View source for Languages of France

{{Short description|none}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
{{Languages of
| country   = France<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_243_en.pdf |title=Europeans and their Languages |publisher=Ec.europa.eu |access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>
| image     = Langues de la France.svg
| image size= 300px
| caption   = Languages and dialects of [[metropolitan France]]
| official  = [[French language|French]]
| regional  = 
[[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]]; [[Catalan language|Catalan]]; [[Basque language|Basque]]; [[Corsican language|Corsican]]; [[Breton language|Breton]]; [[Gallo language|Gallo]]; [[Occitan language|Occitan]]; some [[Walloon language|Walloon]]; [[West Flemish]]; [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]]; [[Savoyard dialect|Savoyard]]; [[Lorraine Franconian]]; [[French Guiana Creole]]; [[Antillean Creole|Guadeloupean Creole]]; [[Antillean Creole|Martiniquan Creole]]; [[Oïl languages]]; [[Réunion Creole]]; some twenty [[languages of New Caledonia]], [[Yenish language|Yenish]], the [[Maroon (people)|Maroon]] creoles and [[Indigenous languages of the Americas|Amerindian languages]] of [[French Guiana]]
| immigrant = <!--Please don't put too many languages here--> [[Arabic]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[German language|German]], [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Berber languages|Berber]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[English language|English]], [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]<ref name="autogenerated1">{{cite web|url=http://www.ined.fr/fichier/t_publication/65/publi_pdf1_pop_et_soc_francais_376.pdf|title=La dynamique des langues en France au fil du XXe siècle|language=fr|publisher=Ined.fr|access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>
| foreign   = English (39%) <br> Spanish (13%) <br> German (6%)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |title=SPECIAL EUROBAROMETER 386 Europeans and their Languages |publisher=ec.europa.eu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106183351/http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_386_en.pdf |archive-date=2016-01-06 }}</ref>
| sign      = [[French Sign Language]]
| keyboard  = [[AZERTY]], [[BÉPO]]
| keyboard image = [[Image:French pc keyboard.svg|200px|AZERTY]]<br>[[File:KB_French_B%C3%89PO-NF_Z71-300.svg|200px|BÉPO]]
}}
[[French language|French]] is the sole [[official language]] in France according to the second article of the [[French Constitution]]. French, a [[Gallo-Romance language]], is spoken by nearly the entire population of France.

In addition to French, several [[regional language]]s are also spoken to varying degrees, such as [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]], an [[Alemannic German|Alemannic]] variety; spoken by 1.44% of the national population); [[Basque language|Basque]], a [[language isolate]]; [[Breton language|Breton]], a [[Celtic language]] (spoken by 0.61%); [[Corsican language|Corsican]], an [[Italo-Dalmatian language]]; and various other [[Gallo-Romance languages]] ([[Langues d'oïl]] 1.25%, [[Occitan language|Occitan]] 1.33%). Some of these languages are also spoken in neighbouring countries, such as [[Belgium]], [[Germany]], [[Switzerland]], [[Italy]], [[Andorra]], or [[Spain]].

==Status==
{{Main|Language policy in France}}
The official language of the French Republic is French (art. 2 of the [[Constitution of France|French Constitution]]) and the French government is, [[Toubon Law|by law]], compelled to communicate primarily in French. The government, furthermore, mandates that commercial advertising be available in French (though it can also use other languages). The French government, however, does not mandate the use of French by private individuals or corporations or in any other media.

A revision of the French constitution creating official recognition of [[regional languages]] was implemented by the Parliament in Congress at Versailles in July 2008.<ref>Article 75-1: (a new article): "Les langues régionales appartiennent au patrimoine de la France" ("Regional languages belong to the patrimony of France"). See [[:fr:Loi constitutionnelle du 23 juillet 2008|Loi constitutionnelle du 23 juillet 2008]].</ref>

The 1999 [http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/dglf/lang-reg/rapport_cerquiglini/langues-france.html Report] written for the government by [[Bernard Cerquiglini]] identified 75 languages that would qualify for recognition under the government's proposed ratification of the [[European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages]]. Of those languages, 24 are indigenous to the European territory of the state while all the others are from overseas areas of the French Republic (in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean and South America).

