Although there are other languages in Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the official language is French as the island is an overseas collectivity of France. Linguistically, French is a romance language belonging to the Indo-European language group. The language was made official on the island in 1958 under the French constitution. The French alphabet is founded on the Latin script which has 26 letters. Therefore, it is similar to the English alphabet. However, not all letters are pronounced the same way. Although French is commonly used, the local accent and most of the words used on a daily routine are comparable with and have origins in the Norman languages.

There are only two commonly used languages in Saint Pierre and Miquelon. These languages are French and English. Out of the entire population of the island, 97.6% speak French. The remaining population uses English as the language of communication.

The French language used on the island is similar to the language spoken in metropolitan France rather than Canadian French. The difference is mainly noticed in pronunciation. Besides, Canadian French uses ancient French words that might not be in use in the modern French used in metropolitan France or by extension in Saint Pierre and Miquelon.

Basque was formerly spoken in Saint Pierre and Miquelon. It was earlier used in private settings by descendants of the Basque people. However, the language was already extinct from the island in the late 1950s. The English language is also used by a few residents of the French collectivity.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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