French language
The French language (French: "français" - pronounced "fronseh") is a Romance language that was first spoken in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Quebec and Switzerland. About 200 million people speak French as a native or a second language.[1] Like most Romance languages, its nouns have genders that are divided into masculine (masculin) and feminine (féminin) words.
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[change] History
In ancient times, the Celts lived in what is now France.[2] In those days, the land was called Gaul (Gallia). The Romans spread their power to Gallia and made Gallia their provinces. Because the Romans spoke Latin, the local people learned Latin and began to speak it. Their own language, Gaulish, tended to be spoken less often, although Breton is a language still spoken today in the part of France called Brittany, that came from the old Celtic language.
After the Roman Empire fell and Germanic peoples swarmed the countryside, Latin was changing quickly; and in medieval France it changed into two accents or languages: langue d'oc and langue d'oïl. They both mean "language of yes", because oc was the word for "yes" in the south, and oïl meant "yes" in the north. Today, the word for yes in French is oui, pronounced like "we".
Langue d'oc is now called Occitan, and it is still spoken by many people in Southern France.
[change] Examples
Here are some examples of French words and sentences :
| Word | Meaning |
| Oui | Yes (si when used as a reply to non or negative expressions) |
| Non | No |
| Bonjour | Hello (formal) |
| Au revoir | Goodbye |
| Salut | Hi and goodbye (informal) |
| Merci | Thank you |
| Merci beaucoup | Thank you very much |
| Monsieur | Sir, mister |
| Madame | Madam, Mrs. |
| Homme | Man |
| Femme | Woman |
| Fille | Girl |
| Garçon | Boy |
| Poulet | Chicken |
| Formidable | Wonderful |
| En vacances | On vacation/holiday |
| Eau | Water |
| Manger | To eat |
| Parlez-vous français? | Do you speak French? |
| Je parle français. | I speak French. |
| Comment allez-vous? | How are you? (formal or more than one person) |
| Comment vas-tu? | How are you? (informal) |
| Je t'aime. | I love you. |
| Où sont les toilettes s'il vous plaît ? | Where are the toilets, please? |
| Comment t'appelles-tu? | What is your name? |
| Je m'appelle... (your name) | My Name is... (your name) |
| Je parle anglais | I speak English |
| S'il vous plaît | Please (Formal) |
| J'ai besoin d'un taxi | I need a taxi |
Many French words are like English words (because English took many words from the Norman language, a version of French influenced by Old Norse). Words in different languages with the same meaning which are spelled similarly are called cognates. Most English words ending with "tion" and "sion" originally came from the French language. See below for more examples:
| Word | Meaning |
| Non | No |
| Théâtre | Theatre |
| Crème | Cream |
| Ballon | Balloon |
| Difficile | Difficult |
| Dragon | Dragon |
| Rat | Rat |
| Cinéma | Cinema |
| Énergie | Energy |
| Ennemi | Enemy |
[change] References
- ↑ (French) "Les francophones dans le monde" (Francophones in the world") — Gives details from a report.
- ↑ "Celtic History". http://www.celticattic.com/contact_us/the_celts/celts_facts_and_fiction.htm. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
[change] Other websites
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