Although ratification was blocked by the [[Constitutional Council of France|Constitutional Council]] as contradicting the Fifth Republic's constitutional provision enshrining French as the language of the Republic, the government continues to recognise regional and minority languages to a limited extent (i.e. without granting them official status) and the ''Délégation générale à la langue française'' has acquired the additional function of observing and studying the languages of France and has had ''et aux langues de France'' added to its title. The category of ''languages of France'' (in French: ''langues de France'') is thus administratively recognised even if this does not go so far as to provide any official status. Following his election as president, [[François Hollande]] reasserted in 2012 his campaign platform to ratify the European Charter and ensure a clear legal framework for regional languages (within a programme of administrative decentralisation that would give competencies to the regions in language policy).<ref>{{cite news|title=Hollande : "Je ferai ratifier la Charte des langues régionales"|url=http://www.eitb.com/fr/infos/politique/detail/958543/langues-regionales--hollande-fera-ratifier-charte-langues/|access-date=5 October 2012|newspaper=EITB|date=2012-09-25|archive-date=2012-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121206151727/http://www.eitb.com/fr/infos/politique/detail/958543/langues-regionales--hollande-fera-ratifier-charte-langues/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The regional languages of France are sometimes called ''[[patois]]'', but this term (roughly meaning "dialects") is often considered derogatory. ''Patois'' is used to refer to essentially oral languages,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais/patois/58677 |title=Définitions : patois - Dictionnaire de français Larousse |access-date=2023-12-21}}</ref> even though some have a current and/or historical use, such as Occitan, which was already being written at a time when French was not and its literature has continued to thrive, with a [[Nobel Prize in Literature|Nobel Prize]] for [[Frédéric Mistral]] in 1904.

It is estimated that at the time of the [[French Revolution]] in 1789, only half of the population of France could speak French, and as late as 1871 only a quarter spoke French as their native language.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oyc.yale.edu/transcript/357/hist-276 |title=Open Yale Courses |publisher=Oyc.yale.edu |date=2007-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323024438/https://oyc.yale.edu/transcript/357/hist-276 |access-date=2023-09-07|archive-date=2017-03-23 }}</ref>

===Language education===
The topic of the teaching of regional languages in public primary and secondary schools is controversial. Proponents of the measure state that it would be necessary for the preservation of those languages and to show respect to the local culture. Opponents contend that local languages are often non-standardised (thus making curricula difficult), of dubious practical usefulness (since most are spoken by a small number of people, without any sizable corpus of publications) and that the curriculum and funding of public schools are already too strained. The topic also leads to wider controversial questions of autonomy of the ''[[région]]s''. Regarding other languages, English, Spanish, Italian and German are the most commonly studied foreign languages in French schools.

In April 2001, the Minister of Education, [[Jack Lang (French politician)|Jack Lang]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://prouvenco.presso.free.fr/archi.educ.html#lang |title=Educacioun |publisher=Prouvenco.presso.free.fr |access-date=2015-03-30}}</ref>  stated formally that "Depuis plus de deux siècles, les pouvoirs politiques ont combattu les langues régionales", ie for more than two centuries, the political powers of the French government had repressed regional languages, and announced that bilingual education would, for the first time, be recognised, and bilingual teachers recruited in French public schools.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vie-publique.fr/discours/178066-declaration-de-m-jack-lang-ministre-de-leducation-nationale-sur-len |title=Déclaration de M. Jack Lang, ministre de l'éducation nationale, sur l'enseignement des langues régionales, notamment le breton, Paris le 28 mai 2001 |publisher=vie-publique.fr |access-date=2023-12-22}}</ref>

