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107-429: The first well-known member of the family was Ato I , viscount of Albi in the early 10th century. He was followed by five generations of viscounts of Albi in direct father-to-son descent. During this same period the family came to dominate the episcopacy of Languedoc. Each of the viscounts from Ato II on had a younger brother named Frotarius (or Frothaire) who was a bishop, be it of Albi , Cahors , or Nîmes . In 1069,

214-720: 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

321-431: 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,

428-543: 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

535-1088: A general council of the Church, which met in Rome at the Lateran Basilica beginning on 5 March, and came to be called the Third Lateran Council . The 27th Canon of the Council addressed the heresies which were to be found in Gascony, the Albigeois, and Toulouse ( in Gasconia, Albegesio, et partibus Tolosanis, et aliis locis ) under the names Cathars, Patrines, Publicani, and other names. Anathemas were hurled against them, forbidding anyone to favor or to do business with them in their homes or on their properties. In 1180 Pope Alexander appointed Cardinal Henri de Marsiac, who had once been Abbot of Clairvaux and who had been promoted Bishop of Albano at

642-757: A penalty, since there was considerable support among the people for their cause. Thereafter the "good men" were called Albigensians. In 1167 the Albigensians were numerous and confident enough that they held their own Council at Saint-Felix-de-Caraman. A Bogomil bishop Nicetas, and Marcus, a representative of the Lombard community, were present. This council defined the geographical span of the Albigensian Bishoprics of Agenais, Toulouse, Albigeios and Carcasses (Carcassonne). The Albigensian bishop of Albi, Sicard Cellarier, took part. In 1179 Pope Alexander III summoned

749-688: 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

856-494: 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

963-573: 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

1070-513: 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

1177-897: 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

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1284-422: A treasurer, and a dean. A provost is also mentioned under Frotardus. Pope Boniface VIII , in a bull of 29 September 1297, secularized the canons. This led to an immediate and intense struggle between the bishop, Bernard de Castanet, and the canons of the cathedral chapter over the redistribution of the property and rights which had belonged to the monks of the monastery. Prebends had to be created, and issues over

1391-536: 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

1498-437: 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

1605-745: 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

1712-467: 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

1819-484: 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

1926-430: 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

2033-456: 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

2140-628: 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

2247-495: 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

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2354-404: 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

2461-462: 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

2568-775: 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

2675-562: 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 ,

2782-538: 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

2889-479: 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

2996-492: 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

3103-424: 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

3210-738: 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

3317-459: 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

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3424-573: The Archdiocese of Toulouse , and it comprises the department of Tarn . In the 12th century, the spread of alternative beliefs in the region led to the arrival of church authorities to refute and try the " heretics ". Among them were the Good Men, from whom the Cathars became known as Albigensians. The latter held their own council in 1167, and their bishopric was defined. In 1179, Pope Alexander III summoned

3531-611: The Concordat of 1801 , it was integrated into the See of Montpellier . Finally, with the Concordat of 11 June 1817 , the Archdiocese of Albi was restored. In May 2018, Legrez restructured the diocese to reflect the reality of the church in the region. The totality of parishes , which had been around since the Middle Ages , were reduced from 503 to 21. Originally erected around the 5th century as

3638-539: 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

3745-485: 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

3852-547: 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,

3959-820: 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

4066-554: The National Constituent Assembly decided to bring the French church under the control of the state. Civil government of the provinces was to be reorganized into new units called ' départements ', originally intended to be 83 or 84 in number. The dioceses of the Roman Catholic Church were to be reduced in number, to coincide as much as possible with the new departments. Since there were more than 130 bishoprics at

4173-609: 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

4280-494: The Third Lateran Council , where he condemned them. In the early 1200s, a religious and military crusade was waged against the movement and they were largely destroyed. The Diocese of Albi was established in the 5th century and was under the Archdiocese of Bourges for centuries. On 3 October 1678, Pope Innocent XI made it an archdiocese. With the arrival of the French Revolution , it was suppressed in favor of Tarn. With

4387-951: 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

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4494-502: 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;

4601-798: The 20th century, when it was replaced by English as the United States became the dominant global power following the Second World War . Stanley Meisler of the Los Angeles Times said that the fact that the Treaty of Versailles was written in English as well as French was the "first diplomatic blow" against the language. During the Grand Siècle (17th century), France, under the rule of powerful leaders such as Cardinal Richelieu and Louis XIV , enjoyed

4708-544: The Albigeois in October. In 1275 the Dominicans held their General Chapter meeting in Perpignan. At that meeting they took the decision to establish a convent of Dominicans in Albi, and they sent eight members of the Order to undertake the task. In the next year the convent opened, with Bernard Bociat elected the first Prior Conventual. The first stone of their church, Saint-Louis, was laid by Bishop de Castenet in 1293. On 6 March 1474, King Louis XI of France by patent letters granted Bishop Louis d'Amboise and his successors

