96-479: De Maisonneuve Boulevard (officially in French : boulevard De Maisonneuve ) is a major westbound boulevard located in downtown Montreal , Quebec , Canada. It is named after the founder of Montreal, Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve . It is a one-way street westbound. De Maisonneuve Boulevard is about 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) long and begins on Du Havre Street in the east end (one block east of Frontenac Street in
192-720: A French official to teachers in the department of Finistère , in western Brittany, included the following: "And remember, Gents: you were given your position in order to kill the Breton language". The prefect of Basses-Pyrénées in the French Basque Country wrote in 1846: "Our schools in the Basque Country are particularly meant to replace the Basque language with French..." Students were taught that their ancestral languages were inferior and they should be ashamed of them; this process
288-431: A comprehensive academic study entitled "The World's 10 most influential languages". In the article, Weber ranked French as, after English, the second-most influential language of the world, ahead of Spanish. His criteria were the numbers of native speakers, the number of secondary speakers (especially high for French among fellow world languages), the number of countries using the language and their respective populations,
384-543: A foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050. French is the fastest growing language on the continent (in terms of either official or foreign languages). French is increasingly being spoken as a native language in Francophone Africa, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and
480-640: A period of prosperity and prominence among European nations. Richelieu established the Académie française to protect the French language. By the early 1800s, Parisian French had become the primary language of the aristocracy in France. Near the beginning of the 19th century, the French government began to pursue policies with the end goal of eradicating the many minorities and regional languages ( patois ) spoken in France. This began in 1794 with Henri Grégoire 's "Report on
576-494: A relic of the old nominal case system of Latin longer than most other Romance languages (with the notable exception of Romanian which still currently maintains a case distinction), differentiating between an oblique case and a nominative case. The phonology was characterized by heavy syllabic stress, which led to the emergence of various complicated diphthongs such as -eau which would later be leveled to monophthongs. The earliest evidence of what became Old French can be seen in
672-573: A second language. French is the second most taught foreign language in the EU. All institutions of the EU use French as a working language along with English and German ; in some institutions, French is the sole working language (e.g. at the Court of Justice of the European Union ). French is also the 16th most natively spoken language in the world, the sixth most spoken language by total number of speakers , and
768-513: A second language. However it has also become a native language in a number of urban areas, especially in regions like Ivory Coast , Cameroon , Gabon, Madagascar , and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . In some North African countries, though not having official status, it is also a first language among some upper classes of the population alongside indigenous languages, but only
864-897: A second one among the general population. In 2015, approximately 40% of the Francophone population (including 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. French is the second most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union . Of Europeans who speak other languages natively, approximately one-fifth are able to speak French as
960-536: A variant of Canadian French , is spoken in parts of New England . Missouri French was historically spoken in Missouri and Illinois (formerly known as Upper Louisiana ), but is nearly extinct today. French also survived in isolated pockets along the Gulf Coast of what was previously French Lower Louisiana , such as Mon Louis Island , Alabama and DeLisle, Mississippi (the latter only being discovered by linguists in
1056-437: Is 95%, and in the French collectivity of Wallis and Futuna , it is 84%. In French Polynesia and to a lesser extent Wallis and Futuna, where oral and written knowledge of the French language has become almost universal (95% and 84% respectively), French increasingly tends to displace the native Polynesian languages as the language most spoken at home. In French Polynesia, the percentage of the population who reported that French
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#17328525752811152-745: Is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire . French evolved from Gallo-Romance , the Latin spoken in Gaul , and more specifically 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 ) largely supplanted. French
