French language in the United States

File:Signalisation routière bilingue à l'entrée de la Louisiane.jpg]]

There are three major groups of French dialects that emerged in what is now the United States: Louisiana French, Missouri French, and New England French (essentially a variant of Canadian French).{{cite book |title=Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties |last= Ammon|first= Ulrich|author2=International Sociological Association|year= 1989|publisher= Walter de Gruyter|isbn= 0-89925-356-3|pages= 306–308|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=geh261xgI8sC|access-date=September 3, 2010}}

Louisiana French is traditionally divided into three dialects, Colonial French, Louisiana Creole French, and Cajun French.{{cite book |title=Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties |last= Ammon|first= Ulrich|author2=International Sociological Association|year= 1989|publisher= Walter de Gruyter|isbn= 0-89925-356-3|page= 307|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=geh261xgI8sC|access-date=September 3, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://appl003.lsu.edu/artsci/frenchweb.nsf/$Content/Cajun+French+Definition?OpenDocument|title=What is Cajun French?|publisher=Department of French Studies, Louisiana State University|access-date=September 3, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914032410/http://appl003.lsu.edu/artsci/frenchweb.nsf/$Content/Cajun+French+Definition?OpenDocument|archive-date=September 14, 2010}} Colonial French is traditionally said to have been the form of French spoken in the early days of settlement in the lower Mississippi River valley, and was once the language of the educated land-owning classes. Cajun French, derived from Acadian French, is said to have been introduced with the arrival of Acadian exiles in the 18th century. The Acadians, the francophone inhabitants of Acadia (modern Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and northern Maine), were expelled from their homeland between 1755 and 1763 by the British. Many Acadians settled in lower Louisiana, where they became known as Cajuns (a corruption of "Acadians"). Their dialect was regarded as the typical language of white lower classes, while Louisiana Creole French developed as the language of the black community. Today, most linguists regard Colonial French to have largely merged with Cajun, while Louisiana Creole remains a distinct variety.

Missouri French was spoken by the descendants of 17th-century French settlers in the Illinois Country, especially in the area of Ste. Genevieve, St. Louis, and in Washington County. In the 1930s there were said to be about 600 French-speaking families in the Old Mines region between De Soto and Potosi."Creole Dialect of Missouri". J.-M. Carrière, American Speech, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Apr., 1939), pp. 109–119 By the late 20th century the dialect was nearly extinct, with only a few elderly speakers able to use it. Similarly, Muskrat French is spoken in southeastern Michigan by descendants of habitants, voyageurs and coureurs des bois who settled in the Pays d'en Haut.{{cite web|last=Au|first=Dennis|title=The Mushrat French: The Survival of French Canadian Folklife on the American Side of le Détroit|url=http://www.phaenex.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/HRG/article/viewFile/355/307|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426235105/http://www.phaenex.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/HRG/article/viewFile/355/307|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-04-26}}

New England French, essentially a local variety of Canadian French, is spoken in parts of the New England states. This area has a legacy of significant immigration from Canada, especially during the 19th and the early 20th centuries. Some Americans of French heritage who have lost the language are currently attempting to revive it.{{cite web|url=http://www.wakingupfrench.com/french.shtm |title=Reveil |publisher=Wakingupfrench.com |date=2006-01-30 |access-date=2015-03-14}}{{cite web |url=http://centralmaine.mainetoday.com/news/stories/021118franco_f.shtml |title= |website=centralmaine.mainetoday.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526140218/http://centralmaine.mainetoday.com/news/stories/021118franco_f.shtml |archive-date=May 26, 2009}} Acadian French is also spoken by Acadians in Maine in the Saint John Valley.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fluentu.com/blog/french/acadian-french/|title = Made in Acadia: The History, Evolution and Unique Expressions of Acadian French|date = 27 December 2017}}{{Cite web|url=https://visitaroostook.com/story/acadians-the-st-john-valley|title = Acadians & the St. John Valley | Maine's Aroostook County}}

Métis French is spoken by some Métis people in North Dakota.

