FRENCH LANGUAGE O--LEVEL.
INTRODUCTION.
| French | |
|---|---|
| français | |
| Pronunciation | [fʁɑ̃sɛ] |
| Native to | (see below) |
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Native speakers
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75 million (2007)[1] 338 million total (L1 plus L2 speakers) (2013)[2] |
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Early forms
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Old French
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| Latin (French alphabet) French Braille | |
| Signed French (français signé) | |
| Official status | |
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Official language in
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Numerous international organisations |
| Regulated by | Académie française (French Academy) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | fr |
| ISO 639-2 | fre (B) fra (T) |
| ISO 639-3 | fra |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-i |
Regions where French is the main language
Regions where it is an official language
Regions where it is a second language
Regions where it is a minority language
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| Part of a series on the |
| French language |
|---|
| History |
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Phonological history |
| Grammar |
| Orthography |
| Phonology |
) or la langue française [la lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛz]) is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the provinces of Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick (Acadia region) in Canada, the Acadiana region of the U.S. state of Louisiana, the northern parts of the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in the New England region, and by various communities elsewhere. Other speakers of French, who often speak it as a second language,[3] are distributed throughout many parts of the world, the largest numbers of whom reside in Francophone Africa.[4] In Africa, French is most commonly spoken in Gabon (where 80% report fluency),[4] Mauritius (78%), Algeria (75%), Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire (70%). French is estimated as having 110 million[3] native speakers and 190 million more second language speakers.[5]French is an Italic language descended from the spoken Latin language of the Roman Empire, as are languages such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Romanian, Lombard, Catalan, Sicilian and Sardinian. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in Belgium, which French has largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Roman Gaul and by the (Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian.
French is an official language in 29 countries, most of which form la francophonie (in French), the community of French-speaking countries. It is an official language of all United Nations agencies and a large number of international organizations. According to France's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, 77 million in Europe speak French natively. Outside of France, the highest numbers of French speakers are found in Canada (25% of the population, of whom most live in Quebec), Belgium (45% of the population), Switzerland (20% of the population) and Luxembourg. In 2013, the Ministry identified French as the second most spoken language in Europe, after German and before English.[6] Twenty percent of non-Francophone Europeans know how to speak French,[clarification needed] totaling roughly 145.6 million people in Europe alone.[7] As a result of extensive colonial ambitions of France and Belgium (at that time governed by a French-speaking elite), between the 17th and 20th centuries, French was introduced to colonies in the Americas, Africa, Polynesia, the Levant, Southeast Asia, and the Caribbean.
According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la francophonie, French speakers will number approximately 500 million people in 2025 and 650 million people, or approximately 7% of the world's population by 2050.[8][9] Estimates in 2013 suggest that French speakers will reach 1 billion by 2060.[10]
Geographic distribution
Europe
French is the fourth most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union.[11]Legal status in France
See also: Toubon Law and Languages of France
According to the Constitution of France, French has been the official language since 1992[12] (although previous legal texts have made it official since 1539, see ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts). France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases (though these dispositions are often ignored) and legal contracts; advertisements
must bear a translation of foreign words. In addition to French, there
are a variety of regional languages and dialects. France has signed the European Charter for Regional Languages, but has not ratified it since that would go against its 1958 Constitution.[13]Belgium
Further information: Languages of Belgium and Belgian French
In Belgium, French is the official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons, which are German-speaking) and one of the two official languages—along with Dutch—of the Brussels-Capital Region, where it is spoken by the majority of the population, though often not as their primary language.[14] French and German are not official languages nor recognized minority languages in the Flemish Region, although along borders with the Walloon and Brussels-Capital regions, there are a dozen municipalities with language facilities
for French speakers. A mirror situation exists for the Walloon Region
with respect to the Dutch and German languages. In total, native French
speakers make up about 40% of the country's population, while the
remaining 60% speak Dutch as a first language. Of the latter, 59% claim
French as a second or third language, meaning that about three quarters
of the Belgian population can speak French.[15][16]
Switzerland
Further information: Languages of Switzerland, Swiss French, and Romandie
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 Romandie, 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 Biel/Bienne or cantons
such as Valais-Fribourg-Berne. French is the native language of about
20% of the Swiss population and is spoken by 50.4%[17] of the population.Most of Swiss French is mutually compatible with the standard French spoken in France, but it is often used with small differences, such as those involving numbers after 69 and slight differences in other vocabulary terms.
Monaco and Andorra
Further information: Languages of Monaco and Languages of Andorra
Although Monégasque is the national language of the Principality of Monaco, French is the only official language, and French nationals make up some 47% of the population.Catalan is the only official language of Andorra; however, French is commonly used because of the proximity to France and the fact that the French President is, with the bishop of Urgell, Spain, a co-prince of the territory. French nationals make up 7% of the population.
Luxembourg
Further information: Languages of Luxembourg and Multilingualism in Luxembourg
French is one of three official languages of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, alongside German and Luxembourgish,
the natively spoken language of Luxembourg. French is primarily used
for administrative purposes by the government, and is also the primary
language used to converse with foreigners. Luxembourg's education system
is trilingual: the first cycle of basic school is in Luxembourgish,
before changing officially to German for most branches; while in
secondary school, the language of instruction changes to French for most
subjects, such as mathematics and science.[19] At the Luxembourg University courses are offered in French, German and English.[20]Italy
Further information: Languages of Italy
French is also an official language in the small region of Aosta Valley, Italy.[21] Though most non-Italophone people in the region speak Franco-Provençal as their mother tongue,[22]
they use standard French to write, because the international
recognition of Franco-Provençal as a separate language (as opposed to a
dialect or patois of French) was quite recent. In 2001, 75.41% of the
Valdotainian population is French-speaking, 96.01% declared to know
Italian, 55.77% the Valdotainian Franco-Provençal patois, and 50.53% all of them.[23]The United Kingdom and the Channel Islands
Further information: Languages of Jersey, Languages of Guernsey, and Languages of the United Kingdom
French is a large minority language and immigrant language in the United Kingdom.
