood changed over the course of time. In the 19th century, it was incrementally abandoned by

8134-466: 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

8232-679: 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

8330-868: The upper Sablon and on the Rue aux Laines. The Egmonts , the Culemborgs, the Brederodes and the Mansfelds were the first, and the De Lannoys , the De Lalaings , the Thurn und Taxis , and the Solres joined them. The result was that by the 17th century, the Sablon had grown to become the most aristocratic and prosperous neighbourhood in the city. The Egmont Palace on the Petit Sablon is still standing, and gives

8428-508: 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

8526-485: 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

8624-536: 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

8722-402: 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

8820-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French

8918-499: Was carried through Brussels. This Ommegang developed into an important religious and civil event in Brussels' annual calendar. In the 15th century, the neighbourhood began to enlarge substantially. The chapel was rebuilt as the larger and more elegant Church of Our Blessed Lady of the Sablon , still standing today. In 1470, Duke Charles the Bold charged a body with the creation of a street running from his nearby Coudenberg Palace to

9016-819: 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

9114-451: 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

9212-708: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates

9310-476: Was originally an unused open space, with areas of wetlands , grassland and sand, where a hermit made his home. The words sablon in French and zavel in Dutch both mean a fine-grained sand, halfway between silt and sand. Saint John's Hospital (French: Hôpital Saint-Jean , Dutch: Sint-Jansgasthuis ) used the area as a cemetery in the 13th century, having run out of space in its own cemetery. In 1304,

9408-594: 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

9506-570: 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 ,

9604-648: Was therefore decided in 1704 to move the cemetery to the Marolles/Marollen district. The Sablon neighbourhood was remodelled in the 19th century as the Rue de la Régence / Regentschapstraat was driven through the area, creating a Haussmann -esque style artery between the Royal Palace of Brussels in the Royal Quarter and the new Palace of Justice in the Marolles. The new street skirted

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