French Language

In the early part of the 19th century, the exponents of French literary Romanticism inaugurated a movement to restore many archaic words to the language. That and a similar movement led by the Symbolist poets later in the century had little permanent effect on the language, however. On the contrary, the whole tendency since the late 18th century has been to enrich the language with words dealing with new objects and concepts. Most additions to French since the late 19th century have come from one of two sources, the English language and technological or scientific terms. Among French words that have been taken from English and are spelt the same in both languages are sandwich, square, ticket, toast, and weekend; others given new spellings are boxe (“boxing”), bouledogue (“bulldog”), and rosbif (“roast beef”). Terms taken from technology include automobile, jet, photographie, and télégraphe.

In the 16th and 17th centuries French replaced Latin as a common language for international, especially diplomatic, communication in Europe, and it continues to be used for that purpose. It is one of the working languages of the Secretariat of the United Nations and, with 128 million speakers globally, is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world.

As well as the Standard French spoken by the majority of French citizens, there exist many regional French languages. Breton is spoken daily in Brittany, where speakers are calling for the language to be officially recognized. In south-eastern France, particularly Provence, Provençal is sometimes spoken; in Picardy and some areas surrounding it, Picard is spoken; and in the Gascogne Province, from Médoc to the Pyrénées, and from the Atlantic to the Spanish border, Gascon can be heard. Other regional languages include Auvergnat, Franco-Provençal, Languedocien, and Limousin. In Quebec, Canada, the French dialect spoken is called Québécois, and in Ontario, the dialect is called Franco-Ontarien. The Cajun French language (Français Acadien), which is not always intelligible with Standard French, is spoken in Louisiana, United States. There are several French-based creole languages, including Louisiana French (different to Cajun French), which is spoken in Louisiana, areas of eastern Texas, and by a minority group in Sacramento, California.

Selected statistical data from Ethnologue: Languages of the World, SIL International.