French language: Structure, alphabet, and writing patterns

Are you a beginner language learner and want to know every single detail about the French language? In this guide, we will provide you with a detailed overview of the French language including its structure, status, and alphabet and writing patterns

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

History

French language (français) belongs to the Romance branch of the Indo-European language family. It, like all Romance languages, evolved from Vulgar Latin, which was spoken by Roman invaders. Prior to the Roman invasion of what is now France, the territory was inhabited by a Celtic people known as Gauls by the Romans. The Gaulish language had little influence on French.

From the third century on, Gaul was invaded by Germanic tribes, whose languages had a profound impact on the region’s Vulgar Latin, particularly on its vocabulary. King Francis I of France made French the official language of administration and court proceedings in 1539, replacing Latin as the country’s official written language. The language spoken in the 17th and 18th centuries became the basis of modern French after a period of unification and standardization.

French was the Francemaplanguage of culture and diplomacy throughout the Western world beginning in the 17th century. The French were introduced to the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia as a result of European colonization.

French language status

French is spoken in 53 countries, making it one of the world’s most widely spoken languages. The number of French first- and second-language speakers worldwide is estimated to be between 220 and 300 million people. It is a national of 29 countries, either officially, co-officially, or de facto. Countries that speak French as a first or second language are spread across four continents. France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg are four of them.

Canada and Haiti are both in the Americas. Martinique and Guadeloupe are also French overseas departments. The remainder are former French colonies in Africa and on Indian and Pacific Ocean islands. In Arabic-speaking Algeria, Tunis, and Morocco, French is a popular second language. The spread of French is due to France’s political, economic, scientific, and cultural influence. The following countries have French as their native language. Please keep in mind that some of the figures are estimates and do not clearly distinguish between first- and second-language speakers.

French dialects

Europe

European French is typically divided into two major dialects, each of which includes many regional varieties.

1.    Langue d’oil

Northern and central French dialects, including what is now Belgium. One of the dialects of langue d’oil spoken in Île de France was françien. It became the foundation for standard French. Even after it became a major international language of culture and diplomacy, it did not become dominant throughout France.

2.    Langue d’oc

Southern varieties of French, including dialects from Switzerland and the Italian Val d’Aosta, which are closely related to Catalan.

Canada

The pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar of all Canadian French varieties differ from Standard French. Canadian French is usually classified into three types:

1. Québécois is the official language of Québec. The overwhelming majority of Canadian francophones speak it.

2. Franco-Ontarians are people who speak French in Ontario, Western Canada, Labrador, and New England. It is regarded as a very conservative French dialect.

3. Acadiens is the Acadian language spoken in some parts of the Canadian Maritimes.

Africa

Africa has the world’s largest population of French speakers. African French varieties are spoken in 31 African countries, with over 100 million first- and second-language speakers. In terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, all African French varieties differ from Standard French. They are typically classified into several groups.

Varieties of French spoken in Western, Central, and East Africa, with an estimated 75 million first and second language speakers; Maghreb French spoken in Northwest Africa, with an estimated 36 million first and second language speakers; and Indian Ocean (Réunion, Mauritius, and Seychelles) with an estimated 1.6 million first and second language speakers.

Structure

Sound system Vowels

French has a rich vowel system. In addition to the oral vowels given below, there are four nasal vowels /ɛ, ̃œ̃, ã, ɔ̃).

– /i/ = ee in beet

– /e/ = ai in bait

– /ɛ/ = e in bet

– /y, ø, œ/ have no equivalents in English. They are pronounced with rounded lips.

– /ə/ = u in bud

– /a/ = a in bat

– /u/ = oo in boot

– /o/ = oa in boat

– /ɔ/ = ough in bought

– /ɑ/ = o in pop

French word order

The most common word order in French is Subject-Verb-Object, but a variety of other orders can be used to indicate topic and emphasis. Word order is further complicated by interaction among compound verb constructions, object and adverbial pronouns, inversion, imperatives, adverbs, and negative structures. Most adjectives come after the noun, for example, un chat noir ‘a black cat’.

French vocabulary

The majority of French vocabulary is Latin-based, for example, frère ‘brother’ from Latin frater. As a result, much of its basic vocabulary is shared with other Romance languages. According to a study conducted by Walter and Walter (1998), 12% of common French words found in a typical dictionary such as the Petit Larousse were borrowed from other languages. Around 25% of these loanwords are relatively recent English borrowings (for example, le rostbif, le weekend). Italian, ancient Germanic languages, Arabic, German Celtic, Spanish, Dutch, Greek, Persian, and Sanskrit are among the other languages that have contributed to the French lexicon.

French writing

The Latin alphabet was a natural choice for scribes who began writing French texts in the 11th century, despite the fact that it was less than ideal for a language whose sound system differed significantly from that of Latin. Several changes in the French sound system during the 14th and 16th centuries caused a further divergence between spoken French and its written representation. Despite some attempts to reform French spelling over the last two centuries, no major changes have occurred. Since 1740, the orthography of modern French has remained unchanged.

Conclusion

In this post, we have provided you with a detailed overview of the French language. We recommend you polish your French speaking and writing skills before you visit any French-speaking country or region.