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Language

French

Romance Languages

French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family, natively spoken in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Canada and much of Francophone Africa.

Facts
ISO 639-3 Code
fra 2
Speaker Count
312,000,000 2
Ethnologue total figure combining native and second-language speakers, 2012-2024.
Status
Living 2
Wikipedia article on French: a currently spoken living language with an active native-speaker population; checked 2026-09-27.
Attested From (Year)
from 842 6
Region
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Francophone Africa, Canada, and other Francophone locations 2
Classification
Language Kind
Safe 1
Official Status
Official Language 2
Wikipedia 'French language': French is an official language in 26 countries; checked 2026-09-27.
Browse and compare
Word Order
SVO 3
Tone
Not Tonal 4
Difficulty for an English Speaker
Category I 5
French
Filter Results1 entry

Latin Script

French
Connections

Ancestor Of

Acadian French, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Acadian French
Belgian French, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Belgian French
Cajun French, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Louisiana French
Haitian Creole, Languages

Haitian Creole is a French-lexifier creole language, textbook-classified as descending from (colonial) French.

Quebec French, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Quebec French
Swiss French, Dialects and Varieties
Source Wikipedia: Swiss French

In Family

Indo-European, Language Families
Source Wikipedia: French Language

Written In

Latin Script, Scripts
In the Other Atlases

Cases Where Used

Concordat of 1801

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Congo

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Laudato Si'

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Saint-Domingue

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Caribbean

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Edict of Fontainebleau

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Edict of Nantes

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Guianas

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

The Law of 9 December 1905 on the Separation of the Churches and the State

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

West Africa and the Caribbean

Also in Divinity Atlas: used in this subject.

Boxer Protocol

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Camp David Accords

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Charter of the United Nations

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article
The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen de 1789), set by France's National Constituent Assembly in 1789, is a human and civil rights document from the French Revolution; the French title can be translated in the modern era as "Declaration of Human and Civil Rights".
Edict of Nantes

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Entente Cordiale

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Kyoto Protocol

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Napoleonic Code

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Napoleonic Code, WikipediaLead
Quote, Lead
(French: Code Napoléon), officially the Civil Code of the French (French: Code civil des Français; simply referred to as Code civil)
North Atlantic Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Outer Space Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Paris Agreement

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Peace of Ryswick

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Rome Statute

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Statute of Westminster 1275

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Statuto Albertino

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Amiens

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Campo Formio

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of London (1915)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Neuilly-sur-Seine

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Paris (1856)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Portsmouth

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919)

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of San Francisco

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Tlatelolco

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Treaty of Utrecht

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Source Universal Declaration of Human Rights, WikipediaArticle text
Quote, Article text
The Declaration was officially adopted as a French document, with official translations in English, Chinese, Russian and Spanish, all of which are official working languages of the UN.
Washington Naval Treaty

Also in History Atlas: used in this subject.

Bretons

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Métis

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: used in this subject.

Original Language Of

Charles Baudelaire

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Charles Perrault

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Charles Perrault (Wikipedia)Lead section [original-language]
Quote, Lead section [original-language]
was a French author and member of the Académie Française
Chrétien de Troyes

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Chrétien de Troyes (Wikipedia)Works [original-language]
Quote, Works [original-language]
Chrétien's works are written in vernacular Old French
Christine de Pizan

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Clarice Lispector

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Comte de Gabalis

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Confessions

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Cyrano de Bergerac (play)

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Cyrano de Bergerac (play, Wikipedia)Leadtier 3
Quote, Lead
is a French play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand
Dada Manifesto 1918

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Denis Diderot

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Elie Wiesel

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Elie Wiesel (Wikipedia)Lead [original-language]
Quote, Lead [original-language]
written mostly in French and English
Émile Zola

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Ernest Hemingway

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Essais

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Eugène Ionesco

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Fables of La Fontaine

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

François Rabelais

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

François Villon

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source François Villon (Wikipedia)Lead
Quote, Lead
best known French poet of the Late Middle Ages
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Fred Vargas

