France is known for many things: Its art, its culture, it cuisine etc. The languages of France, are not that famous, yet from a linguistic standpoint, it’s a true work of art (no pun intended!)
When you picture the languages of France, chances are that you only think of French, a language you may have learned at school. However, there are so many more languages spoken in France, that you’ve never thought about.
Official Language
As of the time of writing, at least according to the French Constitution, there is only one official language of France: French.
However, there are a number of different dialects of what we call “French”. As such, the language was standardized long ago. This variant is called Parisian French, and is the variant of French spoken around Paris.
Parisian French also known as Standard French, is the official language of the French government. With this, all documents, announcements and government activities, are all done in Parisian French.
All schools in France (unless they’re chartered to teach in another language) use this form of French in the classroom.
Incidentally, Parisian French, otherwise known as Standard French, is the variant of French that is taught to foreign students all around the world (with the notable exception of Canada, who learn Quebec French).
Standard French is the native language of roughly 90% of the French population. A further 9.6% of the French population speak French as a second language, to a relatively high standard.
Regional Languages
However, as with other countries in Europe, just because French is the official language, does not mean that it is the only language spoken there! France is also home to a number of other regional languages. These include:
Basque
In recent years, Basque has become famous worldwide, mostly due to its often violent separatist movement. Whilst the majority of the Basque region is located in modern-day Spain, some is located in France.
Mostly, this is in the Western foothills of the French Pyrenees, around the Bay of Biscay. Historically, this area was a part of the Basque country, but has since been lost to France.
Although the Basque-speaking population of France is small, they are fiercely independent, just as with their cousins in Spain. Here, French is rarely, if ever spoken, with many not having spoken it in years!
The most recent French government statistics indicate that Basque is one of the few regional languages of France that’s actually getting more speakers. Today, there are roughly 10% more Basque speakers than there were 25 years ago.
Breton
Prior to the arrival of the Romans, there were a number of Celtic languages spoken in Western Europe. In Britain, the largest one was Breton, spoken by the Bretons, who were defeated by the Romans.
Whilst very few Romans would actually learn the language, the Romans would respect the language. Once the Romans left, Germanic tribes would invaded Britain and forced the Bretons to move to what is now Brittany, in modern-day France.
This has continued today, almost 1500 years later, with many in Brittany stull being ethnic Celts, and still speaking Breton. Over the years, the French government has tried to make the Bretons speak French, all to no avail.
With that being said, over the past 50 years or so, a large portion of young Bretons have stopped speaking the language. With this, has seen a serious reduction in its use, both at home and in daily life!
Catalan
If you’re familiar with the languages of Spain, you’ll know that Catalan is a language spoken in the northeast of the country. If you are not, you’ve probably heard of Catalan due to its famous independence movement from a few years ago.
Whilst predominantly spoken in northeastern Spain, there is a small Catalan-speaking community in the south of France. In particular, this is alongside the Franco-Catalan border, mostly in the Roussillon area.
Mostly, this is due to the former Principality of Catalonia, which Roussillon used to be a part of. Sadly, much of the Catalan has disappeared from the cities, having been replaced by French.
With that being said, many old buildings and a few old streets still bear their Catalan name. On top of that, most villages in Roussillon still have large Catalan-speaking populations, who support Catalan nationalism.
According to the most recent French government estimates, there are roughly 200,000 people who can understand Catalan (to varying degrees!) and roughly 125,000 native Catalan speakers.
Franco-Provençal
If you were to travel to the Grand Est region of France, you’d probably find that most people speak a language that sounds like French, but isn’t. This language would be Franco-Provençal.
In many ways, the language sounds like a mixture of Latin, Swiss French and Standard French.
Sadly, the language has almost disappeared from the major cities in the area. However, most villages still routinely use the language, with many inhabitants having not used French in months!
As of the time of writing, Franco-Provençal has roughly 150,000 speakers in France. However, the language also has around 10,000 speakers in Switzerland and around 70,000 speakers in Italy.
With that being said, younger generations are speaking Franco-Provençal less and less, these days. Due to this, the Franco-Provençal speakers has declined rapidly over the last 100 years or so.
Indeed, the French government has taken notice, having labelled Franco-Provençal as one of the country’s “Endangered languages” and has urged linguists to learn the language. Despite this, many believe it will become extinct.
German
If you’re a keen student of history, you’ll know that the regions that now make up both France and Germany, have never really got along. For centuries, they have been waging war after war against one another.
Often, this has been over the regions of Alsace-Lorraine, which have been a part of both France and Germany in the past. As a result, the population speak both French and German, with both often being their native tongues.
Whilst German has relatively little representation and recognition by the French government, most people in Alsace-Lorraine use it just as much as they use their French!
In Alsace-Lorraine, there are a number of TV stations radio stations who broadcast solely in German. There are also a number of newspapers that publish solely in German, or have both a French and German-language paper.
Ligurian
If you’re familiar with Ligurian at all, you’ll know that it is a language of Italy, being spoken in the country’s Liguria region. However, not many people actually realize that it’s one of the many languages of France!
