French language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

French (Français)
Spoken in:	France, including French Overseas Departments, Communities and Territories; Canada; Belgium; Switzerland; many Western and Central African nations; Haiti; and the U.S. states of Louisiana and Maine.
Region:	Africa, Europe, Americas, Pacific
Total speakers:	115 million (180 million with second language speakers)
Ranking:	9th
Genetic classification:	Indo-European  Italic   Romance    Italo-Western     Western      Gallo-Iberian       Gallo-Romance        Gallo-Rhaetian         Oïl          French
Official status
Official language of:	29 countries
Regulated by:	Académie française
Language codes
ISO 639-1	fr
ISO 639-2	fre (B)/fra (T)
SIL	FRN
See also: Language – List of languages

French (French: français) is the third of the Romance languages in terms of number of speakers, after Spanish and Portuguese. In 2003 French was the 9th most spoken language in the world, being spoken by about 115 million people (called francophones) as a native language , and by 180 million total including second language speakers. French is an official language in 29 countries. It is also an official or administrative language in various communities and organisations (such as the European Union, IOC, United Nations and Universal Postal Union). Before World War II, French was considered the international language par excellence, particularly in such fields as diplomacy and the lingua franca of much trade, shipping, and transportation.

Contents 1 History 1.1 The Roman invasion of Gaul 1.2 The Franks 1.3 Langue d'Oïl 1.4 Other linguistic groups 1.5 History of French 1.6 Modern issues 2 Geographic distribution 2.1 Legal status in France 2.2 Legal status in Canada 2.3 Legal status in Switzerland 2.4 Dialects of French 2.5 Languages derived from French 3 Sounds 4 Grammar 5 Vocabulary 5.1 Word origins 5.2 Levels of register 6 Writing system 6.1 Some common phrases 7 See also 8 External links

History

The Roman invasion of Gaul

The French language is a Romance language, meaning that it is descended from Latin. Before the Roman invasion of what is modern-day France by Julius Cæsar (58–52 BC), France was inhabited largely by a Celtic people that the Romans referred to as Gauls, although there were also other linguistic/ethnic groups in France at this time, such as the Iberians in southern France and Spain, the Ligurians on the Mediterranean coast, Greek and Phoenician outposts like Marseille and the Vascons on the Spanish/French border.

Although in the past many Frenchmen liked to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors (nos ancêtres les Gaulois), perhaps fewer than 200 words with a Celtic etymological origin remain in French today (largely place and plant names and words dealing with rural life and the earth). In the reverse direction, some words for Gallic objects which were new to the Romans and for which there were no words in Latin were imported into Latin – for example, clothing items such as les braies. Latin quickly became the lingua franca of the entire Gallic region for mercantile, official and educational purposes, yet it should be remembered that this was Vulgar Latin, the colloquial dialect spoken by the Roman army and its agents and not the literary dialect of Cicero.

The Franks

From the third century on, Western Europe was invaded by Germanic ("Barbarian") tribes from the east, and some of these groups settled in Gaul. For the history of the French language, the most important of these groups are the Franks in northern France, the Alemanni in the German/French border, the Burgundians in the Rhone valley and the Visigoths in the Aquitaine region and Spain. These Germanic-speaking groups had a profound effect on the Latin spoken in their respective regions, altering both the pronunciation and the syntax. They also introduced a number of new words: perhaps as much as 15% of modern French comes from Germanic words, including many terms and expressions associated with their social structure and military tactics.

Langue d'Oïl

Linguists typically divide the languages spoken in medieval France into three geographical subgroups: Langue d'Oïl and Langue d'Oc being the major ones, with Franco-Provençal being considered transitional between the two major groups. It is comparable to the divide that once existed between "yes" in the south of England and "aye" in the North.

Langue d'Oïl, the language where one says oïl (or nowadays oui) for "yes", is the group of dialects in the north of France which were the most affected by the Frankish invasions, like Picard, Walloon, Francien, Norman, etc. From the baptism of the Frankish king Clovis (c.498) on, the Franks extended their power over much of northern Gaul. The French language developed on the basis of the mutually comprehensible features of the langues d'Oïl.