Ernest F. Haden identifies the French of Frenchville, Pennsylvania as a distinct dialect of North American French.Haden, Ernest F. 1973. "French dialect geography in North America." In Thomas A. Sebeok (Ed). Current trends in linguistics. The Hague: Mouton, 10.422–439. "While the French enclave of Frenchville, Pennsylvania first received attention in the late 1960s, the variety of French spoken has not been the subject of systematic linguistic study. Haden reports that the geographical origin of its settlers is central France, as was also the case of New Orleans, but with settlement being more recent (1830–1840). He also reports that in the 1960s French seemed to be on the verge of extinction in the state community."{{cite journal|author=King, Ruth|date=2000|title=The Lexical Basis of Grammatical Borrowing: A Prince Edward Island French Case Study|location=Amsterdam|publisher=John Benjamins|page=5}}{{cite web|first=George|last=Phillips|url=https://www.languagemarketplace.com/Info-English-French-Translation-History.html|title=French influence on the English speaking community}}{{cite web |url=http://vorlon.case.edu/~flm/flm/Frenchville/Frenchville.html |title= |website=vorlon.case.edu |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206014449/http://vorlon.case.edu/~flm/flm/Frenchville/Frenchville.html |archive-date=February 6, 2007}}

Brayon French is spoken in the Beauce of Quebec; Edmundston, New Brunswick; and Madawaska, Maine mostly in Aroostook County, Maine. Although superficially a phonological descendant of Acadian French, analysis reveals it is morphosyntactically identical to Quebec French.Geddes, James (1908). Study of the Acadian-French language spoken on the north shore of the Baie-des-Chaleurs. Halle: Niemeyer; Wittmann, Henri (1995) [http://www.nou-la.org/ling/1995a-fda.pdf "Grammaire comparée des variétés coloniales du français populaire de Paris du 17^e siècle et origines du français québécois."] in Fournier, Robert & Henri Wittmann. Le français des Amériques. Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières, 281–334. It is believed to have resulted from a localized levelling of contact dialects between Québécois and Acadian settlers.{{Cite web|url=http://blogs.northcountrypublicradio.org/allin/2016/07/10/neither-american-or-canadian-the-republic-of-madawaska/|title = Neither American or Canadian: The Republic of Madawaska « All in}} Some of the Brayons view themselves as neither Acadian nor Québécois, affirming that they are a distinctive culture with a history and heritage linked to farming and forestry in the Madawaska area.

Canadian French spoken by French Canadian immigrants is also spoken by Canadian Americans and French Canadian Americans in the United States across Little Canadas and in many cities of New England. French Canadians living in Canada express their cultural identity using a number of terms. The Ethnic Diversity Survey of the 2006 Canadian census{{cite web

| title = Ethnic Origin (247), Single and Multiple Ethnic Origin Responses (3) and Sex (3) for the Population

| year = 2006

| work = The Daily

| publisher = Statistics Canada

| url = http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=92333&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2006&THEME=80&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=

| access-date = 17 March 2008

| archive-date = 4 March 2016

| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304111551/http://www12.statcan.ca/census-recensement/2006/dp-pd/tbt/Rp-eng.cfm?LANG=E&APATH=3&DETAIL=0&DIM=0&FL=A&FREE=0&GC=0&GID=0&GK=0&GRP=1&PID=92333&PRID=0&PTYPE=88971,97154&S=0&SHOWALL=0&SUB=0&Temporal=2006&THEME=80&VID=0&VNAMEE=&VNAMEF=

| url-status = dead

}}{{cite web |title=Ethnic Diversity Survey: portrait of a multicultural society |year=2003 |publisher=Statistics Canada |url=http://www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/pdfs/housingconference/Statistics.pdf |access-date=2021-03-13 |archive-date=2016-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161007000926/http://www.urbancentre.utoronto.ca/pdfs/housingconference/Statistics.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web

|author = Statistics Canada

|title = Ethnic Diversity Survey: Questionnaire

|publisher = Department of Canadian Heritage

|date = April 2002

|url = http://janus.ssc.uwo.ca/docfiles/2002eds/Questionnaire-E.pdf

|access-date = 25 April 2008

|quote = The survey, based on interviews, asked the following questions: "1) I would now like to ask you about your ethnic ancestry, heritage or background. What were the ethnic or cultural origins of your ancestors? 2) In addition to "Canadian", what were the other ethnic or cultural origins of your ancestors on first coming to North America?