1248-467: Is a widespread second language among the Lebanese people , and is taught in many schools along with Arabic and English. French is used on Lebanese pound banknotes, on road signs, on Lebanese license plates , and on official buildings (alongside Arabic). Today, French and English are secondary languages of Lebanon , with about 40% of the population being Francophone and 40% Anglophone. The use of English
1344-484: Is also a working language in nonprofit organisations such as the Red Cross (alongside English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Russian), Amnesty International (alongside 32 other languages of which English is the most used, followed by Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Italian), Médecins sans Frontières (used alongside English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic), and Médecins du Monde (used alongside English). Given
1440-430: Is among the top five most studied languages worldwide, with about 120 million learners as of 2017. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 16th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, and Asia. 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
1536-456: Is an official language in 27 countries , as well as 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. Most of these countries are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), the community of 54 member states which share
1632-628: Is enacted only in New Brunswick, where about one third of the population is Francophone. French is also an official language of all of the territories ( Northwest Territories , Nunavut , and Yukon ). Out of the three, Yukon has the most French speakers, making up just under 4% of the population. Furthermore, while French is not an official language in Ontario , the French Language Services Act ensures that provincial services are available in
1728-479: Is entirely underground. The line runs in a U-shape (also similar to Line 1 Yonge-University) from Côte-Vertu in western Montreal to Montmorency in Laval , northwest of Montreal. On November 3, 1961, Montreal City Council approved an initial Metro network 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) in length. Line 2 (Orange Line) was to run from north of the downtown, from Crémazie station through various residential neighbourhoods to
1824-495: Is growing in the business and media environment. Out of about 900,000 students, about 500,000 are enrolled in Francophone schools, public or private, in which the teaching of mathematics and scientific subjects is provided in French. Actual usage of French varies depending on the region and social status. One-third of high school students educated in French go on to pursue higher education in English-speaking institutions. English
1920-404: Is known as Old French. The period of Old French spanned between the 8th and 14th centuries. Old French shared many characteristics with Latin. For example, Old French made use of different possible word orders just as Latin did because it had a case system that retained the difference between nominative subjects and oblique non-subjects . The period is marked by a heavy superstrate influence from
2016-462: Is often considered to be a useful skill by business owners in the United Kingdom; a 2014 study found that 50% of British managers considered French to be a valuable asset for their business, thus ranking French as the most sought-after foreign language there, ahead of German (49%) and Spanish (44%). MIT economist Albert Saiz calculated a 2.3% premium for those who have French as a foreign language in
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#17328525752812112-775: Is one of the official languages of such major international and regional courts, tribunals, and dispute-settlement bodies as the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights , the Caribbean Court of Justice , the Court of Justice for the Economic Community of West African States , the Inter-American Court of Human Rights , the International Court of Justice , the International Criminal Tribunal for
2208-562: Is taught in universities around the world, and is one of the world's most influential languages because of its wide use in the worlds of journalism, jurisprudence , education, and diplomacy. In diplomacy, French is one of the six official languages of the United Nations (and one of the UN Secretariat 's only two working languages ), one of twenty official and three procedural languages of the European Union , an official language of NATO ,
2304-538: Is the language of business and communication, with French being an element of social distinction, chosen for its emotional value. French is an official language of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu , where 31% of the population was estimated to speak it in 2023. In the French special collectivity of New Caledonia , 97% of the population can speak, read and write French while in French Polynesia this figure
2400-479: Is the native language of about 23% of the Swiss population, and is spoken by 50% of the population. Along with Luxembourgish and German, French is one of the three official languages of Luxembourg , where it is generally the preferred language of business as well as of the different public administrations. It is also the official language of Monaco . At a regional level, French is acknowledged as an official language in
