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French-speaking

French-speaking

10 3.9
Able to speak and understand French
  • adjective
  • /frɛntʃ ˈspiːkɪŋ/
: francófono
  • It's a small city located in the province of Namur in the French-speaking region of Belgium.
  • French-speaking countries
  • French-speaking people
  • French-speaking Canadians

Examples

  • Through the computer, she found a French-speaking detainee and played the recording for him.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The estimated quarter of a million French-speaking dwellers of the Louisiana coastal marsh do not accept strangers easily.

    Academic text (1998)
  • The European values had become the core of most of the French-speaking African countries.

    Academic text (2004)
  • What about the French-speaking Quebec News?

  • Several of our French-speaking faculty made guest appearances as surprise witnesses.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Likewise, the French-speaking women behaved as if they had never heard English before.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Cameroon, a predominantly French-speaking nation of 20 million in west central Africa.

    Blog text (10)
  • Four Belgian, French-speaking children, ages 6 to 13, participated in this study.

    Academic text (2012)
  • Our better authors are awarded major prizes and receive critical acclaim throughout the English and French-speaking world.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Drew Shaeffer will be using her French-speaking talents in Canada this summer.

How Fluent

French-speaking
10 3.9

Surface Forms

French-speaking positive

Morphology

French-speaking = French + speak (transparent) = French + speak + ing

The meaning is straightforwardly compositional: someone who is French-speaking speaks French.

Etymology

French-speaking joins French, the language from France, and speaking, which means 'talking'. So it describes a person or community that can 'talk' in French or usually uses French.