Over 300,000 French people live in the UK, and the language is also
spoken by a large number of the African immigrants in the UK. French is
also the most popular foreign language studied in UK schools. According
to a 2006 European Commission report, 23% of UK residents are able to
carry on a conversation in French.[24]Modern and Middle English reflect a mixture of Oïl and Old English lexicons after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, when a Norman-speaking aristocracy took control of a population whose mother tongue was Germanic in origin. Due to the intertwined histories of England and continental possessions of the English Crown, many formal and legal words from Modern English have French roots. Therefore words such as buy and sell are of Germanic origin, purchase and vend are from Old French.
French is an official language in both Jersey and Guernsey. Both use French to some degree, mostly in an administrative or ceremonial capacity. Jersey Legal French is the standardized variety used in Jersey. However, Norman (in its local forms, Guernésiais and Jèrriais) is the historical vernacular of the islands.
North and South America
Further information: Languages of North America, Languages of South America, and Languages of the Caribbean
Canada
See also: Canadian French, French language in Canada, Spoken languages of Canada, and Official bilingualism in Canada
About 9,487,500 of Canadians speak French as their first language, or around 30% of the country,[26] with 2,065,300 constituting secondary speakers.[26] Due to the increased bilingual school programs and French immersion classes in English Canada, the portion of Canadians proficient in French has risen significantly in the past two decades, and is still rising.[citation needed]
The difference between French spoken in Quebec and French spoken in France is similar in degree to that between American and British English. In Quebec, where the majority of French-speaking Canadians live, the Office québécois de la langue française (English: Quebec Board of the French language) regulates Quebec French and ensures the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101 & 104) is respected.
Haiti
Further information: Haitian French and Haitian Creole
French is one of Haiti's two official languages. It is the principal
language of writing, school instruction, and administrative use. It is
spoken by all educated Haitians and is used in the business sector. It
is also used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and
church masses. About 10–15% of the country's population have French as
their first language; the rest speak it as a secondary language in
varying degrees of proficiency from basic level to fluent. The second
official language is the recently standardized Haitian Creole, which virtually the entire population of Haiti speaks. Haitian Creole is one of the French-based creole languages,
drawing the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with
influences from West African languages, as well as several European
languages. Haitian Creole is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the
creole from the Lesser Antilles.French overseas departments and territories in the Americas
French is the official language in France's overseas departments of French Guiana, Guadeloupe, and Martinique, and territories of Saint Barthélemy, St. Martin and Saint Pierre and Miquelon.United States
Main article: French in the United States
See also: Cajun French, Louisiana Creole French, Acadian French, Missouri French, New England French, and Haitian Creole
Louisiana is home to many distinct dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French. Cajun French has the largest number of speakers, mostly living in Acadiana. According to the 2000 United States Census, there are over 194,000 people in Louisiana who speak French at home, the most of any state if Creole French is excluded.[28] New England French, essentially 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.[29]
Brazil
The Portuguese language is heavily influenced by more than a millennium of perennial contact with several dialects of both Oïl (chiefly French after France became the major European power) and Occitan (chiefly Provençal around the troubadour apex in the Middle Ages, see Galician-Portuguese lyric), in lexicon (up to 15–20% in some estimates, at least 5000 word roots), phonology (chiefly among the European and more Europeanized Brazilian dialects) and orthography.[30][31][32] After greater and continual Portuguese immigration, and Tupi influence,[33] the status of French as a language of culture in the Western world for centuries and the presence of Swiss immigrants (sixth largest European group to Brazil) for a considerable span of time is popularly regarded to be the main source of difference between the group of dialects spoken in Florianópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo and surrounding regions, and those elsewhere in Brazil (it was also more indirectly influenced by French due to the larger Portuguese influence there and the stronger Francophile feel in the Portuguese culture—Portuguese and French influence are often confused).[34][35][36] The learning of French is historically the most important and has always been strong among the Lusophone high societies, and for a great span of time it was also a foreign language strong among the [middle class] general populaces of both Portugal and Brazil, only surpassed in the globalised postmodernity by English, in both, and more recently by Spanish, in the latter.[37][38][39][40]The French language was also briefly spoken in Brazil during the colonial attempts of France Antarctique and France équinoxiale at the 16th and 17th centuries respectively (the expulsing of early French colonists by the Portuguese culminated on the founding of the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Luís respectively). Also, as mentioned above, the language was used by several communities of immigrants and expatriates in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, chiefly Swiss, but also some French and Belgians, and the anti-Portuguese factor of Brazilian nationalism in the 19th century led to an increased use of the French language in detriment of Portuguese, as France was seen at the time as a model of civilization and progress.[41]
Today the Karipuna indigenous community (nearly 30,000 people) of Amapá in Northern Brazil speaks a French creole, the Lanc-Patuá creole, possibly related to the French Guiana Creole.
Africa
Countries usually considered part of Francophone Africa. These countries had a population of 363 million in 2013.[42] Their population is projected to reach between 785 million[43] and 814 million[42] in 2050.
