Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Québécois French, also called the Québécois language, is an array of dialects that developed out of early regional French languages; a type of Canadian French spoken by the Quebecois people of the province of Quebec, Canada. Although Québécois is sometimes thought of as an exclusively non-standard variant, and certain aspects of it are sociolinguistically stigmatized, many (perhaps most) aspects of Québécois that distinguish it from the French of France are found throughout the different registers of speech and writing, including standard and formal usage. History Québécois French is substantially different in pronunciation and vocabulary to the French of Europe and that of France's Second Empire colonies in Africa and Asia. This is due to the long history of French in Canada, the fact that the 16th and 17th century French immigrants to Canada were largely from areas outside Paris, and the strong influence of the French spoken by the King's Daughters who were of little bourgeois class from the Paris area (Ile-de-France) and Normandy. Whereas it was 18th century bourgeois Parisian French that eventually became the national, standardized language of France at the time of the French Revolution, the French of the Ancien Régime kept evolving on its own in America. Indeed, the French spoken in Quebec is closer idiomatically and phonetically to the French spoken in Belgium despite their independent evolutions and relatively small number of Belgian immigrants to Quebec. Comparisons Many in France and Belgium do have some problems understanding Quebec French, especially when spoken informally. The difference is as pronounced as it may be between a Texan and a Londoner or a Scot and a Canadian speaking the English language. Quebec television shows and movies, when shown in France and other francophone countries, were sometimes subtitled into European French because of these differences, which Quebecers found ridiculous, for they themselves were generally able to comprehend the accents of France and adapted to the heavy use of French argot. More recently, the exposure to Quebec culture has been more common on the old continent and the European ear is gradually adapting to this exotic element. Although the two (especially more standard lects) are quite intercomprehensible, modern Québécois French shows several distinctions from the French of France, both in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary. Phonetics One well-known distinction is a tendency to affricate dental stops before high front vowels and semivowels: the second-person pronoun tu, /ty/ in the French, is /tsy/ in Québécois (n.b.: phonetic transcription in X-SAMPA.) Québécois also contains a much wider range of vowel allophones than the French of France; for example, the masculine and feminine adjectives petit and petite, /p@ti/ and /p@tit/ in French, are /p@tsi/ and /p@tsIt/ in Québécois. Similar pre-voiceless consonant allophony are to be found with the vowels /y/ -> /Y/, /o/ -> /O/, and /u/ -> /U/. Long and nasalized vowels in the French of France are often diphthongized in Québécois père (father), /pE:r/ in France, is /pEjr/ in Québécois, and banque (bank), /ba~k/ in France, is /ba~w~k/ in Québécois. Some diphthongs are tripthongized, such as the suffix -oir: in France /-wax/, in Quebec often /-wQj(x)/. Older speakers often use a rolled r rather than the fricative used in France and in modern Québécois. In many cases, an orthographic t that is not pronounced in France will be pronounced in Quebec: /lIt/ lit (France /li/), /fEt/ fait (participle) in some senses (France /fe/), /frEt/ froid, sometimes rendered frette (France /frwa/). There is also /IsIt/ ici (sometimes rendered icitte). These usages are mainly colloquial. Some initial consonants are deleted or reduced: /jœl/ gueule (France /gœl/), especially in the construction ta gueule /tæjœl/ "shut up". Another example is /py/ plus (France /ply/). In the latter case there is a difference in meaning: the phrase y'en a plus can mean "there is more" (il y'en a plus) if pronounced /jãnæplœs/, but the negative meaning "there is no more" (il n'y en a plus) is /jãnæpy/. Morphology Some affixes are found in Quebec more widely than in France, in particular the adjectival suffix -eux, which has a somewhat pejorative meaning: tête -> têteux (stubborn), niais -> niaiseux (foolish, irritating); obstiner -> ostineux (stubborn). This