2496-492: Is the second-most spoken language (after English) in the states of Maine and New Hampshire . In Louisiana , it is tied with Spanish for second-most spoken if Louisiana French and all creoles such as Haitian are included. French is the third most spoken language (after English and Spanish) in the states of Connecticut , Rhode Island , and New Hampshire . Louisiana is home to many distinct French dialects, collectively known as Louisiana French . New England French , essentially
2592-424: Is the sole official language in the province of Quebec , where some 80% of the population speak it as a native language and 95% are capable of conducting a conversation in it. Quebec is also home to the city of Montreal , which is the world's fourth-largest French-speaking city, by number of first language speakers. New Brunswick and Manitoba are the only officially bilingual provinces, though full bilingualism
2688-551: Is used for maintenance of way equipment. The Snowdon tail tracks and connecting track, which is connected to the Blue Line, is also used for maintenance of way equipment. A new garage was built immediately north of Côte-Vertu station that opened in March 2022, expanding the capacity of the Orange line by 25% and reducing wait time between trains from 2 minutes and 30 seconds to 2 minutes across
2784-738: The Aosta Valley region of Italy where it is the first language of approximately 50% of the population, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands . It is also spoken in Andorra and is the main language after Catalan in El Pas de la Casa . The language is taught as the primary second language in the German state of Saarland , with French being taught from pre-school and over 43% of citizens being able to speak French. The majority of
2880-459: The Aosta Valley region of Italy; and various communities elsewhere. French is estimated to have about 310 million speakers, of which about 80 million are native speakers. According to the OIF, approximately 321 million people worldwide are "able to speak the language" as of 2022, without specifying the criteria for this estimation or whom it encompasses. In Francophone Africa, it is spoken mainly as
2976-539: The Democratic Republic of Congo . There is not a single African French , but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages . Sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth. It is also where the language has evolved the most in recent years. Some vernacular forms of French in Africa can be difficult to understand for French speakers from other countries, but written forms of
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3072-485: The European Union , French was the dominant language within all institutions until the 1990s. After several enlargements of the EU (1995, 2004), French significantly lost ground in favour of English, which is more widely spoken and taught in most EU countries. French currently remains one of the three working languages, or "procedural languages", of the EU, along with English and German. It is the second-most widely used language within EU institutions after English, but remains
3168-547: The Francien dialect is one that not only continued but also thrived during the Middle French period (14th–17th centuries). Modern French grew out of this Francien dialect. Grammatically, during the period of Middle French, noun declensions were lost and there began to be standardized rules. Robert Estienne published the first Latin-French dictionary, which included information about phonetics, etymology, and grammar. Politically,
3264-820: The International Olympic Committee , the Council of Europe , the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , Organization of American States (alongside Spanish, Portuguese and English), the Eurovision Song Contest , one of eighteen official languages of the European Space Agency , World Trade Organization and the least used of the three official languages in the North American Free Trade Agreement countries. It
3360-687: The Montreal Metro runs under this street in between Papineau and Atwater . The Metro was constructed under this street to serve Saint Catherine Street , to the south, to avoid a prolonged disruption of commercial activity on that street. Vendôme station, on the Orange line , is also located on this boulevard. 45°30′39″N 73°33′54″W / 45.510877°N 73.56508°W / 45.510877; -73.56508 French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
3456-609: The Oaths of Strasbourg and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia , while Old French literature began to be produced in the eleventh century, with major early works often focusing on the lives of saints (such as the Vie de Saint Alexis ), or wars and royal courts, notably including the Chanson de Roland , epic cycles focused on King Arthur and his court , as well as a cycle focused on William of Orange . It