French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign language).[44][45]
Countries sometimes considered as Francophone Africa
Countries that are not Francophone but are Members or Observers of the OIF
Main articles: African French and Maghreb French
A majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa.
According to the 2007 report by the Organisation internationale de la
Francophonie, an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31
Francophone countries can speak French as either a first or a second language.[4]
This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone
African countries who have learned French as a foreign language.[4]
Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking
population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050.[46]French is mostly a second language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire[47] and in Libreville, Gabon.[3] French is also becoming a first language in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.[48] The classification of French as a second language in Francophone Africa is debatable because it is often the only language spoken and written in schools, administration, radio, television and the Internet; for many Africans, it is the only language in which they know how to read and write fluently. The following thirteen countries use French exclusively to teach school: Bénin, Burkina Faso, Centrafrique, Congo, Congo (République démocratique du), Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Guinée, Mali, Niger, Sénégal, Tchad and Togo. The prevalence of the language is noticeable in popular music, in which French is often mixed with various indigenous languages. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages.[49] In fact, the term African French is a misnomer, as forms are different from country to country, and the root of the French spoken in a particular country depends on its former colonial empire. French spoken in Benin, for example, is closer to that spoken in France than to French spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is chiefly derived from Belgian French.
In the territories of the Indian Ocean, the French language is often spoken alongside French-derived creole languages, the major exception being Madagascar. There, a Malayo-Polynesian language (Malagasy) is spoken alongside French.
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.[50] It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years.[51][52] Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries,[53] but written forms of the language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world.
French is an official language in the following African countries, most of them former French or Belgian colonies:
Algeria (see also languages of Algeria)
Mauritania (see also languages of Mauritania)
Morocco (see also languages of Morocco)
Tunisia (see also languages of Tunisia)
Algeria
Numerous reforms have been implemented in recent decades to improve the status of both Arabic and, in recent years to a much minor degree, Tamazight in relation to French, especially in education. For this reason, although Algeria is certainly one of the most Francophone of countries in the world outside of France, and has perhaps the second largest number of French speakers,[54] it does not participate in the Francophonie association.
Egypt
French overseas departments and territories in Africa
French is also the official language of Mayotte and Réunion, two overseas departments of France located in the southwest Indian Ocean.Asia
See also: Romance-speaking Asia#French
Southeast Asia
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 years.[55] In colonial Vietnam, 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.[56] Since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the main foreign language of choice by English. French nevertheless maintains its colonial legacy by being spoken as a second language by the elderly and elite populations and is presently being revived in higher education and continues to be a diplomatic language in Vietnam.Middle East
India
French has de jure official status in the Indian union territory of Puducherry (formerly Pondicherry) along with the native languages of Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam. However at the district level, French is only official in the districts of Pondicherry and Mahé, while the other two districts of the territory designate local languages as official. Furthermore, according to the French Institute of Pondicherry, French is "very little spoken" in Puducherry, with only about 1% of the territory's population being able to speak the language.[57] (See also: French India)Oceania and Australasia
Dialects
Main article: Dialects of the French language
- Acadian French
- African French
- Aostan French
- Belgian French
- Cambodian French
- Canadian French
- French-based creole languages
- Guyana French
- Haitian French
- Indian French
- Jersey Legal French
- Lao French
- Louisiana French
- Maghreb French (North African French)
- Meridional French
- Metropolitan French
- Missouri French
- New Caledonian French
- Newfoundland French
- New England French
- Quebec French
- South East Asian French
- Swiss French
- Vietnamese French
- West Indian French
History
Main article: History of French
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.French was the most important language of diplomacy and international relations from the 17th century to approximately the middle of the 20th century. English has now taken over that role, since following the Second World War, the US became the dominant global power.[5][62] Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was also written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language.[63]
French remains one of the most important diplomatic languages,[3] with the language being one of the working languages of NATO, the International Olympic Committee, the UN Secretariat, the Council of Europe, the International Court of Justice, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Organization of American States, European Commission, the Eurovision Song Contest the European Space Agency, World Trade Organisation and the North American Free Trade Agreement. It is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Médecins sans Frontières, or Médecins du Monde.[64]
Phonology
Main article: French phonology
Although there are many French regional accents, foreign learners
normally study only one version of the language, which has no commonly
used special name.
- There are a maximum of 17 vowels in French, not all of which are used in every dialect: /a/, /ɑ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /ɛː/, /ə/, /i/, /o/, /ɔ/, /y/, /u/, /œ/, /ø/, plus the nasalized vowels /ɑ̃/, /ɛ̃/, /ɔ̃/ and /œ̃/. In France, the vowels /ɑ/ and /œ̃/ are tending to be replaced by /a/ and /ɛ̃/ in many people's speech. /ɛː/ only appears in Canadian dialects.
- Voiced stops (i.e., /b d ɡ/) are typically produced fully voiced throughout.
- Voiceless stops (i.e., /p t k/) are unaspirated.
- Nasals: The velar nasal /ŋ/ can occur in final position in borrowed (usually English) words: parking, camping, swing. The palatal nasal /ɲ/ can occur in word initial position (e.g., gnon), but it is most frequently found in intervocalic, onset position or word-finally (e.g., montagne).
- Fricatives: French has three pairs of homorganic fricatives distinguished by voicing, i.e., labiodental /f/~/v/, dental /s/~/z/, and palato-alveolar /ʃ/~/ʒ/. Notice that /s/~/z/ are dental, like the plosives /t/~/d/ and the nasal /n/.
