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| Canadian French | |
|---|---|
| Français canadien | |
| Pronunciation | [fʁãˈsɛkanaˈd͡zjɛ̃] |
| Native to | Canada (primarilyQuebec,Ontario,Manitoba,New Brunswick,Prince Edward Island, andNova Scotia, but present throughout the country); smaller numbers inemigrant communities inNew England (especially Maine and Vermont), United States |
Native speakers | 7,300,000 (2011 census)[1] |
Early forms | |
| Dialects | |
| Latin script (French alphabet) French Braille | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| IETF | fr-CA |
Canadian French (French:français canadien,[fʁãˈsɛkanaˈd͡zjɛ̃]) is theFrench language as it is spoken in Canada. It includesmultiple varieties, the most prominent of which isQuébécois (Quebec French). FormerlyCanadian French referred solely to Quebec French and the closely related varieties ofOntario (Franco-Ontarian) andWestern Canada—in contrast withAcadian French, which is spoken byAcadians inNew Brunswick (including theChiacdialect) and some areas ofNova Scotia (including the dialectSt. Marys Bay French),Prince Edward Island andNewfoundland & Labrador (whereNewfoundland French is also spoken).
Quebec French is spoken in Quebec. Closely related varieties are spoken by Francophone communities in Ontario, Western Canada and theNew England region of the United States, differing only from Quebec French primarily by their greaterlinguistic conservatism. The termLaurentian French has limited applications as a collective label for all these varieties, andQuebec French has also been used for the entire dialect group. The overwhelming majority offrancophone Canadians speak this dialect.
Acadian French is spoken by over 350,000 Acadians in parts of theMaritime provinces, Newfoundland, theMagdalen Islands, theLower North Shore and theGaspé Peninsula.[4]St. Marys Bay French is a variety of Acadian French spoken in Nova Scotia.
Brayon French is spoken inMadawaska County, New Brunswick, and, to a lesser extent,Aroostook County, Maine, andBeauce of Quebec. Although superficially aphonological descendant of Acadian French, analysis reveals it ismorphosyntactically identical to Quebec French.[5] It is believed to have resulted from a localized levelling of contact dialects between Québécois and Acadiansettlers.
Métis French is spoken inManitoba and Western Canada by theMétis, descendants ofFirst Nations mothers andvoyageur fathers during thefur trade. Many Métis spokeCree in addition to French, and over the years they developed a unique mixed language distinct from their French dialect calledMichif by combining Métis French nouns, numerals, articles and adjectives with Cree verbs,demonstratives,postpositions,interrogatives and pronouns. Both the Michif language and the Métis dialect of French areseverely endangered.
Newfoundland French is spoken by a small population on thePort 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.
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 numerouslexical borrowings from English.
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.[6] This is presumably because Canada and Acadia were distinct parts ofNew France, and also ofBritish 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 ofkoiné French in the Americas whereas Acadian French, Cajun French, and Newfoundland French are derivatives of non-koiné local dialects in France.[which?][7]
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The termanglicism (anglicisme) is related to the linguistic concepts ofloanwords,barbarism,diglossia, and themacaronic mixture of the French and English languages.
According to some, French spoken in Canada includes many anglicisms. The "Banque de dépannage linguistique" (Language Troubleshooting Database) by theOffice québécois de la langue française[8] distinguishes between different kinds of anglicisms:[9]
Academic,colloquial, andpejorative terms are used in Canada to refer to thevernacular. Examples aredes "sabirisation" (fromsabir, "pidgin"),Franglais,Français québécois, and Canadian French.
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