Most materials used in French research are written in French. However, you do not need to speak or read French to do research in French records. You merely need to know some key numbers, words, and phrases to understand the records.

Infrequently you may find other languages in French records. These include Latin, German, Italian, and Breton. Latin is sometimes found in Roman Catholic parish registers, but it is unusual to find it in baptism, marriage, and burial records, except in Alsace-Lorraine. German is also frequently found in records from Alsace-Lorraine. Records from Corse, especially before 1768, may be in Italian. Some records from Savoie and Nice are in Italian, especially before 1792 and from 1815-1859. Breton is spoken in Bretagne but is only rarely found in records useful to family historians.

French grammar and customs may affect the way names appear in genealogical records. For example, the names of your ancestor may vary from record to record in French. For help in understanding name variations, see the “Names, Personal” section of this outline.

Language Aids

The Family History Library has genealogical word lists for French, German, and Latin. The French list is found in the Author/Title section of the Family History Library Catalog under—

French: Genealogical Word List. Salt Lake City: Family History Library, 1990. (FHL book 929.1 F21wL; fiche 6105236.) Contains French words of value in genealogical research translated into English.

The Family History Library's separate Germany Research Outline (34061) includes an example of the German (Gothic) alphabet in print and handwriting.

The following books and English-French dictionaries can also help you in your research. You can find these and similar material at many research libraries.

French records extraction. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, [198-?]. (FHL book 944 D27f; fiche 6068523.) Text in English. Shows examples of French civil and parish records, translations of common words found in them, personal name lists, and handwriting examples.

New Cassell's French dictionary: French-English, English-French. New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1970. (FHL book 443.21 C272; not on microfilm.)

Additional language aids (including dictionaries of various dialects and time periods) are listed in the Family History Library Catalog in the Locality section under FRANCE - LANGUAGE AND LANGUAGES or in the Subject section under FRENCH LANGUAGE - DICTIONARIES.

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