- French has one rhotic whose pronunciation varies considerably among speakers and phonetic contexts. In general, it is described as a voiced uvular fricative, as in [ʁu] roue, "wheel". Vowels are often lengthened before this segment. It can be reduced to an approximant, particularly in final position (e.g., fort), or reduced to zero in some word-final positions. For other speakers, a uvular trill is also common, and an apical trill [r] occurs in some dialects.
- Lateral and central approximants: The lateral approximant /l/ is unvelarised in both onset (lire) and coda position (il). In the onset, the central approximants [w], [ɥ], and [j] each correspond to a high vowel, /u/, /y/, and /i/ respectively. There are a few minimal pairs where the approximant and corresponding vowel contrast, but there are also many cases where they are in free variation. Contrasts between /j/ and /i/ occur in final position as in /pɛj/ paye, "pay", vs. /pɛi/ pays, "country".
- final consonants: Final single consonants, in particular s, x, z, t, d, n, g and m,
are normally silent. (A consonant is considered "final" when no vowel
follows it even if one or more consonants follow it.) The final letters c, f, k, q, and l, however, are normally pronounced. The final r is usually silent when it follows an e in a word of two or more syllables, but is pronounced in other cases. The t is pronounced when it follows a c.
- When the following word begins with a vowel, however, a silent consonant may once again be pronounced, to provide a liaison or "link" between the two words. 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 n and adding a silent e at the end of a word (e.g., chien → chienne) makes it clearly pronounced. Doubling a final l and adding a silent e (e.g., gentil → gentille) adds a [j] sound if the l is preceded by the letter i.
- elision or vowel dropping: Some monosyllabic function words ending in a or e, such as je and que, drop their final vowel when placed before a word that begins with a vowel sound (thus avoiding a hiatus). The missing vowel is replaced by an apostrophe. (e.g., je ai is instead pronounced and spelled → j'ai). This gives, for example, the same pronunciation for l'homme qu'il a vu ("the man whom he saw") and l'homme qui l'a vu ("the man who saw him"). However, for Belgian French the sentences are pronounced differently; in the first sentence the syllable break is as "qu'il-a", while the second breaks as "qui-l'a". It can also be noted that, in Quebec French, the second example (l'homme qui l'a vu) is more emphasized on l'a vu.
Writing system
Alphabet
Main articles: French alphabet and French braille
French is written with the 26 letters of the basic Latin script, with four diacritics appearing on vowels (circumflex accent, acute accent, grave accent, diaeresis) and the cedilla appearing in "ç".There are two ligatures, "œ" and "æ".
Orthography
Main article: French orthography
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
(see Vocabulary below). Moreover, some conscious changes were made to restore Latin orthography:- Old French doit > French doigt "finger" (Latin digitus)
- Old French pie > French pied "foot" [Latin pes (stem: ped-)]
On the other hand, a given spelling usually leads to a predictable sound. In particular, a given vowel combination or diacritic predictably leads to one phoneme.
French writing, as with any language, is affected by the spoken language. In Old French, the plural for animal was animals. The /als/ sequence was unstable and was turned into a diphthong /aus/. This change was then reflected in the orthography: animaus. The us ending, very common in Latin, was then abbreviated by copyists (monks) by the letter x, resulting in a written form animax. As the French language further evolved, the pronunciation of au turned into /o/ so that the u was reestablished in orthography for consistency, resulting in modern French animaux (pronounced first /animos/ before the final /s/ was dropped in contemporary French). The same is true for cheval pluralized as chevaux and many others. In addition, castel pl. castels became château pl. châteaux
- Nasal: n and m. When n or m follows a vowel or diphthong, the n or m becomes silent and causes 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 are more complex than this but may vary between dialects.
- Digraphs: French uses not only diacritics to specify its large range of vowel sounds and diphthongs, but also specific combinations of vowels, sometimes with following consonants, to show which sound is intended.
- Gemination: Within words, double consonants are generally not pronounced as geminates in modern French (but geminates can be heard in the cinema or TV news from as recently as the 1970s, and in very refined elocution they may still occur). For example, illusion is pronounced [ilyzjɔ̃] and not [ilːyzjɔ̃]. But gemination does occur between words. For example, une info ("a news item" or "a piece of information") is pronounced [ynɛ̃fo], whereas une nympho ("a nymphomaniac") is pronounced [ynːɛ̃fo].
- Accents are used sometimes for pronunciation, sometimes to distinguish similar words, and sometimes for etymology alone.
- Accents that affect pronunciation
- The acute accent (l'accent aigu) é (e.g., école—school) means that the vowel is pronounced /e/ instead of the default /ə/.
- The grave accent (l'accent grave) è (e.g., élève—pupil) means that the vowel is pronounced /ɛ/ instead of the default /ə/.
- The circumflex (l'accent circonflexe) ê (e.g. forêt—forest) shows that an e is pronounced /ɛ/ and that an ô is pronounced /o/. In standard French, it also signifies a pronunciation of /ɑ/ for the letter â, but this differentiation is disappearing. In the late 19th century, the circumflex was used in place of s after a vowel, where that letter s was not pronounced. Thus, forest became forêt and hospital became hôpital.
- The diaeresis (le tréma) (e.g., naïf—naive, Noël—Christmas) as in English, specifies that this vowel is pronounced separately from the preceding one, not combined, and is not a schwa.
- The cedilla (la cédille) ç (e.g., garçon—boy) means that the letter ç is pronounced /s/ in front of the back vowels a, o and u (c is otherwise /k/ before a back vowel). C is always pronounced /s/ in front of the front vowels e, i, and y, thus ç is never found in front of front vowels.
