Editing French language (section)

{{Short description|Romance language from France}}
{{Distinguish|text=[[Lingua franca]]}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{cleanup lang|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = French
| nativename       = {{lang|fr|français}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|fr|fʁɑ̃sɛ|}}
| states           = [[France]], [[Belgium]], [[Switzerland]], [[Monaco]], [[Francophone Africa]], [[Canada]], and other locations in the [[Francophonie]]
| speakers         = [[first language|L1]]: {{sigfig|73.746080|2}} million
| date             = 2020
| ref              = e27
| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2]]: {{sigfig|237.829030|3}} million (2022)<ref name=e27/> <br /> Total: {{sigfig|311.575110|2}} million<ref name=e27/>
| speakers_label   = Speakers
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Latin]]ic
| fam5             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam6             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam7             = [[Western Romance languages|Western]]
| fam8             = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo]]-[[Iberian Romance languages|Iberian]]<ref name="glottoGI">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/shif1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Shifted Western Romance |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231127113834/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/shif1234 |archive-date=2023-11-27 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam9             = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]
| fam10            = Gallo-Rhaetian?<ref name="glottoOil">{{Cite web |url=https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |title=Glottolog 4.8 - Oil |date=2022-05-24 |access-date=2023-11-11 |website=[[Glottolog]] |last1=Hammarström |first1=Harald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111104954/https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/oila1234 |archive-date=2023-11-11 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology]] |last2=Forkel |first2=Robert |last3=Haspelmath |first3=Martin |last4=Bank |first4=Sebastian}}</ref>
| fam11            = [[Franco-Provençal|Arpitan]]–[[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam12            = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam13            = [[Langues d'oïl#Francien zone (zone francienne)|Francien zone]]
| ancestor         = [[Old Latin]]
| ancestor2        = [[Vulgar Latin]]
| ancestor3        = [[Proto-Romance language|Proto-Romance]]
| ancestor4        = [[Old Gallo-Romance]]
| ancestor5        = [[Old French]]
| ancestor6        = [[Middle French]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[French alphabet]])<br />[[French Braille]]
| nation           = {{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language|26 countries]]|
|[[Belgium]]
|[[Benin]]
|[[Burundi]]
|[[Cameroon]]
|[[Canada]]
|[[Central African Republic]]
|[[Chad]]
|[[Comoros]]
|[[Republic of the Congo|Congo]]
|[[Democratic Republic of the Congo]]
|[[Djibouti]]
|[[Equatorial Guinea]]
|[[France]]
|[[Gabon]]
|[[Guinea]]
|[[Haiti]]
|[[Ivory Coast]]
|[[Luxembourg]]
|[[Madagascar]]
|[[Monaco]]
|[[Rwanda]]
|[[Senegal]]
|[[Seychelles]]
|[[Switzerland]]
|[[Togo]]
|[[Vanuatu]]
}}
<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language#Dependent entities|10 subnational]]|
|[[Aosta Valley]] <small>([[Italy]])</small>
|[[French Polynesia]]
|[[Louisiana]] <small>([[United States]])</small>
|[[Maine]] <small>([[United States]])</small>
|[[New Caledonia]]
|[[Puducherry (union territory)|Puducherry]] <small>([[India]])</small>
|[[Saint Barthélemy]]
|[[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]]
|[[Saint Pierre and Miquelon]]
|[[Wallis and Futuna]]
}}
<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;|title=[[List of countries where French is an official language#Non-official but significant language|Non-official but administrative/cultural]]|
|[[Algeria]]
|[[Burkina Faso]]
|[[Cambodia]]
|[[Laos]]
|[[Lebanon]]
|[[Mali]]
|[[Mauritania]]
|[[Mauritius]]
|[[Morocco]]
|[[New Hampshire]] <small>(United States)</small>
|[[Niger]]
|[[Tunisia]]
|[[Vietnam]]
}}
<br />{{Collapsible list |titlestyle=font-weight:normal; background:transparent; text-align:left;| title = [[List of countries where French is an official language#Intergovernmental organizations|Intergovernmental organizations]]|
|[[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]
|[[United Nations]]
|[[International Olympic Committee]]
|[[General Conference on Weights and Measures]]
|[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]
|[[European Union]]
|[[African Union]]
|[[NATO|North Atlantic Treaty Organization]]
|[[World Trade Organization]]
|[[Council of Europe]]
}}
| agency           = [[Académie Française]] (French Academy, France) <br /> [[Office québécois de la langue française]] (Quebec Board of the French Language, Quebec)<br/>{{ill|Direction de la langue française|fr|Direction de la langue française}} (Belgium)
| iso1             = fr
| iso2b            = fre
| iso2t            = fra
| iso3             = fra
| lingua           = 51-AAA-i
| map              = Map-Francophone World.svg
| mapcaption       = {{legend|#0231a1|Countries and regions where French is the native language of the majority{{efn|Dots: cities with native transmission, typically a minority.}}}}
{{legend|#1886fe|Countries and regions where French is an official or de facto official language, not a majority native language}}
{{legend|#79bdff|Countries, regions, and territories where French is an administrative or cultural language but with no official status}}
| notice           = IPA
| sign             = [[Signed French]]<br />''(français signé)''
| glotto           = stan1290
| glottorefname    = French
}}
{{French language}}

