France

==Etymology and pronunciation==
{{Main|Name of France}}
Originally applied to the whole [[Francia|Frankish Empire]], the name ''France'' comes from the [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|[[Francia]]}}, or "realm of the [[Franks]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of France |url=http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/History/DF_history.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110824051936/http://www.discoverfrance.net/France/History/DF_history.shtml |archive-date=24 August 2011 |access-date=17 July 2011 |publisher=Discoverfrance.net}}</ref> Modern France is still named today {{Lang|it|Francia}} in Italian and Spanish, while {{Lang|de|Frankreich}} in German, {{Lang|nl|Frankrijk}} in Dutch and {{Lang|sv|Frankrike}} in Swedish and Norwegian all mean "Land/realm of the Franks".

The [[name of the Franks]] is related to the English word ''frank'' ("free"): the latter stems from the [[Old French]] {{Lang|ang|franc}} ("free, noble, sincere"), ultimately from [[Medieval Latin]] ''francus'' ("free, exempt from service; freeman, Frank"), a generalisation of the tribal name that emerged as a [[Late Latin]] borrowing of the reconstructed [[Frankish language|Frankish]] [[Endonym and exonym|endonym]] {{Lang|frk|*Frank}}.<ref>Examples: {{Cite encyclopedia |title=frank |encyclopedia=American Heritage Dictionary}} {{Cite encyclopedia|title=frank|encyclopedia=Webster's Third New International Dictionary}} And so on.</ref><ref name=":0"/> It has been suggested that the meaning "free" was adopted because, after the conquest of [[Gaul]], only Franks were free of taxation,<ref>{{Cite book |first=Michel |last=Rouche |title=A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium |publisher=Belknap Press |year=1987 |isbn=978-0-674-39974-7 |editor-first=Paul |editor-last=Veyne |page=425 |chapter=The Early Middle Ages in the West |oclc=59830199}}</ref> or more generally because they had the status of freemen in contrast to servants or slaves.<ref name=":0"/>

The etymology of ''*Frank'' is uncertain. It is traditionally derived from the [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] word {{Lang|gem-x-proto|frankōn}}, which translates as "javelin" or "lance" (the throwing axe of the Franks was known as the ''[[francisca]]''),<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Tarassuk |first1=Leonid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UJbyPwAACAAJ |title=The Complete Encyclopedia of Arms and Weapons: the most comprehensive reference work ever published on arms and armor from prehistoric times to the present with over 1,250 illustrations |last2=Blair |first2=Claude |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-671-42257-8 |page=186 |access-date=5 July 2011}}</ref> although these weapons may have been named because of their use by the Franks, not the other way around.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Origin and meaning of Frank |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/frank |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |language=en}}</ref>

In English, 'France' is pronounced {{IPAc-en|f|r|æ|n|s}} {{Respell|FRANSS}} in American English and {{IPAc-en|f|r|ɑː|n|s}} {{Respell|FRAHNSS}} or {{IPAc-en|f|r|æ|n|s}} {{Respell|FRANSS}} in British English. The pronunciation with {{IPAc-en|ɑː}} is mostly confined to accents with the [[Trap–bath split|trap-bath split]] such as [[Received Pronunciation]], though it can be also heard in some other dialects such as [[Cardiff English]], in which {{IPAc-en|f|r|ɑː|n|s}} is in free variation with {{IPAc-en|f|r|æ|n|s}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wells |first=John C. |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |publisher=Longman |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0 |edition=3rd}}; {{Cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Beverley|last2=Mees|first2=Inger M.|editor-last1=Coupland|editor-first1=Nikolas|editor-last2=Thomas|editor-first2=Alan Richard|year=1990|title=English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change|chapter=The Phonetics of Cardiff English|publisher=Multilingual Matters Ltd.|page=96|isbn=978-1-85359-032-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPwYt3gVbu4C}}</ref>