3552-570: The Sauvé and Henri-Bourassa stations in the north, and the Square-Victoria-OACI and Bonaventure stations in the south. On October 14, 1966, the section between Henri-Bourassa and Place-d'Armes opened, forming part of the original Metro network. Completion of smaller sections were delayed by several months. On February 6, 1967, the segment from Place-d'Armes to Square-Victoria-OACI opened, followed on February 13, 1967, by Bonaventure. Prior to
3648-951: 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 . French is a Romance language (meaning that it is descended primarily from Vulgar Latin ) that evolved out of the Gallo-Romance dialects spoken in northern France. The language's early forms include Old French and Middle French . Due to Roman rule, Latin
3744-502: The 1990s) but these varieties are severely endangered or presumed extinct. French is one of two official languages in Haiti alongside Haitian Creole . It is the principal language of education, administration, business, and public signage and is spoken by all educated Haitians. It is also used for ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations, and church masses. The vast majority of the population speaks Haitian Creole as their first language;
3840-798: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed
3936-682: The Canadian capital, is also effectively bilingual, as it has a large population of federal government workers, who are required to offer services in both French and English, and is just across the river from the Quebecois city of Gatineau . According to the United States Census Bureau (2011), French is the fourth most spoken language in the United States after English, Spanish, and Chinese, when all forms of French are considered together and all dialects of Chinese are similarly combined. French
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4032-886: The Caribbean that are collectively referred to as the French West Indies , namely Guadeloupe , Saint Barthélemy , Saint Martin , and Martinique . French is the official language of both French Guiana on the South American continent, and of Saint Pierre and Miquelon , an archipelago off the coast of Newfoundland in North America. French was the official language of the colony of French Indochina , comprising modern-day Vietnam , Laos , and Cambodia . It continues to be an administrative language in Laos and Cambodia, although its influence has waned in recent decades. In colonial Vietnam,
4128-524: The Empire, this local elite had been slowly abandoning Gaulish entirely, but the rural and lower class populations remained Gaulish speakers who could sometimes also speak Latin or Greek. The final language shift from Gaulish to Vulgar Latin among rural and lower class populations occurred later, when both they and the incoming Frankish ruler/military class adopted the Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin speech of
4224-416: The Germanic Frankish language , which non-exhaustively included the use in upper-class speech and higher registers of V2 word order , a large percentage of the vocabulary (now at around 15% of modern French vocabulary ) including the impersonal singular pronoun on (a calque of Germanic man ), and the name of the language itself. Up until its later stages, Old French , alongside Old Occitan , maintained
4320-445: The Laval campus of the Université de Montréal . The Laval extension was inaugurated on April 26, 2007, and it opened to the public on April 28. It was completely financed by the Government of Quebec , which mandated for the former Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT) (now ARTM ) to realize the project. The STM acted as a subcontractor for the AMT and was responsible for the installation of fixed equipment. The project extended
4416-401: The Metro. This amount increased to C$ 665 million in 1973, and to C$ 1.6 billion in 1975. This expansion plan included the costs of extending the Orange Line westward, a distance of 20.5 kilometres (12.7 mi), adding 16 new stations, as well as the construction of a new garage. The terminus station, Salaberry, would have been an intermodal station with Bois-Franc commuter rail station. From
4512-424: The Minister of Transport, Denis de Belleval , proposed to complete the subway extension to Du Collège and to extend the rest of the line above ground. This transportation plan was rejected by the mayors of the Montreal Urban Community. The moratorium was lifted in February 1981, with a new agreement that approved the construction of one additional station, Côte-Vertu . Du Collège was considered inappropriate to play
4608-432: The Orange Line by 5.2 kilometres (3.2 mi), 4.9 kilometres (3.0 mi) not including the depot past Montmorency, at a cost of roughly C$ 143.27 million/km, which is slightly below the average cost for Metro extensions in other major cities. The total cost of the extension was $ 745 million. To that amount, $ 12.4 million was added in 2008 to build a second entrance to Cartier station in Libellules Park, located northeast of
4704-430: The Orange Line to be further extended toward the northwest from Côte-Vertu . The extension would include two new stations: Poirier and Bois-Franc. The latter would create a transportation hub with the existing Bois-Franc station on the Réseau express métropolitain light metro. After the extension of the line into Laval, Gilles Vaillancourt , a former mayor of Laval, suggested for a further six stations to be added to
