This map shows the regions
of the world where French is commonly spoken (red circles).
French descends from provincial Transalpine Latin
as influenced by the Germanic language of the Franks (Frankish).
Ultimately, it traces its roots to the Italic branch of Indo-European.
French is spoken (proudly) in Quebec, in Madagascar, in various
Pacific islands, and in large parts of Africa. A modified dialect
of French known as Walloon is also spoken in southern Belgium.
French is most closely related to Italian,
Spanish, Portugeuse,
Provençal, Catalan,
and Galician. It is more
distantly related to Romansch
and Romanian.
| Daniel M. Short originally created this
map and the other Indo-European language charts for his website at http://www.danshort.com/.
I reproduce these images here with the author's permission, but they are
copyrighted by Daniel Short as of 2002. These charts should not be reproduced
or reused without Mr. Short's approval. You may contact him at danshort@gte.net
for more information. These images are not public domain. |