Langue d'Oc, the language where one says oc for "yes", is the group of dialects in the south of France and northern Spain (Ibero-Romance dialects) which remained closer to the original Latin, like Gascon, Provençal etc.

(Modern French has two words for "yes", oui and si; the latter is used to contradict negative statements. Si derives from Latin sic "thus", and is cognate to the word for "yes" in Spanish, Italian, and Catalan. Oïl/oui derive, according to Larousse, from Latin hoc ille "thus he (did)".)

Other linguistic groups

The early middle ages also saw the influence of other linguistic groups on the dialects of France:

From the 5th to the 8th centuries, Celtic-speaking peoples from southwestern Britain (Wales, Cornwall, Devon) travelled across the English Channel, both for reasons of trade and as a result of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of England. They established themselves in Bretagne (Brittany). Their language was a dialect of the Brythonic languages, which has been named Breton in more recent centuries. It is part of the larger Celtic language family, though the modern dialects reflect a noticeable influence from French in their vocabulary.

From the 6th to the 7th centuries, the Vascons crossed over the Pyrénées, a mountain range in the south of France. Their presence influenced the Occitan language spoken in southwestern France, resulting in the dialect called Gascon.

Scandinavian vikings invaded France from the 9th century onwards and established themselves in what would come to be called Normandie (Normandy). They took up the langue d'oïl spoken there and contributed many words to French related to maritime activities, amongst other things.

With their conquest of England in 1066, the Normans brought their language. The dialect that developed there as a language of administration and literature is referred to as Anglo-Norman. Anglo-Norman served as the language of the ruling classes and commerce in England from the time of the conquest until 1362, when the use of English became dominant again. Because of the Norman Conquest, the English language has borrowed a considerable amount of its vocabulary from French.

The Arab peoples also supplied many words to French around this time period, including words for luxury goods, spices, trade stuffs, sciences and mathematics.

History of French

For the period up to around 1300, some linguists refer to the oïl languages collectively as Old French (ancien français). The earliest extant text in French is the Oaths of Strasbourg from 842; Old French became a literary language with the chansons de geste that told tales of the paladins of Charlemagne and the heroes of the Crusades.

By the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts in 1539 King Francis I made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in France, ousting the Latin that had been used before then. With the imposition of a standardised chancery dialect and the loss of the declension system, the dialect is referred to as Middle French (moyen français). Following a period of unification, regulation and purification, the French of the 17th to the 18th centuries is sometimes referred to as Classical French (français classique), although many linguists simply refer to French language from the 17th century to today as Modern French (français moderne).

The foundation of the Académie française (French Academy) in 1634 by Cardinal Richelieu created an official body whose goal has been the purification and preservation of the French language. This group of 40 members is known as the Immortals, not, as some erroneously believe, because they are chosen to serve for the extent of their lives (which they are), but because of the inscription engraved on the official seal given to them by their founder Richelieu—"À l'immortalité" ("to the Immortality (of the French language)"). The foundation still exists and contributes to the policing of the language and the adaptation of foreign words and expressions. Some recent modifications include the change from software to logiciel, packet-boat to paquebot, and riding-coat to redingote. The word ordinateur for computer was however not created by the Académie, but by a linguist appointed by IBM (see fr:ordinateur).

From the 17th to the 19th centuries, France was the leading power of continental Europe; thanks to this, together with the influence of the Enlightenment, French was the lingua franca of educated Europe, especially with regards to the arts, literature, and diplomacy; monarchs like Frederick II of Prussia and Catherine the Great of Russia could both speak and write in French.

Through the Académie, public education, centuries of official control and the role of media, a unified official French language has been forged, but there remains a great deal of diversity today in terms of regional accents and words. For some critics, the "best" pronunciation of the French language is considered to be the one used in Touraine (around Tours and the Loire River valley), but such value judgments are fraught with problems, and with the ever increasing loss of lifelong attachments to a specific region and the growing importance of the national media, the future of specific "regional" accents is difficult to predict.

Modern issues

There is some debate in today's France about the preservation of the French language and the influence of English (see franglais), especially with regard to international business, the sciences and popular culture. There have been laws (see Toubon law) enacted which require that all print ads and billboards with foreign expressions include a French translation and which require quotas of French-language songs (at least 40%) on the radio. There is also pressure, in differing degrees, from some regions as well as minority political or cultural groups for a measure of recognition and support for their regional languages.