4800-417: The beginning, the plan was to expand the Metro to the northwest, but massive cost overruns on the expansion of the Green Line in preparation for the 1976 Summer Olympics , led to several years of delays, including a moratorium on underground expansions in 1976. To cut costs, three planned stations (Poirier, Bois-Franc, De Salaberry) and a maintenance workshop at the end of the track were eliminated. In 1979,
4896-436: The borough of Ville-Marie ), and ends at West Broadway in the city's west end (in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce ) near Concordia University 's Loyola Campus. The street also runs through the wealthy enclave of Westmount , and is cut in two by Westmount Park . De Maisonneuve was created as a single street in 1966, following the construction of the Montreal Metro . From west to east, De Maisonneuve took
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#17328525752814992-403: The business district at Place-d'Armes station . Work on the Orange Line began on May 23, 1962 on Berri Street just south of Jarry Street. In November 1962, the city of Montreal learned that it had been awarded the 1967 International and Universal Exposition (commonly known as Expo 67). To better meet the anticipated demand for transit during Expo 67, it was decided on August 6, 1963 to add
5088-421: The country near French-speaking Quebec, however, it is the foreign language more commonly taught. Vowel phonemes in French Orange Line (Montreal Metro) The Orange Line ( French : Ligne orange ), also known as Line 2 ( French : Ligne 2 ), is the longest and first-planned of the four subway lines of the Montreal Metro in Montreal , Quebec , Canada. It formed part of the initial network, and
5184-404: The demographic prospects of the French-speaking nations of Africa, researcher Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry wrote in 2014 that French "could be the language of the future". However, some African countries such as Algeria intermittently attempted to eradicate the use of French, and as of 2024 it was removed as an official language in Mali and Burkina Faso . Significant as a judicial language, French
5280-412: The early 1980s, MR-73 cars replaced the older MR-63 cars, which were used again on the Green Line. Introduced in 1976, the MR-73 is the second generation of high-performance Metro cars, identified by rectangular cab headlights, blue and dark orange interiors, 124 kW (166 hp) traction motors that growl while they accelerate out of a station, side vents, and a unique three-note sound signature when
5376-448: The economic power of the countries using the language, the number of major areas in which the language is used, and the linguistic prestige associated with the mastery of the language (Weber highlighted that French in particular enjoys considerable linguistic prestige). In a 2008 reassessment of his article, Weber concluded that his findings were still correct since "the situation among the top ten remains unchanged." Knowledge of French
5472-489: The elites primarily spoke French, while many servants who worked in French households spoke a French pidgin known as " Tây Bồi " (now extinct). After French rule ended, South Vietnam continued to use French in administration, education, and trade. However, since the Fall of Saigon and the opening of a unified Vietnam's economy, French has gradually been effectively displaced as the first foreign language of choice by English in Vietnam. Nevertheless, it continues to be taught as
5568-402: The entire line. The Orange Line operates between 5:30 a.m. and 12:30 a.m on weekdays and Sunday, and between 5:30 a.m. and 1:00 a.m on Saturday. Trains arrive at stations every 2 to 7 minutes during peak periods, every 3 to 8 minutes during off peak periods, and every 6 to 11 minutes at weekends. At the line's opening in 1966, MR-63 cars were used on the Orange Line. In
5664-399: The estimated $ 4.5-billion cost of the Blue Line extension to Anjou . The Metro trains are stored in the Saint-Charles Garage, north of Henri-Bourassa station, and in the garage at Montmorency station for passenger cars. They are maintained at the Plateau d'Youville, which is located between Crémazie and Sauvé stations. Centre d'attachement Duvernay , which is connected to the Green Line,
5760-406: The first government authority to adopt Modern French as official was the Aosta Valley in 1536, while the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) named French the language of law in the Kingdom of France . During the 17th century, French replaced Latin as the most important language of diplomacy and international relations ( lingua franca ). It retained this role until approximately the middle of
5856-439: The former Yugoslavia , International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda , the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea the International Criminal Court and the World Trade Organization Appellate Body . It is the sole internal working language of the Court of Justice of the European Union , and makes with English the European Court of Human Rights 's two working languages. In 1997, George Weber published, in Language Today ,