4815-510: 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

4922-614: 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,

5029-477: The Croix de guerre. In February 1922, the name was changed to its current designation of the Archdiocese of Albi-Castres-Lavour. In May 2018, Archbishop Jean Legrez restructured the diocese to take into account the severe decline in the number of priests and parishioners. The number of parishes was reduced from 503 to 21. French language French ( français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] )

5136-483: The Cult of Reason, the bishop went into hiding, and his diocese was abolished; but, after the Terror, when it was restored, he found that more than 200 of his priests had resigned, and 40 of them had married. Gausserand held three synods in the diocese, in 1797 and 1801. He refused the opportunity to reconcile at the time of the Concordat of 1801 . In 1808 he was struck with the interdict and he died in exile in Toulouse on 12 February 1820, without having been reconciled with

5243-427: The Diocese of Albi, the diocese was for centuries a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Bourges . In 1145 Pope Eugenius sent Cardinal Albericus , the bishop of Ostia, to Toulouse as his legate against the Petrobusian heretics, and Cardinal Albericus took the Cistercian monk Bernard of Clairvaux along with him. Gofridus of Clarivaux, an associate of Bernard, left a highly colored account of Bernard's work in confuting

5350-408: 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

5457-416: 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

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5564-447: The Lateran Council, to serve as Legate in France against the Albigensians. In June 1181 he led a body of knights against the town of Lavaur, which served as the headquarters of the Cathar bishop of Toulouse. The Cardinal also held councils at Le Puy, Bazas, Limoges, Bourges and Bordeaux. He returned to Rome only after the death of Pope Alexander. The Vicomté d'Albi was united with the crown by King Louis VIII in 1226, during his visit to

5671-465: The Petrobosian leader Henry of Lausanne ; after several days of preaching in Toulouse, Bernard caused Henri to flee, but he was quickly captured and turned over to the bishop of Toulouse. Bernard also preached against the Manichaean heretics of the neighborhood, though at the castle-town of Verfeil, some ten miles east of Toulouse, he was completely unsuccessful. The cardinal, followed some days later by Bernard, then visited Albi. The Cardinal's reception

5778-494: The Presidency of the Three Estates of Languedoc, which included the lands of Perpignan and Roussillon, as well as the Bordelais and Guienne. On 3 October 1678, Pope Innocent XI , in the Bull Triumphans pastor aeternus , raised the diocese to the status of a metropolitan archbishopric. The province was composed of the dioceses of Albi, Rodez, Castres, Cahors, Vabres, and Mende. The bull was confirmed by King Louis XIV in letters patent dated 14 June 1680. The canons (priests) of

5885-450: The Roman Catholic Church. After the signing of the Concordat of 1801 with First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte, Pope Pius VII demanded the resignation of all bishops in France, in order to leave no doubt as to who was a legitimate bishop and who was a Constitutional imposter. He then immediately abolished all of the dioceses in France, for the same reason. Then he began to restore the old Ancien Régime dioceses, or most of them, though not with

5992-442: The Vicomte of Béziers, and the Vicomte of Laurac; and practically the entire population of Albi and Lombers. Bishop Gaucelinus of Lodève, who acted as inquisitor, had six topics concerning the theological doctrine and practices of the "good men" on which he interrogated them closely, sometimes in fact engaging in debate. The "good men" refused to use or respond to arguments or texts from the Old Testament. They were reluctant to discuss

6099-477: The castle in fief. The "good men" were under suspicion of heresy, and they were expected to answer the charges against them. The Bishop fortified his court with a large assembly of notables: the archbishop of Narbonne and the bishops of Agde, Lodève, Nîmes, and Toulouse; the abbots of S. Pons, Castres, Sendrac, Saint-Guilham, Gaillac, Candeil, and others; the provosts of Toulouse and of Albi; the archdeacons of Narbonne and Agde; Countess Constance of Toulouse, Trincavel

6206-431: The cathedral chapter of Albi had once lived under the rule of Saint Augustine , since perhaps the 11th century. Bishop Frotardus, at some point before his deposition in 1075, carried out a reform of the cathedral chapter, complaining of the greed, lack of chastity, and neglect of duty of the canons. Most of the canons returned to their duty. The document attesting to the reform mentions two sacristans, capiscolaris (cantor),

6313-541: The centre of Languedoc gave them considerable power in the 11th and 12th centuries. The counts of Barcelona and Toulouse both had large territories to the east and west, and valued a potential alliance with a family that stood in the middle. For the most part, the Trencavels allied with Barcelona against Toulouse. But as a result of the Albigensian Crusade , the last Trencavels lost their lands and titles. Roger II , son of Raymond I, inherited his father's four viscounties. His sister son, Raymond Roger , also held them, but

