Canadian French (french: français canadien) is the
French language as it is spoken in Canada. It includes
multiple varieties, the most prominent of which is
Québécois (Quebec French). Formerly ''Canadian French'' referred solely to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
(
Franco-Ontarian) and
Western Canada
Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...
—in contrast with
Acadian French
Acadian French (french: français acadien, acadjonne) is a variety of French spoken by Acadians, mostly in the region of Acadia, Canada. Acadian French has 7 regional accents, including chiac and brayon.
Phonology
Since there was relatively li ...
, which is spoken by
Acadians
The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...
in
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
(including the
Chiac
Chiac (or ''Chiak'', ''Chi’aq''), is a Creole variety of Acadian French spoken mostly in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Chiac is often characterized and distinguished from other forms of Acadian French by its borrowings from English, ...
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
) and some areas of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
(including the dialect
St. Marys Bay French
St. Marys Bay French (french: français de la Baie Sainte-Marie) is a dialect of Acadian French spoken around St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia, specifically in the region of Clare, Nova Scotia. While sharing features with other dialects of Acadian ...
),
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", ...
and
Newfoundland & Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...
(where
Newfoundland French
Newfoundland French or Newfoundland Peninsular French (french: français terre-neuvien), refers to the French spoken on the Port au Port Peninsula (part of the so-called “French Shore”) of Newfoundland. The francophones of the region can tra ...
is also spoken).
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
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
as well as one of two official languages of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
and jointly official (derived from its federal legal status) in
Nunavut,
Yukon
Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...
and the
Northwest Territories. Government services are offered in French at select localities in
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
, Ontario (through the
French Language Services Act
The ''French Language Services Act'' (french: Loi sur les services en français) (the ''Act'') is a law in the province of Ontario, Canada which is intended to protect the rights of Franco-Ontarians, or French-speaking people, in the province.
T ...
) 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.
Dialects and varieties
''Quebec French'' is spoken in Quebec. Closely related varieties are spoken by Francophone communities in Ontario, Western Canada and the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
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
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
, Newfoundland, the
Magdalen Islands
The Magdalen Islands (french: Îles de la Madeleine ) are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . While part of the Province of Quebec, the islands are in fact closer to the Maritime provinces and Newfoundland th ...
, the
Lower North Shore and the
Gaspé Peninsula.
St. Marys Bay French
St. Marys Bay French (french: français de la Baie Sainte-Marie) is a dialect of Acadian French spoken around St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia, specifically in the region of Clare, Nova Scotia. While sharing features with other dialects of Acadian ...
is a variety of Acadian French spoken in Nova Scotia.
''
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.Bakker. (1997: 85).
Features
Métis French is a variety of Canadian French ...
'' is spoken in
Manitoba
, image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg
, map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada
, Label_map = yes
, coordinates =
, capital = Winn ...
and Western Canada by the
Métis, descendants of
First Nations
First Nations or first peoples may refer to:
* Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area.
Indigenous groups
*First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including:
**First Natio ...
mothers and
voyageur fathers during the
fur trade. Many Métis spoke
Cree in addition to French, and over the years they developed a unique mixed language called
Michif
Michif (also Mitchif, Mechif, Michif-Cree, Métif, Métchif, French Cree) is one of the languages of the Métis people of Canada and the United States, who are the descendants of First Nations (mainly Cree, Nakota, and Ojibwe) and fur trade work ...
by combining Métis French nouns, numerals, articles and adjectives with Cree verbs,
demonstratives,
postpositions
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
,
interrogatives and pronouns. Both the Michif language and the Métis 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
Madawaska County (2016 population 32,741), also known as the "New Brunswick Panhandle", is located in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. Over 90% of the county's population speaks French. Its Francophone population are known as "Brayons." Fore ...
, New Brunswick, and, to a lesser extent, Aroostook County, Maine, and
Beauce of Quebec. Although superficially a
phonological
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
descendant of Acadian French, analysis reveals it is
morphosyntactic
In linguistics, morphology () is the study of words, how they are formed, and their relationship to other words in the same language. It analyzes the structure of words and parts of words such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Morph ...
ally identical to Quebec French. 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
Chiac (or ''Chiak'', ''Chi’aq''), is a Creole variety of Acadian French spoken mostly in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Chiac is often characterized and distinguished from other forms of Acadian French by its borrowings from English, ...
'' is a blending of Acadian French syntax and vocabulary, with numerous
lexical borrowing
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...
s 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. This is presumably because Canada and Acadia were distinct parts of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...