- 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. It usually indicates that an s came after it long ago, as in île (isle, compare with English island). The explanation is that some words share the same orthography, so the circumflex is put here to spot the difference between the two words. For example, dites (you say) / dîtes (you said), or even du (of the) / dû (past for the verb devoir = must, have to, owe; in this case, the circumflex splits at the plural and the feminine).
- All other accents are used only to distinguish similar words, as in the case of distinguishing the adverbs là and où ("there", "where") from the article la ("the" feminine singular) and the conjunction ou ("or"), respectively.
- Accents that affect pronunciation
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
Vocabulary
The majority of French words derive from Vulgar Latin or were constructed from Latin or Greek roots. In many cases a single etymological root appears in French in a "popular" or native form, inherited from Vulgar Latin, and a learned form, borrowed later from Classical Latin. The following pairs consist of a native noun and a learned adjective:- brother: frère / fraternel from Latin frater / fraternalis
- finger: doigt / digital from Latin digitus / digitalis
- faith: foi / fidèle from Latin fides / fidelis
- eye: œil / oculaire from Latin oculus / ocularis
- presqu'île / peninsula
- éteindre / extinguish
- noyau / nucleus
- surhomme / superman
- ensoleillement / insolation
It can be difficult to identify the Latin source of native French words, because in the evolution from Vulgar Latin, unstressed syllables were severely reduced and the remaining vowels and consonants underwent significant modifications.
More recently the linguistic policy of the French language academies of France and Quebec has been to provide French equivalents[69] to (mainly English) imported words, either by using existing vocabulary, extending its meaning or deriving a new word according to French morphological rules. The result is often two (or more) co-existing terms for describing the same phenomenon, with varying rates of success for the French equivalent.
- mercatique / marketing
- finance fantôme / shadow banking
- bloc-notes / blog
- ailière / wingsuit
- tiers-lieu / coworking
Numerals
The French counting system is partially vigesimal: twenty (vingt) is used as a base number in the names of numbers from 60 to 99.The French word for 80 is quatre-vingts, literally "four twenties", and the word for 75 is soixante-quinze, literally "sixty-fifteen". This reform arose after the French Revolution to unify the different counting systems (mostly vigesimal near the coast, because of Celtic (via Breton) and Viking influences).
This system is comparable to the archaic English use of score, as in "fourscore and seven" (87), or "threescore and ten" (70).
In Old French (during the Middle Ages), all numbers from 30 to 99 could be said in either base 10 or base 20, e.g. vint et doze (twenty and twelve) for 32, dous vinz et diz (two twenties and ten) for 50, uitante for 80, or nonante for 90.[71]
Belgian French, Swiss French and the French used in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi are different in this respect.
In Belgium and Switzerland 70 and 90 are septante and nonante. In Switzerland, depending on the local dialect, 80 can be quatre-vingts (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura) or huitante (Vaud, Valais, Fribourg). Octante had been used in Switzerland in the past, but is now considered archaic.[72] In Belgium and in its former African colonies, however, quatre-vingts is universally used.
It should also be noted that French, like most European languages, uses a period (also called a full stop) or a space to separate thousands where English uses a comma or (more recently) a space. The comma is used in French numbers as a decimal point: 2,5 = deux virgule cinq.
Cardinal numbers in French from 1 to 20 are as follows :
- One: un/une /œ̃/ (m) ~ /yn/ (f)
- Two: deux /dø/
- Three: trois /tʁwɑ/
- Four: quatre /katʁ/
- Five: cinq /sɛ̃k/
- Six: six /sis/
- Seven: sept /sɛt/
- Eight: huit /ɥit/
- Nine: neuf /nœf/
- Ten: dix /dis/
- Eleven: onze /ɔ̃z/
- Twelve: douze /duz/
- Thirteen: treize /tʁɛz/
- Fourteen: quatorze /katɔʁz/
- Fifteen: quinze /kɛ̃z/
- Sixteen: seize /sɛz/
- Seventeen: dix-sept /dissɛt/
- Eighteen: dix-huit /diz‿ɥit/
- Nineteen: dix-neuf /diznœf/
- Twenty: vingt /vɛ̃/
Words
The "Quebec" audio samples here are not necessarily from speakers of Quebec French, which has distinct regional pronunciations of certain words.
