A French Creole, or French-based Creole language, is a creole language based on the French language, more specifically on a 17th century koiné French extant in Paris, the French Atlantic harbours, and the nascent French colonies. French-based creole languages are spoken by millions of people worldwide, primarily in the Americas and in the Indian Ocean.
Descendants of the non-creole colonial koiné are still spoken in Canada (mostly in Quebec), the Prairies, Louisiana, northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont), Saint-Barthélemy (leeward portion of the island) and as isolates in other parts of the Americas.
Famous quotes containing the words french and/or creoles:
“The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate of it. The systems that fail are those that rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. The error of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The result of his error was the French Revolution. It was an admirable result.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Men always sell strawberries, women, blackberries, your all- knowing Creole friend says. ‘Why?’ you ask. ‘Ah, it has always been that way.’ When you get to know Creoles better, you realize that the phrase ‘It has always been that way’ justifies everything.”
—For the City of New Orleans, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)