Dialects of the French language
Encyclopedia
Dialect
s of the French language
are spoken in France and around the world. The francophone
s of France
generally use Metropolitan
French (spoken in Paris and considered standard
) although some also use regional dialects or varieties
such as Meridional French
. In Europe outside of France there are Belgian French
, Swiss French
, and in Italy Aostan French. In Canada
, French is an official language
along with English; the two main dialects of French in Canada are Quebec French
and Acadian French
, but also another dialect commonly grouped as Canadian French, used by Anglophones speaking French as a second language or by Francophones in Canada
using a different dialect. In Lebanon
, French was an official language until 1941 and the main dialect spoken there is Lebanese French or Levantine French. Note that the discussion here refers to varieties of the French language, not to the Romance sister languages (sometimes considered dialects) of French spoken in France (e.g. Picard
, Limousin
, Gascon
, etc.; for these languages see: Langues d'oïl
, Francoprovençal, Langues d'oc and languages of France). See also French-based creole languages
, which are also considered separate languages.
states, Mauritania
, Algeria
, Morocco
and Tunisia
. As of 2006, an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 African countries can speak French either as a first
or second language
, making Africa
the continent with the most French speakers in the world. While there are many varieties of African French, common features include the use of an alveolar trill
and use of borrowed words from local languages.
Acadian
s in the Canadian
Maritime provinces
, the Saint John River Valley in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maine
, the Magdalen Islands
and Havre-Saint-Pierre, along the St. Lawrence's north shore. Speakers of Metropolitan French
, and even of other Canadian dialects, have some difficulty understanding Acadian French.
Notable features include /k/ and /tj/ becoming [tʃ] and /ɡ/ and /dj/ becoming [dʒ] before front vowel
s and use of some archaic words.
. The pronunciation of French words by Chiac speakers is much different from other dialects and resembles English speaking sounds. Chiac cannot be identified solely on its frequent use of English words, since many other French dialects use many English words as well (but Chiac does use an unusual amount of English). Chiac French has developed through proximity to English speaking populations that settled nearby during the colonial period. Sounds that are characteristic of Chiac speakers, when pronouncing French words, is the different use of the letters "d", "t", "r", and "c" (such as the word "bec" demanding a softer "c" sound but spoken as "beck" with a hard "c" as in the English pronunciation). Other differences include the use of vowel sounds such as "ea", "eo", "on", "an", and "oi". Such English stylized pronunciations are different from other dialects of North American French such as Québécois and Brayon. Other French populations dislike Chiac as they consider it to be a mockery of the French language and linguistic rules, such as improper grammar use (like the use of "moi" [me] instead of the proper "mon" [my]; when referring to personal possession); likewise its liberalness at adopting foreign vocabulary, the development of slang, and mispronounciation. Some forms of Chiac deviate from the original language to the extent that it is nearly incomprehensible to the larger francophone community. Chiac is perhaps best categorized as a Creole language
alongside Haitian Creole (of Haiti) and Cajun Creole (of Louisiana), French dialects which incorporate Indigenous, African, and other European languages; as opposed to dialects such as Québécois and Brayon that, although deviating slightly from Metropolitan French, are nonetheless derived primarily from earlier dialects of French without major contribution from other source languages.
of French found in Canada
. Although Quebec French constitutes a coherent and standard system, it has no objective norm since the very organization mandated to establish it, the Office québécois de la langue française
, believes that objectively standardizing Quebec French would lead to reduced interintelligibility with other French communities around the world.
Notable features include [ɪ], [ʏ], and [ʊ] as allophones of /i/, /y/, /u/ in closed syllables, affrication of /t/ and /d/ to [ts] and [dz] before /i/, /y/.