You see, at one point in time, Liguria used to cover much of what is now the south of France. Here, they brought their language, Ligurian (otherwise known as Genoese) which was spoken by most of the populous.
Over time, however, Liguria lost much of its territory, ceding much of it to Monaco, but also to France. Whilst Liguria did not stay, their language did, with it still being spoken by around 250,000 in the south of France.
With that being said, Ligurian is a dying language (at least in France!) Sadly, many young people whose grandparents speak Ligurian, simply aren’t learning it, which is leading to the language being endangered.
Occitan
In my opinion, Occitan is one of the great mysteries of all the languages of France. You see, technically speaking, Occitan isn’t one language. Instead, it’s a collection of different dialects, which are all mutually intelligible.
France has two main language dialects: the langues d’oïl (spoken in the north) and the langues d’òc (spoken in the south). Occitan, is the largest language in the langues d’òc family, spoken by around 1.3% of France’s population.
Historically speaking, Occitan dominated everywhere south of Lyon. Today, this is still mostly true, however, in the French midlands, the language is quickly disappearing, to the point where only really the south, uses Occitan.
Unlike many of the other regional languages of France, Occitan is still used in many major cities. As with the other regional languages of France, it is similarly most spoken in the rural parts of the region.
Immigrant Languages
Beyond just the regional languages of France, there are also a number of immigrant languages that are spoken in France, some more so than others. These are…
English
Starting in the 1970’s, a number of English-speaking people have migrated to France. Initially, many of these immigrants were British and American businessmen, who moved to the French Riviera for the good weather.
Even today, many more British and American businessmen flock to the French Riviera each year. Here, they often spend half of the year in the UK/US and the other half on the French Riviera.
Due to Britain previously being in the EU, there are also a large number of British citizens who live in the much cheaper Pas de Calais. Often, these individuals then commute across the English Channel, to work in London.
Not surprisingly, there are also a number of English-speaking immigrants in Paris. Often, these are from all across the Anglophonic world, who have fallen in love with the city’s beauty and have never left.
According to the most recent French government estimates, there are roughly 325,000 native English speakers in France, or roughly 0.5% of France’s population.
However, this does not include second language speakers (as all French children learn English at school).
Spanish
In 1975, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco died. With this, Spain officially became democratic again, and soon began to rebuild and reform itself, moving away from the image of Franco.
As a part of this, Spain needed money, and wanted to punish many of the people who’d gotten rich off of Franco’s regime. The government decided to kill two birds with one stone, in the form of a wealth tax.
Not wanting to pay this tax, many of Spain’s richest residents moved abroad. Oftentimes, they moved just across the border, to France, where many settled on the French Riviera, which was now muc hcheaper to live in!
Over time, France has also seen a number of non-rich Spaniards move here. This has usually been because they work for French companies, and have to relocate for work.
France has also become a favorite of Spanish-speaking students, mainly from Spain, but also parts of South America too!
Portuguese
In the 1960’s and 1970’s, Portugal was one of the poorest countries in all of Europe. This would see many Portuguese people look at moving abroad, many of whom chose to move to the relatively rich France.
With this, many of these Portuguese immigrants began living on the outskirts of major French cities, in particular, Nice, Lyon and Paris(among others). Here, they’d form their own “Mini Portugals”.
In many of these “Mini Portugals”, there are Portuguese shops, restaurants and bars. Many of the local schools, whilst teaching primarily in French, have a large group of Portuguese-speaking pupils, which often creeps into their education.
Predominantly, France’s Portuguese speakers come from Portugal. However, there are small Brazilian, and Macanese populations in the country too, who speak slightly different variants of Portuguese.
Italian
Do you remember earlier, when I said that Ligurian was spoken on the France-Monaco border? Well, there’s also another Italian language spoken in France too: Italian.
Whilst Ligurian has appeared in France naturally, Italian has appeared due to human migration. You see, in recent years, France has become a rather popular retirement destination for many Italians.
Many of them settle on the French Riviera, where they still get the weather they’re accustomed to. Here, many of these Italian expatriates often form their own Italian retirement communities, often with it being a “Mini Italy!”
Beyond just retirees, there are also a number of Italians outside of Paris. Many of them are Italian businessmen who operate out of the city due to convenience, or a personal preference over cities in their home nation.
Arabic
Over the past twenty-five years or so, a large number of immigrants from the Arabic-speaking world have chosen to migrate to France. Here, they hope to build a better life for themselves and for their children.
According to the French government themselves, the majority of these Arabic-speaking immigrants are from North Africa. Typically, they are from the former French colonies in the region, and thus, already know a little bit of French.
Most often, these immigrants come to France via any means necessary- boat, car, bike, plane, and even, by foot. After formally immigrating to France, they commonly move to the big cities and get jobs.
However, these Arabic-speaking immigrants often choose to live in areas where other Arabic-speaking immigrants live. Due to this, they often create their own Arabic-speaking communities, just outside major French cities.
Today, the French government estimates that there are around 1.5 million native Arabic speakers, or roughly 2.27% of France’s population. Roughly, 950,000 of them, speak the Maghrebi Arabic dialect of Arabic.
Which are your favorite languages of France? Do you speak any of them? Tell me in the comments!