Geographic distribution

French is an official language in the following countries or parts thereof:

country	native speakers (rough est.)		population (July 2003 est.)	pop. dens. (inh./km²)	area (km²)
Metropolitan France	52,100,000	(% from 1999)	60,656,178	110.9	547,030
Democratic Republic of the Congo	?		60,085,004	25.62	2,345,410
Canada	6,700,000	(1998)	32,805,041	3.29	9,984,670
Madagascar	18,000	(1993)	18,040,341	30.73	587,040
Côte d'Ivoire	17,470	(1988)	17,298,040	53.64	322,460
Cameroon	?		16,380,005	34.45	475,440
Burkina Faso	?		13,925,313	50.79	274,200
Mali	9,000	(1993)	12,291,529	9.91	1,240,000
Niger	6,000	(1993)	11,665,937	9.21	1,267,000
Senegal	?		11,126,832	56.71	196,190
Belgium	3,800,000	(% from 1960)	10,364,388	339.5	30,528
Chad	3,000	(1996)	9,826,419	7.65	1,284,000
Rwanda	2,400	(2004)	8,440,820	320.5	26,338
Haiti	600	(2004)	8,121,622	292.7	27,750
Switzerland	1,300,000	(1990)	7,489,370	181.4	41,290
Benin	16,700	(1993)	7,460,025	66.24	112,620
Burundi	2,200	(2004)	6,370,609	228.9	27,830
Togo	3,500	(1993)	5,681,519	100.1	56,785
Central African Republic	9,000	(1996)	3,799,897	6.10	622,984
Republic of the Congo	28,000	(1996)	3,039,126	8.89	342,000
Gabon	37,500	(1993)	1,389,201	5.19	267,667
Mauritius	37,000	(2001)	1,230,602	603.2	2,040
Réunion (France)	2,400	(1993)	776,948	308.7	2,517
Comoros	1,700	(1996)	671,247	309.3	2,170
Equatorial Guinea	—		535,881	19.10	28,051
Djibouti	15,440	(1988)	476,703	20.73	23,000
Luxembourg	13,100	(1993)	468,571	181.2	2,586
Guadeloupe (France) (2004)	7,300		448,713	252.1	1,780
Martinique (France)	9,000	(2004)	432,900	393.5	1,100
French Polynesia (France)	25,668	(2000)	270,485	64.91	4,167
New Caledonia (France)	53,400	(1987)	216,494	11.36	19,060
Vanuatu	6,300	(1987)	205,754	16.87	12,200
French Guiana (France)	?		195,506	2.15	91,000
Seychelles	971	(1971)	81,188	178.4	455
Monaco	17,400	(1988)	32,409	16,620	1.95
Wallis and Futuna (France)	120	(1993)	16,025	58.49	274
Jersey (British Crown)	8,000	(1976)	90,812	782.9	116
Guernsey (British Crown)	6,000	(1976)	65,228	836.3	78
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (France)	5,114	(1967)	7,012	28.98	242
Pondicherry (India)	?		973,829	2,029	492
Although not official, French is a national language in the following countries:
country	native speakers (rough est.)		population (July 2003 est.)	pop. dens. (inh./km²)	area (km²)
Morocco	80,000	(1985)	32,725,847	73.29	446,550
Algeria	110,000	(1993)	32,531,853	13.66	2,381,440
Tunisia	11,000	(1993)	10,074,951	61.58	163,610
Louisiana (United States of America)	261,678	(1993)	4,468,976	39.61	134,382
Lebanon	16,600	(2004)	3,826,018	367.9	10,400
Aosta Valley (Italy)	100,000	(1987)	118,548	36.33	3,263
Andorra	2,400	(1986)	70,549	150.7	468
Also, there are significant numbers of French speakers in:
country	native speakers (rough est.)		population (July 2003 est.)	pop. dens. (inh./km²)	area (km²)
Egypt	?		77,505,756	77.39	1,001,450
Cambodia	?		13,607,069	75.16	181,040
Greece	?		10,668,354	80.86	131,940
Czech Republic	?		10,241,138	129.9	78,866
Israel	?		6,276,883	302.2	20,770
Laos	?		6,217,141	26.25	236,800
Mauritania	?		3,086,859	2.99	1,030,700
Florida (United States of America)	337,605	(2000)	-	-	-
New England (United States of America)	320,924	(2000)	-	-	-
New York State (United States of America)	295,556	(2000)	-	-	-
California (United States of America)	139,174	(2000)	-	-	-
New Jersey (United States of America)	76,008	(2000)	-	-	-
Texas (United States of America)	65,778	(2000)	-	-	-
Pennsylvania (United States of America)	52,517	(2000)	-	-	-
Maryland (United States of America)	49,560	(2000)	-	-	-
Georgia (United States of America)	48,391	(2000)	-	-	-
Ohio (United States of America)	45,015	(2000)	-	-	-
Illinois (United States of America)	44,847	(2000)	-	-	-
Virginia (United States of America)	42,782	(2000)	-	-	-
Michigan (United States of America)	39,657	(2000)	-	-	-
North Carolina (United States of America)	34,642	(2000)	-	-	-
Washington (United States of America)	22,701	(2000)	-	-	-
Missouri (United States of America)	20,203	(2000)	-	-	-
South Carolina (United States of America)	19,359	(2000)	-	-	-
Indiana (United States of America)	18,362	(2000)	-	-	-
Colorado (United States of America)	18,317	(2000)	-	-	-
Tennessee (United States of America)	18,067	(2000)	-	-	-
Minnesota (United States of America)	16,085	(2000)	-	-	-
Arizona (United States of America)	15,868	(2000)	-	-	-
Wisconsin (United States of America)	15,120	(2000)	-	-	-
Alabama (United States of America)	13,895	(2000)	-	-	-
Kentucky (United States of America)	12,780	(2000)	-	-	-
Oregon (United States of America)	12,123	(2000)	-	-	-
Mississippi (United States of America)	10,968	(2000)	-	-	-
Other states (United States of America)	92,118	(2000)	-	-	-
Also, there are some remaining French speakers in:
country	native speakers (rough est.)		population (July 2003 est.)	pop. dens. (inh./km²)	area (km²)
Russia	?		143,420,309	8.40	17,075,200
Philippines	?		87,857,473	292.9	300,000
Vietnam	?		83,535,576	253.5	329,560
Saudi Arabia	?		26,417,599	13.47	1,960,582
Puerto Rico (associated with United States)	?		3,916,632	430.2	9,104
United Arab Emirates	?		2,563,212	30.93	82,880

