Métis French

Métis French (French: français métis), along with Michif and Bungi, is one of the traditional languages of the Métis people, and the French-dialect source of Michif.^[3]

Métis French
Le français métis
Native to	Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba
Ethnicity	Métis people
Native speakers	<100 ^[1]^[2]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Oïl French Canadian French Métis French
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Features

Métis French is a variety of Canadian French with some added characters such as Ññ, Áá, Óó, and Ææ (from older French spellings) (example, il ñá ócun nævus sur ce garçon English: "there is no birthmark on this boy") and words loaned from indigenous languages such as Ojibwe, Beaver and Cree.

Like Michif, Métis French is spoken in Manitoba and North Dakota and adjacent provinces or states. As a general rule, Métis individuals speak one or the other, rarely both. Métis French and Michif share a common phonology and morphosyntax for the noun phrase but differ as to their sources for the verb phrase which is Ojibwe-Cree based in Michif, French-based in Métis French. Examples of this loaning can be found in words such as cacúare French pronunciation: ​[qɑˈkwɑʁ] from the Cree word, kakwe "to try/attempt" which maintains its Cree meaning with the additional colloquial use of "to wander" as in il á cacúu là English: "he wandered there" which suggests that the subject wandered with little control of his own feet; in the word ttonne French pronunciation: ​[tʼɔn] meaning "wolf" or "loyal" (in a pack-like sense) when used as an adjective from the word for wolf in Beaver, ch'one or in the words jaganache French pronunciation: ​[ʒagɑ̃ʃ] meaning "white/non-Métis" person from the Ojibwe word zhaganash and minapæ French pronunciation: ​[mɛ̃nape] from the Cree word for "good person", miyo-nâpêw though in Métis French it is closer to the word "mec" (guy) and implies that the word refers someone that the speaker knows personally.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩	ɲ ⟨ñ⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Stop	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩		k ⟨c/qu⟩	q ⟨c⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩	d ⟨d⟩		ɡ ⟨g⟩
	ejective	pʼ ⟨pp⟩	tʼ ⟨tt⟩		kʼ ⟨cq⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f ⟨f⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ʃ ⟨ch⟩		ʁ ⟨r⟩
	voiced	v ⟨v⟩	z ⟨s/z⟩	ʒ ⟨j⟩		χ ⟨h⟩
Approximant	voiceless		l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩
	voiced				w ⟨ou⟩

Vowels

Oral   Front Central Back unrounded rounded Close i ⟨i⟩ y ⟨u⟩ u ⟨ú⟩ Close-mid e ⟨æ⟩ ø ⟨é⟩ ə ⟨e⟩ o ⟨ó⟩ Open-mid ɛ ⟨ê⟩ œ ⟨œ⟩ ɔ ⟨ô/o⟩ Open a ⟨á⟩ (ɑ) ⟨a⟩

Nasal Front Back Mid ɔ̃ ⟨on⟩ Open ɛ̃ ⟨en⟩ (œ̃) ⟨un⟩ ɑ̃ ⟨an⟩

See also

• Michif
• Bungi

References

Citations

1. "Aboriginal peoples and language".
2. http://www.metismuseum.ca/media/db/00735
3. Bakker. (1997: 85).

Bibliography

• Bakker, Peter. A language of our own: the genesis of Michif, the mixed Cree-French language.
• Douaud, Patrick C. 1980. "Métis: A case of triadic linguistic economy." Anthropological Linguistics 22.392–414.
• –––. 1983. "An example of suprasegmental convergence." International Journal of American Linguistics 49.91–93.
• –––. 1985. Ethnolinguistic profile of the Canadian Métis. Ottawa: National Museum of Man, Mercury Series 99. (in French)
• Edwards, John R. Language in Canada.
• Jackson, Michael. 1974. "Aperçu de tendances phonétiques du parler français en Saskatchewan." Revue canadienne de linguistique 19.121–33. (in French)
• Lincoln, Neville J. Phonology of the Métis French dialect of St. Paul, Alberta. University of Alberta in Edmonton Thesis.
• Lussier, Antoine S. 1980. "Un métis écrit une lettre." The other natives: Les Métis, ed. A. Lussier & B. Sealy, 3.167–70. Winnipeg: Manitoba Métis Federation Press. (in French)
• Papen, Robert. 1979. "Le parler français des métis de Batoche." Département de linguistique, Université du Québec à Montréal. (in French)
• –––. 1984. "Quelques remarques sur un parler français méconnu de l'Ouest canadien: le métis." Revue québécoise de linguistique (Université du Québec à Montréal) 14:1.113–139. (in French)
• –––. 1993. "La variation dialectale dans le parler français des Métis de l'Ouest canadien." Francophonies des Amériques 3.25–38. (in French)
• –––. 1998. "Le parler français des Métis de l’Ouest canadien." Frangais d'Amirique: Variation, criolisation, normalisation, ed. P. Brasseur, 147–161. Avignon: CECAV. (in French)
• –––. 1998. "French: Canadian varieties." Language in Canada, ed. J. Edwards, 160–176. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (in French)
• –––. 2004. "Sur quelques aspects structuraux du français des Métis de l’Ouest canadien." Variation et francophonie, ed. A. Coveney & C. Sanders. Paris: L’Harmattan. (in French)
• –––. 2004. "Les troub’ : une analyse linguistique d’un texte oral en français des Métis." Cahiers franco-canadiens de l’Ouest, Numéro spécial sur les Métis, vol. 14. (in French)
• Préfontaine, R. 1980. "Le parler métis." The other natives: Les Métis, ed. A. Lussier & B. Sealy, 3.162–66. Winnipeg: Manitoba Métis Federation Press. (in French)
• Thogmartin, Clyde. 1974. "The phonology of three varieties of French in Manitoba." Orbis 23.335–49.
• Wittmann, Henri. 1995. "Grammaire comparée des variétés coloniales du français populaire de Paris du 17e siècle et origines du français québécois." Le français des Amériques, ed. Robert Fournier & Henri Wittmann, 281–334. Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières. (in French)