: Louisiana French, Missouri French
, and Acadian
(or New England) French.
and derives from the forms of the language spoken by the colonists of lower French Louisiana
. Louisiana French traditionally has been divided into three dialects: Colonial French
, Cajun
or "Acadian" French, and Louisiana Creole French
. Colonial French was originally the dialect spoken by the land-holding educated classes. On the other hand Acadian, the dialect of the Acadians who came to French Louisiana in droves following their expulsion from Acadia during the French and Indian War
, was spoken largely by the white lower classes. Louisiana Creole, a creole
which developed long before Haitian immigrants arrived in Louisiana, largely developed as the tongue of the Louisiana Creole community and a significant portion of self-identified Cajuns.However, linguists now believe that the Colonial and Acadian dialects have largely merged together into modern Louisiana French, but remain distinct from Louisiana Creole.
is now spoken by a handful of people in the Midwestern United States
, primarily in Missouri
. It is the last remnant of the form of French once spoken widely in the region known as the Illinois Country
, which was colonized as part of French Louisiana. It is considered very endangered, with only a few elderly speakers still fluent.
as it is spoken in the New England
region, particularly in northern Maine
.
. It dates back to the French
colonization of Indochina
in 1863. Colonists taught French to the local inhabitants — especially the Khmer
and Chinese
. The locals also taught the colonists Khmer
and some Chinese
spoken variants, such as Teochew and Cantonese. Cambodian French was influenced by Khmer and Chinese spoken variants, and was spoken by children of French men married to Khmer or ethnic Chinese women.
Cambodian French is still used as a second language in some schools, universities, and government offices, although most of the younger generations and members of the business world choose to learn English
. Mostly, only older natives that still speak French. Since the 1990s, there has been a small revival of French in Cambodia with French-language schools and centers opening and many Cambodian students traveling to France to receive studies as well as French-language media. Nevertheless, Cambodia still has the smallest Francophone population of the three French-speaking Asian countries, the others being Vietnam and Laos.
ns in past colonies of Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam
. In this dialect, there is a considerable influence from Dravidian languages
like Tamil
(Pondicherry Tamil Dialect), Telugu
(Yanam Telugu Dialect) and Malayalam (Mahe Malayalam Dialect).
. This dialect goes back to the French colonization of Indochina
, despite a decline in the language after independence from France and the communist takeover, a revival has now pushed up the number of students learning French to 35%. In addition, the Laotian elite and the elderly population speak French and the language is the diplomatic language of Laos.
, which has the largest Francophone population in Asia where over 5% of the population are learning the language or can speak it well. French is also spoken among the elderly in Vietnam as a legacy of the colonial French era and also by the country's elite. A French pidgin called Tây Bồi was spoken by Vietnamese servants in French households during the colonial era. Since the end of the Vietnam War
in 1975, the number of French speakers in Vietnam and the number of students taking the language has declined in favor of English
but French remains taught as an optional foreign language in higher education.
spoken in the Aosta Valley of Italy
, where there is a significant trilingual Francophone
population. Some expressions, words and phrase constructions are different from Standard French
, some of them are similar to Swiss French
, and in some cases they reflect the influence of Piedmontese language
or Italian
. Both French and Italian overlay the indigenous local language continuum of Aosta Valley, called Valdôtain
(locally, patois), which is Franco-Provençal in type.
spoken mainly in the French Community
of Belgium
, alongside related minority regional language
s such as Walloon
, Picard
, Champenois
and Gaumais
. Belgian French and the French of northern France are almost identical.
Notable features include a strong distinction between long and short vowels, the lack of the approximant /ɥ/, and the use of certain Belgicism
s.
. Notable features include some archaic word choices and the words septante and nonante for "seventy" and "ninety" respectively.
. It is strongly influenced by Occitan.
known as Romandy. The differences between Swiss French and Parisian French
are minor and mostly lexical.
Dialect
The term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
s of the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
are spoken in France and around the world. The francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
s of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
generally use Metropolitan
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
French (spoken in Paris and considered standard
Standard language
A standard language is a language variety used by a group of people in their public discourse. Alternatively, varieties become standard by undergoing a process of standardization, during which it is organized for description in grammars and dictionaries and encoded in such reference works...
) although some also use regional dialects or varieties
Variety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
such as Meridional French
Meridional French
Meridional French is a regional variant of the French language. It is strongly influenced by Occitan and so widely spoken in Occitania...