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#17328525752815952-715: The gender of the corresponding word in Gaulish. The estimated number of French words that can be attributed to Gaulish is placed at 154 by the Petit Robert , which is often viewed as representing standardized French, while if non-standard dialects are included, the number increases to 240. Known Gaulish loans are skewed toward certain semantic fields, such as plant life ( chêne , bille , etc.), animals ( mouton , cheval , etc.), nature ( boue , etc.), domestic activities (ex. berceau ), farming and rural units of measure ( arpent , lieue , borne , boisseau ), weapons, and products traded regionally rather than further afield. This semantic distribution has been attributed to peasants being
6048-404: The inauguration of the initial network, extensions were proposed in all directions, including the West Island . In its 1967 Urban Plan, entitled "Horizon 2000", the city of Montreal planned to build a network of almost 100 miles (160 km) by the end of the twentieth century. On February 12, 1971, the council of the Montreal Urban Community authorized the borrowing of C$ 430 million to extend
6144-545: The intersection of des Laurentides and Cartier. When opened in 2007, the stations on the Laval extension were the first accessible stations on the Metro, with elevators and other features for disabled persons. In the 2010s and 2020s, older stations were retrofitted to be made accessible, with the installation of elevators. As of 2024 , 16 of the 31 Orange Line stations are accessible, including all four interchange stations at Berri-UQAM, Lionel-Groulx, Jean-Talon and Snowdon. STM plans for all stations to be made accessible by
6240-401: The language are very closely related to those of the rest of the French-speaking world. French is the second most commonly spoken language in Canada and one of two federal official languages alongside English. As of the 2021 Canadian census , it was the native language of 7.7 million people (21% of the population) and the second language of 2.9 million (8% of the population). French
6336-424: The language, although it has now given way to Tamil and English. A former French mandate , Lebanon designates Arabic as the sole official language, while a special law regulates cases when French can be publicly used. Article 11 of Lebanon's Constitution states that "Arabic is the official national language. A law determines the cases in which the French language is to be used". The French language in Lebanon
6432-501: The language. The Act applies to areas of the province where there are significant Francophone communities, namely Eastern Ontario and Northern Ontario . Elsewhere, sizable French-speaking minorities are found in southern Manitoba, Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island and the Port au Port Peninsula in Newfoundland and Labrador, where the unique Newfoundland French dialect was historically spoken. Smaller pockets of French speakers exist in all other provinces. The Ontarian city of Ottawa ,
6528-428: The last to hold onto Gaulish. The beginning of French in Gaul was greatly influenced by Germanic invasions into the country. These invasions had the greatest impact on the northern part of the country and on the language there. A language divide began to grow across the country. The population in the north spoke langue d'oïl while the population in the south spoke langue d'oc . Langue d'oïl grew into what
6624-417: The late 2030s. In 2019, the STM announced plans to install platform edge doors on the Orange Line, to improve safety and reduce passenger incidents (dropped objects, falls etc). The 2021-2030 Capital Expenditure Program estimated the project would cost around $ 560m. Due to financial difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic , the project was cancelled in 2022. In the medium term, there are plans for
6720-423: The line. Three of them would be in Laval and three in Montreal, which would together turn the Orange Line into a loop. In 2011, the City of Laval proposed adding eight more stations to the line, including five in Laval, to complete the loop and to serve the Carrefour Laval terminus. On 18 June 2019, the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain approved a report for extending the Orange Line by 6.4 km to
6816-533: The mid-2000s between the office towers which were built in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 2007, the city completed a 3.4 km (2 mile) year-round bicycle path along De Maisonneuve through downtown Montreal , from Berri Street to Atwater Street . As of the 2009-2010 winter season, it is the only bike path cleared of snow. A report blamed the path's construction for damage to an underground pedestrian tunnel, part of Montreal's Underground City . On June 16, 2008, Montreal city council voted unanimously to name