La Francophonie is an international organization of French-speaking countries and governments.

Legal status in France

Per the Constitution of France, French is the official language of the Republic since 1992 [1].

France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education outside of specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. See Toubon Law.

Contrary to a misunderstanding common in the American and British media, France does not prohibit the use of foreign words in websites or any other private publication, which would anyway contradict constitutional guarantees on freedom of speech. The misunderstanding may have arisen from a similar prohibition in the Canadian province of Quebec which made strict application of the Charter of the French Language between 1977 and 1993, although these regulations addressed language used in advertising and the provision of commercial services offered within the province, not the language of private communication.

There exist in addition to French a variety of languages spoken in France by minorities; see Languages of France.

Legal status in Canada

About 12% of the world's francophones are Canadian, and French is one of Canada's two official languages, with English; various provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms deal with the right of Canadians to access services in English and French all across Canada. By law, the federal government must operate and provide services in both English and French; proceedings of the Parliament of Canada must be translated into both English and French; and all Canadian products must be labelled in both English and French. Overall about 22% of Canadians speak French as a first language and 18% are bilingual.

French has been the only official language of Quebec since 1974, although it is commonly (and incorrectly) believed that the designation of French as the sole official language occurred in 1977 with the adoption of the Charter of the French Language (which is popularly referred to as Bill 101). By far the provision of Bill 101 with the most significant impact has been that which mandates French-language education, unless a child's parents or siblings have received the major part of their own education in English within Canada. That provision has reversed a historical trend whereby a large number of immigrant children were being sent to English schools by their parents. In so doing, Bill 101 has greatly contributed to the "visage français" (French face) of Quebec. Other provisions of Bill 101, on the other hand, have been ruled unconstitutional over the years, including those mandating French-only commercial signs, court proceedings, and debates in the legislature. Some of those provisions have remained in effect, for a while, using the constitutional "notwithstanding" clause that permits a non-compliant law to temporarily remain. No "notwithstanding provision" is currently in effect. In 1993 the Charter was changed to allow signage in other languages so long as French is markedly "predominant". The Charter also provides for a measure of access by Anglophones to health and social services in their own language.

