Linguistic map of Belgium. OfficiallyFrancophone areas in red.
Belgian French (French:français de Belgique) is the variety of French spoken mainly among theFrench Community of Belgium, alongside relatedOïl languages of the region such asWalloon,Picard,Champenois, andLorrain (Gaumais). The French language spoken in Belgium differs very little from that ofFrance orSwitzerland. It is characterized by the use of some terms that are considered archaic in France, as well as loanwords from languages such as Walloon, Picard, andBelgian Dutch.[1]
While a number ofOïl languages have traditionally been spoken in different areas of Wallonia, French emerged as the regional language of literature in the 13th century. This was a result of heavy French cultural influence on the region over the past few centuries.[2] The diversity of local languages influenced French in Wallonia, with words fromWalloon,Picard,Champenois andLorrain making their way into the local variant. Until the 20th century, Walloon was the majority language of Wallonia, and most speakers were bilingual in French and Walloon.[3]
While the French spoken in Wallonia was influenced by local languages, the variant spoken in Brussels was influenced by Dutch, specifically the localBrabantian dialect. The population of the city, situated in the region ofFlanders, originally was largely Dutch-speaking, aside from a French-speaking aristocracy. A gradualFrancisation of the population began in the 19th century and continued throughout the 20th century, as French emerged as the dominant language of the city. The local dialect of Brussels includes some loanwords from Dutch, as well as expressions that have been translated into French.
There are a few consistent phonological differences between the French in France and Belgium but usually no more than the differences between regional dialects within France (or the ones that exist between the English of Toronto and Vancouver (Canada) for instance), which might even be nonexistent. Regional accents however, can vary from city to city (theLiège accent being an example). However, on the whole, accents may vary more according to one's social class and education.
While stronger accents have been more typical of the working class, they have become much less pronounced sinceWorld War I and the widespread use of television, which has helped to standardise accents and the types of words used by speakers. Belgian speakers are taught the pronunciation of standard Belgian French in schools. The following differences vary by speaker, according to level of education, age and native region:
The lack of phonemic/ɥ/. For which one must carefully distinguish two cases if standard French is taken as starting point :
Standard French[ɥ] from thesynaeresis of/y/ which do not change as in metropolitan accents (hence often not transcribed separately), e.g.muette (mutef.)/myɛt/[my.ɛt(ə)]
For "longer"[a] words though,synaeresis may apply and surface[ɥ] may appear. For example,habituel (usual) phonetically/abityɛl/ has been found to be consistently pronounced as[abitɥɛl].[4]
Traditional French's diphthongs/ɥi,ɥɛ̃/ which are replaced by/wi,wæ̃/. Thus,enfuir (to run away) andenfouir (to bury) are pronounced[æ̃fwiːʁ], unlike in France and Quebec.[5]
The nasal vowels are pronounced like in France:/ɑ̃/ →[ɒ̃],/ɛ̃/ →[æ̃],/ɔ̃/ →[õ], but the distinction between the nasal vowels/ɛ̃/ and/œ̃/ has been retained in Belgium, but in many regions of France such as Paris, the two have merged. For example, in Belgium,brin (stalk) andbrun (brown) are still pronounced differently, like in Quebec but unlike in Paris.
The distinction between the vowels/o/ and/ɔ/ has been maintained in final open syllables. For example,peau (skin) andpot (jar) are still pronounced differently, unlike in France and Quebec.
The distinction between long and short do not line up withQuebec French; all thecircumflexes are pronounced:
The phonemes/ɛ/ and/ɛː/ is still present in Belgium, but they have merged in France:mettre (put)[mɛtʁ̥] andmaître (master)[mɛːtʁ̥]. Otherwise, many words are pronounced with a long/ɛː/ even if there is no circumflex (just as in Québec):haine[ɛːn] andreine[ʁɛːn], etc. Or short even when followed by historical /s/ (whenQuébecois have a long vowel):presse[pʁɛs], etc.
In working class speech and fixed idiosyncrasies/ɛː/ may merge with/eː/,[6] e.g.taie (d'oreiller) ((pillow)case) is often pronounced as[teː]
The phonemes/i/ and/iː/ are still distinct in Belgium, unlike in France and Quebec:il[il] vs.île[iːl].
The phonemes/y/ and/yː/ are still distinct in Belgium, unlike in France and Quebec:chute[ʃyt] vs.flûte[flyːt].
The phonemes/u/ and/uː/ are still distinct in Belgium, unlike in France and Quebec:toute[tut] vs.croûte[k̠ʁ̥uːt].
The phonemes/ɔ/ and/oː/ are still distinct, unlike in Southern France:cote[kɔt] vs.côte[koːt]
The phonemes/œ/ and/øː/ are still distinct, unlike in Southern France:jeune[ʒœn] vs.jeûne[ʒøːn].
Long vowels are also used intonic -final- open syllables where historically aschwa stood :⟨ie⟩[iː]#,⟨ue⟩[yː]#,⟨ée⟩,⟨aie⟩[eː]#, (⟨aie⟩[ɛː]#),⟨eue⟩[øː]#,⟨oue⟩[uː]#,⟨oie⟩[waː]#. As a result, almost all feminine adjectives have phonetically distinct forms from their masculine counterparts.
In closed syllable the vowels/a/ and/ɑ/ are still distinct in Belgium, with/ɑ/ usually pronounced as a lengthened version of/a/:pâte (paste)[paːt].
The letter "w" is almost always pronounced as/w/, like in English, which also approximates the Flemish "w". In France and Quebec, in many words, "w" is pronounced/v/, as in German. For example, the wordwagon (train car) is pronounced/vaɡɔ̃/ in France and Quebec, but/waɡɔ̃/ in Belgium.