6912-771: The multifunctional character of De Maisonneuve Boulevard increased. Institutions already located along the street such as the Université du Québec à Montréal , Place des Arts and Concordia University have built new buildings. Other institutions have also built new buildings on the street such as the Grande Bibliothèque , the Cinémathèque québécoise and the Salle Pierre-Mercure . In the central business district, residential condominium buildings, such as Le Roc Fleuri and Le 1200 Ouest (Tours Lépine), have been constructed in
7008-478: The necessity and means to annihilate the patois and to universalize the use of the French language". When public education was made compulsory , only French was taught and the use of any other ( patois ) language was punished. The goals of the public school system were made especially clear to the French-speaking teachers sent to teach students in regions such as Occitania and Brittany . Instructions given by
7104-602: The north and east of the current Côte-Vertu terminus in St-Laurent to Montmorency station in Laval , which would create a loop . Five new stations would be built located at Poirier Street, Bois-Franc , and Gouin Boulevard in Montreal, and at Chomedey and Notre-Dame Boulevard near Autoroute 15 in Laval. The extension would cost an estimated $ 4.5 billion and put the project in line with
7200-574: The official use or teaching of French. It is spoken as a first language (in descending order of the number of speakers) in France; Canada (especially in the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick); Belgium ( Wallonia and the Brussels-Capital Region ); western Switzerland (specifically the cantons forming the Romandy region); parts of Luxembourg; parts of the United States (the states of Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont); Monaco;
7296-528: The other main foreign language in the Vietnamese educational system and is regarded as a cultural language. All three countries are full members of La Francophonie (OIF). French was the official language of French India , consisting of the geographically separate enclaves referred to as Puducherry . It continued to be an official language of the territory even after its cession to India in 1956 until 1965. A small number of older locals still retain knowledge of
7392-428: The path after the late Montreal cycling activist Claire Morissette . Westmount Square , Dawson College and the seven linked downtown malls are located on this street. Other notable buildings include the Grande Bibliothèque , Université du Québec à Montréal , Place des Arts , Les Cours Mont-Royal , both of Concordia University 's campuses (Sir George Williams and Loyola) and Montreal Forum . The Green line of
7488-462: The preferred language of certain institutions or administrations such as the Court of Justice of the European Union , where it is the sole internal working language, or the Directorate-General for Agriculture . Since 2016, Brexit has rekindled discussions on whether or not French should again hold greater role within the institutions of the European Union. A leading world language , French
7584-464: The rest largely speak French as a first language. As a French Creole language , Haitian Creole draws the large majority of its vocabulary from French, with influences from West African languages, as well as several European languages. It is closely related to Louisiana Creole and the creole from the Lesser Antilles . French is the sole official language of all the overseas territories of France in
7680-406: The role of a terminus. The western segment was constructed in the 1980s and was opened in several stages. On April 28, 1980, it was extended from Bonaventure to Place-Saint-Henri . From there, the line was extended to Snowdon on September 7, 1981, on January 4, 1982 to Côte-Sainte-Catherine , on June 29, 1982 to Plamondon , on January 9, 1984 to Du Collège , and finally on November 3, 1986 to
7776-452: The route of: Western, from Decarie to Atwater Street ; St. Luc, from Atwater to Guy Street ; Burnside, from Stanley Street to Union Street; Ontario Street , from Union to Jeanne-Mance, and De Montigny, from Saint Laurent Boulevard to du Havre. Today, Ontario Street still remains, as does a small section of de Montigny, from Saint Laurent to Saint Urbain Street . During the last 20 years,
7872-414: The total number of French speakers will reach approximately 500 million in 2025 and 650 million by 2050, largely due to rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa . OIF estimates 700 million French speakers by 2050, 80% of whom will be in Africa. In a study published in March 2014 by Forbes , the investment bank Natixis said that French could become the world's most spoken language by 2050. In
7968-554: The train pulls out of a station. With the introduction of the newer MPM-10 trains in 2016, the MR-73 trains in service on the line were gradually transferred over to the Green, Yellow, and Blue Lines. On June 20, 2018, a decorated MR-63 train gave a final "farewell tour" of the Orange Line before the model was retired from the entire system the following day. All remaining MR-73 cars operating on