French is an official language of New Brunswick, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. In Ontario and Manitoba, French does not have full official status, although the provincial governments do provide full French-language services in all communities where significant numbers of francophones live.

All of the other provinces do make some effort to accommodate the needs of their francophone citizens, although the level and quality of French-language service varies significantly from province to province.

Legal status in Switzerland

French is an official language in Switzerland. It is spoken in the part of Switzerland called Romandy.

Dialects of French

• Acadian French
• African French
• Belgian French
• Cajun French
• Canadian French
• Cambodian French
• Louisiana Creole French
• français d'Aoste
• français-germanique
• Indian French
• Levantine French
• Maghreb French
• Newfoundland French
• North American French
• Oceanic French
• Quebec French
• South East Asian French
• Swiss French
• West Indian French

• linguasphere on Romance languages

Languages derived from French

• Haitian Creole
• Seychellois Creole
• Michif
• Lanc-Patuá
• Tay Boi

Sounds

Main article: French phonology and orthography

Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

French pronunciation follows strict rules based on spelling, but French spelling is often based more on history than phonology. The rules for pronunciation vary between dialects, but the standard rules are:

• liaison or linking: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n and m, are normally silent. (The final letters 'c', 'r', 'f', and 'l' however are normally pronounced.) When the following word begins with a vowel, though, a silent consonant may once again be pronounced, to provide a "link" between the two words and avoid a glottal stop between them. Some liaisons are mandatory, for example the s in les amants or vous avez; some are optional, depending on dialect and register, for example the first s in deux cents euros or euros irlandais; and some are forbidden, for example the s in beaucoup d'hommes aiment. The t of et is never pronounced and the silent final consonant of a noun is only pronounced in the plural and in set phrases like pied-à-terre. Doubling a final consonant and adding a silent e at the end of a word (e.g. Parisien → Parisienne) makes it clearly pronounced, always.

• elision or vowel dropping: Monosyllabic words such as je or que drop their final vowel before another word beginning with a vowel. The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g. je ai is instead pronounced and spelt → j'ai)

• nasal "n" and "m". When "n" or "m" follows a vowel combination, the "n" and "m" become silent and cause the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e. pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to allow part of the air to leave through the nostrils). Exceptions are when the "n" or "m" is doubled, or immediately followed by a vowel. The prefixes en- and em- are always nasalized. The rules get more complex than this but may vary between dialects.

• digraphs French does not introduce extra letters or diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, rather it uses specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended. (See French phonology and orthography or French Pronunciation Guide for more details.)

• accents are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone.
  • Accents that affect pronunciation:
    • "é", is pronounced /e/ instead of the defaults /ɛ/ or/ə/,
    • "è" (e.g., secrète) means that the vowel is pronounced /ɛ/ (as usual),
    • dieresis (e.g. naïve, Noël) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one (or following one in some cases), not combined,
    • the "ç" means that the letter c is pronounced /s/ in front of A, O, or U. ("c" is otherwise hard /k/ before a hard vowel.)
    • The circumflex (e.g. pâté, forêt) shows that an e is pronounced /ɛ/ and that an o is pronounced /o/. In some dialects it also signifies a pronunciation of /ɑ/ for the letter a, but this differentiation is disappearing. It usually indicates a former long vowel created by the dropping of an "s" from the Latin root (as in English "paste", "forest"),
  • Accents with no pronunciation effect:
    • The circumflex does not affect the pronunciation of the letters i or u, and in most dialects, a as well.
    • All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words or for etymological reasons, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs là and où ("there", "where") from the article la and the conjunction ou ("the fem. sing.", "or") respectively.

Grammar

Main article: French grammar

French grammar shares several notable features with most other Romance languages, including:

• the loss of Latin's declensions
• only two grammatical genders
• the development of grammatical articles from Latin demonstratives
• new tenses formed from auxiliaries

French word order is Subject Verb Object, except when the object is a pronoun, in which case the word order is Subject Object Verb.

