EditIntroduction
French is a Romance language descended from Latin which developed as a result of Celtic and Frankish influences in Gaul (now France). Being a Romance language, it is closely related to Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian, as well as many other languages. There are over 87 million native French speakers and an additional 68 million non-native speakers in the world.
EditHistory
During the Roman occupation of Gaul, the Latin language was imposed on the natives. This Latin language eventually developed into what is known as Vulgar Latin, which was still very similar to Latin. Over the centuries, due to Celtic and Germanic influences (particularly the Franks),
la langue d'oïl was developed. A dialect of
la langue d'oïl known as
le francien was the language of the court, and thus became the official language of what was to become the Kingdom of France, and later the Nation-State of France.
From medieval times until the 19th century, French was the dominant language of diplomacy, culture, administration, trade and royal courts across Europe. Due to these factors, French was the Lingua franca of this time period.
French has influenced many languages world wide, including English. It is through French (or more precisely Norman, a dialect of
la langue d'oïl) that English gets about one third of its vocabulary.
French is the second most commonly-taught second language in the world (after English) And There are 33 French speaking-countries - French is either the official, or an official language in 33 countries, second only to English (spoken officially in 45).
EditExtent of the Language
In modern times, French is still a significant diplomatic language: it is an official language of the United Nations, the Olympic Games, and the European Union. It is also the official language of 29 countries and is spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxemburg, Tunisia, French Guiana, Morocco, Senegal, Haiti, the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, the Congo, Algeria, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Gabon, the Seychelles, Burundi, Chad, Rwanda, Djibouti, Cameroon, Mauritius, and Canada (mostly in the province of Québec, where it is the primary language, but it is also used in other parts of the country. All consumer product packages in Canada are required by law to have both English and French labels).
For learning
French | Category
Uncategorized | Level
Unspecified |
Second language
English | Created
Apr 08, 2008 13:49 | Views
3231 |
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