Editing Languages of the United States (section)

===French (1.18 million speakers; 2.07 million including Haitian Creole)===
{{Main|French language in the United States}}
[[File:French USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|French language distribution in the United States.]]
[[French language|French]] is the seventh most spoken language in the United States according to the 2020 ACS. It is the fourth most common if [[Haitian Creole]] (a French-based dialect that is not mutually intelligible with standard French) is combined and counted as French. The ACS lists Haitian Creole separately from French, which encompasses standard French, Louisiana Creole, and Louisiana Cajun varieties. In the United States, French is spoken mainly by the [[Louisiana Creole people|Louisiana Creole]], native [[France|French]], [[Cajuns|Cajun]], and [[French Canadians|French-Canadian]] populations, along with more recent immigrants from Haiti. It is widely spoken in [[Maine]], [[New Hampshire]], [[Vermont]], and in [[Louisiana]], with notable Francophone enclaves in [[St. Clair County, Michigan]], many rural areas of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and the [[North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)|northern San Francisco Bay area]].{{citation needed|date=May 2018}} Because of its legacy in Louisiana, that state is served by the [[Council for the Development of French in Louisiana]] (CODOFIL), the only state agency in the United States whose mission is to serve a linguistic population. In October 2018, Louisiana became the first U.S. state to join the [[Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hasselle |first=Della |date=October 13, 2018 |title=Louisiana Joins International Organization of French-speaking Governments |language=en |work=NOLA.com |url=https://www.nola.com/news/article_302082ef-9b0e-59de-8583-4e320c5c792a.html}}</ref>

Three varieties of French developed within what is now the United States in colonial times including [[Louisiana French]], [[Missouri French]], and [[New England French]] (essentially a variant of [[Canadian French]]).<ref>{{cite book|title= Status and Function of Languages and Language Varieties|last= Ammon|first= Ulrich|author2= International Sociological Association|year= 1989|publisher= Walter de Gruyter|isbn= 978-0-89925-356-5|pages= 306–308|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=geh261xgI8sC|access-date=April 23, 2012|url-status= live|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20121220231510/http://books.google.com/books?id=geh261xgI8sC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0 |archive-date= December 20, 2012}}</ref> French is the second-most-spoken language in the states of [[Louisiana]] and Maine. The largest French-speaking communities in the United States reside in [[Maine|Northeast Maine]]; [[Hollywood, Florida|Hollywood]] and [[Miami, Florida|Miami]], [[Florida]]; [[New York City]];{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} certain areas of [[Louisiana|rural Louisiana]]; and small minorities in Vermont and New Hampshire. Many of the New England communities are connected to the dialect found across the border in Quebec or New Brunswick. More than 13 million Americans possess primary French heritage, but only 2 million speak French, or any regional creoles and variations language at home. The largest concentration of French speakers in the country is in Louisiana.

====Louisiana French====
{{further|Louisiana French|Louisiana Creole}}
[[File:Cajun USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Cajun language distribution in the United States.]]
Louisiana French ({{langx|frc|français de la Louisiane}}; {{langx|lou|françé la lwizyàn}}) is an umbrella term for the dialects and [[varieties of French|varieties of the French language]] spoken traditionally in colonial [[Lower Louisiana]]. As of today Louisiana French is primarily used in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Louisiana]], specifically in the southern [[Parish (administrative division)|parishes]].

French is spoken across ethnic and racial lines by [[Louisiana French people]] who may identify as [[Cajuns]] or [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]] as well as [[Chitimacha]], [[Houma people|Houma]], [[Biloxi people|Biloxi]], [[Tunica people|Tunica]], [[Choctaw people|Choctaw]], [[Acadian]]s, and [[Métis|French Indian]] among others.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities |last=Valdman |first=Albert |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2009 |isbn=978-1604734034 }}</ref><ref>[http://houmatoday.com/article/20071209/NEWS/712090329 ''Three Local Tribes Await Federal Decision''], December 8, 2007, ''Houma Today.''</ref> For these reasons, as well as the relatively small influence [[Acadian French]] has had on the region, the label Louisiana French or Louisiana Regional French ({{langx|fr|français régional louisianais}}) is generally regarded as more accurate and inclusive than "Cajun French" and is the preferred term by [[Linguistics|linguists]] and [[Anthropology|anthropologists]].<ref name="Neumann-Holzschuh 2014">{{Cite journal |last=Neumann-Holzschuh |first=Ingrid |date=2014 |title=Carrefour Louisiane |journal=Journal of Language Contact |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=124–153 |doi=10.1163/19552629-00701006|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Acadians and Cajuns: The politics and culture of French minorities in North America |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A. |publisher=Innsbruck University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-3902571939 |editor-last=Mathis-Mosen |editor-first=Ursula |location=Innsbruck |pages=91–103 |chapter=How much Acadian is there in Cajun? |editor-last2=Beschof |editor-first2=Günter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=If I could turn my tongue like that : the Creole language of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A.|date=2003|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0807127797 |location=Baton Rouge|oclc=846496076}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/38807 |title=New Perspectives on Language Variety in the South: Historical and Contemporary Approaches|last=Klingler|first=Thomas A. |publisher=The University of Alabama Press|year=2015 |isbn=9783110196351|editor-last=Picone |editor-first=Michael D. |location=Tuscaloosa|pages=627–640|chapter=Beyond Cajun: Toward an Expanded View of Regional French in Louisiana|editor-last2=Evans Davies|editor-first2=Catherine Evans Davies}}</ref> However, "Cajun French" is commonly used in [[Laity|lay]] discourse by speakers of the language and other inhabitants of Louisiana.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A. |title=Language labels and language use among Cajuns and Creoles in Louisiana |editor1=T. Sanchez |editor2=U. Horesh |journal=Working Papers in Linguistics |volume=9 |issue=2 |date=2003 |pages=77–90 |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol9/iss2/8/}}</ref>