114-612: Esquire ( / ɪ ˈ s k w aɪər / , US also / ˈ ɛ s k w aɪər / ; abbreviated Esq. ) is usually a courtesy title . In the United Kingdom , esquire historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman and below the rank of knight . Some sources cite that the title was bestowed on "candidates for knighthood in England", and even used with respect to other dignitaries, such as justices of
228-509: A New York City Bar Association committee, in the United States, esquire over time came to refer "commonly and exclusively" to lawyers, but how that happened is unclear. The only certainty, the committee stated, is that "based on common usage it is fair to state that if the title appears after a person's name, that person may be presumed to be a lawyer". Chief Justice Coke (1552–1634) defined "gentlemen" as those who bear coats of arms . From
342-458: A coat of arms ; it is not clear from this quotation whether Segar made a distinction between esquires and gentlemen.) For example, lords of the manor hold the rank of esquire by prescription. The 1660 poll tax used to pay off the New Model Army levied an amount of £10 on esquires, which was half the amount due from knights. Samuel Pepys should have paid this amount due to his office, but
456-720: 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
570-431: 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,
684-481: A doctorate. In Europe, including France, many titles are not substantive titles but remain titres de courtoisie , and, as such, are adopted unilaterally. When done by a genuine member of the noblesse d'épée the custom was tolerated in French society. A common practice is title declension , when cadet males of noble families, especially landed aristocracy, may assume a lower courtesy title than that legally borne by
798-543: 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
912-464: A higher rank can be told by the type of helm depicted on the letters patent granting or matriculating the arms. In Scots Heraldry , Sir Thomas Innes of Learney makes clear that a gentleman's helm is a closed pot helm, in plain steel, with no gold, whereas an esquire's helm can be a steel pot helm garnished in gold or a helmet with a closed visor garnished in gold. The Court of the Lord Lyon will display
1026-409: A knight. It was originally a military office, an esquire being (as the name escuyer, from escu, a shield, implies) a knight's attendant and shield bearer. Esquires may be theoretically divided into five classes: Oxford Dictionaries provided for the following definition of esquire in 2016: By the end of the 16th century, the pretentious use of the title, especially in its Latin form, armiger ,
1140-420: A new title of duke while the father retained his ducal title; the king could confer a brevet de duc , that is formally accord the non-hereditary style and precedence of a duke to the heir of a ducal title. The younger sons of a noble titleholder used one of the family's lesser titles, but rarely one of duke or prince. Even in untitled families of the nobility, every son used a different territorial designation ,
1254-639: 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
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#17328481357971368-494: 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
1482-573: 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
1596-513: 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
1710-897: 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
1824-431: A social status that is recognised in the order of precedence . In the legal profession, the title is available for barristers who have achieved the rank of King's Counsel because they are designated as esquire on their letters patent . In the United States, the term esquire (abbreviated Esq. ) is generally used by lawyers , as a suffix , preceded by a comma , after the lawyer's full name. According to research by
1938-480: A substantive peer bear specific titles ( Lord / Lady ) or styles ( The Honourable ) by courtesy. Under United Kingdom law , users of courtesy titles of nobility are held to be commoners , eligible for election to the House of Commons rather than being members of the House of Lords . French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )
2052-536: 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
2166-437: 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
2280-745: 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
2394-464: Is a social dignity. The letters patent of Scottish armigers will never include the title of gentleman, because the letters patent themselves evidence the individual is an armour-bearer, or gentleman by the strictest sense of the definition. A Scottish armiger is a gentleman or gentlewoman unless they hold a higher rank. Scottish armigers are those individuals with a hereditary right, grant or matriculation of arms so entitling them to use personal arms by
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#17328481357972508-467: 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
2622-484: 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
2736-430: 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
2850-456: 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
2964-555: Is correct, esquire is typically written in full when addressing a diplomat. If any other titles are used on the same line, esquire is omitted. Some fraternal groups use the esquire title. One appendant body in Freemasonry also uses esquire as a degree title. In the Colony of Virginia , during the 17th and 18th centuries, esquire was the title given to members of the Council of Virginia ,
3078-628: 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
3192-495: 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
3306-462: Is held by all attendants on the person of the Sovereign, and all persons holding the Sovereign's commission being of military rank not below Captain; also, by general concession, by Barristers at Law, Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Law and Physic. James Parker supplied the following definition: Esquire, ( Latin : armiger , French : escuyer ): a title of a gentleman of the rank immediately below
3420-404: 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
3534-462: 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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3648-775: 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
3762-447: Is rather used by custom or courtesy, particularly, in the context of nobility , the titles used by children of members of the nobility (cf. substantive title ). In some contexts, courtesy title is used to mean the more general concept of a title or honorific such as Mr. , Mrs. , Ms. , Miss , Madam , Sir for those who not been awarded a knighthood or a baronetcy, as well as Dr. for physicians who have not actually achieved
3876-562: 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 ,
3990-538: 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
4104-479: 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
4218-492: 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
4332-424: 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
4446-738: 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
4560-459: 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
4674-539: 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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4788-506: The Esq. , but not both; when esquire is used as a courtesy title , it should not be used with post-nominals. Before 1947, the term esquire was used by senior officers of the Indian Civil Service and other members of the government. In keeping with the criteria established centuries earlier, the title was mostly used by government officials who studied or trained in England, especially in
4902-485: 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
5016-547: 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,
5130-771: 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
5244-559: The New York State Bar Association , protect the use of the term esquire, and have held that use of the term connotes licensure in the jurisdiction, so that its use by non-lawyers amounts to unauthorized practice of law . Similarly, when addressing social correspondence to a commissioned officer of the United States Foreign Service , esquire may be used as a complimentary title. While the abbreviated Esq.