Vocabulary

Word origins

The majority of French words derive from vernacular or "vulgar" Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. There are often pairs of words, one form being popular (noun) and the other one savant (adjective), both originating from Latin. Example:

• brother: frère (brother) / fraternel
• finger: doigt / digital
• faith: foi (faith) / fidèle
• cold: froid / frigide
• eye: œil / oculaire

The French words which have developed from Latin are usually less recognisable than Italian words of Latin origin because as French developed into a separate language from Vulgar Latin, the unstressed final syllable of many words was dropped or elided into the following word.

It is estimated that 12 percent (4,200) of common French words found in a typical dictionary such as the Petit Larousse or Micro-Robert Plus (35,000 words) are of foreign origin. About 25 percent (1,054) of these foreign words come from English and are fairly recent borrowings. The others are some 707 words from Italian, 550 from ancient Germanic languages, 481 from ancient Gallo-Romance languages, 215 from Arabic, 164 from German, 160 from Celtic languages, 159 from Spanish, 153 from Dutch, 112 from Persian and Sanskrit, 101 from Native American languages, 89 from other Asian languages, 56 from Afro-Asiatic languages, 55 from Slavic languages and Baltic languages, and 144 from other languages (3 percent of the total).

Source: Henriette Walter, Gérard Walter, Dictionnaire des mots d'origine étrangère, 1998.

Levels of register

French, like many other languages, possesses a continuum of several levels of register. The colloquial register is used in almost any circumstance of life, and should not be confused with slang or rude talk. Formal French is used in writing or in formal occasions (when people make official speeches or when they are interviewed on television, for instance). Some level of formality is also normally used in classrooms in France, although colloquial French is now spoken by more and more professors with their students.

Colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of grammar. For instance, the negation in formal French is "ne... pas", whereas in colloquial French it is simply "... pas", such as "I don't think so", which is "Je ne crois pas" in formal French, and "Je crois pas" in colloquial French. Another example of change in grammar is the way to ask a question: by inverting verb and subject in formal French, or also by using "est-ce que", whereas in colloquial French a question is phrased exactly as an affirmation, with the voice rising in the end. E.g.: "Is he sick?" would be "Est-il malade?" or "Est-ce qu'il est malade?" in formal French, and "Il est malade?" in colloquial French. On the other hand, questions with "est-ce que" are considered more colloquial than using inversion.

Secondly, colloquial French differs from formal French in terms of pronunciation. Some words undergo shortening, or sound change, whereas some syllables are dropped altogether. For instance, "yes" is "oui" in formal French, and becomes "ouais" in colloquial French; "I" is "je" in formal French, but becomes "j' " in colloquial French; so a sentence like "I think he'll come" is "Je pense qu'il viendra" in formal French, and "J'pense qu'i'viendra" in colloquial French. There are many instances of shortening of words, such as "teacher", which is "professeur" in formal French, but becomes "prof" in colloquial French.

Writing system

French is written using the Latin alphabet, plus five diacritics (the circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis, and cedilla) and two ligatures (æ, œ).

French spelling, like English spelling, tends to preserve obsolete pronunciation rules. This is mainly due to extreme phonetic changes since the Old French period, without a corresponding change in spelling. However, some conscious changes were also made to restore Latin orthography:

• Old French doit > French doigt "finger" (Latin digitum)
• Old French pie > French pied "foot" (Latin pedem)

As a result, it is nearly impossible to predict the spelling on the basis of the sound alone. Final consonants are generally silent, except when the following word begins with a vowel. For example, all of these words end in a vowel sound: nez, pied, aller, les, finit, beaux. The same words followed by a vowel, however, may sound the consonants, as they do in these examples: beaux-arts, les amis, pied-à-terre.

On the other hand, a given spelling will almost always lead to a predictable sound, and the Académie française works hard to enforce and update this correspondence. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.

The diacritics have phonetic, semantic, and etymological significance.

