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In addition to French, several regional languages are also spoken to varying degrees, such as Alsatian, a German dialect (specifically Alemannic; spoken by 1.44% of the national population); Basque, a language isolate; Breton, a Celtic language (spoken by 0.61%); Corsican, an Italo-Dalmatian language; and various other Gallo-Romance languages ...
French is an administrative language and is commonly but unofficially used in the Maghreb states, Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.As of 2023, an estimated 350 million African people spread across 34 African countries can speak French either as a first or second language, mostly as a secondary language, making Africa the continent with the most French speakers in the world. [2]
French is the official language of France, but each region in France has its own unique accent, such as the French spoken in Paris, or in the south (Meridional French) or in the region around Tours. In addition to French, there are several other languages of France (sometimes called " patois ") traditionally spoken, although use of these ...
At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in the Aosta Valley region of Italy (the first government authority to adopt Modern French as the official language in 1536, three years before France itself), [60] in which is spoken as a first language by 1.25% of the population and as a second one by approximately 50%. [61]
French is still a lingua franca in most Western and Central African countries and an official language of many, a remnant of French and Belgian colonialism. These African countries and others are members of the Francophonie. French is the official language of the Universal Postal Union, with English added as a working language in 1994. [46
French language in France (4 P) French Sign Language (1 C, 7 P) I. Insular Celtic languages (3 C, 1 P) J. Judaeo-French languages (4 P) L. Language policy in France (5 P)
The Third Republic sought to modernise France and established primary education where the only language recognised was French. Regional languages were discouraged, and the use of French was seen as aspirational, accelerating their decline. [12] This was also generally the case in areas where Oïl languages were spoken.
Most other Romance languages are significantly more conservative phonetically, with Spanish, Italian, and especially Sardinian showing the most conservatism, and Portuguese, Romanian, Catalan, and Occitan showing moderate conservatism. [1] French also shows enormous phonetic changes between the Old French period and the modern language ...