===Cross-border languages===
Some of the languages of France are also [[cross-border language]]s (for example, [[Basque language|Basque]], [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Corsican language|Corsican]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Frainc-Comtou dialect|Franc-Comtois]], [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]], [[Norman language|Norman]], [[Picard language|Picard]], [[Occitan language|Occitan]] and others), some of which enjoy a recognised or official status in the respective neighbouring state or territory. French itself is also a cross-border language, being spoken in neighbouring [[Languages of Andorra|Andorra]], [[Languages of Belgium|Belgium]], [[Languages of Italy|Italy]], [[Languages of Luxembourg|Luxembourg]], [[Languages of Monaco|Monaco]], and [[Languages of Switzerland|Switzerland]].

==List of languages==
{{Pie chart|thumb=right|caption=Mother tongues of the French population (2007 AES)|label1=[[French language|French]]|value1=87.2|color1=DodgerBlue|label2=[[Arabic language|Arabic]]|value2=3.6|color2=Green|label3=[[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]|value3=1.5|color3=Brown|label4=[[Spanish language|Spanish]]|value4=1.2|color4=Yellow|label5=[[Italian language|Italian]]|value5=1.0|color5=MediumSeaGreen|label6=[[German language|German]]|value6=0.7|color6=Red|label7=[[Turkish language|Turkish]]|value7=0.5|color7=Pink|label8=[[English language|English]]|value8=0.4|color8=Indigo|label9=Other languages|value9=3.9|color9=Chartreuse}}

According to the 2007 Adult Education survey, part of a project by the [[European Union]] and carried in France by the [[Insee]] and based on a sample of 15,350 people, French was the mother tongue of 87.2% of the total population, or roughly 55.81&nbsp;million people, followed by Arabic (3.6%, 2.3&nbsp;million), Portuguese (1.5%, 960,000), Spanish (1.2%, 770,000) and Italian (1.0%, 640,000). People who spoke other languages natively made up the remaining 5.2% of the population.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gesis.org/en/missy/metadata/AES/2007/Cross-sectional/original#2007-Cross-sectional-MOTHTONG1|title=GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences|website=www.gesis.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-24}}</ref>

===National language===
* [[French language|French]]

===Regional languages===
The regional languages of Metropolitan France include:

====Celtic====
{{See also|Celtic languages}}
* [[Breton language|Breton]] (Brezhoneg)
** [[Viscounty of Léon|Léonard]] (Leoneg)
** [[Cornouaille|Cornouaillais]] (Kerneveg)
** [[Trégor]]rois (Tregerieg)
** [[Vannetais]] (Gwenedeg)

====Germanic====
{{See also|Germanic languages}}
* [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]] (Elsässerditsch)
* [[French Flemish]]: [[West Flemish]] dialect of [[Dutch language|Dutch]]
* [[Lorraine Franconian]] (Lothringisch)
* [[Yenish language|Yenish]] (Jenisch)
* [[Yiddish]]

====Italo-Dalmatian====
{{See also|Italo-Dalmatian languages|Tuscan dialect}}
* [[Corsican language|Corsican]] (Corsu)

====Gallo-Romance====
{{See also|Gallo-Romance languages}}
* [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl language]]:
** [[Berrichon]]
** [[Burgundian language (Oïl)|Bourguignon-Morvandiau]]
** [[Champenois]] or Campanois
** [[Frainc-Comtou dialect|Franc-Comtois]]
** [[French language|French]]
** [[Gallo language|Gallo]]
** [[Lorrain language|Lorrain]]
** [[Norman language|Norman]]
** [[Picard language|Picard]]
** [[Poitevin-Saintongeais]]
** [[Walloon language|Walloon]]
** [[Angevin (language)|Angevin]]
* [[Occitan language]] (also ''Lenga d'òc, Langue d'oc''):
** [[Vivaroalpenc]]
*** [[Mentonasc dialect|Mentonasc]] (Mentonnais or Mentonasque)
** [[Auvergnat]]
** [[Gascon dialect|Gascon]] including [[Béarnese dialect|Béarnese]] (Béarnais) and [[Landese]] (Landais)
** [[Languedocien dialect|Languedocien]]
** [[Limousin dialect|Limousin]]
** [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]]
*** [[Nissart language|Nissart]] (Niçois or Niçart)
* [[Catalan language|Catalan]]
* [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]] (also ''Arpitan''):
** [[Bressan language|Bressan]]
** [[Franco-Provençal language#Dialects|Dauphinois]]
** [[Forèzien language|Forézien]]
** [[Jurassien language|Jurassien]]
** [[Lyonnais language|Lyonnais]]
** [[Savoyard dialect|Savoyard]]
* [[Gallo-Italic languages|Gallo Italic]]
** [[Ligurian language (Romance)|Ligurian language]]
***[[Royasc]]