6420-433: The constitutional oath on 27 December 1790. He was consecrated a Constitutional Bishop in Paris at Notre Dame on 3 April 1791 by Constitutuonal Bishop Antoine-Adrien Lamourette. The consecration was valid, but canonically irregular, schismatic, and blasphemous (as a parody of genuine Catholic sacraments). Gausserand took possession of the diocese of Tarn on 1 May 1791. When religion was formally abolished in 1793 and replaced by

6527-404: 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

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6634-418: The diocese canonically, receiving the pallium on 1 June 1795. He did not actually resign canonically, however, until 2 March 1802. The electors of Tarn, meeting at Castres on 13 March 1791, chose in his place Jean-Joachim Gausserand, who was a beneficier of the cathedral chapter of Albi and promoter forain of the district of Gaillac. He had been elected a deputy to the Estates General of 1789, and had taken

6741-448: 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

6848-489: 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

6955-587: The eucharist (though they admitted that any good man, cleric or layman could consecrate), marriage, or penance (They would only say that the sick could confess to anyone they wanted). In return, the "good men" accused the prelates of being guilty of unchristian greed and luxury, lupi rapaces , and they named Bishop William a heretic. Bishop Gaucelinus pronounced sentence on the "good men" as heretics, and offered them an oath of purgation in which they could demonstrate their orthodoxy. They refused. Bishop Guillaume could not bring himself to compel them to swear, or to impose

7062-408: The event of Roger's death without heirs, Carcassonne would pass to Raymond. In 1150, Roger died and his three viscounties all passed to Raymond. After a series of disputes, the viscounty of Agde was divided between Raymond and Bernard Ato, with the latter holding the title. The elder branch of Béziers-Albi-Carcassonne-Razès and the younger of Nîmes-Agde were to remain sister separate for the remainder of

7169-408: The family's existence. The practical capital of the elder branch was Béziers. During this period considerable urban unrest emerged as the growing cities tried to assert their independence. Raymond I was killed during one such revolt in Béziers. There was also revolts in Carcassonne in 1107 and 1120–1124, during which four years the Trencavel were expelled from the city. The Trencavel's lands in

7276-406: 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

7383-439: 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 ,

7490-715: 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

7597-490: The lands of the counts of Carcassonne, but never assumed the comital title. Bernard Ato was formally proclaimed viscount after the death of his mother in 1101. The sons of Ato IV divided their inheritance. The eldest, Roger I , took Albi, Carcassonne, and Razès, but had no children. The second, Raymond I took Béziers and Agde. The youngest, Bernard Ato V , inherited Nîmes and married Guilhelma, daughter of William VI of Montpellier . In 1132, Roger and Raymond agreed that in

7704-508: 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

7811-474: 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

7918-602: 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 ,

8025-469: The last known Trencavels, ruling only the castle of Limoux . Raymond II's granddaughter was living at Cesseras in 1332, but the family disappears thereafter. Bishop of Albi The Archdiocese of Albi ( Latin : Archidioecesis Albiensis–Castrensis–Vauriensis ); ( French : Archidiocèse d'Albi–Castres–Lavaur ) is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is suffragan to

8132-475: 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

8239-420: 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

8346-574: 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;

8453-528: 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

8560-465: The papacy; the transfer of bishops, likewise, which had formerly been the exclusive prerogative of the pope in canon law, would be the privilege of the state; the election of bishops no longer lay with the Cathedral Chapters (which were all abolished), with other responsible clergy or the pope, but with electors who did not have to be Catholics or Christians. A new civil department, called "Tarn",

8667-462: 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

8774-504: The provost, the cantor, the succentor, the three archdeacons, and the theologian. Their prebends were granted by the bishop. In 1678 there were eight dignities, twenty canons, and forty-eight prebends. In 1747 there were nine dignities and twenty canons. There was also a collegiate church in Albi, the Church of Saint-Salvi, which was also served by a college of canons, at least since the mid-eleventh century. The canons, twelve in number, followed

8881-464: 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

8988-400: The rights of presentation to various churches and priories (which ones were to belong to the bishop, and which to the canons) had to be settled. The hostility that grew out of this situation certainly influenced the attempt in 1307–1308 to have Bishop de Castenet deposed by the pope. The cathedral chapter was composed of seven dignities ( not dignitaries) and twenty canons. The dignities were:

9095-488: The rule of Saint Augustine, and were headed by a provost. The provost was elected by the canons and confirmed by the bishop, and had the right to confer all the benefices that belonged to the collegiate church. The Collège of Albi was established on 19 May 1623 by Bishop Alphonse d'Elbène and provided with an endowment of 3,000 livres. The Seminary of Albi was erected by the first archbishop, Hyacinthe Serroni, in 1684. In 1790

