French language
From Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia written in simple English for easy reading.
The French language (in French: français, pronounced /frawn-SAY/) is a Romance language.
It is spoken in France, Canada, Southern Belgium, Luxembourg and Western Switzerland. It is also spoken in many parts of Africa, South-East Asia and the New World that were French colonies.
Like most Romance languages, its nouns (things) have gender — that is, they are divided into male and female words.
[edit] History
In ancient times, the Celts lived in what is now France. In those days, the land was called Gaul (Gallia). The Romans spread their power to Gallia and made Gallia their provinces. Because the Romans spoke Latin, the local people learned Latin and began to speak it. Their own language, Gaulish, tended to be spoken less often, although Breton is a language still spoken today in the part of France called Brittany, that came from the old Celtic language.
After the Roman Empire fell and Germanic peoples swarmed the countryside, Latin was changing quickly; and in medieval France it changed into two accents or languages: langue d'oc and langue d'oïl. They both mean "language of yes", because oc was the word for "yes" in the south, and oïl meant "yes" in the north. Today, the word for yes in French is oui, pronounced like "we".
Langue d'oc is now called Occitan, and it is still spoken by many people in Southern France.
[edit] Examples
Here are some examples of French words and sentences :
- Homme : man
- Femme : woman
- Eau : water
- Manger : to eat
- Je parle français. : I speak French.
- Je t'aime. : I love you.
- Où sont les toilettes s'il vous plaît ? : Where are the toilets, please ?
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