. In Europe outside of France there are Belgian French
Belgian French
Belgian French is the variety of French spoken mainly in the French Community of Belgium, alongside related minority regional languages such as Walloon, Picard, Champenois and Gaumais. The French spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Burundi, which were formerly Belgian...
, Swiss French
Swiss French
Swiss French is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Swiss French is not to be confused with Franco-Provençal/Arpitan or Romansh, two other individual Romance languages spoken in areas not far from Romandy.The differences...
, and in Italy Aostan French. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, French is an official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
along with English; the two main dialects of French in Canada are Quebec French
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....
and Acadian French
Acadian French
Acadian French , is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island, in several tiny pockets...
, but also another dialect commonly grouped as Canadian French, used by Anglophones speaking French as a second language or by Francophones in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
using a different dialect. In Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, French was an official language until 1941 and the main dialect spoken there is Lebanese French or Levantine French. Note that the discussion here refers to varieties of the French language, not to the Romance sister languages (sometimes considered dialects) of French spoken in France (e.g. Picard
Picard language
Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...
, Limousin
Limousin language
Limousin is a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the three departments of Limousin, parts of Charente and the Dordogne in the southwest of France.The first Occitan documents are in this dialect, particularly the Boecis, written around the year 1000....
, Gascon
Gascon language
Gascon is usually considered as a dialect of Occitan, even though some specialists regularly consider it a separate language. Gascon is mostly spoken in Gascony and Béarn in southwestern France and in the Aran Valley of Spain...
, etc.; for these languages see: Langues d'oïl
Langues d'oïl
The langues d'oïl or langues d'oui , in English the Oïl or Oui languages, are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives spoken today in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands...
, Francoprovençal, Langues d'oc and languages of France). See also French-based creole languages
French-based creole languages
A French Creole, or French-based Creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extant in Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies...
, which are also considered separate languages.
African French
French is an administrative language and commonly used, though not on an official basis, in the MaghrebMaghreb
The Maghreb is the region of Northwest Africa, west of Egypt. It includes five countries: Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania and the disputed territory of Western Sahara...
states, Mauritania
Mauritania
Mauritania is a country in the Maghreb and West Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean in the west, by Western Sahara in the north, by Algeria in the northeast, by Mali in the east and southeast, and by Senegal in the southwest...
, Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
. As of 2006, an estimated 115 million African people spread across 31 African countries can speak French either as a first
First language
A first language is the language a person has learned from birth or within the critical period, or that a person speaks the best and so is often the basis for sociolinguistic identity...
or second language
Second language
A second language or L2 is any language learned after the first language or mother tongue. Some languages, often called auxiliary languages, are used primarily as second languages or lingua francas ....
, making Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
the continent with the most French speakers in the world. While there are many varieties of African French, common features include the use of an alveolar trill
Alveolar trill
The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...
and use of borrowed words from local languages.
Acadian
Acadian French is a variant of French spoken by francophoneFrancophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
s in the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Maritime provinces
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
, the Saint John River Valley in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
, the Magdalen Islands
Magdalen Islands
The Magdalen Islands form a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . Though closer to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, the islands form part of the Canadian province of Quebec....
and Havre-Saint-Pierre, along the St. Lawrence's north shore. Speakers of Metropolitan French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, and even of other Canadian dialects, have some difficulty understanding Acadian French.
Notable features include /k/ and /tj/ becoming [tʃ] and /ɡ/ and /dj/ becoming [dʒ] before front vowel
Front vowel
A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...
s and use of some archaic words.
Chiac
Chiac is a dialect of combined Acadian French and English spoken mainly around Moncton, New BrunswickNew Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...