Some speakers devoice final stops, in which cased is pronounced liket,b is pronounced likep andg is pronounced likek. In combination with the dropping of consonants (/l,ʁ/) in final consonant clusters, this leads to pronunciations such asgrande[ɡʁɒ̃ːt] instead of[ɡʁɒ̃ːd],table[taːp] instead of[tabl], andtigre[tiːk] instead of[tiɡʁ].
For some speakers, the short high vowels/i,y,u/ are realised as lax (mostly in closed syllables):[ɪ,ʏ,ʊ].
Certain accents, such as in certain cities (notably Brussels and Liège) and those of speakers who are older and particularly less educated, are farther from the pronunciation of France. For example, in the dialect in and around Liège, especially for older speakers, the letter "h" is pronounced in certain positions. It is always silent, however, in Standard French. That dialect is known also for its slow, slightly "singing"intonation, a trait that is even stronger towards the east, in theVerviers area.
Words unique to Belgian French are called "Belgicisms" (French:belgicismes). (This term is also used to refer to Dutch words used in Belgium but not in the Netherlands.) In general, the Francophone and educated speakers understand the meaning and use of words in Standard French, and they may also use Standard French if they speak with non-Belgians who speak in Standard French, as their accent hints. Overall, the lexical differences between Standard French and Belgian French are minor. They could be compared to the differences that might exist between two speakers of American English living in different parts of the United States; they are considerably less than the differences which exist between varieties of English within the United Kingdom.
Furthermore, the same speakers would often be well aware of the differences and might even be able to "standardise" their language or use each other's words to avoid confusion. Even so, there are too many forms to try to form any complete list in this article. However, some of the better-known usages include the following:
The use ofseptante for "seventy" andnonante for "ninety", in contrast to Standard Frenchsoixante-dix (literally "sixty-ten") andquatre-vingt-dix ("four-twenty-ten"). Those former words occur also inSwiss French. Unlike the Swiss, however, Belgians never usehuitante forquatre-vingts ("four twenties"), with the use ofoctante in the localBrussels dialect as being the only exception. Although they are considered Belgian and Swiss words,septante andnonante were common in France until around the 16th century, when the newer forms began to dominate.[7]
The words for meals vary, as described in the table below. The usage in Belgian, Swiss and Canadian French accords with the etymology:déjeuner comes from a verb meaning "to break the fast". In France, however, breakfast is rendered bypetit déjeuner.Souper is used in France to refer instead to a meal taken around midnight.
English
Belgian, Swiss, and Canadian French
Standard French
breakfast
déjeuner/petit déjeuner
petit déjeuner
lunch/dinner
dîner
déjeuner
dinner/supper
souper
dîner
late-evening meal/supper
N/A
souper
Many Walloon words and expressions have crept into Belgian French, especially in the eastern regions of Wallonia:
barakî (similar to the wordchav in British English).
Qué novel ? (similar toquoi de neuf ?, "what's up ?")
Germanic influences are also visible:
Crolle ("curl") reflects the Brabantic pronunciation of the Dutch wordkrul. ("Boucle" is used in France.)
S'il vous plaît is used to mean "here" (when someone is handed something) as well as "please", but in France, the meaning is limited to "please", "voilà" is used for "here". That is comparable to the use ofalstublieft in Dutch.
Dringuelle (Standard French "pourboire"), "tip", from the Dutch worddrinkgeld, but it is less commonly used in Brussels.
Kot (student room in a dormitory) from Belgian Dutch "kot".
Ring (ring road) from Dutch "ring". In Standard French, the term is "ceinture périphérique" or "périph'".
Savoir (to know) is often used in the place ofpouvoir (to be able [to]). It was quite common, however, in older forms of French.
Blinquer (to shine), instead ofbriller, has a Germanic origin and passed through Walloon.
Bourgmestre (mayor), instead ofmaire, from the Dutch wordburgemeester.
The grammar of Belgian French is usually the same as that of France, but Germanic influences can be seen in the following differences:
Ça me goûte, Standard French "ça me plaît", "I like it" (only for food), is acalque of DutchDat smaakt: Spanish 'me gusta'.
Tu viens avec ?, Standard French "Tu m'accompagnes?", literally "Are you coming with?" (meaning "Are you coming with me?"), is acalque of DutchKom je mee?.
Ça tire ici (used mostly in Brussels), for Standard French "Il y a un courant d'air") "There is a draught" is acalque of the Belgian DutchHet trekt hier (Netherlands DutchHet tocht hier).
Phrases likepour + V : "Passe-moi un bic pour écrire" (Standard French "Donne-moi un stylo afin que je puisse écrire") "Give me a pen, so that I can write / for me to write" is a grammatical structure found in Dutch ("om te +V").
"Qu'est-ce que c'est que ça pour un animal ?" Standard French "Qu'est-ce que c'est comme animal ?" / "Quelle sorte d'animal c'est ?", "What kind of animal is this?" (literally, "What is that for an animal?"), Dutch "Wat is dat voor (een) dier?" or "Wat voor dier is dat?"
The use ofune fois ("once") in mid-sentence, especially in Brussels, is a direct translation of Dutch "eens". French people who want to imitate the Belgian accent often use a lot of "une fois" at the end of the sentences, often wrongly: "Viens une fois ici, literally from the Dutch "Kom eens hier" ("Come once here"). The English equivalent would be "Could you come here?" or "Why don't you come here?"
Jouer poker ("Standard French "Jouer au poker") "Playing poker" is influenced by the DutchPoker spelen.
Hambye, Philippe; Simon, Anne-Catherine (2009). "La prononciation du français en Belgique". In Lavoisier (ed.).Phonologie, variation et accents du français (in French). Paris: HERMES. pp. 95–130.hdl:2078.1/83397.ISBN978-2-7462-2107-9.