• grave accent (à, è, ù): Over a or u, used only to distinguish homophones: à ("to") vs. a ("has"), ou ("or") vs. où ("where"). Over an e, indicates the sound /ɛ/.
• acute accent (é): Over an e, indicates the sound /e/, the ai sound in such words as English hay or neigh. It often indicates the historical deletion of a following consonant (usually an s): écouter < escouter.
• circumflex (â, ê, î, ô û): Over an e or o, indicates the sound /ɛ/ or /o/, respectively. Most often indicates the historical deletion of an adjacent letter (usually an s or a vowel): château < castel, fête < feste, sûr < seur, dîner < disner. By extension, it has also come to be used to distinguish homophones: du ("of the") vs. dû (past participle of devoir "to owe"; note that dû is in fact written thus because of a dropped e: deu).
• diaeresis or tréma (ë, ï, ü): Indicates that a vowel is to be pronounced separately from the preceding one: naïve, Noël. Diaeresis on ÿ only occurs in some proper names (such as l'Haÿ-les-Roses) and in modern editions of old French texts. Since the 1990 orthographic rectifications, the diaeresis in words containing guë (such as aiguë or ciguë) was moved onto the u: aigüe, cigüe. Words coming from German retain the old Umlaut if applicable but uses French pronounciation, such as capharnaüm(mess).
• cedilla (ç): Indicates that an etymological c is pronounced /s/ when it would otherwise be pronounced /k/. Thus je lance "I throw" (with c = [s] before e), je lançai "I threw" (c would be pronounced [k] before a without the cedilla).

The ligature œ is a mandatory contraction of oe in certain words (sœur "sister" /sœʁ/, œuvre "work [of art]" /œvʁ/, cœur "heart" /kœʁ/, cœlacanthe "Coelacanth" /selakɑ̃t/), sometimes in words of Greek origin, spelled with an οι /oj/ diphthong which became oe in Latin, pronounced /e/ in French (and other Romance languages): œsophage /ezɔfaʒ/, œnologie /enɔlɔʒi/. It may also appear in œu digraph (or œ alone in œil "eye"), in words that were once written with eu digraph (which could be read /y/ or /œ/, depending on the word): bœuf "ox" /bœf/ (Old French buef or beuf), mœurs /mœʁ/ "custom", œil "eye" /œj/, etc. In these cases, the Latin etymon must be spelled with an o where the French word has œu: bovem > bœuf, mores > mœurs, oculum > œil.

Some attempts have been made to reform French spelling, but few major changes have been made over the last two centuries.

