Reconvilier is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland . It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura ( Jura Bernois ).
106-425: Reconvilier is first mentioned in 884 as Roconis villare . The former German name Rokwiler is no longer used today. The oldest trace of a settlement in the area are two ceramic and three bronze bowls which probably come from a Roman villa from the 2nd or 3rd century. In 884, the village appears as an estate belonging to Moutier-Grandval Abbey . The noble Reconvilier family appears in historical records beginning in
212-742: 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
318-617: A "villa" by modern scholars. Two kinds of villas were generally described: Other examples of villae urbanae were the middle and late Republican villas that encroached on the Campus Martius , at that time on the edge of Rome, the one at Rome's Parco della Musica or at Grottarossa in Rome, and those outside the city walls of Pompeii which demonstrate the antiquity and heritage of the villa urbana in Central Italy. A third type of villa
424-720: 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
530-680: A breeze. Villas were centres of a variety of economic activity such as mining, pottery factories, or horse raising such as those found in northwestern Gaul . Villas specialising in the seagoing export of olive oil to Roman legions in Germany became a feature of the southern Iberian province of Hispania Baetica . In some cases villas survived the fall of the Empire into the Early Middle Ages ; large working villas were donated by aristocrats and territorial magnates to individual monks, often to become
636-431: 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,
742-543: 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
848-486: A married resident, with two children, of Reconvilier making 150,000 CHF was 13.3%, while an unmarried resident's rate was 19.5%. For comparison, the rate for the entire canton in the same year, was 14.2% and 22.0%, while the nationwide rate was 12.3% and 21.1% respectively. In 2009 there were a total of 980 tax payers in the municipality. Of that total, 280 made over 75,000 CHF per year. There were 16 people who made between 15,000 and 20,000 per year. The average income of
954-688: 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
1060-494: 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
1166-573: 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
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#17330860526321272-513: 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
1378-897: 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
1484-500: A similar founding. As late as 698, Willibrord established Echternach Abbey at a Roman villa near the city of Trier (now Echternach in Luxembourg ) which Irmina of Oeren , daughter of Dagobert II , king of the Franks , presented to him. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is
1590-534: A total of 308 students attending any school in the municipality. Of those, 274 both lived and attended school in the municipality, while 34 students came from another municipality. During the same year, 70 residents attended schools outside the municipality. The municipality has a railway station, Reconvilier . It is located on the Sonceboz-Sombeval–Moutier line and has regular service to Biel/Bienne and Moutier . Roman villa A Roman villa
1696-475: A total of 814 people employed in the municipality. Of these, there were 25 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 9 businesses involved in this sector. 353 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 28 businesses in this sector. 436 people were employed in the tertiary sector , with 54 businesses in this sector. There were 1,138 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 43.1% of
1802-536: 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
1908-437: 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
2014-467: 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
2120-484: 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
2226-430: 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
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#17330860526322332-456: 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
2438-420: Is either rivers or lakes. During the same year, industrial buildings made up 1.5% of the total area while housing and buildings made up 7.0% and transportation infrastructure made up 3.3%. Out of the forested land, 37.7% of the total land area is heavily forested and 4.2% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 16.6% is used for growing crops and 14.3% is pastures and 13.2%
2544-628: 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
2650-495: 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
2756-404: 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
2862-462: 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
2968-775: 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
3074-562: 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 ,
3180-538: 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
3286-479: 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
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3392-492: 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
3498-424: 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
3604-481: Is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. The municipality is located in the Tavannes valley. It consists of the village of Reconvilier and the hamlet of Chaindon. On 31 December 2009 District de Moutier, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Arrondissement administratif Jura bernois. The blazon of