is from the Normand dialect. Lexicon There are also various lexical differences between Québécois and the French of France; these are distributed throughout the registers, from slang to formal usage. Preservation of forms Many differences that exist between Quebec French and European French arise from the preservation of certain forms that are today archaic in Europe. For example, espérer for "to wait" (attendre in France). Cour in Québécois is a backyard (jardin in French), whereas in France cour has dropped this meaning and primarily means a courtyard, plus other derived meanings like courthouse (palais de justice in Québécois). The word breuvage is used for "drink" in addition to boisson; this is an old French usage influenced by the English "beverage." The word piastre or piasse, a slang term for a dollar (equivalent to "buck"), was in fact the term originally used in French for the American or Spanish dollar. Quebec specialties There are also words for Quebec specialties that do not exist in Europe, for example poutine, cégep, tuque (a Canadianism in both official languages), and dépanneur (a corner store/small grocery; dépanneur in France is a mechanic who comes in to repair a car or a household appliance). Blueberries, abundant in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, are called bleuets; in France, they are called myrtilles and bleuet means cornflower. (Bleuet is also slang for someone from the Saguenay.) Idioms There are many idioms in Québécois that do not exist in France, such as fait que ("so"); en masse, en maudit, pas mal (all mean "a lot"); s'en venir (for arriver and venir ici); ben là! or voyons donc! ("oh, come on!"). Speakers of Québécois also use the informal second-person pronoun tu in more contexts than speakers in France do. The expression "you're welcome" is bienvenue in Quebec, de rien in France; and the expression bonjour can be used for "goodbye" in Quebec, which it cannot in France. Slang terms As with any two regional variants, there are an abundance of slang terms found in Quebec that are not found in France. Among them, the best known is the art of sacre, a form of profanity that uses references to Catholic liturgical equipment, rather than the references to prostitution that are more common in France. One of the more hazardous differences is the fact that gosses ("boys" or "sons" in France) means "testicles" in Québécois. (Gosser means "to annoy.") Boules, which means testicles in Europe, means breasts in Quebec. Some slang terms unique to Quebec: Ben very Used informally for "Well...," on both sides. "Ben, tu te souviens de cette encyclopedie sur Internet?". "Et bien" is the formal form from which it is derived. Bibitte Small insect Blonde Girlfriend Bobette(s) Underwear Brailler To weep, to whine Char Car In Europe, a char is an army tank or a chariot. Crosser To masturbate; to cheat Crosseur = wanker, swindler Écoeurant Wonderful Means dreadful in Europe, a sense also found in Qc Fin Nice, sweet (of a person) Foufounes Buttocks "Une foufoune" (Eu) is an impolite sexual slang word for a vagina. Compare fanny. Jaser To chat Slandering chat is Eu., unusual. Pantoute Not at all Contraction of pas en tout (pas du tout) Platte Boring, unfortunate Poche stupid Pogner get, grab Quétaine kitsch, tacky Tanné Fed up Tapper, tomber sur les nerfs To irritate someone Se tasser Move over S'entasser: to be jammed in together Amerindian words Word Meaning Achigan Black bass Atoca Cranberry Manitou Important individual Maskinongé Muskellunge (a pike) Micouène Mocassin Moccasin Ouananiche Land-locked variety of salmon Orignal Moose Use of anglicisms Colloquial and slang registers The use of anglicisms in colloquial and slang Québécois is commonplace. Some examples of long-standing anglicisms include: Anglicism Meaning English word anyway Anyway anyway bécosse Outhouse, washroom backhouse bines Pork and beans beans chum Male friend; boyfriend chum checker To check check cruiser Make a pass at cruise cute Cute (good-looking) cute flocher To flush (toilet) flush fucké Broken, crazy fuck full Very full hot Hot (excellent, attractive) hot hotchicken Hot chicken sandwich hot chicken match Match (sports) match pâte à dents Toothpaste calque of "toothpaste" pinotte Peanut peanut smoke meat Montreal smoked meat (like pastrami) smoked meat steamé Hot dog steamed tof Difficult, rough tough toffer Withstand, endure tough toune Song tune whatever (Indicating dismissal) whatever