hyphenated - Filed under 'French'

July 25, 2009 1:42 PM

anglicisme

(I initially wrote the post in French and then thought that content might also be interesting for those that don't read French so I've translated it. The English text (with a few minor additions) follows the French)

Hier après-midi, en route pour la croisière de Horseshoe Bay à Departure Bay pour aller visiter un ami, j'ai remarqué un panneau de signalisation indiquant que la compétition de 'Surf des Neiges' aura lieu à Cypress pendant les jeux Olympiques février prochain. J'ai fallu lire la parti anglais du panneau pour comprendre que Surf des Neiges = Snowboarding.

Au Québec, je n'ai jamais entendu parler du surf de neige. Comme toast et tire et small et loose et t-shirt, snowboarding est un mot anglais qui est devenu parti de la vocabulaire Québécoise. Un anglicisme, si vous voulez.

Au Québec, les anglicismes sont fortement découragés mais très commun.

Je comprends que ceci est un sujet sensible et que, pour protéger la culture Québécoise et acheminer son mandat, l'Office québécois de la langue française fait le tout pour éliminer les mots anglais du vocabulaire français. En consultant leur Grand dictionnaire terminologique, j'ai confirmé que planche à neige et surf des neiges sont des synonymes, mais que snowboard et snow sont de "terme(s) à éviter".

Mais, cependant, si les propres mots français ne sont pas biens connus, j'imagine qu'il y existe une risque que le français autoriser par l'Office deviendra un français plutôt académique et non pas très utile pour communiquer. Mon exemple de snowboarding et surf des neiges ci-dessus souligne mon point.

En examinant la vocabulaire anglaise de plus proche, on découvre qu'il y a beaucoup de mots ayant une origine française. Determine, examine, entrepreneur... la liste continue et (au moins au Québec) il y a toujours des additions (comme dépanneur).