|url-status = dead

|archive-url = https://www.webcitation.org/5nUG44rGn?url=http://janus.ssc.uwo.ca/docfiles/2002eds/Questionnaire-E.pdf

|archive-date = 12 February 2010

|df = dmy-all

}} found that French-speaking Canadians identified their ethnicity most often as French, French Canadians, Québécois, and Acadian. The latter three were grouped together by Jantzen (2006) as "French New World" ancestries because they originate in Canada.{{cite journal|last=Jantzen|first=Lorna|title=THE ADVANTAGES OF ANALYZING ETHNIC ATTITUDES ACROSS GENERATIONS—RESULTS FROM THE ETHNIC DIVERSITY SURVEY|journal=Canadian and French Perspectives on Diversity|year=2003|pages=103–118|url=http://publications.gc.ca/collections/Collection/CH36-4-1-2004E.pdf#page=111|access-date=7 May 2012}}Jantzen (2006) Footnote 9: "These will be called "French New World" ancestries since the majority of respondents in these ethnic categories are Francophones."

All these ancestries are represented among French Canadian Americans. Franco-Newfoundlanders speaking Newfoundland French, Franco-Ontarians, Franco-Manitobans, Fransaskois, Franco-Albertans, Franco-Columbians, Franco-Ténois, Franco-Yukonnais, Franco-Nunavois are part of the French Canadian American population and speak their own form of French.

Various dialects of French spoken in France are also spoken in the United States by recent immigrants from France, by people of French ancestry and descendants of immigrants from France.{{Cite web|url=http://www.datesandevents.org/us-immigration-timelines/french-immigration-america-timeline.htm|title=French Immigration to America Timeline **}}{{Cite web|url=https://cis.org/Immigrants-United-States-2010|title = Immigrants in the United States, 2010|date = 8 August 2012 | last1=Camarota | first1=Steven A. }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/european-immigrants-united-states-0|title = European Immigrants in the United States|date = 26 July 2012}}

{{further|French Americans}}

File:French in the United States.png

A total of 10,804,304 people claimed French ancestry in the 2010 census{{cite web|url=http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02&prodType=table|archive-url=https://archive.today/20200212212624/http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_10_1YR_DP02&prodType=table|url-status=dead|archive-date=2020-02-12|title=SELECTED SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS IN THE UNITED STATES : 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates|publisher=Factfinder2.census.gov|access-date=2015-03-14}} although other sources have recorded as many as 13 million people claiming this ancestry. Most French-speaking Americans are of this heritage, but there are also significant populations not of French descent who speak it as well, including those from Belgium, Switzerland, Haiti and numerous Francophone African countries.

File:Northway Exit 34 (NY 915F).jpg, near the U.S.-Canada border with Quebec]]

In Florida, the city of Miami is home to a large Francophone community, consisting of French expatriates, Haitians (who may also speak Haitian Creole, a separate language which is derived partially from French), and French Canadians; there is also a growing community of Francophone Africans in and around Orlando and Tampa. A small but sustaining French community that originated in San Francisco during the Gold Rush and was supplemented by French wine-making immigrants to the Bay Area is centered culturally around that city's French Quarter.

In Maine, there is a recent increase of French speakers due to immigration from Francophone countries in Africa.{{Cite web|url=http://mainepublic.org/post/reason-recent-french-speaking-resurgence-lewiston-african-immigrants#stream/0|title=Reason for Recent French Speaking Resurgence in Lewiston: African Immigrants|date=27 March 2017}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-03-13/us-english-king-surprising-number-people-maine-also-speak-french|title = In Maine, a little French goes a long way| newspaper=The World from PRX }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.pressherald.com/2016/07/31/when-cultures-click-it-could-mean-a-renaissance-for-french-speaking-in-maine/|title = African immigrants drive French-speaking renaissance in Maine| newspaper=Portland Press Herald }}

Many retired individuals from Quebec have moved to Florida, or at least spend the winter there. Also, the many Canadians who travel to the Southeastern states in the winter and spring include a number of Francophones, mostly from Quebec but also from New Brunswick and Ontario. Quebecers and Acadians also tend to visit Louisiana, as Quebec and New Brunswick share a number of cultural ties with Louisiana.

Florida, California, New York, Texas, Louisiana, Arizona, Hawaii, and a few other popular resort regions (most notably Old Orchard Beach, Maine, Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, Maine and Cape May, New Jersey) are visited in large numbers by Québécois, during winter and summer vacations.