. The pronunciation of French words by Chiac speakers is much different from other dialects and resembles English speaking sounds. Chiac cannot be identified solely on its frequent use of English words, since many other French dialects use many English words as well (but Chiac does use an unusual amount of English). Chiac French has developed through proximity to English speaking populations that settled nearby during the colonial period. Sounds that are characteristic of Chiac speakers, when pronouncing French words, is the different use of the letters "d", "t", "r", and "c" (such as the word "bec" demanding a softer "c" sound but spoken as "beck" with a hard "c" as in the English pronunciation). Other differences include the use of vowel sounds such as "ea", "eo", "on", "an", and "oi". Such English stylized pronunciations are different from other dialects of North American French such as Québécois and Brayon. Other French populations dislike Chiac as they consider it to be a mockery of the French language and linguistic rules, such as improper grammar use (like the use of "moi" [me] instead of the proper "mon" [my]; when referring to personal possession); likewise its liberalness at adopting foreign vocabulary, the development of slang, and mispronounciation. Some forms of Chiac deviate from the original language to the extent that it is nearly incomprehensible to the larger francophone community. Chiac is perhaps best categorized as a Creole language
Creole language
A creole language, or simply a creole, is a stable natural language developed from the mixing of parent languages; creoles differ from pidgins in that they have been nativized by children as their primary language, making them have features of natural languages that are normally missing from...
alongside Haitian Creole (of Haiti) and Cajun Creole (of Louisiana), French dialects which incorporate Indigenous, African, and other European languages; as opposed to dialects such as Québécois and Brayon that, although deviating slightly from Metropolitan French, are nonetheless derived primarily from earlier dialects of French without major contribution from other source languages.
Newfoundland
Newfoundland French is a regional dialect of French that was once spoken by settlers in the French colony of Newfoundland.Quebec
Quebec French is the dominant and most prevalent regional varietyVariety (linguistics)
In sociolinguistics a variety, also called a lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, accents, registers, styles or other sociolinguistic variation, as well as the standard variety itself...
of French found in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Although Quebec French constitutes a coherent and standard system, it has no objective norm since the very organization mandated to establish it, the Office québécois de la langue française
Office québécois de la langue française
The Office québécois de la langue française is a public organization established on March 24, 1961 by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage...
, believes that objectively standardizing Quebec French would lead to reduced interintelligibility with other French communities around the world.
Notable features include [ɪ], [ʏ], and [ʊ] as allophones of /i/, /y/, /u/ in closed syllables, affrication of /t/ and /d/ to [ts] and [dz] before /i/, /y/.
United States
There are three major groupings of French varieties that emerged in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: Louisiana French, Missouri French
Missouri French
Missouri French is a nearly extinct variety of the French language formerly spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri. Once spoken widely across the region known as the Illinois Country or Upper Louisiana, the dialect is now...
, and Acadian
Acadian French
Acadian French , is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island, in several tiny pockets...
(or New England) French.
Louisiana
Louisiana French, the largest of the groupings, is mostly spoken in the U.S. state of LouisianaLouisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and derives from the forms of the language spoken by the colonists of lower French Louisiana
Louisiana (New France)
Louisiana or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control from 1682–1763 and 1800–03, the area was named in honor of Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle...
. Louisiana French traditionally has been divided into three dialects: Colonial French
Colonial French
Colonial French or Colonial Louisiana French is one of the three dialects into which Louisiana French is typically divided . Formerly spoken widely in what is now the U.S...
, Cajun
Cajun French
Cajun French is a variety or dialects of the French language spoken primarily in Louisiana, specifically in the southern and southwestern parishes....
or "Acadian" French, and Louisiana Creole French
Louisiana Creole French
Louisiana Creole is a French Creole language spoken by the Louisiana Creole people of the state of Louisiana. The language consists of elements of French, Spanish, African, and Native American roots.-Geography:...
. Colonial French was originally the dialect spoken by the land-holding educated classes. On the other hand Acadian, the dialect of the Acadians who came to French Louisiana in droves following their expulsion from Acadia during the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
, was spoken largely by the white lower classes. Louisiana Creole, a creole
French-based creole languages
A French Creole, or French-based Creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extant in Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies...
which developed long before Haitian immigrants arrived in Louisiana, largely developed as the tongue of the Louisiana Creole community and a significant portion of self-identified Cajuns.However, linguists now believe that the Colonial and Acadian dialects have largely merged together into modern Louisiana French, but remain distinct from Louisiana Creole.