| English | French | Quebec accent | French accent |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | Français |  [fʁ̥ãsɛ] |
[fʁ̥ɒ̃sɛ] |
| English | Anglais | [ãɡlɛ] |
[ɒ̃ɡlɛ] |
| Yes | Oui (si when countering an assertion or a question expressed in the negative) | [wi] |
[wi] |
| No | Non | [nõ] |
[nõ] |
| Hello! | Bonjour ! (formal) or Salut ! (informal) or "Allô" (Quebec French or when answering on the telephone) | [bõʒuːʁ] | [bõʒuːʁ] |
| Good evening! | Bonsoir ! | [bõswɑːʁ] | [bõswaːʁ] |
| Good night! | Bonne nuit ! | [bɔn nɥi] | [bɔn nɥi] |
| Goodbye! | Au revoir ! | [ɔʁvwɑːʁ] |
[o ʁəvwaːʁ] |
| Have a nice day! | Bonne journée ! | [bɔn ʒuʁne] |
[bɔn ʒuʁne] |
| Please/if you please | S’il vous plaît (formal) or S’il te plaît (informal) | [s‿ɪl vu plɛ] |
[s‿il vu plɛ] |
| Thank you | Merci | [mɛʁsi] | [mɛʁ̥si] |
| You are welcome | De rien (informal) or Ce n’est rien (informal) ("it is nothing") or Je vous en prie (formal) or Je t’en prie (informal) or Bienvenue (Quebec) | [də ʁjẽ] | [dœ ʁjæ̃] |
| I am sorry | Pardon or Désolé or Je suis désolé (if male) / Je suis désolée (if female) or Excuse-moi (informal) / Excusez-moi (formal) / "Je regrette" | [paʁdɒ̃] / [dezɔle] |
[paʁdõ] / [dezɔle] |
| Who? | Qui ? | [ki] |
[ki] |
| What? | Quoi ? (←informal; used as "What?" in English)) or Pardon ? (←formal; used the same as "Pardon ?" in English) | [kwa] | [kwa] |
| When? | Quand ? | [kæ̃] |
[kɒ̃] |
| Where? | Où ? | [u] | [u] |
| Why? | Pourquoi ? | [puʁ̥kwa] |
[puʁ̥kwa] |
| What is your name? | Comment vous appelez-vous ? (formal) or Comment t’appelles-tu ? (informal) | [kɔmã vuz‿aple vu], [kɔmã t‿apɛl t͡sy] | [kɔmɑ̃ vuz‿aple vu], [kɔmɑ̃ t‿apɛl ty] |
| My name is... | Je m'appelle... | [ʒə m‿apɛl] |
|
| Which | Quel/Quels(pl.)/Quelle(fem.) | [kɛl] | |
| Because | Parce que / Car | [paʁ̥skœ] |
[paʁ̥skø] |
| Because of | à cause de | [a kou̯z də] | [a koz də] |
| Therefore | Donc | [dõːk] | [dõːk] |
| Maybe | Peut-être | [pœt‿aɪ̯tʀ̥] |
[pøt‿ɛtʁ̥] |
| How? | Comment ? | [kɔmã] | [kɔmɒ̃] |
| How much? | Combien ? | [kõbjẽ] | [kõbjæ̃] |
| I do not understand. | Je ne comprends pas. | [ʒœ nœ kõpʁ̥ã pɔ] |
[ʒø nø kõpʁ̥ɒ̃ pa] |
| Yes, I understand. | Oui, je comprends. Except when responding to a negatively posed question, in which case Si is used preferentially over Oui | [wi ʒœ kõpʁ̥ã] |
[wi ʒø kõpʁ̥ɒ̃] |
| I agree | Je suis d’accord. D’accord can be used without je suis. | [ʒə sɥi d‿akɑɔ̯ʁ] | [ʒə sɥi d‿akɔːʁ] |
| Help! | Au secours ! (à l’aide !) | [o skuːʁ] |
[o søkuːʁ] |
| At what time...? | À quelle heure | [a kɛl‿aœ̯ʁ] | [a kɛl‿œʁ] |
| Today | Aujourd'hui | [oʒʊʁd͡z‿ɥi] | [oʒuʁd‿ɥi] |
| Can you help me please? | Pouvez-vous m’aider s’il vous plaît ? / Pourriez-vous m’aider s’il vous plaît ? (formal) or Peux-tu m’aider s’il te plaît ? / Pourrais-tu m’aider s’il te plaît (informal) | [puve vu m‿ɛːde s‿ɪl vu plɛ] | [puve vu m‿ede s‿il vu plɛ] |
| Where are the toilets? | Où sont les toilettes ? | [u sõ le twalɛt] | [u sõ le twalɛt] |
| Do you speak English? | Parlez-vous (l') anglais ? / Est-ce que vous parlez (l') anglais ? | [ɛs kə vu paʁle l‿ãɡlɛ] |
[paʁle vu ɑ̃ɡlɛ] |
| I do not speak French. | Je ne parle pas français. | [ʒə nə paʁl pɔ fʁãsɛ] | [ʒə nə paʁl pa fʁɑ̃sɛ] |
| I do not know. | Je (ne) sais pas. | [ʒə se pɔ] |
[ʒə (nə) sɛ pa] |
| I know. | Je sais. | [ʒə sɛ]/[ʒə se] | [ʒə sɛ] |
| I am thirsty. | J’ai soif. (literally, "I have thirst") | [ʒ‿e swaf] | [ʒ‿e swaf] |
| I am hungry. | J’ai faim. (literally, "I have hunger") | [ʒ‿e fẽ] | [ʒ‿e fɛ̃] |
| How are you? / How are things going? / How is everything? | Comment allez-vous ? (formal) or Ça va ? / Comment ça va ? (informal) | [kɔmã t‿ale vu] | [kɔmɑ̃ t‿ale vu] |
| I am (very) well / Things are going (very) well // Everything is (very) well | Je vais (très) bien (formal) or Ça va (très) bien. / Tout va (très) bien (informal) | [ʒə vɛ (tʁɛ) bjẽ] | [ʒə vɛ (tʁɛ) bjɛ̃] |
| I am (very) bad / Things are (very) bad / Everything is (very) bad | Je vais (très) mal (formal) or Ça va (très) mal / Tout va (très) mal (informal) | [ʒə vɛ (tʁɛ) mal] | [ʒə vɛ (tʁɛ) mal] |
| I am all right/so-so / Everything is all right/so-so | Assez bien or Ça va comme ci, comme ça or simply Ça va.. (Sometimes said: « Couci, couça. », informal: "bof") i.e. « Comme ci, comme ça. ») | [ase bjẽ] | [ase bjɛ̃] |
| I am fine. | Ça va bien. | [sa vɔ bjẽ] | [sa va bjɛ̃] |
| (How) can I help you? / (Do) you need help? / We need help! | (Comment) pourrais-je vous aider ? Avez-vous besoin d'aide ? Nous avons besoin d'aide! | [(kɔmã) puʁaɪ̯ʒ vuz‿ɛːde] | [(kɔmɑ̃) puʁɛʒ vuz‿ede] |
See also
- Alliance française
- Français fondamental
- Francization
- French language in the United States
- French proverbs
- Language education
- List of countries where French is an official language
- List of English words of French origin
- List of French loanwords in Persian
- List of French words and phrases used by English speakers
Notes and references
- Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
- La Francophonie.
