Europe · FR

France

Home to 7 dialects represented on Dialect Atlas, spanning 6 language families.

Romanes dialects in France

Sinte Manouche

also: Sinti, Manush, Sinté

A northwestern Romanes variety spoken by Sinti and Manouche communities across Germany, France, the Benelux, and northern Italy. Shaped by long contact with Germanic and Romance languages.

French dialects in France

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Metropolitan French

also: Parisian French, Standard French

The Paris-area standard of European French. Carried nationally by education and broadcasting; the reference point for most French taught abroad.

Meridional French

also: Southern French, Français méridional

The southern French of Marseille, Toulouse, and the broader Occitan-speaking belt. Marked by realisation of mute vowels and a distinct intonation contour.

Breton dialects in France

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Breton

also: Brezhoneg

A Brittonic Celtic language of Brittany in north-western France. The only continental Celtic survivor; brought from south-western Britain in the 5th-6th centuries.

Catalan dialects in France

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A Western Romance language, official in Andorra and co-official across Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, and the Valencian Community of Spain. Around 10 million speakers, with strong literary tradition since the medieval period.

Occitan dialects in France

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Occitan

also: Lenga dʼòc, Provençal

A Romance language of southern France, the Aran valley in Catalonia, and a few alpine valleys of Italy. The language of the medieval troubadours; now endangered in everyday use.

Basque dialects in France

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Basque

also: Euskara

A language isolate of the western Pyrenees, with no proven relatives anywhere in the world. The only pre-Indo-European language to survive in Western Europe; co-official in the Basque Country and Navarre.