In 2011, the total number of native French speakers in Canada was around 7.3 million (22% of the entire population), while another 2 million spoke it as a second language. At the federal level, it has official status alongside Canadian English. At the provincial level, French is the sole official language of Quebec as well as one of two official languages of New Brunswick and jointly official (derived from its federal legal status) in Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Government services are offered in French at select localities in Manitoba, Ontario (through the French Language Services Act) and, to a lesser extent, elsewhere in the country, depending largely on the proximity to Quebec and/or French Canadian influence on any given region. In New Brunswick, all government services must be available in both official languages.
Quebec French is spoken in Quebec. Closely related varieties are spoken by Francophone communities in Ontario, Western Canada and the New England region of the United States, differing only from Quebec French primarily by their greater conservatism. The term Laurentian French has limited applications as a collective label for all these varieties, and Quebec French has also been used for the entire dialect group. The overwhelming majority of francophone Canadians speak this dialect.
Newfoundland French is spoken by a small population on the Port au Port Peninsula of Newfoundland. It is endangered—both Quebec French and Acadian French are now more widely spoken among Newfoundland Francophones than the distinctive peninsular dialect.
Brayon French is spoken in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, and, to a lesser extent, Aroostook County, Maine, and Beauce of Quebec. Although superficially a phonological descendant of Acadian French, analysis reveals it is morphosyntactically identical to Quebec French.[3] It is believed to have resulted from a localized levelling of contact dialects between Québécois and Acadian settlers.
Sub-varieties
There are two main sub-varieties of Canadian French. Joual is an informal variety of French spoken in working-class neighbourhoods in Quebec. Chiac is a blending of Acadian French syntax and vocabulary, with numerous lexical borrowings from English.
Historical usage
The term "Canadian French" was formerly used to refer specifically to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario and Western Canada descended from it.[4] This is presumably because Canada and Acadia were distinct parts of New France, and also of British North America, until 1867. The term is no longer usually deemed to exclude Acadian French.
Phylogenetically, Quebec French, Métis French and Brayon French are representatives of koiné French in the Americas whereas Acadian French, Cajun French, and Newfoundland French are derivatives of non-koiné local dialects in France.[which?][5]
Use of anglicisms
The term anglicism (Anglicisme) is related to the linguistic concepts of loanwords, barbarism, diglossia, and the macaronic mixture of the French (français) and English (anglais) languages.
According to some, French spoken in Canada includes many anglicisms. The "Banque de dépannage linguistique" (Language Troubleshooting Database) by the Office québécois de la langue française[6] distinguishes between different kinds of anglicisms:[7]
Complete anglicisms are words or groups of loan words from the English language. The form is often exactly the same as in English (e.g., "glamour", "short", and "sweet"), but sometimes there is a slight adjustment to the French language (e.g., "drabe", which comes from the English word "drab").
Hybrid anglicisms are new words, formed by the addition of a French element to an English word. This element (a suffix, for instance) sometimes replaces a similar element of the English word. "Booster" is an example of hybrid anglicism; it is made up of the English verb "to boost", to which the French suffix –er is added.
Semantic anglicisms are French words used in a sense which exists in English but not in French. Examples include ajourner ("postpone") in the sense of "to have a break", pathétique in the sense of "miserable" or "pitiful", plancher ("floor/surface") in the sense of "floor" (level of a building), and préjudice ("harm/injury") in the sense of "(unfavorable) opinion".
Syntactic anglicisms are those relating to the word order of a sentence and the use of prepositions and conjunctions. The expression "un bon dix minutes" ("a good ten minutes"), for instance, comes from the English language; the more conventional French wording would be "dix bonnes minutes". The use of the preposition pour ("for") after the verbs demander ("ask [for]") and chercher ("search/look [for]") is also a syntactic anglicism.
Morphological anglicisms are literal translations (or calques) of the English forms. With these kinds of loan words, every element comes from the French language, but what results from it as a whole reproduces, completely or partly, the image transmitted in English. The word technicalité, for instance, is formed under English influence and does not exist in standard French (which would instead use the phrasing "détail technique"). À l'année longue ("all year long"), appel conférence ("conference call"), and prix de liste ("list price") are other morphological examples of anglicisms.
Finally, sentencial anglicisms are loan idioms peculiar to the English language. The expressions ajouter l'insulte à l'injure ("add insult to injury") and sonner une cloche ("ring a bell") are sentencial anglicisms.
^Geddes, James (1908). Study of the Acadian-French language spoken on the north shore of the Baie-des-Chaleurs. Halle: Niemeyer; Wittmann, Henri (1995) "Grammaire comparée des variétés coloniales du français populaire de Paris du 17e siècle et origines du français québécois." in Fournier, Robert & Henri Wittmann. Le français des Amériques. Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières, 281–334.[1]
^Francard and Latin, in Le régionalisme lexical, write:
"Le français du Québec a rayonné en Ontario et dans l'ouest du Canada, de même qu'en Nouvelle-Angleterre. [...] Le français québécois et le français acadien peuvent être regroupés sous l'appellation plus large de français canadien2, laquelle englobe aussi le français ontarien et le français de l'Ouest canadien. Ces deux derniers possèdent des traits caractéristiques qui leur sont propres aujourd'hui dans l'ensemble canadien et qui s'expliquent surtout par un phénomène de conservatisme, mais il s'agit de variétés qui sont historiquement des prolongements du français québécois.