- "L’aménagement linguistique dans le monde". CEFAN (Chaire pour le développement de la recherche sur la culture d’expression française en Amérique du Nord, Université Laval (in French). Jacques Leclerc. Retrieved May 19, 2013.
- (French) La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007 published by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. Nathan, Paris, 2007.
- The World's 10 Most Influential Languages Top Languages. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
- "The status of French in the world". France Diplomatie. Ministère des Affaires étrangères. 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
- "Why learn French". Canadian Parents For French (Ontario). Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- "Agora: La francophonie de demain". Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- "Bulletin de liaison du réseau démographie". Retrieved 14 June 2011.
- http://www.lefigaro.fr/culture/2013/03/20/03004-20130320ARTFIG00318-un-milliard-de-francophones-en-2060.php
- European Commission. (2012). Europeans and their Languages: Executive Summary
- (French) Loi constitutionnelle 1992 – C'est à la loi constitutionnelle du 25 juin 1992, rédigée dans le cadre de l'intégration européenne, que l'on doit la première déclaration de principe sur le français, langue de la République.
- The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and Education Mercator Retrieved 11 April 2011
- Van Parijs, Philippe, Professor of economic and social ethics at the UCLouvain, Visiting Professor at Harvard University and the KULeuven. "Belgium's new linguistic challenge" (pdf 0.7 MB). KVS Express (supplement to newspaper De Morgen) March–April 2006: Article from original source (pdf 4.9 MB) pages 34–36 republished by the Belgian Federal Government Service (ministry) of Economy – Directorate–general Statistics Belgium. Retrieved 5 May 2007. – The linguistic situation in Belgium (and in particular various estimations of the population speaking French and Dutch in Brussels) is discussed in detail.
- (French) De Broe ME, De Weerdt DL, Ysebaert DK, Vercauteren SR, De Greef KE, De Broe LC; Victor Ginsburgh, Shlomo Weber (June 2006). "La dynamique des langues en Belgique" (PDF). Regards économiques, Publication préparée par les économistes de l'Université Catholique de Louvain 19 (Numéro 42): 282–9. doi:10.1159/000013462. PMID 10213829. Retrieved 7 May 2007. "Les enquêtes montrent que la Flandre est bien plus multilingue, ce qui est sans doute un fait bien connu, mais la différence est considérable : alors que 59 % et 53 % des Flamands connaissent le français ou l'anglais respectivement, seulement 19 % et 17 % des Wallons connaissent le néerlandais ou l'anglais. ... 95 pour cent des Bruxellois déclarent parler le français, alors que ce pourcentage tombe à 59 pour cent pour le néerlandais. Quant à l’anglais, il est connu par une proportion importante de la population à Bruxelles (41 pour cent)"
- 40%+60%*59%=75.4%
- Le français et les langues ... – Google Books. Books.google.com. 1 January 2007. ISBN 978-2-87747-881-6. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
- EUROPA, data for EU25, published before 2007 enlargement.
- "Ministère de l’Éducation nationale et de la Formation professionnelle / Luxembourg - Quelles langues apprend-on à l'école luxembourgeoise ?". Men.public.lu. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- "University of Luxembourg - Multilingualism". N.uni.lu. 2003-08-12. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- "Vda.it". Regione.vda.it. Retrieved 21 April 2010.[dead link]
- http://www.fondchanoux.org/risultatisondage_1_0_555.aspx
- Assessorat de l'éducation et la culture de la région autonome Vallée d'Aoste - Département de la surintendance des écoles, Profil de la politique linguistique éducative, Le Château éd., 2009, p. 20.
- "EUROPA" (PDF). Retrieved 21 April 2010.
- "Detailed Mother Tongue (186), Knowledge of Official Languages (5), Age Groups (17A) and Sex (3) (2006 Census)". 2.statcan.ca. December 7, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
- "Qu'est-ce Que La Francophonie". Tlfq.ulaval.ca. Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- [1]
- U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3 – Language Spoken at Home: 2000.
- Ammon, Ulrich; International Sociological Association (1989). Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 306–308. ISBN 0-89925-356-3. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- (Portuguese) Exhibition at the Museum of the Portuguese Language shows the French influence in our language
- (Portuguese) Contacts between French and Portuguese or the first's influences on the second
- (Portuguese) The influence of loanwords in the Portuguese language: a process of globalization, ideology and communication
- (Portuguese) Dialects of Brazil: the palatalization of the phonemes /t/ and /d/
- (Portuguese) What is the territorial formation of the state of Rio de Janeiro – Yahoo! Answers
- (Portuguese) Portugal's Portuguese got an apparent French influence due to Napoleon's invasion of Portugal? – Yahoo! Answers
- (Portuguese) What is the French influence on our Portuguese language? – Yahoo! Answers
- (Portuguese) The importance of the French language in Brazil: marks and milestones in the early periods of teaching
- (Portuguese) Presence of the French language and literature in Brazil – for a history of Franco-Brazilian bonds of cultural affection
- (Portuguese) What are the French thinking influences still present in Brazil?