9202-519: The same boundaries as before the Revolution , but instead taking account of the abolition of the Estates and Provinces and the creation of the new department system of civil government. The diocese of Albi was not one of those revived by Pope Pius VII in his bull Qui Christi Domini of 29 November 1801. The territory of the former diocese of Albi was assigned to the diocese of Montpellier, which also received

9309-571: The territories of the suppressed dioceses of Agde, Lavaur, Narbonne, Saint-Pons, and Vabres. Following the Concordat of 11 June 1817 , the archdiocese was restored in 1822 to its former borders and title. During the First World War, 349 members of the clergy of the diocese of Albi were mobilized. Seventeen died, six won the Légion d'honneur, three won the Médaille militaire, and sixty-three were awarded

9416-568: The three daughters of Peter II of Carcassonne sold the Counties of Carcassonne , Razès , the Béziers and Agde to Raymond Berengar I of Barcelona for 4,000 mancusos . By marriage to Ermengard, daughter of Peter II, Raymond Bernard, son of Bernard Ato III, became viscount of Carcassonne. He had already acquired Nîmes. By 1070, he was viscount of Béziers. His son Bernard Ato IV was viscount of Albi, Béziers, Carcassonne, Nîmes, and Razès. He thus held all

9523-637: The time of the Revolution, more than fifty dioceses needed to be suppressed and their territories consolidated. Clergy would need to take an oath of allegiance to the state and its constitution, specified by the Civil Constitution of the Clergy , and they would become salaried officials of the state. Both bishops and priests would be elected by special 'electors' in each department. This brought schism, since bishops would no longer need to be approved (preconised) by

9630-462: 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

9737-506: The true and orthodox faith. His companion and biographer, Geoffrey of Auxerre, was less certain, an evaluation which appeared more realistic in the outcome. Geoffrey also wrote to the monks at Clairvaux that Bernard's return should be expected some time after the Octave of the Assumption (the last week of August). The cardinal was back with the pope in time for Christmas in Rome. In 1147, while he

9844-673: 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

9951-508: 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

10058-479: 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

10165-531: 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

10272-402: 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

10379-417: 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

10486-758: Was captured after the fall of Carcassonne to the Crusaders. He died in prison at the end of 1209. Meanwhile, Bernard Ato VI , son of Bernard Ato V, ceded his rights as viscount of Nîmes and Agde to the Crusading leader Simon de Montfort in 1214. Raymond Roger's son, Raymond II , formally ceded his titles in 1210, though he reclaimed Carcassonne in 1224, only to lose it to Louis VIII of France in 1226. He continued to call himself viscount until 1247, when he once again formally ceded his rights, this time to Louis IX , and symbolically broke his vicecomital seals, after several failed attempts to recover his patrimony. He and his sons are

10593-498: Was cold and jeering, reflecting no doubt the well-known anti-clerical attitudes of the Albigensians, in particular the luxury and arrogance of the higher clergy. Bernard's reception was more friendly, his reputation as an ascetic and celibate approximating the Albigensian view of "the good men". He was favorably received in his sermon in the cathedral on 29 June, and, at least in his own imagination, he persuaded large numbers to return to

10700-618: Was created by the French Legislative Assembly . The old diocese of Albi was suppressed, and a new "Diocese of Tarn" was created, with its center at Albi. It was assigned as a suffragan to the "Metropole du Sud". Archbishop François-Joachim de Bernis of Albi refused to take the oath to the Civil Constitution of the Clergy , and therefore his see was declared by the Legislative Assembly to be vacant. Cardinal de Bernis died on 2 November 1794. His nephew and coadjutor succeeded to

10807-791: 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

10914-515: Was examined first at Auxerre, then in Paris (April–June), and finally at the Council of Reims in March 1148. In 1165 a judicial meeting was assembled by Bishop Guillaume de Dorgne of Albi at the castle-town of Lombers, two leagues (c. 10 miles) south of Albi, a place agreed upon by the "good men" ( boni homines ) of the Vaudois, where they believed they would be safe under the protection of the knights who held

11021-400: 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

11128-684: 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

11235-575: 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

11342-452: Was still on his journey to France, Pope Eugene III received reports, charges that Bishop Gilibertus of Poitiers was guilty of heresy; the information was brought by two of Gilibertus' own Archdeacons. Gilibertus was summoned to answer to the charges. As the two Archdeacons were returning to France, they consulted with the well-known Cistercian monk, Bernard of Clairvaux, who became eager to help them in bringing Gilibertus to account. The Bishop

11449-554: Was the language they use the most at home rose from 67% at the 2007 census to 74% at the 2017 census. In Wallis and Futuna, the percentage of the population who reported that French was the language they use the most at home rose from 10% at the 2008 census to 13% at the 2018 census. According to a demographic projection led by the Université Laval and the Réseau Démographie de l'Agence universitaire de la Francophonie ,

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