3710-695: The 2011 federal election the most popular party was the Swiss People's Party (SVP) which received 32.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the Social Democratic Party (SP) (24.3%), the FDP.The Liberals (8.1%) and the Evangelical People's Party (EVP) (7.6%). In the federal election, a total of 580 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 39.5%. As of 2011, Reconvilier had an unemployment rate of 2.4%. As of 2008, there were
3816-738: 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
3922-459: 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
4028-626: The Bay of Naples like the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum , or on the isle of Capri , at Circeii and at Antium . Wealthy Romans also escaped the summer heat in the hills within easy reach of Rome , especially around Frascati and including the imperial Hadrian's Villa -palace at Tivoli . Cicero allegedly possessed no fewer than seven villas, the oldest of them, which he inherited, near Arpinum in Latium. Pliny
4134-539: 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
4240-485: 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
4346-547: 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,
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4452-820: 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
4558-609: 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
4664-642: The Protestant Reformation . It separated from the parish to form an independent parish in 1908. The current parish church was built as a village church in 1740. It was renovated in 1924-26 and again in 1992. Industry began to move into the village in the second half of the 19th century. In 1851 the watch parts factory Bueche, Boillat et Cie opened. In 1876 a station on the Basel - Biel railroad opened in Reconvilier. The convenient transportation link allowed
4770-951: 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
4876-464: The hypocaust . The late Roman Republic witnessed an explosion of villa construction in central Italy (current regions of Toscana, Umbria, Lazio, and Campania), especially in the years following the dictatorship of Sulla (81 BC). For example the villa at Settefinestre from the 1st century BC was the centre of one of the latifundia involved in large-scale agricultural production in Etruria . In
4982-655: The 12th century and lasting until the 15th. The village remained under the Abbey's control until it was secularized around 1531. Then Reconvilier came under the authority of the provost of Moutier-Grandval who represented the Prince-Bishop of Basel . After the 1797 French victory and the Treaty of Campo Formio , Reconvilier became part of the French Département of Mont-Terrible . Three years later, in 1800 it became part of
5088-455: 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;
5194-415: The 2011-12 school year, there were a total of 266 students attending classes in Reconvilier. There were 3 kindergarten classes with a total of 40 students in the municipality. Of the kindergarten students, 5.0% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 27.5% have a different mother language than the classroom language. The municipality had 8 primary classes and 145 students. Of
5300-474: 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
5406-510: 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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#17330860526325512-614: 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,
5618-410: The Département of Haut-Rhin . After Napoleon 's defeat and the Congress of Vienna , Reconvilier was assigned to the Canton of Bern in 1815. The Chapel of Saint-Léonard in Chaindon is first mentioned in 962. However, both Reconvilier and Chaindon were part of the parish of Tavannes for most of their history. In 1530, the entire Tavannes parish, including Reconvilier converted to the new faith of
5724-408: 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
5830-416: 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
5936-636: The Younger had three or four which are well known from his descriptions. By the 4th century, "villa" could simply connote an agricultural holding: Jerome translated in the Gospel of Mark (xiv, 32) chorion , describing the olive grove of Gethsemane , with villa, without an inference that there were any dwellings there at all. By the first century BC, the "classic" villa took many architectural forms, with many examples employing an atrium or peristyle for interior spaces open to light and air. Villas were often furnished with heated bath suites ( thermae ) and many would have had under-floor heating known as
6042-498: The census, 61.5% were Swiss men, 24.1% were Swiss women, 6.4% were non-Swiss men and 8.0% were non-Swiss women. The Canton of Bern school system provides one year of non-obligatory Kindergarten , followed by six years of Primary school. This is followed by three years of obligatory lower Secondary school where the students are separated according to ability and aptitude. Following the lower Secondary students may attend additional schooling or they may enter an apprenticeship . During
6148-403: The construction rate of new housing units was 0.4 new units per 1000 residents. The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2012, was 5.99%. In 2011, single family homes made up 63.5% of the total housing in the municipality. The historical population is given in the following chart: The entire urbanized village of Reconvilier is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites In