Les langues sont vivantes - elles évoluent constamment. Essayer de préserver une langue comme elle est aujourd'hui est comme essayer de mettre fin au dérive des continents en espérant de préserver la géographie physique de la terre. C'est futile. Dans le fond, "surf" est un anglicisme, non?

~~~~~

Yesterday afternoon, on my way to catch the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay to visit a friend, I noticed a sign indicating that 'Surf des Neige' competition would take place at Cypress during the Olympics next February. I had to read the English portion of the sign to understand that Surf des Neige = Snowboarding.

In Quebec, I never heard anyone use the term surf des neige. Like toast and tire and small and loose and t-shirt, snowboarding is an English word that has become part of the French vocabulary. An anglicisme, if you will.

In Quebec, anglicismes are strongly discouraged but very common.

I know that this is a sensitive subject (especially in Quebec) and that, to protect Quebec culture and fulfill its mandate, the Office québécois de la langue française (which, I just discovered, does not have an English name - the English portion of their website is pretty limited and, uh, slightly antagonistic) does its utmost to eliminate English words from the French vocabulary [1]. When consulting their dictionary online, I discovered that planche à neige and surf des neiges are synonyms, but that snowboarding and snow are terms to be avoided.

But, if the proper (aka accepted) French words are not well known, I imagine that there's a risk that French authorized by the Office will become fairly academic and not useful for actually communicating. My example of snowboarding and surf des neiges, above, supports my point.

When reviewing the English language closely, one discovers that many words originate from French. Determine, examine, entrepreneur (contrary to claims made by George W. Bush)... the list goes on and, at least in Quebec, keeps growing (like the addition of depanneur)

Languages are alive - they are constantly evolving. Attempts to preserve a language in its current state is comparable to trying to stop continental drift in the hopes of preserving the world's physical geography in its current state. It's futile, really. In the end, isn't "surf" in the context of surf des neiges an anglicisme?

[1] For instance, all traffic signs in Quebec are unilingual French (stop signs read Arrête) and French text on any bilingual signs must be at least double the size of the English text. Unilingual signs in any language other than French are illegal, which certainly gives a different feel to Chinatown.

Filed under // French Quebec & Montreal

Comments [4]

July 1, 2009 10:42 AM

i am canadian

Most Canadians are aware that Molson, in an advertising campaign, took the liberty of defining what it is to be Canadian. The ad featured a twenty-something guy on a stage with a screen showing images that corresponded to his rant about being a Canadian [1]:

Hey, I'm not a lumberjack, or a fur trader....

I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled....

and I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada,

although I'm certain they're really really nice.

I have a Prime Minister, not a president.

I speak English and French, not American.

And I pronounce it 'about', not 'a boot'.

I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack.

I believe in peace keeping, not policing,

diversity, not assimilation,

and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal.

A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch,

and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed' !!!!

Canada is the second largest landmass!

The first nation of hockey!

and the best part of North America

My name is Joe!!

And I am Canadian!!!

The main reason for the success of the commercial, and subsequent campaigns that Molson has launched with the same theme, is that most Canadians can relate to them. A few of Joe's statements resonated with me.

I don't live in an igloo or eat blubber, or own a dogsled....

In elementary school, my best friend and I had pen-pals [2]. I can't recall if we signed up independently to be put in contact with another girl in another place or if it was part of a school initiative. In any case, Allison's pen-pal was from the US and, in one of her first letters, she asked Allison some questions about Canada. One of the questions was related to whether we lived in igloos. No joke.

I speak English and French, not American.

Between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, my summer job consisted of working as a cashier in a souvenir boutique at a zoo in Quebec, close to the US border. Most of the visitors to the zoo were French-speaking and most of the employees of the zoo were French-speaking. Because children with two French-speaking (mother tongue) parents are obliged to attend French school in Quebec, where they are not taught any English prior to grade 4, many of my coworkers were uncomfortable speaking English and greeted customers with a smile and a big "Bonjour!". I followed suit since the clientele was largely French but quickly switched to English if the person standing on the other side of the counter responded to my "Bonjour" with a cringe and/or confused look and/or a feeble, mispronounced "Baun...jer".

On one such occasion, I dropped the French and said "Hello sir, how are you today?". His jaw dropped. He smiled and exclaimed "You speak American!". No joke.

I proceeded to get him up to speed in response to his questions: yes - I speak English, no - I'm not American, no - neither of my parents are American, yes - people in Canada speak English, no - French is only really common in Quebec, yes - this is Quebec, one of 10 Canadian provinces, yes - provinces are kind of like states... To which he said "Wow, Canada is so interesting. I wonder where I could find out more about it?". I referred him to his local library. He wasn't sure if he had one.

Canadians are not known for being very patriotic, at least not in the same sense that Americans (particularly in the red states) tend to be. For example, most Canadians don't hang the Canadian flag in, on, or around their house. The popularity of the Molson "I am Canadian" rant is also partly because Joe gave an unapologetic and patriotic voice to Canadians - a voice that Canadians rarely adopt themselves. Indeed, if you bump into a Canadian on the street, they are very likely to turn to apologize and you.

Happy Canada Day!

[1] If you'd rather watch the rant, click here.

[2] Do kids still have pen-pals or are these an artifact of the pre-internet era?

Filed under // Canada French Quebec & Montreal

Comments [0]

June 10, 2009 3:46 PM

planificatrice

En préparation pour un voyage au Mexique avec des amis il y a environ quatre ans, j'avais indiqué que je serai confortable sans itinéraire seulement si je planifiais de ne pas planifier. Mes amis m'ont moqué, mais c'est la vérité - je suis une planificatrice.

Je me souviens que, dans mon enfance, quand les amis de mes parents venais nous rendre visite, dès leur arrivé vendredi soir je leur demandais quand ils allaient partir le dimanche. Je posais la question pas parce que j'avais envie qu'ils partent, mais parce que je voulais avoir un plan.

Ce n'est pas facile pour moi de vivre ma vie un jour à la fois.

Mon désir de tout planifier me sert bien dans certain cas, surtout au travail, mais peut aussi être un attribut négatif. Des fois, c'est impossible de planifier car la vie est pleine de surprises et d'incertitude. Je me trouve dans une de ces situations présentement.

Sans trop élaborer, je ne peut pas savoir comment les prochaines mois vont se dérouler. J'ai vécu des gros changement depuis mars dernier et les changements ne sont pas encore terminés. Présentement, je dois attendre. Je dois me forcer de vivre ma vie un jour à la fois. Ce n'est pas facile, mais c'est ma seule option.

Pour l'instant, que dois planifier de ne pas planifier.

Filed under // French

Comments [1]

May 3, 2009 11:27 AM

le silence et l'indépendance

Comme j'ai indiqué il y a deux semaines, je vais écrire en français de temps en temps. Mon français écrit est pire que mon français parlé, mais je ferrais de mon mieux.

Pendant presque deux mois, j'ai habité seul pour le premier fois de ma vie. Dans le passé, j'ai indiqué que je ne serrais pas capable de vivre seul - sans colloques ou conjoint - parce que je suis une personne très social. Mais j'ai survécu.

Au début, c'était difficile. Le silence. Dormir seul et se réveiller seul le lendemain. Cuisiner et dîner seul. Sans avoir quel qu'un avec qui je pourrais partager les repas, les promenades, les idées, les histoires. J'ai fallu relier plus sur moi même. J'ai commencé ce blogue. J'ai écouté la radio plus. J'ai passé plus de temps avec mon voisin (qui est mon cousin) et mes amis. La qualité de mes repas a souffert (j'ai mangé des bâtonnet de poisson plus souvent que j'aimerais l'admettre) et j'ai passé beaucoup plus de temps sur l'internet. Mais j'ai appris à apprécier le silence et l'indépendance.

Kevin est de retour de San Francisco. En préparation de son retour, j'avais peur que ça serrais difficile de partager l'appartement avec quelqu'un - peut être notre appartement à devenu mon territoire pendant son absence. Mais, depuis son retour, j'ai remarqué que c'est facile, même naturelle, de partager ma vie avec lui. J'ai perdu le silence, mais j'ai toujours mon indépendance.

Filed under // French

Comments [4]

April 19, 2009 12:46 AM

french retention

Since leaving Quebec over four years ago, my French has suffered. I
never considered myself to be perfectly bilingual but my French was
good enough that I could do jobs where the vast majority of my day was
spent speaking French to customers and coworkers. I think I'd struggle
if I were to be put back in those positions now, at least initially.
My French isn't lost - it's just buried deeper and, when I try to use
it, I find myself searching for words that I know that I know. The
strangest thing is that my accent hasn't faded in the least so I come
off as a francophone from Quebec that can't speak French.

Since realizing that my French is fading, I've taken some proactive
measure to try to retain it. I speak French to the people in my office
who are also from Quebec. I watch Habs games in French on RDS (and
chuckle when the announcers apologize for Anglicisms... only in
Quebec!). I make the most of the French learning opportunities offered
at work.

My impression is that these efforts are paying off but I'd like to
explore other ways to practice my French. One possibility: blogging in
French periodically... I'd better dust of the Bescherelle.

Il est tard. Bonne nuit.

Filed under // French Quebec & Montreal

Comments [2]

Tags

Blogroll

French

anglicisme

i am canadian

planificatrice

le silence et l'indépendance

french retention