Differences Between Swiss French and Standard French
Many differences between Swiss French and French are due to the different administrative and political systems between Switzerland and France. Some of its distinctive lexical features are shared with Belgian French (and some also with Quebec French), such as:
- The use of the word septante for seventy, huitante for eighty (regional) and nonante for ninety as opposed to soixante-dix (literally 'sixty-ten'), quatre-vingts (literally 'four twenties') and quatre-vingt-dix (literally 'four twenties-ten') of the "vigesimal" French counting system.
- The use of the word déjeuner for "breakfast" ("lunch" in French of France, which uses petit déjeuner for "breakfast"), and of the words le dîner and le souper for "lunch" and "dinner" respectively (in French of France, déjeuner and dîner respectively), much like the varying uses of dinner and supper throughout the English-speaking world.
Other examples which are not shared with Belgian French:
- The word huitante is sometimes used for eighty instead of quatre-vingts (literally 'four twenties'), especially in the cantons of Vaud, Valais and Fribourg; the term octante (from the Latin octaginta) is now considered defunct.
- The word canton has a different meaning in each country.
- In France, a post office box is called a boite postale (BP), whereas in Switzerland, it is called a case postale (CP).
Read more about this topic: Swiss French
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