It is also very commonplace for an English word to be used as a nonce word, for example when the speaker temporarily cannot remember the French word. This is particularly common with technical words; indeed, years ago before technical documentation began to be printed in French in Quebec, an English word might be the most common way for a French-speaking mechanic or other technical worker to refer to the mechanisms he or she had to deal with. It is often difficult or impossible to distinguish between such a nonce anglicism and an English word quoted as such for effect. Standard register A number of Quebecisms used in the standard register are also derived from English forms, especially as calques, such as prendre une marche (from "take a walk," in France, se promener, also used in Quebec) and banc de neige (from English "snowbank;" in France, "congère," a form unknown in Quebec.) However, in standard and formal registers, there is a much stronger tendency to avoid English borrowings in Quebec than in France. As a result, especially with regard to in modern items, Québécois often contains forms designed to be more "French" than an English borrowing that may be used anyway in European French, like fin de semaine which is week-end in France, or courriel (from courrier électronique) for France's e-mail or mèl. Some are calques into French of English phrases that Continental French borrowed directly, such as un chien chaud for European French hot dog. Likewise, the word "gay" in the sense of "homosexual" is used in the English form in France, but in Quebec, the spelling gai is standard. Although many of these forms were promulgated by the Office de la Langue Française (OLF) of Quebec, they have been accepted into everyday use. Indeed, the French government has since adopted the word "courriel". Perception The perceived overuse of anglicisms in the colloquial register is a cause of the stigmatization of Québécois French. Both the Quebercers and the French accuse each other (and themselves) of using too many anglicisms. A joke runs that the difference between European French and Québécois French is that in Europe, on se gare dans un parking and in Quebec, on se parque dans un stationnement. See also Franglais. Other differences Here are some other differences between standard Quebecois and European French: Québécois term Translation Meaning of term in Europe European term Note Auto Car archaic Voiture Abreuvoir Water fountain Watering place for animals Fontaine Used mainly for animals in Europe Achalandage Traffic (of a store, street, public transit) Stock, merchandise (archaic) Trafic Aubaine Sale Opportunity Promotion An item is "une aubaine" but "en promotion" Barrer To lock To block or to strike through Fermer à clef, verrouiller Quebecois usage archaic in Europe Cartable Binder School bag, Satchel Classeur See also classeur Cédule Schedule Tax bracket (archaic) Emploi du temps Chandail T-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt Knit sweater T-shirt, pull Classeur Filing cabinet Binder Armoire à dossier See also cartable Correct Good, sufficient, kind, O.K. corrected bon, beau, etc. Croche Crooked; strange, dishonest Eighth note crochu; bizarre Débarbouillette Dishrag Serviette, torchon Débarquer Get out of (a car, etc.) Disembark (from a boat) Descendre Déjeuner Breakfast Lunch Petit déjeuner See also dîner, souper. Qc. usage same as in Belgium. Dîner Lunch Dinner Déjeuner Qc. usage same as in Belgium. Efface Eraser Gomme "Gomme" is used for chewing-gum Espadrilles Running shoes Rope-soled sandal Baskets Être plein To be full (from eating) pleine: to be pregnant Avoir trop mangé (ma) fête (my) birthday (my) saint's day anniversaire Liqueur Carbonated beverage Liquor, liqueur Soda Magasiner To go shopping Faire des courses, de la lèche-vitrine Maringouin Mosquito Moustique Mouiller To rain To wet Pleuvoir Niaiser Annoy, tease, kid, act up (doesn't exist as a verb; niais="stupid") Se moquer or (hum) "dire des niaiseries" "Déniaiser" (Eu) is to make a man lose his virginity. "J'avais juste vingt ans et je me déniaisais/ Au bordel ambulant d'une armée en campagne" (Brel) Patate Potato informal term Pomme de terre Peser Press (a button) Weigh Appuyer Poudrerie Blizzard, blowing snow Gunpowder factory Blizzard, tempête de neige Souper Dinner Late-night dinner Dîner Qc. usage same as in Belgium. See also déjeuner, dîner Suçon Lollipop Hickey Sucette and vice-versa: a sucette is a