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 known as: 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.
Shareable facts
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Meridional French?
Meridional French is a dialect of the French language.
Where is Meridional French spoken?
Meridional French is primarily spoken in France.
Which region is Meridional French associated with?
Meridional French is part of the Europe region on DialectAtlas.
Is Meridional French known by other names?
Yes — Meridional French is also referred to as Southern French, Français méridional.
What are the other dialects of French?
French also includes Metropolitan French, Belgian French, Swiss French, Quebec French, Acadian French, Maghrebi French, West African French, Cajun French, Franco-Ontarian, Métis French. Each variety has its own vocabulary, pronunciation, and cultural context.
Other French dialects
See on the atlas →Français de Belgique
The French of Wallonia and Brussels. Maintains a number of vocabulary and number forms (septante, nonante) that the Paris standard has dropped.
Romand French · Suisse romand
The French of western Switzerland. Like Belgian French, retains older numerals (septante, huitante, nonante) and shows long contact with German-Swiss varieties.
Québécois · Joual
The dominant French variety of Canada. Strongly distinct from European French in vowel realisation, lexicon, and the colloquial Joual register.
The French of the Maritime provinces, especially New Brunswick. Preserves several 17th-century features lost in both Quebec and Metropolitan French.
The French of North Africa, used as a second language across Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco. Marked by code-switching with Maghrebi Arabic and Berber.
The French of Francophone West Africa — used in administration, education, and media. Strong contact features from Wolof, Bambara, and other regional languages.
Louisiana French · Français cadien
The French of the Cajun communities of southern Louisiana, descended from 18th-century Acadian settlers expelled from the Maritimes. Endangered, with active revitalisation through CODOFIL and the Louisiana French immersion programme.
Ontario French · Français ontarien
The French of the historic Francophone communities of Ontario, especially around Sudbury, Ottawa, and the Northern shore. Closely related to Quebec French but with stronger English contact features.
Mitchif Français · Prairie French
The French variety of the Métis Nation of the Canadian Prairies. Distinct from Quebec and Acadian French; not to be confused with Michif, the mixed Cree-French language of the same communities.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →196 km away
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.
284 km away
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.
389 km away
The French of western Switzerland. Like Belgian French, retains older numerals (septante, huitante, nonante) and shows long contact with German-Swiss varieties.
468 km away
The Gallo-Italic variety of Lombardy and Italian-speaking Switzerland. Internally split between Western (Milan) and Eastern (Bergamo) groupings.
499 km away
The Catalan minority variety of Alghero on the island of Sardinia, rooted in medieval Catalan settlement and long separated from the main Catalan-speaking territories. It survives as a local heritage language in intense contact with Italian and Sardinian.
551 km away
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.