5358-609: 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
5472-951: 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
5586-483: The upper house of the Virginia Assembly . Honorifics are not used with courtesy titles, so John Smith, Esq. or Mr. John Smith would be correct, but Mr. John Smith, Esq. would be incorrect. When addressing a person who has an academic degree or other post-nominal professional designation, such as a Certified Public Accountant , a writer should use either the post-nominal designation (usually abbreviated) or
5700-453: The 11th to 14th century) means "shield-bearer", a knight in training, age 14 to 21. In the later stages of the Middle Ages, the cost of the adoubement or accolade became too high for many noblemen to bear. They stayed écuyers all their lives, making that title synonymous with " nobleman " or " gentleman ". The most common occurrence of the term "esquire" today is in the addition of
5814-450: The 16th century such families were defined by the inclusion of their pedigrees within their county's heraldic visitations , which necessitated their submitting a return of their pedigree to the visiting herald at the specified location, generally one of the chief towns of the county. The 1623 Heraldic Visitation for Gloucestershire, for example, includes a section at the back headed: "A note of such as were disclaymed to be no gentilmen within
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#17328481357975928-502: 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;
6042-742: 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
6156-682: 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
6270-886: 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,
6384-411: The Court of the Lord Lyon. The bearing of duly registered arms is an indication of nobility (either peerage or non-peerage in rank). All Scottish armigers are recognised as members of the nobility in the broader sense through their grant or matriculation of arms awarded by the Crown or sovereign through the Court of the Lord Lyon, and by issuance of a warrant from the Lord Lyon King of Arms is so entered in
6498-408: 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
6612-416: 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
6726-400: The Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland and through later official "Ensigns of Nobility". Without such legal arms it is practically impossible to prove one's nobiliary status. "Technically, a grant of arms from the Lord Lyon is a patent of nobility (also referred to a 'Diploma of Nobility'); the Grantee is thereby 'enrolled with all nobles in the noblesse of Scotland.'", however
6840-421: The United States of America, the term is almost exclusively reserved for lawyers, much as one with any doctorate (such as PhD, EdD, MD, DO, or PsyD) is called Dr. In the United States, the title esquire is commonly encountered among members of the legal profession. The title is not allocated by the law of any state to any profession, class, or station in society. However, some state bar associations, such as
6954-464: The county and city of Gloucester" , the list being headed by "Edward Hill, Customer, of Gloucester, neither gentilman of bloud, ancestry nor armes" . The list thus identifies those persons whose returns were not accepted, perhaps because they were fabricated or insufficiently evidenced in some way. Sir John Fearn in "Glory of Generositie" spoke of esquires by creation, birth, dignity and office, specifying several circumstances that customarily conferred
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#17328481357977068-404: 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
7182-408: The early 20th century, however, esquire was being used as a general courtesy title for any man in a formal setting, with no precise significance, usually as a suffix to his name, and commonly with initials only. In the United Kingdom today, esquire is still occasionally used as a written style of address in formal or professional correspondence. In certain formal contexts, it remains an indication of
7296-448: 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
7410-489: 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
7524-424: The feudal esquire would also most likely have been an armiger. For centuries the title of esquire has not been bestowed on a knight's attendee (since knights no longer need to train for battle). Attendants on knights, however, were not the only bearers of arms, and similarly not all armigers were esquires. Today, being an armiger is synonymous with the title of gentleman within the order of precedence in Scotland , and
7638-406: 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
7752-439: 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 ,
7866-715: 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
7980-469: The head of their family, even though lacking a titled seigneury themselves. For example, the eldest son of the Duke of Paris (substantive title) may be called Marquis de Paris (courtesy title) and younger sons Comte N. of Paris , where N. stands for the first name. In the hereditary Napoleonic and Restoration peerage, declension was a legal right of younger sons, the derivative title being heritable by male primogeniture; King Joseph Napoleon conferred
8094-432: The helm appropriate to their "degree", or social rank, in the illustration on the letters patent . The definition of esquire today includes: There is some confusion over the fact that the Lord Lyon King of Arms addresses correspondents by their name followed by "Esq." in correspondence, namely on letters. Some people erroneously believe that this makes them an esquire, however this is a common courtesy in Scotland, as in
