Jean-Claude Corbeil, (3 April 1932 – 25 January 2022) was a Canadian linguist and lexicographer. He served as head of the linguistic department at 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 Liberal government of Jean Lesage. Attached to the , its initial mission, defined in its report of 1 April 1964, was "to align ...
from 1971 to 1977 and oversaw the introduction of Quebec's language laws during that decade. He also co-authored several visual dictionaries for
Scholastic Corporation
Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...
,
Macmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...
,
Firefly Learning, and
Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster, Inc. is an American company that publishes reference books and is especially known for its dictionaries. It is the oldest dictionary publisher in the United States.
In 1831, George and Charles Merriam founded the company as ...
.
Early life
Corbeil was born in the
Tétreaultville
Mercier denotes the eastern portion of the Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough of the city of Montreal, Quebec. It consists of two neighbourhoods Mercier-Ouest (''Longue-Pointe'') and Mercier-Est (''Tétreaultville'').
History
Mercier w ...
neighbourhood of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
on 3 April 1932.
He attended
Collège Sainte-Croix in his hometown.
[ He then studied at the ]Université de Montréal
The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...
, earning a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
in 1955 and a teaching degree one year later. Corbeil started working as a teacher at the end of that decade.[ He subsequently undertook ]postgraduate studies
Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree.
The organization and stru ...
at the University of Strasbourg
The University of Strasbourg (french: Université de Strasbourg, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, Alsace, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers.
The French university traces its history to the ea ...
, obtaining a doctorate in linguistics from that institution in 1966.[ Two years later, he became a linguistics professor at the Université de Montréal.][
]
Career
Corbeil co-hosted a radio show on Radio Canada
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
called ''Langage de mon pays'' ("Language of my country") from 1968 to 1971, together with Henri Bergeron and Raymond Laplante.[ He became linguistic director of the Office de la langue française du Québec starting in 1971. In that capacity, he advised the ]Government of Quebec
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
on its language policy and played a key role in formulating laws such as the '' Official Language Act'' (1974) and the ''Charter of the French Language
The ''Charter of the French Language'' (french: link=no, La charte de la langue française), also known in English as Bill 101, Law 101 (''french: link=no, Loi 101''), or Quebec French Preference Law, is a law in the province of Quebec in Canada ...
'' (1977). He was therefore credited by fellow linguist Nadine Vincent with having "de-anglicized Quebec".[ He quit as director in 1977 and took a ]sabbatical
A sabbatical (from the Hebrew: (i.e., Sabbath); in Latin ; Greek: ) is a rest or break from work.
The concept of the sabbatical is based on the Biblical practice of ''shmita'' (sabbatical year), which is related to agriculture. According to ...
year. During this time, he authored ''L’aménagement linguistique du Québec'', which was later published in 1980.[
Corbeil worked as secretary of the International Centre for Research and Studies in Fundamental and Applied Linguistics from 1980 to 1988.] Its goal was to facilitate cooperation between member states of the Agency of the Francophonie
Agency may refer to:
Organizations
* Institution, governmental or others
** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients
** Employment agency, a business that s ...
.[ He was also a member of the International Scientific Committee of Linguamón. He collaborated with Ariane Archambault to devise the first edition of ''Le Dictionnaire visuel'' in 1986. It was eventually sold in over 100 countries and translated into more than 35 languages.] Corbeil subsequently worked as an advisor to the president of the Council of the French Language in Quebec from 1988 to 1991,[ after which he retired from the civil service.][
Despite his retirement, Corbeil was asked in 1995 by ]Louise Beaudoin
Louise Beaudoin (born September 26, 1945 in Quebec City, Quebec) is a Canadian politician, who represented the electoral district of Rosemont in the National Assembly of Quebec until 2012, as a member of the Parti Québécois (PQ). She sat as an ...
– the minister responsible for the ''Charter of the French Language'' at the time – to write a policy statement for the provincial government concerning the renewal of the Charter.[ It was titled ''Le français, langue commune: Promouvoir l’usage et la qualité du français, langue officielle et langue commune du Québec'' ("French, common language: Promoting the use and quality of French, official language and common language of Quebec").][ He was subsequently appointed deputy minister overseeing Quebec's language policy, serving in that role until 2000.][
]
Later life
Corbeil was appointed an officer of the ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...
'' by the French Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to:
*Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania)
*Ministry of Culture (Algeria)
*Ministry of Culture (Argentina)
* Minister for the Arts (Australia)
*Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan)
* Ministry of ...
in 2000.[ He was then conferred the ]Prix Georges-Émile-Lapalme
The Prix Georges-Émile-Lapalme is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the quality and diffusion of the French language written or spoken in Qu ...
by the National Assembly of Quebec
The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...
in November 2002, in recognition of the contributions he made to culture.[ Three years later, he was invested as an officer of the ]National Order of Quebec
The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gove ...
.[ He was subsequently awarded the Grande Médaille de la Francophonie in 2010.][ Corbeil died on 25 January 2022, at the age of 89.]
Works
* ''Les Structures Syntaxiques Du Francais Moderne'' (1968)
* ''The Facts on File visual dictionary'' (1986)
* ''Scholastic visual dictionary'' (1990)
* ''The Macmillan visual dictionary'' (1992)
* ''Langues et sociétés en contact'' (1994)
* ''The Firefly visual dictionary'' (2002)
* ''The Firefly five language visual dictionary'' (2004)
* ''Merriam-Webster's visual dictionary'' (2006)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbeil, Jean-Claude
1932 births
2022 deaths
Canadian lexicographers
French Quebecers
Linguists from Canada
Officers of the National Order of Quebec
Officiers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres
Université de Montréal alumni
University of Strasbourg alumni
Université de Montréal faculty