6254-404: 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
6360-421: The earliest examples are mostly humble farmhouses in Italy, while from the Republican period a range of larger building types are included. The present meaning of "villa" is partially based on the fairly numerous ancient Roman written sources and on archaeological remains, though many of these are poorly preserved. The most detailed ancient text on the meaning of "villa" is by Varro (116–27 BC) dating from
6466-448: 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
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#17330860526326572-489: 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
6678-418: The end of the Republican period, which is used for most modern considerations. But Roman authors (e.g. Columella [4-70 AD], Cato the Elder [234-149 BC]) wrote in different times, with different objectives and for aristocratic readers and hence had specific interpretations of villa . The Romans built many kinds of villas and any country house with some decorative features in the Roman style may be called
6784-406: 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
6890-439: 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 ,
6996-715: 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
7102-418: The imperial period villas sometimes became quite palatial, such as the villas built on seaside slopes overlooking the Gulf of Naples at Baiae and those at Stabiae and the Villa of the Papyri and its library at Herculaneum preserved by the ashfall from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79. Areas within easy reach of Rome offered cool lodgings in the heat of summer. Hadrian's Villa at Tibur ( Tivoli )
7208-401: 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
7314-424: 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
7420-501: 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 ,
7526-428: 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
7632-452: The manufacturing sector still provides over half of all jobs in the municipality. Reconvilier has an area of 8.25 km (3.19 sq mi). As of 2012, a total of 3.69 km (1.42 sq mi) or 44.7% is used for agricultural purposes, while 3.46 km (1.34 sq mi) or 41.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 1.06 km (0.41 sq mi) or 12.8% is settled (buildings or roads), 0.01 km (2.5 acres) or 0.1%
7738-412: The municipal coat of arms is Argent a Bend wavy Sable and in chief sinister a Mullet of Five of the same. Reconvilier has a population (as of December 2020) of 2,380. As of 2010, 16.1% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2001-2011) the population has changed at a rate of -2.3%. Migration accounted for -2.7%, while births and deaths accounted for -0.2%. Most of
7844-404: The municipality for every one leaving. A total of 565 workers (48.0% of the 1,176 total workers in the municipality) both lived and worked in Reconvilier. About 2.9% of the workforce coming into Reconvilier are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 11% used public transportation to get to work, and 56.9% used a private car. In 2011 the average local and cantonal tax rate on
7950-419: The municipality. There were 1,146 married individuals, 197 widows or widowers and 141 individuals who are divorced. As of 2010, there were 351 households that consist of only one person and 58 households with five or more people. In 2000, a total of 998 apartments (87.5% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 66 apartments (5.8%) were seasonally occupied and 77 apartments (6.7%) were empty. As of 2010,
8056-478: 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
8162-456: The nucleus of famous monasteries . For example, Saint Benedict established a monastery in the ruins of a villa at Subiaco that had belonged to Nero . Around 590, Saint Eligius was born in a highly placed Gallo-Roman family at the 'villa' of Chaptelat near Limoges , in Aquitaine . The abbey at Stavelot was founded ca 650 on the domain of a former villa near Liège and Vézelay Abbey had
8268-630: 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;
8374-528: 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
8480-502: The over 75,000 CHF group in Reconvilier was 106,218 CHF, while the average across all of Switzerland was 130,478 CHF. In 2011 a total of 5.0% of the population received direct financial assistance from the government. From the 2000 census, 1,082 or 44.8% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church , while 687 or 28.4% were Roman Catholic . Of the rest of the population, there were 12 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.50% of
8586-410: The population (as of 2000) speaks French (1,999 or 82.7%) as their first language, German is the second most common (166 or 6.9%) and Italian is the third (72 or 3.0%). As of 2008, the population was 48.9% male and 51.1% female. The population was made up of 897 Swiss men (40.1% of the population) and 197 (8.8%) non-Swiss men. There were 980 Swiss women (43.8%) and 164 (7.3%) non-Swiss women. Of
8692-580: The population in the municipality, 682 or about 28.2% were born in Reconvilier and lived there in 2000. There were 744 or 30.8% who were born in the same canton, while 369 or 15.3% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 445 or 18.4% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2011, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 21.6% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.7% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 19.7%. As of 2000, there were 933 people who were single and never married in