'''French''' ({{langx|fr|français|label=none}} {{IPA|fr|fʁɑ̃sɛ||audio=LL-Q150 (fra)-Fhala.K-français.wav}} or {{langx|fr|langue française|label=none}} {{IPA|fr|lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz||audio=LL-Q150 (fra)-WikiLucas00-langue française.wav}}) is a [[Romance languages|Romance language]] of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European family]]. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the [[Vulgar Latin]] of the [[Roman Empire]]. French evolved from Northern [[Old Gallo-Romance]], a descendant of the Latin spoken in Northern [[Gaul]]. Its closest relatives are the other [[langues d'oïl]]—languages historically spoken in northern [[France]] and in southern [[Belgium]], which French ([[Francien language|Francien]]) largely supplanted. It was also [[substratum (linguistics)|influenced]] by native [[Celtic languages]] of Northern [[Roman Gaul]] and by the [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] [[Frankish language]] of the post-Roman [[Franks|Frankish]] invaders. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, it was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia, and numerous [[French-based creole languages]], most notably [[Haitian Creole]], were established. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as '''Francophone'''<!--boldface per WP:R#PLA--> in both [[English language|English]] and French.

French is an [[official language]] in [[List of countries where French is an official language|26 countries]], as well as [[List of official languages|one of the most geographically widespread languages]] in the world, with about 50 countries and territories having it as a ''[[de jure]]'' or ''[[de facto]]'' official, administrative, or cultural language.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/23/the-worlds-languages-in-7-maps-and-charts/|title=The world's languages, in 7 maps and charts|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=18 April 2022|access-date=19 April 2022|archive-date=16 August 2015|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150816064811/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/04/23/the-worlds-languages-in-7-maps-and-charts/|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of these countries are members of the {{lang|fr|[[Organisation internationale de la Francophonie]]}} (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share the official use or teaching of French. It is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers;<ref>{{e26|fra|French}}</ref> it is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France, Canada ([[Provinces and territories of Canada|provinces]] of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick), Belgium ([[Wallonia]] and the [[Brussels|Brussels-Capital Region]]), western Switzerland ([[Romandy]] region), parts of Luxembourg, parts of the United States (Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), Monaco, the [[Aosta Valley]] region of Italy, and various communities elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-08-02 |title=Census in Brief: English, French and official language minorities in Canada |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016011/98-200-x2016011-eng.cfm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311010917/http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/as-sa/98-200-x/2016011/98-200-x2016011-eng.cfm |archive-date=11 March 2018 |access-date=2018-03-25 |website=www12.statcan.gc.ca |language=en}}</ref>

In Francophone Africa it is spoken mainly as a second language or [[lingua franca]], though it has also become a native language in a small number of urban areas; in some North African countries, despite not having official status, it is also a first language among some [[upper classes]] of the population alongside the indigenous ones, but only a second one among the general population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Benrabah |first=Mohamed |year=2007 |title=Language Maintenance and Spread: French in Algeria |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249918399 |journal=International Journal of Francophone Studies |language=en |volume=10 |pages=193–215 |doi=10.1386/ijfs.10.1and2.193_1 |via=ResearchGate |access-date=2024-03-18 |archive-date=2024-05-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525234842/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249918399_Language_Maintenance_and_Spread_French_in_Algeria |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including [[Second language|L2]] and partial speakers) lived in Europe, 36% in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas, and 1% in Asia and Oceania.<ref name="OIF">{{Cite web |title=The status of French in the world |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy-1/francophony-1113/the-status-of-french-in-the-world/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922033256/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/french-foreign-policy/francophony-1113/the-status-of-french-in-the-world |archive-date=22 September 2015 |access-date=23 April 2015}}</ref> French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the [[European Union]].<ref name="nativeLanguages">{{Citation |author=[[European Commission]] |title=Europeans and their Languages |date=June 2012 |url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |work=Special [[Eurobarometer]] 386 |page=5 |access-date=7 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |publisher=[[Europa (web portal)|Europa]] |archive-date=2016-01-06}}</ref> Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as a second language.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Why Learn French |url=http://www.cpfalta.ab.ca/Learning/whyfrench.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619042509/http://www.cpfalta.ab.ca/Learning/whyfrench.htm |archive-date=2008-06-19}}</ref> Many institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English, [[German language|German]] and [[Italian language|Italian]]; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the [[Court of Justice of the European Union]]).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Develey |first=Alice |date=25 February 2017 |title=Le français est la deuxième langue la plus étudiée dans l'Union européenne |url=http://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/2017/02/25/37002-20170225ARTFIG00101-le-francais-est-la-deuxieme-langue-la-plus-etudiee-dans-l-union-europeenne.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424220102/http://www.lefigaro.fr/langue-francaise/actu-des-mots/2017/02/25/37002-20170225ARTFIG00101-le-francais-est-la-deuxieme-langue-la-plus-etudiee-dans-l-union-europeenne.php |archive-date=24 April 2017 |access-date=20 June 2017 |work=Le Figaro}}</ref> French is also the 16th [[List of languages by number of native speakers|most natively spoken language]] in the world, the sixth [[List of languages by total number of speakers|most spoken language by total number of speakers]], and is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How many people speak French and where is French spoken |url=https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-people-speak-french-and-where-is-french-spoken |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171121234924/https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-people-speak-french-and-where-is-french-spoken |archive-date=21 November 2017 |access-date=21 November 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What are the top 200 most spoken languages? |url=https://www.ethnologue.com/guides/ethnologue200 |language=en|website=Ethnologue|access-date=2025-03-11}}</ref>  French has a long history as an international language of literature and scientific standards and is a primary or second language of many international organisations including the [[United Nations]], the European Union, the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]], the [[World Trade Organization]], the [[International Olympic Committee]], the [[General Conference on Weights and Measures]], and the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]].

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