the french language in lebanon started in 1920 after the french conquered syria and lebanon from the ottomans after world war one. ever since then the french language has been influenced in the lebanese dialect, such as with “bonjour kifak”. "bonjour" means "good morning" in french, and "kifak" means "how are you?" in the lebanese dialect of arabic. the two languages are combined to say "hello, how are you?" in conversation.