French has traditionally been the foreign language of choice for English-speakers across the globe. However, after 1968,Judith W. Rosenthal, Handbook of Undergraduate Second Language Education (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000; New York: Routledge, 2011), p. 50. French has ranked as the second-most-studied foreign language in the United States, behind Spanish.{{cite news| url=https://www.forbes.com/2008/02/22/popular-foreign-languages-tech-language_sp08-cx_rr_0222foreign_slide_2.html | work=Forbes | first=Rebecca | last=Ruiz | title=By The Numbers: Most Popular Foreign Languages}} Some 1.2 million students from the elementary grades through high school were enrolled in French language courses in 2007–2008, or 14% of all students enrolled in foreign languages.{{cite web |url=http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ReportSummary2011.pdf |title=Language study in the US |publisher=actfl.org |access-date=2015-03-20 |archive-date=2016-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160408184754/http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/ReportSummary2011.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Many American universities offer French-language courses, and degree programs in the language are common.{{cite web |url=http://www.mla.org/pdf/2013_enrollment_survey.pdf |title=Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in United States Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2013 |last1=Goldberg |first1=David |last2=Looney |first2=Dennis |last3=Lusin |first3=Natalia |date=February 2015 |publisher=Modern Language Association |access-date=May 20, 2015}} In the fall of 2021, 135,088 American university students were enrolled in French courses, or 11.4% of all foreign-language students and the second-highest total of any language (behind Spanish, with 584,453 students, or 49.4%).{{Cite web |last=Modern Language Association |author-link=Modern Language Association |date=2023 |title=Enrollments in Languages Other Than English in US Institutions of Higher Education, Fall 2021 |url=https://www.mla.org/content/download/191324/file/Enrollments-in-Languages-Other-Than-English-in-US-Institutions-of-Higher-Education-Fall-2021.pdf |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=Modern Language Association}}

Traditionally, French teaching has been more important in private schools, but it is difficult to obtain accurate data because of the optional requirements of languages in these schools. Indeed, the study of a foreign language is not required of American students in all states. Some states, however, including New York, Virginia and Georgia, require a minimum of two years of foreign-language instruction.

Note: speakers of French-based creole languages are not included in percentages.

{{Main|List of U.S. place names of French origin}}

{{see also|Franco American literature}}

• Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL)
• Massachusetts American and French Canadian Cultural Exchange Commission{{cite web|website=Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts|publisher=Commonowealth of Massachusetts|archive-date=March 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316191923/https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/ciscig/j/j8j10.htm|url=https://www.sec.state.ma.us/cis/ciscig/j/j8j10.htm|title=Citizens' Guide to State Services, Housing/Community Development- Commissions}}

• 3ABN Français, Christian television network 24/7 in French.{{cite web |url=http://www.3abnfrancais.org/ |title=Home |website=3abnfrancais.org}}
• Bonjour Television, the first American television station broadcasting 24/7 totally in French.{{cite web |url=http://www.bonjouramericatv.com/ |title=Home |website=bonjouramericatv.com}}
• TV5Monde
• Louisiana Public Broadcasting daily afternoon and weekend morning broadcast of French language programs aimed at children on LPB 2
• Canal+ International {{Cite web|url=http://www.canalplusinternational.com//|title=Découvrir nos métiers et marques - Vivendi}}

• France-Amérique
• List of French-language newspapers published in the United States

• WSRF (AM 1580), Miami area
• WYGG (FM 88.1), central New Jersey
• KFAI (FM 90.3 Minneapolis and 106.7 St.Paul), Minnesota (weekly broadcast is French with English translation, but features French-language music)
• KBON (FM 101.1), southern Louisiana (spoken programming is English, but features French-language music)
• KLCL (AM 1470), southern Louisiana (spoken programming is English, but features French-language music)
• KVPI (1050 AM), southern Louisiana (twice-a-day news broadcast in French, plays English-language music)
• KRVS (FM 88.7), southern Louisiana (variety of programming in English and French)
• WFEA (AM 1370) Manchester, New Hampshire (Sunday morning broadcast in French. Chez Nous with Roger Lacerte)
• WNRI (AM 1380 and FM 95.1) Woonsocket, Rhode Island (Saturday midday, and Sunday afternoon broadcasts of L'Écho Musical with Roger and Claudette Laliberté)

• Télé-Louisiane: Multimedia platform dedicated to the languages and culture of Louisiana.
• New Niveau