====Others====
* [[Basque language|Basque]] (Euskara)
* [[Romani language|Romani]]

===Overseas languages===
There are also several languages spoken in France's overseas areas (see [[Administrative divisions of France]] for details):

* [[Amerindian]] languages in [[French Guiana]]
* [[French-based creole languages]] in the [[French West Indies]] (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, and Saint Barthélemy), [[French Guiana]], and [[Réunion]] (see: [[Antillean Creole]], [[Haitian Creole]], [[French Guiana Creole]] and [[Réunion Creole]]);
** also [[Dutch language|Dutch]], and [[English language|English]] in [[Saint Martin (island)|Saint Martin]];
** also Saint-Barths Patois (local derivation from regional dialects of French in France), and English in [[Saint Barthélemy]]
* Many [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian]] languages:
** several languages in [[New Caledonia]] (see: [[New Caledonian languages]], [[Loyalty Island languages]])
** two languages in [[Wallis & Futuna]] (see: [[Wallisian language]], [[Futunan language]])
** many languages in [[French Polynesia]] ([[Tahitian language|Tahitian]] and other [[Eastern Polynesian languages]])
** [[Bushi language|Shibushi]] in [[Mayotte]]
* [[Maore dialect|Shimaore]] (a [[Bantu language]]) in [[Mayotte]]

===Sign language===
[[French Sign Language]] is also recognised as a language of France (with at least one regional variant in Provence).{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}}

===Immigrant languages===
<ref name="autogenerated2">{{cite web|url=https://files.eke.eus/pdf/topaketen_aktak/insee/enquete_transmission_familiale_des_langues.pdf|title=Enquete familiale|website=files.eke.eus|access-date=2019-01-07}}</ref>
A large number of immigrant languages are spoken in France, with a handful having a significant number of home speakers. (Figures as of 2000)<ref name="autogenerated1"/>