8208-406: The jurisdiction of Scotland as someone who is an armour-bearer. These two senses of "armour-bearer" are different: An esquire in feudal times was an "armour-bearer" in the sense of being the person who carried their knight's armour for them; whereas in the contemporary sense the term "armour-bearer" is being used to mean the bearer of a coat of arms, an armiger. The two are not the same thing, although
8322-508: 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
8436-474: 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
8550-602: 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 ,
8664-475: 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
8778-428: The lesser titles of his father as a courtesy title. In the 17th century, the heirs of the most powerful dukes were sometimes allowed to assume the title of prince. In the 18th century, a trend was for the heir to use the title of duke. It was achieved in one of three ways: if the head of family held two dukedoms, his heir could use the junior one; the head of family could resign his French peerage to his heir, who assumed
8892-420: 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
9006-475: The next position in the Order of Precedence above gentlemen . It is also used as a common courtesy in correspondence. Traditionally, this was one who was classified as a "cadet for knighthood". Today, the title of esquire is not bestowed on gentlemen, although certain positions carry with them the degree of esquire, such as that of advocate or justice of the peace . Whether an armiger is a gentleman, an esquire, or of
9120-574: 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;
9234-528: 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
9348-583: The parish tithe map schedules made under the Tithe Commutation Act 1836 . Later examples appear in the list of subscribers to The History of Elton , by the Rev. Rose Fuller Whistler, published in 1892, which distinguishes between subscribers designated Mr. (another way of indicating gentlemen) and those allowed esquire . But formal definitions like these were proposed because there was, in reality, no fixed criterion distinguishing those designated esquire: it
9462-527: The peace, sheriffs, and sergeants. The 1826 edition of William Blackstone 's Commentaries on the Laws of England reiterated that "the title should be limited to those only who bear an office of trust under the Crown and who are styled esquires by the king in their commissions and appointments; and all, I conceive, who are once honoured by the king with the title of esquire have a right to that distinction for life." By
9576-462: 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
9690-464: 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
9804-417: The rest of Britain, and does not constitute official recognition in the degree of an esquire. The Scottish courts have confirmed that the base degree in which an armiger is recognised is the dignity of gentleman, not esquire. In feudal times an esquire was an armour-bearer , attendant upon a knight, but bearing his own unique armorial device. Similarly, an armiger in contemporary terms is well-defined within
9918-425: The so-called nom de terre . The daughters used the title of mademoiselle , followed by the name of a manor owned by their father. For example, Anne Marie Louise d'Orléans, Duchess of Montpensier (known as La Grande Mademoiselle ), was the eldest daughter of Gaston d'Orléans ( Monsieur ) and his first wife Marie de Bourbon, Duchess of Montpensier . Anne Marie Louise was officially known as Mademoiselle from
10032-506: The suffix Esq. after their names, while men of foreign nationalities instead have the prefix Mr (women are addressed as Miss , Ms , or Mrs ). The same practice applies for other post from the palace (e.g., to employees). Esquire is historically a feudal designation in Scotland. Today, the title of esquire is defined as a social dignity that refers to people of the Scottish gentry , who hold
10146-483: The suffix "Esq." in order to pay an informal compliment to a male recipient by way of implying gentle birth . There remain respected protocols for identifying those to whom it is thought most proper that the suffix should be given, especially in very formal or in official circumstances. The breadth of esquire (as Esq. ) had become universal in the United Kingdom by the mid 20th century, with no distinction in status being perceived between Mr and esquire . Esquire
10260-414: The term "gentleman" is still found in official tables of precedence, and it means a person who is an armiger with no higher rank or a descendant of someone who has borne arms. An English use of the term is to distinguish between men of the upper and lower gentry, who are "esquires" and "gentlemen" respectively, which still applies in terms of the official Order of Precedence. Examples of this may be found in
10374-516: The term "nobility" today is little used in this context, as in common parlance in Britain the term is widely associated with the peerage. Instead the French term of noblesse has been used by the Court of the Lord Lyon as this term not only includes peers but also the non-peerage minor-nobility, which includes baronets, knights, feudal barons, armigers with territorial designations, esquires and gentlemen. In