Missouri
Missouri FrenchMissouri French
Missouri French is a nearly extinct variety of the French language formerly spoken in the upper Mississippi River Valley in the Midwestern United States, particularly in eastern Missouri. Once spoken widely across the region known as the Illinois Country or Upper Louisiana, the dialect is now...
is now spoken by a handful of people in the Midwestern United States
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
, primarily in Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
. It is the last remnant of the form of French once spoken widely in the region known as the Illinois Country
Illinois Country
The Illinois Country , also known as Upper Louisiana, was a region in what is now the Midwestern United States that was explored and settled by the French during the 17th and 18th centuries. The terms referred to the entire Upper Mississippi River watershed, though settlement was concentrated in...
, which was colonized as part of French Louisiana. It is considered very endangered, with only a few elderly speakers still fluent.
New England
New England French is the local name for Acadian FrenchAcadian French
Acadian French , is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island, in several tiny pockets...
as it is spoken in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region, particularly in northern Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
.
Cambodian
Cambodian French is the French of CambodiaCambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
. It dates back to the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
colonization of Indochina
French Indochina
French Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
in 1863. Colonists taught French to the local inhabitants — especially the Khmer
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
and Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
. The locals also taught the colonists Khmer
Khmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
and some Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
spoken variants, such as Teochew and Cantonese. Cambodian French was influenced by Khmer and Chinese spoken variants, and was spoken by children of French men married to Khmer or ethnic Chinese women.
Cambodian French is still used as a second language in some schools, universities, and government offices, although most of the younger generations and members of the business world choose to learn English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. Mostly, only older natives that still speak French. Since the 1990s, there has been a small revival of French in Cambodia with French-language schools and centers opening and many Cambodian students traveling to France to receive studies as well as French-language media. Nevertheless, Cambodia still has the smallest Francophone population of the three French-speaking Asian countries, the others being Vietnam and Laos.
Indian
Indian French is the French spoken by IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
ns in past colonies of Pondicherry, Chandernagore, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam
Yanam language
Yanam is a Yanomaman language spoken by approximately 560 speakers in Roraima, Brazil and southern Venezuela near the Mucajai, upper Uraricáa, and Paragua rivers.-Synonymy:...
. In this dialect, there is a considerable influence from Dravidian languages
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
like Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
(Pondicherry Tamil Dialect), Telugu
Telugu language
Telugu is a Central Dravidian language primarily spoken in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, where it is an official language. It is also spoken in the neighbouring states of Chattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu...
(Yanam Telugu Dialect) and Malayalam (Mahe Malayalam Dialect).
Lao
Lao French is spoken in LaosLaos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
. This dialect goes back to the French colonization of Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
, despite a decline in the language after independence from France and the communist takeover, a revival has now pushed up the number of students learning French to 35%. In addition, the Laotian elite and the elderly population speak French and the language is the diplomatic language of Laos.
Vietnam
Vietnamese French is spoken in VietnamVietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, which has the largest Francophone population in Asia where over 5% of the population are learning the language or can speak it well. French is also spoken among the elderly in Vietnam as a legacy of the colonial French era and also by the country's elite. A French pidgin called Tây Bồi was spoken by Vietnamese servants in French households during the colonial era. Since the end of the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
in 1975, the number of French speakers in Vietnam and the number of students taking the language has declined in favor of English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
but French remains taught as an optional foreign language in higher education.
Aostan
Aostan French is the variety of FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
spoken in the Aosta Valley of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, where there is a significant trilingual Francophone
Francophone
The adjective francophone means French-speaking, typically as primary language, whether referring to individuals, groups, or places. Often, the word is used as a noun to describe a natively French-speaking person....
population. Some expressions, words and phrase constructions are different from Standard French
Standard French
Standard French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language...
, some of them are similar to Swiss French
Swiss French
Swiss French is the name used for the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. Swiss French is not to be confused with Franco-Provençal/Arpitan or Romansh, two other individual Romance languages spoken in areas not far from Romandy.The differences...