Some common phrases

• French: français /fʁɑ̃.sɛ/ ("fran-seh")
• hello: bonjour /bɔ̃.ʒuʁ/ ("bon-zhoor")
• I love you.: Je t'aime. ("jhe tem")
• My name is _____: Je m'appelle _____ ("zje-ma-pelle")
• good-bye: au revoir /o ʁə.vwaʁ/ ("o-ruh-vwar")
• please: s'il vous plaît (Literally: if it please you) /sil vu plɛ/ ("sill voo pleh")
• thank you: merci /mɛʁ.si/ ("mairr-see")
• you are welcome: de rien (Literally: Of nothing) /də ʁjɛ̃/ ("duh ryeh"), je vous en prie, il n'y a pas de quoi (France); bienvenue /bjɛ̃.v(ə).ny/ ("byeh-venuh") (Quebec)
• that one: celui-là /sə.lɥi la/ ("su-lwee la"), colloq. /sɥi la/ ("swee la"), or celle-là (feminine) /sɛl la/ ("cell-la")
• how much?: combien? /kɔ̃.bjɛ̃/ ("kom-byen")
• English: anglais /ɑ̃.glɛ/ ("ahng-gleh")
• yes: oui /wi/ ("wee"), colloq. ouais (seldom written) /wɛ/ ("way")
• no: non /nɔ̃/ ("non")
• I am sorry: Je suis désolé(e). (add the "e" if the speaker is feminine); /ʒə sɥi de.zo.le/ ("zhahn swee deh-zo-leh"), colloq. /ʃsɥi de.zo.le/ ("shswee deh-zo-leh"). Pardon ("par-dohn")
• I do not understand: Je ne comprends pas. /ʒə nə kɔ̃.pʁɑ̃ pa/ ("zhuh nuh comprahn pa"), colloq. Je comprends pas /ʃkɔ̃.pʁɑ̃ pa/ (with dropping of "ne") ("shcomprahn pa")
• Where are the toilets?: Où sont les toilettes ? /u sɔ̃ le twa.lɛt/ ("oo son leh twa-let")
• Cheers (toast to someone's health): Tchin ("chin"), Santé /sɑ̃.te/("san-teh") or À la vôtre /a la votʁ/ ("a la votr")
• Do you speak English?: Parlez-vous anglais ? /paʁ.le vu ɑ̃.glɛ/ ("par-leh voo ang-gleh") OR "Est-ce que vous parlez anglais?" /vu paʁ.le ɑ̃.glɛ/ ("voo par-leh ang-leh")
• Excuse me: Excusez-moi ("eh-skyu-zay mwa")
• Good night: Bonne nuit ("bun nwee")
• Hi!: Salut ! ("sal-oo")
• I am tired: Je suis fatigué(e). (add the "e" if the speaker is feminine) ("jhe swee fah-tee-gay")
• Are you coming?: Est-ce que vous venez ? (or with close friends and relatives: tu viens?)
• I am thinking about it: J'y pense. ("jhee pahnss")
• I am going to the grocery store: Je vais à l'épicerie. ("jhe vay a lay-pee-ser-ee")
• We are going to school: On va à l'école. (colloquial) ("ohn va a lay-cohl")
• She is so pretty.: Elle est si jolie. ("el ay see jho-lee")
• our neighbors to the South: Nos voisins du sud ("noh vwah-zen due sued")
• Could you help me?: Pourriez-vous m'aider ? ("poo-ree-ay voo may-day")
• May I help you?: Puis-je vous aider? ("pwee-jha voo zay-day")
• It is the best of worlds: C'est le meilleur des mondes. ("say le may-yuhr day mohnd")
• Go to bed!: Va te coucher ! ("vah te coo-shay")
• I'm watching TV.: Je regarde la télé. ("jhe re-gard lah tay-lay")
• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Wikipédia, l'encyclopédie libre. ("wee-kee-pay-dee-ah, lahns-ee-kloh-pay-dee lee-bruh")
• I am the state.: L'État, c'est moi. ("leh-tah seh-mwa")

See also

• French Pronunciation
• Académie française
• common phrases in different languages
• List of English words of French origin
• List of French phrases
• French in the United States
• French Language Wikipedia
• French phrases used by English speakers
• French proverbs
• Reforms of French orthography
• Morphology of the French verb
• Louchebem
• Verlan
• French Creole languages
• Pluperfect subjunctive tense
• Imperfect subjunctive tense
• Imperfect indicative tense
• Simple past tense
• Simple future tense
• Anterior future tense
• Anterior past tense
• Present subjunctive tense
• Present conditional tense
• Present indicative tense
• Past conditional tense
• Past subjunctive tense
• Pluperfect tense
• Present participle
• Present imperative tense
• Past imperative tense
• Expletive negation

External links

• All free French dictionaries Collection of free French dictionaries.
• French language learning audio software
• Académie Française
• Beginning French Vocabulary
• Capsules linguistiques - Radio-Canada.ca
• Département de Français, Ministry of Education Language Centre, Singapore
• Ethnologue report for French
• Free online resources for learners
• French-English : all online dictionaries
• French Language Course
• French Language Tutorial at ielanguages.com
• Le français facile
• How to learn French in 10 months
• Basic tips of French accentuation
• LanguageHelpers
• Learn French at About
• Liberté, an online first-year French textbook
• Learn French by reading and listening
• A profile of the French language
• A virtual French keyboard
• Searchable French-English dictionary, with example sentences
• Le Trésor de la Langue Française informatisé (very comprehensive)
• Truck Drivers' French - English, English - French Dictionary
• Listen to useful French expressions
• Learn French Fast & Easy
• Wordreference.com dictionary

Dialects of the French language
French in Europe: France French (Français Méridional, Orléanais, Bourbonnais-Berrichon) • Belgian French • Français d'Aoste • Swiss French French in North America: Canadian French (Acadien, Québécois, Terre-Neuvien) • Cajun French French in Africa: African French (Maghreb) French in Asia: Cambodian French • Vietnamese French