10488-421: The time of her birth. The United Kingdom has a detailed system of courtesy titles and styles by which the eldest son, male-line grandson or great-grandson and heir of a peer may use a subsidiary title of his ancestor even though it is the ancestor who holds the title substantively. By extension, the children not only of all peers but of those who bear derivative courtesy titles as male-line descendants of
10602-483: The title "Prince" on his grandchildren in the male and female line. During the Ancien Régime , the only substantive titles were feudal , land-based and required a royal grant or royal recognition. In order to use the title of count, one had to own a seigneurie elevated to county and to comply with the remainder of the grant. These legal prescriptions, however, came to be consistently enforced only with respect to
10716-486: The title of duke ( duc ). Most titles were self-assumed courtesy titles, even those used at the royal court and in legal documents. Clergymen before episcopal ordination used the title of abbé , followed by the name of the principal title of their father. Members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta used the title of chevalier in the same fashion. The heir apparent of a titled nobleman used one of
10830-449: The title. Coke followed Sir William Camden , Clarenceux King of Arms (1551–1623), who defined esquires as: John Weever (d. 1632) identified five categories of esquires: According to one typical definition, esquires in English law included: Charles Boutell (1812–1877) defined the term as Esquire – A rank next below that of Knight. Besides those Esquires who are personal attendants of Knights of Orders of Knighthood, this title
10944-462: 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
11058-673: 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
11172-481: The universities of Oxford , Cambridge , or London or other professional organisations managed by the government. Barristers were especially included in the order of the esquires. Members of the armed forces as well as those who were inducted in to it from other services, temporarily or permanently, were also called esquires. In the French Nobility , écuyer ('squire', lit. ' shield bearer ' )
11286-508: 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
11400-479: 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
11514-531: 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
11628-402: 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
11742-417: 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
11856-480: Was being mocked by Shakespeare in his character Robert Shallow , a justice of the peace : ...a gentleman born, master parson; who writes himself "Armigero," in any bill, warrant, quittance, or obligation, "Armigero." To which Shallow directly replies: Ay, that I do; and have done any time these three hundred years. Nineteenth century tables of precedence further distinguished between "esquires by birth" and "esquires by office" (and likewise for "gentleman"). Today
11970-617: Was delighted to find he had been misrecorded as just a gentleman having to pay 10 shillings, a twentieth of the correct amount. Although esquire is the English translation of the French écuyer , the latter indicated legal membership in the nobilities of ancien régime France and contemporaneous Belgium, whereas an esquire belongs to the British gentry rather than to its nobility , albeit that "gentry" in England means untitled nobility. Écuyer in French (Actually Escuier in Old French) (in
12084-791: 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
12198-487: Was essentially a matter of impression as to whether a person qualified for this status. William Segar , Garter King of Arms (the senior officer of arms at the College of Arms ), wrote in 1602: "And who so can make proofe, that his Ancestors or himselfe, have had Armes, or can procure them by purchase, may be called Armiger or Esquier." Honor military, and civill (1602; lib. 4, cap. 15, p. 228). (By Armes he referred to
12312-535: Was generally considered to be old-fashioned but was still used by some traditional individuals. However, from around 2010 it has started to return once more as a formal address to a male in business and also in a social setting, particularly where the status of an individual is unknown so is used more as a general courtesy title. Its usage has always remained constant with organisations such as Christie's and Berry Bros. & Rudd . British men invited to Buckingham Palace also receive their invitations in an envelope with
12426-400: 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
12540-684: 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
12654-575: 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
12768-554: 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 ,
12882-421: Was the lowest specific rank, to which the vast majority of untitled nobles were entitled; also called valet or noble homme in certain regions. In Belgium , écuyer ( French ) or its Dutch equivalent jonkheer is the lowest title within the nobility system, recognised by the Court of Cassation . Courtesy title A courtesy title is a title that does not have legal significance but
12996-428: Was used generally as the default title for all men who did not have a grander title when addressing correspondence, with letters addressed using the name in initial format (e.g., K. S. Smith, Esq. ) but Mr being used as the form of address (e.g. Dear Mr Smith ). In the 1970s, the use of Esq. started to decline, and by the end of the 20th century most people had stopped using it and changed to using Mr instead. Esq.
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