Unusual
article | Reading time7 min
Spoken on five continents, the "langue de Molière" (language of Molière) comes in a wide variety of forms, expressions and accents, and never ceases to reinvent itself. Let's embark on a voyage of discovery of this teeming linguistic diversity!
Who speaks French in the world?
With 300 million speakers, French is the 5th most widely spoken language in the world, after Mandarin, English, Spanish and Arabic. It's also the only language, along with English, to be spoken on five continents!
However, depending on the country or territory, it can be learned at home or at school, used professionally or for administrative purposes, in international exchanges, in the media, in cultural activities... It is sometimes mastered by only a fraction of the population, and often cohabits with other languages.
As you can see, French is a language with many faces: a "world language"! From Europe to sub-Saharan Africa, via the Maghreb and the Middle East, it is a vehicle for dialogue between diverse identities and reflects very different imaginations.
The French language in figures
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300 million French speakers worldwide, in 106 countries and territories
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235 million people use the French language every day
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132 million learners of and in French
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88 Member states and governments of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF)
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29 states with French as their official language
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5e world language by number of speakers
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4e language on the Internet
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2e most-learned foreign language
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59 % of daily French speakers are in Africa (source OIF, 2018)
One language, a thousand flavors
Traveling through France or other French-speaking countries, we quickly realize that a multitude of lexical particularisms (called "regionalisms" or Francophone variants) fertilize French, without preventing us from communicating in a shared language.
Each speaker adapts the "language of Molière" as he or she sees fit, according to his or her identity, heritage, needs and environment... This diversity is a guarantee of vitality!
Why not take a look at some concrete examples of the local varieties of French?
Here's a small anthology of tasty French words and expressions, to be enjoyed without moderation! They've been divided into three themes on the permanent tour: love, revolt and laughter.
© Atelier Projectiles
10 ways to... talk about love
- Avoir un kick (Québec) : to have a crush
- Avoir le coup de foudre (France): to be seized by a very sudden passion
- Être bleu de quelqu'un (Wallonia): to be in love with someone
- Glisser pour quelqu'un (Cameroon): to fall in love with someone
- Kaoter (Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Niger): to subjugate, to fall in love with
- Poser sa candidature (Ivory Coast): to declare one's love for someone
- Avoir un coup de soleil pour quelqu'un (Haiti): to fall in love at first sight
- Avoir un cœur d'artichaut (France): to fall in love easily
- Avoir un goumin (Gabon): to have a heartache
- Chéri(e)-coco (Ivory Coast, Senegal, Niger): boyfriend, girlfriend, flirt
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
10 ways to... get angry
- Être en rote (Wallonia): to be in a very bad mood
- Mouroutir (Ivory Coast): to get angry, to be upset
- Avoir la ronfle (Lyon): to grumble, to grumble and mumble
- Se pogner avec (Quebec): to quarrel, to come to blows
- Quinter (French-speaking Switzerland): to get angry
- Monter sur ses grands chevaux (France): to get carried away by an emotion, to get angry
- Être comme lait et citron (Haiti): to be angry, to disagree, to be like cats and dogs
- Avoir l'œuf (Corsica): to sulk, to pout
- Becqueter (Burkina Faso): to address someone in an aggressive tone, to have a spat with someone.
- Picasse (New Brunswick): in a bad mood
© Benjamin Gavaudo / Centre des monuments nationaux
10 ways to... let your joy out
- Avoir le piton collé (Quebec): to be unable to stop laughing
- Guindailler (Wallonia): to party
- Vernousser (New Brunswick): to have fun
- Se taper sur les genoux (Quebec): to laugh out loud
- Être plié en deux (France): to laugh out loud
- Ambiancer (Ivory Coast): to have fun, to party
- Zwanzer (Wallonia): to make jokes, to joke
- Gaffer (Madagascar): to have fun, to dissipate, to fool around
- Se fendre la poire (France): to laugh out loud
- Avoir du fun (Louisiana, Quebec): to have fun
© MBA, Rennes, Dist. RMN - Grand Palais / Jean-Manuel Salingue
Has this overview whetted your appetite for more? Here are a few ideas to take you further...
Take a look at the dictionnaire des francophones, which describes the extraordinary richness of the French language, and browse through the blog "Le français de nos régions", devoted to variations in French around the world.
You can also watch TV5Monde Afrique's web series " Un mot adopté ", dedicated to French-speaking African expressions.
Words and expressions from all French-speaking countries will soon hold no secrets for you!
Sources
- La langue française dans le monde (International Organization of the Francophonie)
- Qui parle français dans le monde ? (International Organization of the Francophonie)
- Le français de nos régions by Mathieu Avanzi
- Découvrir le français - Les expressions imagées d'Archibald (TV5 Monde)
- Lâche pas la patate ! Mots et expressions françaises, by Marie Treps
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