8064-673: The two official languages—along with Dutch —of the Brussels-Capital Region , where it is spoken by the majority of the population (approx. 80%), often as their primary language. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, along with German, Italian, and Romansh , and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland, called Romandy , of which Geneva is the largest city. The language divisions in Switzerland do not coincide with political subdivisions, and some cantons have bilingual status: for example, cities such as Biel/Bienne and cantons such as Valais , Fribourg and Bern . French
8160-508: The urban intellectual elite. The Gaulish language likely survived into the sixth century in France despite considerable Romanization . Coexisting with Latin, Gaulish helped shape the Vulgar Latin dialects that developed into French contributing loanwords and calques (including oui , the word for "yes"), sound changes shaped by Gaulish influence, and influences in conjugation and word order. Recent computational studies suggest that early gender shifts may have been motivated by
8256-479: The use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, and legal contracts; advertisements must bear a translation of foreign words. In Belgium, French is an official language at the federal level along with Dutch and German. At the regional level, French is the sole official language of Wallonia (excluding a part of the East Cantons , which are German-speaking ) and one of
8352-464: The western terminus of Côte-Vertu . After a break of more than two decades of expansion, the eastern segment was extended from Henri-Bourassa by three stations into the city of Laval . The 5.2 kilometres (3.2 mi) section required digging a tunnel under the Rivière des Prairies . The three stations were Cartier , De la Concorde and Montmorency . Montmorency station is near Collège Montmorency and
8448-531: The workplace. In 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese . In English-speaking Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, French is the first foreign language taught and in number of pupils is far ahead of other languages. In the United States, French is the second-most commonly taught foreign language in schools and universities, although well behind Spanish. In some areas of
8544-402: The world's French-speaking population lives in Africa. According to a 2023 estimate from the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie , an estimated 167 million African people spread across 35 countries and territories can speak French as either a first or a second language . This number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as
8640-417: Was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic ) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to the French colonial empire , there are numerous French-based creole languages , most notably Haitian Creole . A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French
8736-791: Was during the period of the Crusades in which French became so dominant in the Mediterranean Sea that became a lingua franca ("Frankish language"), and because of increased contact with the Arabs during the Crusades who referred to them as Franj , numerous Arabic loanwords entered French, such as amiral (admiral), alcool (alcohol), coton (cotton) and sirop (syrop), as well as scientific terms such as algébre (algebra), alchimie (alchemy) and zéro (zero). Within Old French many dialects emerged but
8832-596: Was extended from 1980 to 1986. On April 28, 2007, three new stations in Laval opened making it the second line to leave Montreal Island . The Orange Line measures 30 kilometres (19 mi) in length and counts 31 stations. It is the longest subway line in Montreal and the second-longest in Canada after the Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway . Like the rest of the Metro network, it
8928-447: Was gradually adopted by the inhabitants of Gaul. As the language was learned by the common people, it developed a distinct local character, with grammatical differences from Latin as spoken elsewhere, some of which is attested in graffiti. This local variety evolved into the Gallo-Romance tongues, which include French and its closest relatives, such as Arpitan . The evolution of Latin in Gaul
9024-684: Was known in the Occitan-speaking region as Vergonha . Spoken by 19.71% of the European Union's population, French is the third most widely spoken language in the EU, after English and German and the second-most-widely taught language after English. Under the Constitution of France , French has been the official language of the Republic since 1992, although the Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts made it mandatory for legal documents in 1539. France mandates
9120-575: Was shaped by its coexistence for over half a millennium beside the native Celtic Gaulish language , which did not go extinct until the late sixth century, long after the fall of the Western Roman Empire . The population remained 90% indigenous in origin; the Romanizing class were the local native elite (not Roman settlers), whose children learned Latin in Roman schools. At the time of the collapse of
9216-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,
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