====Main immigrant languages====
{{refimprove section|date=November 2017}}
* [[Arabic]], especially the [[Maghrebi Arabic]] dialects, is the second-most common language in French homes, with several million speakers.<ref>Emmanuelle Talon, "L’arabe, une « langue de France » sacrifiée", Le Monde Diplomatique, Oct. 2012, https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2012/10/TALON/48275, access date:  12/05/2015</ref>
*[[Berber languages]] ([[Tamazight|Tamazigh]]) from North Africans are one of the most spoken languages in France, about 2,200,000 speakers.
* [[Italian language|Italian]]: spoken by Italian communities in many major French cities, especially in southern regions, such as [[Nice]], [[Savoie]], and [[Corsica]]. {{citation needed|date=March 2015}} About 790,000 speakers, excluding [[Languages of Italy|Italian dialects]].
* [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]: spoken by about 700,000 people.
* [[English language|English]]: significant British minorities in [[Aquitaine]] and [[Brittany]], as well as commuters working in the UK but living in [[Nord-Pas-de-Calais]]. Dispersed minorities in Paris and on the [[Côte d'Azur]] (French Riviera). The most widely taught foreign language in the French education system, but not widely used and understood except in specific job positions (chiefly technical and tourism). About 325,000 home speakers.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}
* [[Polish language|Polish]]: spoken by about 130,000 people<ref>{{cite web |url=https://joshuaproject.net/languages/pol|title=Language: Polish |work=[[Joshua Project]]}}</ref>{{better source|date=July 2019}}
* [[Tamil language|Tamil]]: spoken by about 125,000 people <ref>{{Citation |last=Lack |first=Roland-François |title=Lumière, Méliès, Pathé and Gaumont: French filmmaking in the suburbs, 1896–1920 |date=2018-03-16 |work=Screening the Paris suburbs |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.7228/manchester/9781526106858.003.0003 |access-date=2024-07-16 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-0685-8}}</ref>
* [[Turkish language|Turkish]]: spoken by about 221,000 people<ref>{{cite web |url=https://joshuaproject.net/languages/tur?limit=50 |title=Turkish |work=Joshua Project}}</ref>{{better source|date=July 2019}}
* [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]: the most spoken Asian language in France, spoken by about 324,000 people<ref>{{cite web |url=https://joshuaproject.net/languages/vie |title=Language: Vietnamese |work=Joshua Project}}</ref>{{better source|date=July 2019}}
* [[German language|German]] and [[German dialects]]: spoken by about 300,000 people. Figure includes both standard German and other dialects of [[High German]]. See [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]] and [[Lorraine Franconian]], spoken respectively in [[Alsace]] and [[Lorraine]].
*[[Kurdish languages]] – 200,000 (2014 estimate)<ref>{{cite book |title=The Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants : some lessons from research |date=2017 |publisher=[[Council of Europe]] |isbn=9783110477498 |page=133}}</ref>

==Statistics==
=== INSEE 1999 ===
At the 1999 census, [[INSEE]] sampled 380,000 adult people all across [[Metropolitan France]], and asked them questions about their family situation. One of the questions was about the languages that their parents spoke with them before the age of five. This is the first time serious statistics were computed about the proportion of mother tongues in France. The results were published in ''Enquête familiale, Insee, 1999''.<ref name="autogenerated2"/>{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}}

Here is a list of the nine most prominent mother tongues in France based on ''Enquête familiale''.{{Citation needed|date=April 2013}} <!--Unsourced section ?-->
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Rank
!Language
!Mother tongue
!Percentage of adult population
|-
| 1
| [[French language|French]]
| 39,360,000
| 86% (note that this figure is an underestimate because people under 18 years of age were not surveyed; see note #2 below the table)
|-
| 2
| [[High German languages|German dialects]] ([[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]], [[Lorraine Franconian]], etc.)
| 970,000 (of whom Alsatian: 660,000; standard German: 210,000; Lorraine Franconian: 100,000)
| 2.12% (of whom Alsatian: 1.44%; standard German: 0.46%; Lorraine Franconian: 0.22%)
|-
| 3
| [[Maghrebi Arabic]]
| 940,000
| 2.05%
|-
| 4
| [[Occitan language|Occitan]] ([[Languedocien language|Languedocian]], [[Gascon language|Gascon]], [[Provençal dialect|Provençal]], etc.)
| 610,000 (another 1,060,000 had some exposure)
| 1.33% (another 2.32% had some exposure, see notes)
|-
| 5
| [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]
| 580,000
| 1.27%
|-
| 6
| [[Oïl languages]] ([[Picard language|Picard]], [[Gallo language|Gallo]], [[Poitevin (language)|Poitevin]], [[Saintongeais]], etc.)
| 570,000 (another 850,000 had some exposure)
| 1.25% (another 1.86% had some exposure, see notes)
|-
| 7
| [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Corsican language|Corsican]] and [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]] (Monegasque)
| 540,000
| 1.19%
|-
| 8
| [[Spanish language|Spanish]]
| 485,000
| 1.06%
|-
| 9
| [[Breton language|Breton]]
| 280,000 (another 405,000 had some exposure)
| 0.61% (another 0.87% had some exposure, see notes)
|-
| 10
| About 400 other languages: [[Polish language|Polish]], [[Berber languages]], [[East Asian language]]s, [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[Franco-Provençal language|Franco-Provençal]], [[Basque language|Basque]], [[West Flemish language|West Flemish]], etc., as well as those who gave no response
| 2,350,000 (of whom English: 115,000)
| 5.12% (of whom English: 0.25% of total adult population)
|-
|
|| '''Total'''
|| 45,762,000 (46,680,000 including those with two mother tongues who were counted twice)
|| 102% (2% of people have both French and another language as their mother tongue, thus, they are counted twice)
|}

