The French Language Today provides a well-informed introduction to the French language from the perspective of modern linguistics. The authors highlight the complex, diverse aspects of the French language in a lively and accessible manner. A variety of topics are covered including the distribution of French in the world, the historical development of standard French, the sound system of French, its sentence patterns, and its stylistic and geographical variations. Responding to a critical gap in the market, the book is both an introduction to the techniques of linguistics as applied to the French language, and a reference work for the more advanced student. The contents of the book arise directly out of courses taught by the authors at the University of York. Written specifically with the student in mind it will thus prove invaluable as a textbook for a variety of language and linguistics courses.