Français belge
French (Belgian)
Indo-European (Romance, Gallo-Romance)
Belgian French (français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken in Wallonia and bilingual Brussels, with ~4.5M speakers. Like Swiss French, it uses septante (70) and nonante (90) instead of metropolitan French soixante-dix and quatre-vingt-dix, but unlike Swiss French it uses quatre-vingts (80). Vocabulary shows Walloon and Dutch influence (drève "tree-lined avenue", goûter "afternoon snack"). The Service de la langue française of the French Community of Belgium oversees the regional standard. One of three official languages of Belgium alongside Dutch and German.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in French (Belgian)
Water
eau
/o/
Fire
feu
/fø/
Sun
soleil
/sɔlɛj/
Moon
lune
/lyn/
Mother
mère
/mɛʁ/
Father
père
/pɛʁ/
Eat
manger
/mɑ̃ʒe/
Drink
boire
/bwaʁ/
Love
amour
/amuʁ/
Heart
cœur
/kœʁ/
Tree
arbre
/aʁbʁ/
House
maison
/mɛzɔ̃/
Dog
chien
/ʃjɛ̃/
Cat
chat
/ʃa/
Hand
main
/mɛ̃/
Eye
œil
/œj/
Hello
bonjour
/bɔ̃ʒuʁ/
Thank you
merci
/mɛʁsi/
One
un
/œ̃/
Good
bon
/bɔ̃/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Romance, Gallo-Romance) languages
| Meaning | French (Belgian) | French | French (African) | French (Swiss) | French (Québec) | Picard | Classical French (17c., Bel Usage) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ | iau /jo/ | eau /o/ |
| Fire | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ | fu /fy/ | feu /fø/ |
| Sun | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | solèl /sɔlɛl/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ |
| Moon | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lʏn/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ |
| Mother | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛːʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛːr/ |
| Father | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛːʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛːr/ |
| Eat | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | minger /mɛ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| Drink | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwɑːʁ/ | boère /bwɛʁ/ | boire /bweːr/ |
| Love | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuːʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amur/ |
| Heart | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœːʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœːr/ |
| Tree | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aːʁbʁ/ | abre /abʁ/ | arbre /aːrbr/ |
| House | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | mason /masɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ |
| Dog | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | kien /kjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ |
| Cat | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ | cat /ka/ | chat /ʃaː/ |
| Hand | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ |
| Eye | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œːj/ |
| Hello | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | allô /alo/ | bojour /bɔʒuʁ/ | Dieu vous garde /djø vu ɡard/ |
| Thank you | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | grâces /ɡraːs/ |
| One | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ |
| Good | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ |
Word order compared
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