When the people with mother tongue and people with some exposure to the language before the age of five (see note #3 below) are added together, the five most widely spoken languages in metropolitan France are (note that the percentages add up to more than 100, because many bilingual people are now counted twice):

* French: 42,100,000 (92%)
* Occitan: 1,670,000 (3.65%)
* German and German dialects: 1,440,000 (3.15%)
* Oïl languages (excl. French): 1,420,000 (3.10%)
* Arabic: 1,170,000 (2.55%)

==== Notes on the table ====
# The data in the table are about '''[[mother tongue]]s''', and not about actual language practice. It states that 14% of the adult people living in France in 1999 were born and raised up to the age of 5 in families that spoke only (or predominantly) some other languages than French. It does not mean that 14% of adult people in France spoke some other languages than French in 1999.
# Only adults (i.e. 18 years and older) were surveyed. This means that French people born between 1981 and 1999 are not included in the survey. The mother tongue of the younger generations is more predominantly French than is the case with the older generations because, as the ''Enquête familiale'' survey explains, regional and immigrant language transmission decreases dramatically with each new generation, as French replaces the regional and immigrant languages. In the ''Enquête familiale'' survey, only 35% of parents whose mother tongue was a regional or immigrant language reported that they spoke that language to their children. Thus, the 86% figure of people with French as their mother tongue is an underestimate because the younger generations whose predominant mother tongue is French are not counted.
# The concept of "mother tongue" may not give a complete idea of the phenomenon of minority languages in France. This is because there are many people who were born and raised in families in which parents spoke to them only (or predominantly) French, but in which some regional or immigration languages were also occasionally used. One example:  while the data shows that 610,000 adults in 1999 had one of the Occitan dialects as their mother tongue, the survey also found out that another 1,060,000 adults were born and raised in families in which one of the Occitan dialects was occasionally spoken. Some of these 1,060,000 people may speak Occitan as fluently as the 610,000 people who have it as a mother tongue, while some other (the majority, probably) have only a limited knowledge of Occitan. That 1,670,000 adults are speakers of Occitan cannot be corroborated, but it may be the case that the total number of people with some form of exposure to Occitan is higher than the 610,000 figure, though some of may have stopped using the language altogether since then.

