There are an estimated 321 million French speakers worldwide. But while they’re all considered francophone, they certainly don’t speak the same French. From Québec to West Africa to France itself, French language variants reflect cultural identity, history, and regional nuance. For businesses expanding into francophone markets, recognizing these differences is essential for effective localization and global communication. Let’s explore how French spread across five continents, where it is spoken today, and why French language variants matter in international e-commerce.

Etymology

According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, French is the most significant Romance language in the world. Ah yes, romance! French is romantic! Sure, but that is not what is meant here. Romance languages are a group of languages derived from Latin, which spread across Europe during the conquests of the Roman Empire. Other members of this language group are Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. They all have linguistic similarities in vocabulary and grammar, and a native speaker of one has far less problems learning another Romance language than let’s say a Slavic language.

So… what is French?

The first known written account in French dates back to the year 842, and outlines the oaths sworn by Louis the German (Louis II) and Charles the Bald (Charles II) against their brother Lothar when they divided up their grandfather Charlemagne‘s empire.
In reality, the document was nothing more than Latin with some strategically placed ‘French’ vernacular for show, and it demonstrates plainly that its author did not know how to deal with local pronunciation.

‘Proper’ French

In the 12th–13th century the Francien dialect (this medieval dialect of Old French formed the basis of the literary and official form of modern French) became dominant, and it gained the status of literary language due to the central position of the Île-de-France region and the growing political and cultural importance of Paris. The legal reform known as the Edict of Villers-Cotterêts (1539) established Francien as the only true language of France. From then on, standard French began to replace local dialects, which were officially discouraged. You may, however, be surprised to hear that French was not declared the official language of France until 1992, coinciding with the signing of the Treaty of Maastricht.

Language of culture and intellectualism

Renaissance Europe adopted French as the language of culture and intellectualism. French was spoken at all the European courts as part of the class segregation between royals, ‘blue bloods’, and the common people. As a result, it became the lingua franca of the elites, much like English today. French people in France are fiercely proud of their language, which is reflected in the resistance to the inclusion of any loan words from other languages, specifically Anglicisms. This may also be the reason why French people resist learning other languages.

European French

Even within Europe, French language variants exist. French is spoken in Belgium, Luxembourg (its official language alongside German), and parts of Switzerland. The close proximity of these countries to France has ensured that – at least in its written form – their versions of French are virtually identical to Standard French. Some differences in vocabulary have developed over time, as all three countries have more than one official language, and some lexical changes have taken place over time to reflect the everyday life experience of their citizens.

In Belgian French, you’ll find what are known as Belgianisms, words that have their origins in Belgium: bourgmestre instead of maire (mayor), échevin instead of adjoint au maire (deputy mayor), or athénée instead of lycée (high school). The grammar, which is mostly similar to Standard French, occasionally shows Germanic influences: Ça me goûte, which in Standard French would be ça me plaît (“I like it” in the sense of “It tastes good to me”), would be a loan translation from the Dutch dat smaakt.

Another example: in Switzerland, the three daily meals are still referred to in the same way as they were in France before the early 19th century: déjeuner (breakfast), dîner (lunch), and souper (dinner). In France, these are petit-déjeuner (“breakfast”), déjeuner (“lunch”), and dîner (“dinner”).

Other European countries and regions where French is an official language are Monaco, Andorra, the Aosta Valley region of Italy, and the two British islands Guernsey and Jersey in the English Channel. There, in particular, standard French is slowly being replaced by English as the language of education, commerce, and administration. In everyday life, an ancient Norman dialect of French is spoken alongside English, which differs significantly from Standard French and is now only spoken by a few aging native speakers.

French language variants around the world

France’s thirst for colonial lands was driven in no small part by the will to overcome the age-old enemy Britain. France established colonies in the Americas, the Caribbean, and the Far East in the 16th century. On the eve of World War I, France’s colonial empire was the second-largest after the British Empire.

North America

The story of France’s colonial empire truly began on July 27 1605 with the founding of Port Royal in the colony of Acadia in North America (today’s Nova Scotia, Canada). A few years later, in 1608, Quebec, which was to become the capital of the enormous but sparsely populated fur-trading colony of “New France”, was founded. Today, Canadian French varies according to its originating region, resulting in Québécois and Seacoast French, also known as Acadian French. Québécois has adopted many words from the First Nations, while Acadian French has remained more like the Standard French we know today, minus any of the updates in grammar or vocabulary European French has experienced.

Africa

Although initial French colonization primarily occurred in the Americas and Asia, the French established a handful of colonies and trading posts on the African continent. Initial French colonization in Africa began in modern-day Senegal, Madagascar, and along the Mascarene Islands. Trading posts were established down the western coast as pit stops for French ships on the way around the Cape of Good Hope. French colonial projects, partially administered by the French East India Company, initially prioritized produce, but then began catering to the needs of plantation economies and their most needed commodity – slave labor.

Modern Africa’s rapid demographic growth means that more and more young people are learning French as a first or second language. It is estimated that 59% of daily French speakers are on the African continent alone. In each of the francophone African countries, French is spoken in addition to one or more indigenous (tribal) languages. Pronunciation and vocabulary can therefore vary considerably. However, formal African French, used in educational, media, and legal documents, is based on standard French vocabulary. Particularly at the spoken level, the phenomenon of Africanization of the French language becomes apparent due to the influence of native languages ​​and the complexity of Standard French grammar rules.

Asia

The French initially established dominance in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. At first, they became French colonies of the Empire, and later part of the French Union. French influence in the region remained strong until well into the 20th century. The First Indochina War destroyed French dominance, and, in an attempt to retain their holdings in the area, France ratified separate treaties that recognized Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia as independent, self-governing states within the French Union. Real independence, however, did not come to the region until after the Geneva Conference of 1954. Today, although the overwhelming majority of French speakers are in Europe, Africa, and the Americas, there are also countries in Oceania, Asia, and the Middle East with a significant francophone population like modern-day Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. French also remains as one of the administrative languages in Cambodia and Laos.

Non-standard French

Many of the former lands of the French Empire and the French Union did retain French as at least one of their official languages. The French had spent centuries establishing governments and laws that the newly independent countries simply adopted. However, the language spoken in these lands stagnated in comparison with French spoken in France due to sheer distance. The end result – for example in French Canada – is that the Acadian French spoken along the Atlantic coast resembles a more ‘pure’ (according to originalists) French than the one spoken in France today. Grammar reforms or new additions to the language that were experienced in France, did not filter down into former colonial lands. This fact, paired with the adoption of local language additions based on culture or religion, have resulted in versions of French for each of these languages.

Bottom line

As we previously discussed in our blog about the English language, French has evolved to include local flavors and regional idiosyncrasies wherever the language is spoken. In other words: French isn’t just one language. As always, marketing efforts, sales spins, slogans, and even basic texts like product descriptions or disclaimers must be tailored to the exact target group they are intended for. Your online presence in “French” may be a great fit for a good ranking on the European market, but will be a complete flop in Vietnam, Nigeria, Tunisia, or Quebec.

It is always advisable to address the regional and local peculiarities of a country in order to directly address the target audience and build trust. Never forget that every French language variant also has an identity-forming and symbolic function. Out of respect for the cultural identity of each country and its inhabitants, linguistic peculiarities must and should be taken into account. Online success means speaking directly to the people you want to sell to – wherever they may be in the world. A language partner is needed who can provide teams of linguists native to your target market and who understand and live in the region you are targeting.



Sources

autor_eurotext_100Author: Eurotext Editorial Team

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