• North Seattle French School
• Audubon Charter School, New Orleans{{cite web|url=http://www.auduboncharter.com |title=Audubon Charter School |publisher=Auduboncharter.com |date=1999-12-31 |access-date=2015-03-14}}
• Dallas International School{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasinternationalschool.org |title=Home |publisher=Dallasinternationalschool.org |access-date=2015-03-14}}
• École Bilingue de Berkeley
• École Bilingue de La Nouvelle-Orléans{{cite web |url=http://www.ebnola.com/cms/index.php?page=home |title= Ecole Bilingue de la Nouvelle Orleans - Welcome to EB New Orleans|website=www.ebnola.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080505065206/http://www.ebnola.com/cms/index.php?page=home |archive-date=May 5, 2008}}
• Ecole Kenwood French Immersion School, Columbus, Ohio{{Cite web|url=https://www.ccsoh.us/domain/2146|title = Academic Brief / Program Overview}}
• San Diego French-American School
• École secondaire Saint-Dominique, Auburn, Maine
• Awty International School, Houston, Texas
• Lycée International de Houston
• Francophone Charter School of Oakland
• French Academy of Bilingual Culture, New Milford, New Jersey
• Lycée Français de New York
• Lycée Français de Los Angeles
• Lycée Français de Chicago
• Lycée Français de la Nouvelle-Orléans
• Lycée Français de San Francisco
• Lycée International de Los Angeles
• French American International School, San Francisco
• French American School of Arizona, Tempe, Arizona
• French-American School of New York
• French American School of Rhode Island, Providence
• International School of Arizona, Scottsdale, Arizona
• International School of Boston
• International School of Denver
• International School of Indiana
• International School of Tucson
• International School of Louisiana (ISL)http://www.isl-edu.org {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618170300/http://www.isl-edu.org/ |date=June 18, 2007 }}
• The Language Academy, San Diego
• French International School of Philadelphia{{cite web |url=http://www.efiponline.com/english/about-us |title=About Us | EFIP |publisher=Efiponline.com |date=1991-01-22 |access-date=2013-04-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140515052811/http://www.efiponline.com/english/about-us |archive-date=2014-05-15 }}
• L'École Française du Maine
• L'Étoile du Nord French Immersion, St. Paul, Minnesota
• [https://www.fasps.org French American School of Puget Sound], Mercer Island, Washington
• French Immersion School of Washington
• École Franco-américaine de la Silicon Valley
• French American International School (Portland, Oregon)
• Portland French School, Portland, Oregon
• École Bilingue de Berkeley, Berkeley, California
• John Hanson French Immersion School, Oxon Hill, Maryland
• Robert Goddard French Immersion School, Lanham, Maryland
• The Waring School, French Immersion School, Beverly, Massachusetts
• École Internationale de Boston / International School of Boston, Cambridge and Arlington, Massachusetts
• Normandale French Immersion Elementary School, Edina, Minnesota
• St. Louis Language Immersion Schools, Saint Louis, Missouri
• École Française Bilingue de Greenville, South Carolina
• Lycée Rochambeau, Washington, D.C.
• Académie Lafayette – French Immersion Charter Public School, Kansas City, Missouri
• Santa Rosa French-American Charter School, Santa Rosa, California

{{Portal|United States}}

• French America
• French Americans
• Quebec
• New Brunswick
• Louisiana
• French Creole
• Quebec French
• Acadian French
• Louisiana French
• Frenchville French
• Louisiana Creole
• Missouri French
• Muskrat French
• New England French
• Canadian French
• Newfoundland French
• French language in Canada
• American French
• Francophonie in Minnesota
• Council for the Development of French in Louisiana
• French colonization of the Americas

{{Reflist}}

{{external links|date=March 2015}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20091012002756/http://www.phaenex.uwindsor.ca/ojs/leddy/index.php/HRG/article/viewFile/358/310 History of French settlement in Detroit, MI]
• {{Cite web|date=2013-03-16|title=Feel Like a Canadian in New York|url=https://newyorkinfrench.net/profiles/blogs/largest-francophone-population-in-north-america|access-date=2020-06-29|website=New York in French}}

{{Languages of the United States}}

{{Geographical distribution of French speakers}}

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Category:French-American culture

Category:France–United States relations

Category:French North America