=== ''Ethnologue'', Metropolitan France ===
The following languages are listed as having 50,000 or more total speakers in Metropolitan France according to the 2022 edition of ''[[Ethnologue]]''.<ref name="Ethnologue"/> Entries identified by ''Ethnologue'' as [[ISO 639 macrolanguage|macrolanguages]] (such as [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Malay language|Malay]], [[Pashto language|Pashto]], and [[Chinese language|Chinese]], encompassing all their respective [[variety (linguistics)|varieties]]) are not included in this section.
{{static row numbers}}
{| class="static-row-numbers sortable wikitable"
|+ Languages of Metropolitan France, ''Ethnologue'' (25th ed., 2022){{efn|Only languages with at least 50,000 speakers are shown.}}<ref name="Ethnologue">{{cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/FR/languages|title=France|website=[[Ethnologue]]|year=2022}}</ref>
! Language
! [[Language family|Family]]
! Branch
! data-sort-type=number | [[First language|First-language]] (L1)<br>speakers in France
! data-sort-type=number | [[Second language|Second-language]] (L2)<br>speakers in France
! data-sort-type=number | Total (L1+L2)<br>speakers in France
|-
| [[Alsatian dialect|Alsatian]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 900,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:arq|Algerian Arabic]]
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 1,350,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:ary|Moroccan Arabic]]
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 1,140,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:aeb|Tunisian Arabic]]
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| [[Semitic languages|Semitic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 447,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:hyw|Western Armenian]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Armenian language|Armenian]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 70,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:frp|Arpitan]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 150,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:eus|Basque]]
| [[Language isolate|Isolate]]
| {{N/A}}
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 72,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:bre|Breton]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Celtic languages|Celtic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 206,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:cat|Catalan]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 126,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:cos|Corsican]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right |
| style=text-align:right | 150,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:eng|English]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| style=text-align:right ! | 236,000
| style=text-align:right ! | 26,200,000
| style=text-align:right ! | 26,436,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:fra|French]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 62,400,000
| style=text-align:right | 1,500,000
| style=text-align:right | 63,900,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:fsl|French Sign Language]]
| [[French Sign Language family|Francosign]]
| {{N/A}}
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 100,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:deu|Standard German]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 4,000,000
| style=text-align:right | 4,000,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:ita|Italian]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 829,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:kab|Kabyle]]
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| [[Berber languages|Berber]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 537,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:khm|Khmer]]
| [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic]]
| [[Mon–Khmer languages|Mon–Khmer]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 50,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:acf|Lesser Antillean French Creole]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 150,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:pfl|Lorraine Franconian]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 400,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:oci|Occitan]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 110,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:pcd|Picard]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 500,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:pcd|Portuguese]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 959,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:spa|Spanish]]
| [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]]
| [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| style=text-align:right | 461,000
| style=text-align:right | 5,990,000
| style=text-align:right | 6,451,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:tzm|Central Atlas Tamazight]]
| [[Afroasiatic languages|Afro-Asiatic]]
| [[Berber languages|Berber]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 150,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:tam|Tamil]]
| [[Dravidian languages|Dravidian]]
| Southern
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 125,000
|-
| [[ISO 639:tur|Turkish]]
| [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]
| [[Oghuz languages|Oghuz]]
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 
| style=text-align:right | 444,000
|}

==See also==
* [[Culture of France]]
* [[Francophonie]]
* [[French language in Canada]]
* [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]
* [[History of French]]
* [[Languages of the European Union]]
* [[Law French]]
* [[Old Frankish]]
* [[Old French]]
* [[Old Occitan]]
* [[Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts]]

==Notes==
{{noteslist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{cite web |title=Langue française et langues de France |url=https://www.culture.gouv.fr/Thematiques/langue-francaise-et-langues-de-france |website=www.culture.gouv.fr |language=fr-FR |date=9 January 2025}}
*[http://www.lexilogos.com/france_carte_dialectes.htm Map of languages of France] (clickable map)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040203075016/http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=France Ethnologue report for France]
*[http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/dglf/ Délégation générale à la langue française et aux langues de France]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110709152302/http://www.languesdefrance.com/ Langues de France]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140517113827/http://ikastola.net/ Ikastola Elkartea] association of bilingual Basque-French schools
*[http://www.diwanbreizh.org/ Diwan Breizh] association for promotion of Breton
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050125203217/http://c-oc.org/calandreta/ Calandreta] association of bilingual Occitan-French schools
*[http://www.bressola.cat/ La Bressola] Catalan schools
*[http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/europe/france.htm Tlfq.ulaval.ca]
* Frédéric Vernier, Philippe Boula de Mareüil and Albert Rillard (Laboratoire UPR3251 - CNRS), [https://atlas.limsi.fr/ Atlas sonore des langues régionales de France] (2017)

{{Languages of France}}
{{Languages of Europe}}
{{Minority languages of Europe}}
{{France topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of France}}
[[Category:Languages of France| ]]