8798-428: The population) belonged to no church, are agnostic or atheist , and 114 individuals (or about 4.72% of the population) did not answer the question. In Reconvilier about 49.2% of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education , and 12.4% have completed additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule ). Of the 187 who had completed some form of tertiary schooling listed in
8904-523: The population), there were 4 individuals (or about 0.17% of the population) who belonged to the Christian Catholic Church , and there were 266 individuals (or about 11.01% of the population) who belonged to another Christian church. There were 63 (or about 2.61% of the population) who were Islamic . There were 5 individuals who were Buddhist , 3 individuals who were Hindu and 5 individuals who belonged to another church. 176 (or about 7.28% of
9010-462: 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
9116-447: The primary students, 17.9% were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 17.2% have a different mother language than the classroom language. During the same year, there were 5 lower secondary classes with a total of 81 students. There were 9.9% who were permanent or temporary residents of Switzerland (not citizens) and 9.9% have a different mother language than the classroom language. As of 2000, there were
9222-429: The repair of motor vehicles, 13 or 3.9% were in the movement and storage of goods, 25 or 7.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 1.2% were technical professionals or scientists, 29 or 8.7% were in education and 83 or 24.9% were in health care. In 2000, there were 629 workers who commuted into the municipality and 573 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net importer of workers, with about 1.1 workers entering
9328-464: 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
9434-462: 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
9540-619: 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
9646-508: 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
9752-479: 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
9858-576: The village to expand into an important watchmaking center. The Bueche, Boillat et Cie company changed their name to Générale Watch Co in 1895 and until 1975 it sold Helvetia brand watches. In 1853, the Société horlogère was created. It sold watches under the Reconvilier Watch Company name until 1970. Both factories closed during the Quartz crisis of the 1970s, though the Reconvilier Watch Company name
9964-425: The workforce. In 2008 there were a total of 683 full-time equivalent jobs. The number of jobs in the primary sector was 16, all of which were in agriculture. The number of jobs in the secondary sector was 333 of which 250 or (75.1%) were in manufacturing and 83 (24.9%) were in construction. The number of jobs in the tertiary sector was 334. In the tertiary sector; 145 or 43.4% were in wholesale or retail sales or
10070-531: 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
10176-402: 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
10282-458: Was a large commercial estate called latifundium which produced and exported agricultural produce; such villas might lack luxuries (e.g. Cato) but many were very sumptuous (e.g. Varro). The whole estate of a villa was also called a praedium , fundus or sometimes, rus . A villa rustica had 2 or 3 parts: Under the Empire, many patrician villas were built on the coasts ( villae maritimae ) such as those on picturesque sites overlooking
10388-417: 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
10494-791: 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
10600-447: 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
10706-549: Was in an area popular with Romans of rank. Cicero had several villas. Pliny the Younger described his villas in his letters. The Romans invented the seaside villa: a vignette in a frescoed wall at the House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto in Pompeii still shows a row of seafront villas, all with porticos along the front, some rising up in porticoed tiers to an altana at the top that would catch
10812-684: 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
10918-510: Was reincorporated in Zug in 2006. The company now, operates under the name of Société Horlogère Reconvilier AG and besides producing a classic watch line, they have now moved into the business of supplying high-tech, GPS-based watches, which feature distance measurement for golf players. In 1855, Bueche, Boillat et Cie built a foundry to supply metal to the company. After passing through several different owners, it became part of Swissmetal in 1989. Today
11024-575: 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
11130-554: 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 ,
11236-498: Was typically a farmhouse or country house in the territory of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire , sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Nevertheless, the term "Roman villa" generally covers buildings with the common features of being extra-urban (i.e. located outside urban settlements, unlike the domus which was inside them) and residential, with accommodation for the owner. The definition also changed with time:
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