2Il faut noter ici que le terme de «français canadien» avait autrefois un sens plus restreint, désignant le français du Québec et les variétés qui s'y rattachent directement, d'où l'emploi à cette époque de «canadianisme» pour parler d'un trait caractéristique du français du Québec."
^Robert Fournier & Henri Wittmann. 1995. Le français des Amériques. Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières.
^"Banque de dépannage linguistique - Office québécois de la langue française".
Darnell, Regna, ed. (1971). Linguistic Diversity in Canadian Society, in Sociolinguistics Series, 1. Edmonton, Alta.: Linguistic Research. Without ISBN or SBN
External links
Look up Canadian French in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Audio example of Canadian French
April 25, 2023
canadian, french, this, article, about, dialect, french, language, historical, sociological, aspects, french, language, canada, french, language, canada, people, french, canadians, canadians, france, french, français, canadien, french, language, spoken, canada. This article is about a dialect of the French language For the historical and sociological aspects of the French language in Canada see French language in Canada For the people see French Canadians and Canadians in France Canadian French French francais canadien is the French language as it is spoken in Canada It includes multiple varieties the most prominent of which is Quebecois Quebec French Formerly Canadian French referred solely to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario Franco Ontarian and Western Canada in contrast with Acadian French which is spoken by Acadians in New Brunswick including the Chiac dialect and some areas of Nova Scotia including the dialect St Marys Bay French Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland amp Labrador where Newfoundland French is also spoken Canadian FrenchFrancais canadienNative toCanada primarily Quebec Eastern Ontario and New Brunswick but present throughout the country smaller numbers in emigrant communities in New England especially Maine and Vermont United StatesNative speakers7 300 000 2011 census 1 Language familyIndo European ItalicRomanceWesternGallo RomanceOilFrenchCanadian FrenchEarly formsOld Latin Classical Latin Vulgar Latin Old French Middle FrenchWriting systemLatin French alphabet French BrailleOfficial statusOfficial language inCanadaRecognised minoritylanguage inUnited States New York VermontLanguage codesISO 639 3 GlottologNoneIETFfr CAIn 2011 the total number of native French speakers in Canada was around 7 3 million 22 of the entire population while another 2 million spoke it as a second language At the federal level it has official status alongside Canadian English At the provincial level French is the sole official language of Quebec as well as one of two official languages of New Brunswick and jointly official derived from its federal legal status in Nunavut Yukon and the Northwest Territories Government services are offered in French at select localities in Manitoba Ontario through the French Language Services Act and to a lesser extent elsewhere in the country depending largely on the proximity to Quebec and or French Canadian influence on any given region In New Brunswick all government services must be available in both official languages Contents 1 Dialects and varieties 1 1 Sub varieties 2 Historical usage 3 Use of anglicisms 4 See also 5 Notes and references 5 1 Notes 5 2 References 6 Further reading 7 External linksDialects and varieties EditQuebec French is spoken in Quebec Closely related varieties are spoken by Francophone communities in Ontario Western Canada and the New England region of the United States differing only from Quebec French primarily by their greater conservatism The term Laurentian French has limited applications as a collective label for all these varieties and Quebec French has also been used for the entire dialect group The overwhelming majority of francophone Canadians speak this dialect Acadian French is spoken by over 350 000 Acadians in parts of the Maritime Provinces Newfoundland the Magdalen Islands the Lower North Shore and the Gaspe Peninsula 2 St Marys Bay French is a variety of Acadian French spoken in Nova Scotia Metis French is spoken in Manitoba and Western Canada by the Metis descendants of First Nations mothers and voyageur fathers during the fur trade Many Metis spoke Cree in addition to French and over the years they developed a unique mixed language called Michif by combining Metis French nouns numerals articles and adjectives with Cree verbs demonstratives postpositions interrogatives and pronouns Both the Michif language and the Metis dialect of French are severely endangered Newfoundland French is spoken by a small population on the Port au Port Peninsula of Newfoundland It is endangered both Quebec French and Acadian French are now more widely spoken among Newfoundland Francophones than the distinctive peninsular dialect Brayon French is spoken in Madawaska County New Brunswick and to a lesser extent Aroostook County Maine and Beauce of Quebec Although superficially a phonological descendant of Acadian French analysis reveals it is morphosyntactically identical to Quebec French 3 It is believed to have resulted from a localized levelling of contact dialects between Quebecois and Acadian settlers Sub varieties Edit There are two main sub varieties of Canadian French Joual is an informal variety of French spoken in working class neighbourhoods in Quebec Chiac is a blending of Acadian French syntax and vocabulary with numerous lexical borrowings from English Historical usage EditThe term Canadian French was formerly used to refer specifically to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario and Western Canada descended from it 4 This is presumably because Canada and Acadia were distinct parts of New France and also of British North