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French (Langue Française) is one of the Romance languages, spoken by more than 100 million people in France and several other countries, and official or administrative language in various communities and organizations (such as the European Union, IOC, United Nations and Universal Postal Union). French is an official language in the following countries:
- Belgium (Note: Walloon is a dialect of the Langue d'Oïl which differs significantly from Belgian French)
- Benin
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Canada, especially Quebec (see Quebecois French)
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Comoros
- Republic of the Congo
- Cote d'Ivoire
- Djibouti
- France (including Guadeloupe and Martinique)
- Gabon
- Guinea
- Haiti
- Luxembourg
- Madagascar
- Mali
- Monaco
- Niger
- Rwanda
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Switzerland (Suisse Romande)
- Togo
- Vanuatu
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire)
French is also spoken in the following countries (although it's not an official language):
- Algeria
- Egypt
- India (Pondichery)
- Italy (Val d'Aoste)
- Laos
- Lebanon
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Tunisia
- Vietnam
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.
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.
Phonemes of French
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/
/p, b/
/k, g/
/t, d/
/s, z/
/f, v/
/S, Z/
/m, n, n_j/ For some speakers, /n_j/ is probably /n/ + /j/
/l/
/r/ (Uvular trill)
/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")
See also:
- Académie Française
- French phrases used by English speakers
- French proverbs
- Common phrases in different languages
- Verlan