French language: Difference between revisions

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	'''French''' (''Langue Française'') is one of the most important ]. Is the 11th most spoken language in the world, spoken by about 77 million people as a ], and 128 million including second language speakers, in ]. Is an official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the ], ], ] and ]).		'''French''' (''Langue Française'') is one of the most important ], outnumbered only by ] and ]. French is the 11th most spoken language in the world, spoken by about 77 million people as a ], and 128 million including second language speakers, in ]. Is an official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the ], ], ] and ]).

Revision as of 12:48, 27 February 2003

French (Langue Française) is one of the most important Romance languages, outnumbered only by Spanish and Portuguese. French is the 11th most spoken language in the world, spoken by about 77 million people as a mother tongue, and 128 million including second language speakers, in 1999. Is an official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the European Union, IOC, United Nations and Universal Postal Union).

History

Although many Frenchmen like to refer to their descent from Gallic ancestors ("Nos ancêtres les gaulois"), very little Celtic influence seems to remain in the French of today. Most of the vocabulary is of Latin and Germanic (Frankish) origin.

Originally, many dialects and languages were spoken throughout contemporary French territory (among them were several langue d'Oïl dialects, like Picard, Valon, etc.), Occitan dialects (Gascon, Provençal, etc.), Breton, Basque, Catalan, Low German, etc., but over time the dialect of the Ile-de-France (the region around Paris), Francien, has supplanted the others and has become the basis for the official French language.

The french in the world

French is a first language in:

Belgium (4,000,000). Walloon is a dialect of the Langue d'Oïl which differs significantly from Belgian French.
Canada (6,700,000), especially in Quebec (see Quebecois French) and New Brunswick (see Acadian French)
France (including Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Pierre and Miquelon)
French Guiana
Haiti
Monaco
Switzerland (Suisse Romande)

Also, it is as second language in Algeria, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, New Caledonia, Reunion and Tunisia.

It is official and the only language for instruction in schools, in Comoros, Republic of the Congo, French Polynesia, Gabon and Mali.

Is official, but the people use their own native languages, in Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo, Vanuatu and Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire).

It is as third language in Andorra or Luxembourg.

Also, there are some french-speakers in Egypt, India (Pondicherry), Italy (Val d'Aoste), Laos, Mauritania, United Kingdom (Channel Islands), the United States of America (Cajun) and Vietnam.

La Francophonie is an international organization of French-speaking and not French-speaking countries and governments.

Phonemes of French

French spelling is by no means phonetic. Terminal consonants have often become silent in most dialects, unless followed by a vowel sound (liaison) or silent altogether (e.g., "et" is never pronounced with the ending "t."). In many words, the "n" and "m" becomes silent and causes the preceding vowel to become nasalized (i.e., pronounced with the soft palate extended downward so as to cause the air to leave through the nostrils instead of through the mouth). Furthermore, French words tend to run together when spoken, with ending pronounced consonants often being chained to the next word.

Rounded

i y u

e 2 o

E 9 O

a A

E~9~o~

ã

Note: /A/ is for many speakers no longer a phoneme. Whether /@/ (Schwa) is a phoneme of French is controversial. Some see it as an allophone of /9/

Plosives

/p, b/

/k, g/

/t, d/

Fricatives

/s, z/

/f, v/

/S, Z/

Nasals

/m, n, n_j/ For some speakers, /n_j/ is probably /n/ + /j/

Lateral

/l/

Vibrant

/r/ (Uvular trill)

Semi-vowel

/j/

Some common phrases

French: français /frA~ sE/ ("frawn-say")
hello: bonjour /bO~ Zur/ ("bohn-jure")
good-bye: au revoir /o r@ vwar/ ("o-reh-vwa")
please: s'il vous plaît /sil vu plE/ ("seal vuh play")
thank you: merci /mEr si/ ("mair-see")
that one: celui-là (pronunciation ?) or celle-là /s@ la/ ("seh-lah")
how much?: combien /kO~ bjE~/ ("kom-bee-en")
English: anglais /A~ glE/ ("ahng-glay")
yes: oui /wi/ ("wee")
no: non /nO~/ ("nuh")
I'm sorry: Je suis désolé ("zhe swee day-so-lay")
I don't understand: Je ne comprends pas /Z@~ co~'pRA~ 'pa/
where's the bathroom?: où sont les toilettes? /u sO~ lE twa lEt/ (ooh song lay twa-let)
generic toast: santé /sA~te/ ("sahn-TAY")
Do you speak English?: Parlez-vous anglais /par lE vu A~ glE/ ("parlay voo ahng-glay")

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