America until 1867 The term is no longer usually deemed to exclude Acadian French Phylogenetically Quebec French Metis French and Brayon French are representatives of koine French in the Americas whereas Acadian French Cajun French and Newfoundland French are derivatives of non koine local dialects in France which 5 Use of anglicisms EditThis section needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Canadian French news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message The term anglicism Anglicisme is related to the linguistic concepts of loanwords barbarism diglossia and the macaronic mixture of the French francais and English anglais languages According to some French spoken in Canada includes many anglicisms The Banque de depannage linguistique Language Troubleshooting Database by the Office quebecois de la langue francaise 6 distinguishes between different kinds of anglicisms 7 Complete anglicisms are words or groups of loan words from the English language The form is often exactly the same as in English e g glamour short and sweet but sometimes there is a slight adjustment to the French language e g drabe which comes from the English word drab Hybrid anglicisms are new words formed by the addition of a French element to an English word This element a suffix for instance sometimes replaces a similar element of the English word Booster is an example of hybrid anglicism it is made up of the English verb to boost to which the French suffix er is added Semantic anglicisms are French words used in a sense which exists in English but not in French Examples include ajourner postpone in the sense of to have a break pathetique in the sense of miserable or pitiful plancher floor surface in the sense of floor level of a building and prejudice harm injury in the sense of unfavorable opinion Syntactic anglicisms are those relating to the word order of a sentence and the use of prepositions and conjunctions The expression un bon dix minutes a good ten minutes for instance comes from the English language the more conventional French wording would be dix bonnes minutes The use of the preposition pour for after the verbs demander ask for and chercher search look for is also a syntactic anglicism Morphological anglicisms are literal translations or calques of the English forms With these kinds of loan words every element comes from the French language but what results from it as a whole reproduces completely or partly the image transmitted in English The word technicalite for instance is formed under English influence and does not exist in standard French which would instead use the phrasing detail technique A l annee longue all year long appel conference conference call and prix de liste list price are other morphological examples of anglicisms Finally sentencial anglicisms are loan idioms peculiar to the English language The expressions ajouter l insulte a l injure add insult to injury and sonner une cloche ring a bell are sentencial anglicisms Academic colloquial and pejorative terms are used in Canada to refer to the vernacular Examples are des sabirisation from sabir pidgin Franglais Francais quebecois and Canadian French See also Edit Canada portalOfficial bilingualism in Canada French language in Canada Association quebecoise de linguistique History of French Languages of Canada Quebec French lexicon French language in the United States CSA keyboard the official keyboard layout of Canada Canadian Language Museum Maillardville French colonization of the AmericasNotes and references EditNotes Edit French Canada at Ethnologue 18th ed 2015 subscription required Ethnologue report for Canada Geddes James 1908 Study of the Acadian French language spoken on the north shore of the Baie des Chaleurs Halle Niemeyer Wittmann Henri 1995 Grammaire comparee des varietes coloniales du francais populaire de Paris du 17e siecle et origines du francais quebecois in Fournier Robert amp Henri Wittmann Le francais des Ameriques Trois Rivieres Presses universitaires de Trois Rivieres 281 334 1 Francard and Latin in Le regionalisme lexical write Le francais du Quebec a rayonne en Ontario et dans l ouest du Canada de meme qu en Nouvelle Angleterre Le francais quebecois et le francais acadien peuvent etre regroupes sous l appellation plus large de francais canadien2 laquelle englobe aussi le francais ontarien et le francais de l Ouest canadien Ces deux derniers possedent des traits caracteristiques qui leur sont propres aujourd hui dans l ensemble canadien et qui s expliquent surtout par un phenomene de conservatisme mais il s agit de varietes qui sont historiquement des prolongements du francais quebecois 2Il faut noter ici que le terme de francais canadien avait autrefois un sens plus restreint designant le francais du Quebec et les varietes qui s y rattachent directement d ou l emploi a cette epoque de canadianisme pour parler d un trait caracteristique du francais du Quebec Robert Fournier amp Henri Wittmann 1995 Le francais des Ameriques Trois Rivieres Presses universitaires de Trois Rivieres Banque de depannage linguistique Office quebecois de la langue francaise Office quebecois de la langue francaise Anglicismes Archived from the original on 14 May 2011 Retrieved 5 May 2011 References Edit The lexical basis of grammatical borrowing a Prince Edward Island French Language in Canada Edwards John R Collective 2004 Canadian French for better travel Montreal Ulysses Travel Guides ISBN 2 89464 720 4 permanent dead link Further reading EditDarnell Regna ed 1971 Linguistic Diversity in Canadian Society in Sociolinguistics Series 1 Edmonton Alta Linguistic Research Without ISBN or SBNExternal links Edit Look up Canadian French in Wiktionary the free dictionary Audio example of Canadian French Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Canadian French amp oldid 1144986880, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