- (Portuguese) France in Brazil Year – the importance of cultural diplomacy
- Barbosa, Rosana (2009). Immigration and Xenophobia: Portuguese Immigrants in Early 19th Century Rio de Janeiro. United States: University Press of America. ISBN 978-0-7618-4147-0., p. 19
- Population Reference Bureau. "2013 World Population Data Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-09-12.
- United Nations. "World Population Prospects: The 2012 Revision" (XLS). Retrieved 2013-09-12.
- "Agora: La francophonie de demain". Retrieved 2011-06-13.
- "Bulletin de liaison du réseau démographie". Retrieved 2011-06-14.
- "French language growing, especially in Africa - Francophonie - RFI". Retrieved 2013-05-25.
- (French) Le français à Abidjan : Pour une approche syntaxique du non-standard by Katja Ploog, CNRS Editions, Paris, 2002.
- Burkina Faso#Le fran.C3.A7ais langue officielle et administrative
- (French) "En Afrique, il est impossible de parler d'une forme unique du français mais..."
- France-Diplomatie "Furthermore, the demographic growth of Southern hemisphere countries leads us to anticipate a new increase in the overall number of French speakers."
- (French) "Le français, langue en évolution. Dans beaucoup de pays francophones, surtout sur le continent africain, une proportion importante de la population ne parle pas couramment le français (même s'il est souvent la langue officielle du pays). Ce qui signifie qu'au fur et à mesure que les nouvelles générations vont à l'école, le nombre de francophones augmente : on estime qu'en 2015, ceux-ci seront deux fois plus nombreux qu'aujourd'hui."
- (French) c) Le sabir franco-africain: "C'est la variété du français la plus fluctuante. Le sabir franco-africain est instable et hétérogène sous toutes ses formes. Il existe des énoncés où les mots sont français mais leur ordre reste celui de la langue africaine. En somme, autant les langues africaines sont envahies par les structures et les mots français, autant la langue française se métamorphose en Afrique, donnant naissance à plusieurs variétés."
- (French) République centrafricaine: Il existe une autre variété de français, beaucoup plus répandue et plus permissive : le français local. C'est un français très influencé par les langues centrafricaines, surtout par le sango. Cette variété est parlée par les classes non instruites, qui n'ont pu terminer leur scolarité. Ils utilisent ce qu'ils connaissent du français avec des emprunts massifs aux langues locales. Cette variété peut causer des problèmes de compréhension avec les francophones des autres pays, car les interférences linguistiques, d'ordre lexical et sémantique, sont très importantes. (One example of a variety of African French that is difficult to understand for European French speakers).
- Algérie: situation géographique et démolinguistique (French)
- French Declines in Indochina, as English Booms, International Herald Tribune, 16 October 1993: "In both Cambodia and Laos, French remains the official second language of government."
- [2][dead link]
- French Institute of Pondicherry "French is however very little spoken, Tamil and English being the dominant languages."
- Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. "Estimation du nombre de francophones dans le monde1". Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- (French) INSEE, Government of France. "P9-1 – Population de 14 ans et plus selon la connaissance du français, le sexe, par commune, "zone" et par province de résidence" (XLS). Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- (French) Institut Statistique de Polynésie Française (ISPF). "Recensement 2007 – Langues : Chiffres clés". Retrieved 3 October 2009.[dead link]
- (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Tableau Pop_06_1 : Population selon le sexe, la connaissance du français et l'âge décennal" (XLS). Retrieved 3 October 2009.
- The French language today: a linguistic introductionGoogle Books Retrieved 27 June 2011
- Meisler, Stanley. "Seduction Still Works : French--a Language in Decline." Los Angeles Times. March 1, 1986. p. 2. Retrieved on May 18, 2013.
- French, an international language – French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- (French) Fonétik.fr writing system proposal.
- (French) Ortofasil writing system proposal.
- (French) Alfograf writing system proposal.
- (French) Ortograf.net writing system proposal.
- http://metro.co.uk/2012/10/01/french-fight-franglais-with-alternatives-for-english-technology-terms-590128/
- Walter & Walter 1998.
- Einhorn, E. (1974). Old French: A Concise Handbook. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 110. ISBN 0-521-09838-6.
- (French) "Septante, octante (huitante), nonante". langue-fr.net.. See also the English Wikipedia article on Welsh language, especially the section "Counting system" and its note on the influence of Celtic in the French counting system.
Further reading
- Nadeau, Jen-Benoît, and Julie Barlow (2006). The Story of French. First U.S. ed. New York: St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-34183-0
External links
| Find more about French language at Wikipedia's sister projects | |
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Definitions and translations from Wiktionary |
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Media from Commons |
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Textbooks from Wikibooks |
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Travel guide from Wikivoyage |
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Learning resources from Wikiversity |
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Database entry Q150 on Wikidata |
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For a list of words relating to French language, see the French language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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French edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
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French edition of Wikisource, the free library |
Organizations
- Fondation Alliance française: an international organization for the promotion of French language and culture (French)
- Agence de promotion du FLE: Agency for promoting French as a foreign language
Courses and tutorials
- Français interactif: interactive French program, University of Texas at Austin
- Tex's French Grammar, University of Texas at Austin
- Learn French at About
- Foreign Service Institute basic-intermediate French courses, audio, assignments, G+ hangouts and media sources
- French lessons at Wikiotics: podcasts, vocabulary quizzes, and more
- FSI French language course: Free written and audio course made by the U.S. Foreign Service.
Online dictionaries
- Collins Online English↔French Dictionary
- Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales: monolingual dictionaries (including the Trésor de la langue française), language corpora, etc.
For other unilingual dictionaries, see fr:Dictionnaire.