, and in some cases they reflect the influence of Piedmontese language
Piedmontese language
Piedmontese is a Romance language spoken by over 2 million people in Piedmont, northwest Italy. It is geographically and linguistically included in the Northern Italian group . It is part of the wider western group of Romance languages, including French, Occitan, and Catalan.Many European and...
or Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
. Both French and Italian overlay the indigenous local language continuum of Aosta Valley, called Valdôtain
Valdôtain
The Valdôtain, or Valdotans, are an ethnic group that lives in the far northwest Aosta Valley Autonomous Region of Italy. They speak several dialects of the Franco-Provençal language ....
(locally, patois), which is Franco-Provençal in type.
Belgian
Belgian French (French: français de Belgique) is the variety of FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
spoken mainly in the French Community
French Community of Belgium
The French Community of Belgium is one of the three official communities in Belgium along with the Flemish Community and the German speaking Community. Although its name could suggest that it is a community of French citizens in Belgium, it is not...
of Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, alongside related minority regional language
Regional language
A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....
s such as Walloon
Walloon language
Walloon is a Romance language which was spoken as a primary language in large portions of the Walloon Region of Belgium and some villages of Northern France until the middle of the 20th century. It belongs to the langue d'oïl language family, whose most prominent member is the French language...
, Picard
Picard language
Picard is a language closely related to French, and as such is one of the larger group of Romance languages. It is spoken in two regions in the far north of France – Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy – and in parts of the Belgian region of Wallonia, the district of Tournai and a part of...
, Champenois
Champenois
Champenois is a language spoken by a minority of people in Champagne in France and in Wallonia in Belgium. It is one of the langues d'oïl. It is classified as a regional language of France, and has the recognized status of a regional language of Wallonia....
and Gaumais
Lorrain language
Lorrain is a language spoken by a minority of people in Lorraine in France and in Gaume in Belgium. It is one of the Langues d'oïl. It is classified as a regional language of France, and has the recognised status of a regional language of Wallonia...
. Belgian French and the French of northern France are almost identical.
Notable features include a strong distinction between long and short vowels, the lack of the approximant /ɥ/, and the use of certain Belgicism
Belgicism
The word belgicism refers to a word, expression, or turn of phrase that is uniquely Belgian French, or Belgian Dutch...
s.
Jersey Legal
Jersey Legal French is the official dialect of French used administratively in JerseyJersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
. Notable features include some archaic word choices and the words septante and nonante for "seventy" and "ninety" respectively.
Meridional
Meridional French (French: français méridional) is the regional variant of the French spoken in OccitaniaOccitania
Occitania , also sometimes lo País d'Òc, "the Oc Country"), is the region in southern Europe where Occitan was historically the main language spoken, and where it is sometimes still used, for the most part as a second language...
. It is strongly influenced by Occitan.
Swiss
Swiss French is the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of SwitzerlandSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
known as Romandy. The differences between Swiss French and Parisian French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
are minor and mostly lexical.
See also
- Langues d'oïlLangues d'oïlThe langues d'oïl or langues d'oui , in English the Oïl or Oui languages, are a dialect continuum that includes standard French and its closest autochthonous relatives spoken today in the northern half of France, southern Belgium, and the Channel Islands...
and langues d'oc - DialectDialectThe term dialect is used in two distinct ways, even by linguists. One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a characteristic of a particular group of the language's speakers. The term is applied most often to regional speech patterns, but a dialect may also be defined by other factors,...
- French-based creole languagesFrench-based creole languagesA French Creole, or French-based Creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extant in Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the nascent French colonies...
- Languages of France
- La Francophonie
- Law FrenchLaw FrenchLaw French is an archaic language originally based on Old Norman and Anglo-Norman, but increasingly influenced by Parisian French and, later, English. It was used in the law courts of England, beginning with the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror...
- Standard FrenchStandard FrenchStandard French is an unofficial term for a standard variety of the French language...