hickey in Quebec Valise Trunk of a car Suitcase (also in QC) Coffre Vidanges Garbage Act of emptying Ordures Many, but not all, of the European equivalents for the words listed above are also used or at least understood in Quebec. Grammar In general, standard spoken and written Québécois uses the same grammar as the French of France, though there are isolated exceptions. There are many differences in informal grammar. Verbs There are a few differences in verb structure. For the verb s'asseoir (to sit), the conjugation with eoi is much more common in Quebec than ie or ey; je m'asseois instead of je m'assieds, assoyez-vous instead of asseyez-vous. Also, the verb haïr usually is conjugated as j'haïs /Zai/ (the verb has two syllables) rather than je hais /Zœ e/ (the verb has one syllable) The particle tu is often used to construct questions in colloquial usage: C'est "it is..." -> c'est-tu...? "is it...?" Prepositions The preposition à is often used in possessive contexts, where the French of France uses de; le char à Pierre ("Pierre's car") instead of la voiture de Pierre. In a number of cases, Quebec speakers prefer to use the preposition à instead of using a non-prepositional phrase with ce ("this"); for exammple à matin or à soir instead of ce matin and ce soir ("this morning" and "this evening"). Note also à cet heure, sometimes spelt asteure (literally "at this time") for maintenant ("now"). These usages of à are considered colloquial (non-written). Non-sexist usage Formal Québécois also has a very different approach to non-sexist language than the French of France. There is a much greater tendency to generalize feminine markers among nouns referring to professions. This is done in order to avoid having to refer to a woman with a masculine noun, and thereby seeming to suggest that a particular profession is primarily masculine. Forms that would be seen as highly unusual or stridently feminist in France are commonplace in Quebec, such as la docteure, l'avocate, la professeure, la présidente, la première ministre, la gouverneure générale, and so forth. Many of these have been formally recommended by various regulatory agencies. Also, rather than following the rule that the masculine includes the feminine, it is relatively common to create doublets, especially in polemical speech: Québécoises et Québécois, tous et toutes, citoyens et citoyennes. In fact, a union in Quebec, rather than use either professionnels (masculine only) or professionnels et professionnelles (masculine and feminine), decided to promulgate an epicene neologism on the model of fidèle, calling itself the Fédération des professionèles [1]. However, this sparked a fair amount of debate and is rather on the outer edge of techniques for nonsexist writing in Québécois French. On the other hand, in informal speech, some feminine markers are lost; for example, the pronunciation y (derived from ils) is often used for both ils and elles (the third person plural masculine and feminine pronouns). Lects Québécois has a variety of registers, ranging from formal Québécois, strongly influenced by modern European French and with phonological features softened, though still vigorously preserving many Quebec traits, to joual. Significant regional differences exist when comparing, for example, the Québécois of Montreal, Quebec City, and the Saguenay. For example, Montreal Québécois diphthongizes in more contexts than Quebec City Québécois. Québécois is the most prominent variety of Canadian French, and most French-Canadians have similar dialects. However, the Acadians have a separate dialect, Acadian French. See also Michif. Québécois has often been stigmatized, among the Quebecois people themselves as well as among the Continental French and anglophones, as a low-class dialect, sometimes due to its use of anglicisms, sometimes simply due to its differences from European French, seen as a standard. However, some writers and thinkers, especially Michel Tremblay, are trying to improve the image of Québécois and promote its use as a distinct and vigorous language. In Europe, Québécois is seen as a very charming language that is sometimes difficult to understand. Reference work Léandre Bergeron, The Québécois Dictionary (Toronto, James Lorimer & Co, 1982) History of the French Language in Quebec History of French in Quebec (in French) Trésor de la langue française au Québec (in French) This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.