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Friedrich Schiller

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Gabriel García Márquez

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Gaston Leroux

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

George Orwell

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

George Sand

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source George Sand (Wikipedia)Lead section [original-language]
Quote, Lead section [original-language]
was a French novelist, memoirist and journalist
Georges Bernanos

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Georges Simenon

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Germinal

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Giacomo Leopardi

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Grazia Deledda

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Gustave Flaubert

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Guy de Maupassant

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Have Mercy on Us All

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Heinrich Heine

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Henri Barbusse

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Henri Barbusse (Wikipedia)Lead sentence [nationality]
Quote, Lead sentence [nationality]
was a French novelist, short story writer, journalist, poet and political activist
Honoré de Balzac

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

In Search of Lost Time

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Italo Calvino

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Ivan Turgenev

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jack Kerouac

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jacques the Fatalist

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

James Baldwin

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jean Bodel

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Source Jean Bodel (Wikipedia)Lead [original-language]
Quote, Lead [original-language]
was an Old French poet
Jean de La Fontaine

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jean Racine

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jean-Paul Sartre

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

John Milton

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Jorge Luis Borges

Also in Literature Atlas: a work originally in this language.

Showing 101 to 150 of 224 in Original Language Of, page 3 of 5.

Located In

France

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is located.

Found In

Africa

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Europe

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

North America

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Glottolog: French (Glottolog languoid stan1290)
GlottologEndangerment, AES status
Quote, Endangerment, AES status
AES status: not endangered
View the Source
2. Wikipedia: French Language
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    French (français [fʁɑ̃sɛ] or langue française [lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family.
  • Infobox, ISO 639-3
    fra
  • Infobox, Speakers (Total)
    312 million (2012-2024)
  • Article text
    The first method counts all native speakers in countries considered natively Francophone (France, Monaco, and the Francohpone regions of Belgium, Switzerland, and Canada).
  • In Family: Indo-European, Infobox, Language family
    Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Latinic Romance Italo-Western Western Romance Gallo-Iberian Gallo-Romance Gallo-Rhaetian Arpitan-Oil Oil Francien zone French
View the Source
3. WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures): French / Order of Subject, Object and Verb (WALS datapoint)
WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures)Datapoint page
Quote, Datapoint page
Feature: Order of Subject, Object and Verb by Matthew S. Dryer Value: SVO
View the Source
4. WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures): French / Tone (WALS datapoint)
WALS Online (World Atlas of Language Structures)Datapoint page
Quote, Datapoint page
Feature: Tone by Ian Maddieson Value: No tones
View the Source
5. Effective Language Learning: Language Difficulty Ranking
Effective Language LearningForeign Service Institute categories list
Quote, Foreign Service Institute categories list
Category I: 23-24 weeks (575-600 hours) Languages closely related to English Afrikaans Danish Dutch French
View the Source
6. Omniglot: French language, alphabet and pronunciation
OmniglotWritten French
Quote, Written French
French first appeared in writing in 842 AD, when it was used in the Strasbourg Oaths.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Quebec French
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Quebec French, Article text
Quote, Ancestor Of: Quebec French, Article text
Quebec French either evolved from this language base and was shaped by the following influences (arranged according to historical period) or was imported from Paris and other urban centres of France as a koiné, or common language shared by the people speaking it.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Louisiana French
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Cajun French, Infobox
Quote, Ancestor Of: Cajun French, Infobox
Louisiana French is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Belgian French
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Belgian French, Lead sentence
Quote, Ancestor Of: Belgian French, Lead sentence
Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among the French Community of Belgium, alongside re
View the Source
Wikipedia: Acadian French
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Acadian French, Lead sentence
Quote, Ancestor Of: Acadian French, Lead sentence
rench (French: français acadien, acadjonne) is a variety of French spoken by Acadians, mostly in the
View the Source
Wikipedia: Swiss French
Wikimedia FoundationAncestor Of: Swiss French, Lead sentence
Quote, Ancestor Of: Swiss French, Lead sentence
se or suisse romand) is the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known
View the Source
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