, and also of
British North America
British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestow ...
, 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.
Use of anglicisms
The term
anglicism () is related to the linguistic concepts of
loanwords,
barbarism,
diglossia
In linguistics, diglossia () is a situation in which two dialects or languages are used (in fairly strict compartmentalization) by a single language community. In addition to the community's everyday or vernacular language variety (labeled ...
, and the
macaronic
Macaronic language uses a mixture of languages, particularly bilingual puns or situations in which the languages are otherwise used in the same context (rather than simply discrete segments of a text being in different languages). Hybrid words ...
mixture of the French (''français'') and English (''anglais'') languages.
According to some, French spoken in Canada includes many anglicisms. The "" (Language Troubleshooting Database) by the
Office québécois de la langue française
The (, OQLF; en, Quebec Board of the French Language) is a public organization established on 24 March 1961, by the Quebec Liberal Party, Liberal government of Jean Lesage. Attached to the , its initial mission, defined in its report of 1 Apri ...
distinguishes between different kinds of anglicisms:
* 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., "", 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. "" 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 ("postpone") in the sense of "to have a break", in the sense of "miserable" or "pitiful", ("floor/surface") in the sense of "floor" (level of a building), and ("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
Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
and
conjunctions. The expression "" ("a good ten minutes"), for instance, comes from the English language; the more conventional French wording would be "". The use of the preposition ("for") after the verbs ("ask
or) and ("search/look
or) is also a syntactic anglicism.
* Morphological anglicisms are literal translations (or ) 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 , for instance, is formed under English influence and does not exist in standard French (which would instead use the phrasing ""). ("all year long"), ("conference call"), and ("list price") are other morphological examples of anglicisms.
* Finally, sentencial anglicisms are loan
idioms peculiar to the English language. The expressions ("
add insult to injury") and ("
ring a bell") are sentencial anglicisms.
Academic,
colloquial
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the style (sociolinguistics), linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom norm ...
, and
pejorative
A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...
terms are used in Canada to refer to the
vernacular
A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...
. Examples are (from , "
pidgin"),
Franglais
Franglais (; also Frenglish ) is a French blend that referred first to the overuse of English words by French speakers and later to diglossia or the macaronic mixture of French () and English ().
Etymology
The word ''Franglais'' was first at ...
,
Français québécois, and Canadian French.
See also
*
Official bilingualism in Canada
The official languages of Canada are English and French, which "have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and Government of Canada," according to Canada's constitution. "Official ...
*
French language in Canada
French is the mother tongue of approximately 7.2 million Canadians (22.8 percent of the Canadian population, second to English at 56 percent) according to the 2016 Canadian Census. Most Canadian native speakers of French live in Quebec, th ...
*
Association québécoise de linguistique
*
History of French
*
Languages of Canada
A multitude of languages have always been spoken in Canada. Prior to Confederation, the territories that would become Canada were home to over 70 distinct languages across 12 or so language families. Today, a majority of those indigenous languag ...
*
Quebec French lexicon
There are various lexical differences between Quebec French and Metropolitan French in France. These are distributed throughout the registers, from slang to formal usage.
Notwithstanding Acadian French in the Maritime Provinces, Quebec French i ...
*
French language in the United States
The French language is spoken as a minority language in the United States. Roughly 2.1 million Americans over the age of five reported speaking the language at home in a federal 2010 estimate, making French the fourth most-spoken language in the ...
*
CSA keyboard
The CSA keyboard, or CAN/CSA Z243.200-92, is the official keyboard layout of Canada. Often referred to as ACNOR, it is best known for its use in the Canadian computer industry for the French ACNOR keyboard layout, published as CAN/CSA Z243.200- ...
– the official keyboard layout of Canada
*
Canadian Language Museum
The Canadian Language Museum (French: Le Musée canadien des langues), is a language museum and registered charity located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its mission is to promote an appreciation of all of the languages used in Canada, and of their r ...
*
Maillardville
Notes and references
Notes
References
The lexical basis of grammatical borrowing: a Prince Edward Island FrenchLanguage in Canada Edwards, John R.
*
Further reading
* Darnell, Regna, ed. (1971). ''Linguistic Diversity in Canadian Society'', in ''Sociolinguistics Series'', 1. Edmonton, Alta.: Linguistic Research. Without ISBN or SBN
External links
Audio example of Canadian French
{{Authority control
French language
French dialects
French language in Canada
French