CHAPTER 1
A Brief Linguistic History
New France (?-1763)
The evolution of the Québécois language actually began in prehistory, long before the arrival of the first Europeans. The Inuit, Native Americans who had migrated thousands of years earlier across the frozen expanse of the Bering Strait, developed – unbeknownst to them – many words that survive in daily Québec parlance to this day. The First Nations – such as the Micmac, the Cree, and the Outaouais also had a hand in developing the modern Québec tongue, as their cultures grew and thrived and as they developed words for the unique world around them.
The arrival of the first French explorer (Jacques Cartier, in 1534) brought French traditions, language, and culture of the period to Quebec. Although Cartier made three separate trips to North America — travelling up the St. Lawrence River as far south as Montreal – it was only half a century later, with the founding of Quebec City in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, that France had a true foothold in the New World. The quickly blossoming fur trade in Quebec brought a rising tide of explorers to the province. With the founding ofVille Marie (modern-day Montreal) in 1642, French presence in the colonies increased quickly, and the development of the province of Quebec was afoot.
Although the language used in Quebec during this period largely reflected the accent of Paris (whence most of the earliest French settlers came), certain regional groups also brought their particular dialects – Normand, Basque, Flemish, etc. Many of the unique accents and linguistic tendencies identified in Quebec today date straight back to this period, and the reign of Louis XIV As would be expected, however, these new settlers lacked words for many of the things they encountered. The fauna, flora, and native culture about them had no equivalents even in rural France, and so these early pioneers began to use the native terms for things particular to their new world. These settlers adopted Native American words for modes of transport and items (toboggans, moccasins, etc.) they had never before encountered. The same held true for names of new animals (wapiti, caribou, achigan, ouananiche), which were simply phonetic transcriptions of the Native American names. The name ouaouaron (giant frog) in fact, derives directly from the Native American onomatopoeia for the deep bellowing sound the creature makes. A good number of city names in Quebec were derived from the Native American names for places – towns such as Chicoutimi, Tadoussac, Natashquan, and others. Many other modern Québec terms also evolved from these early days, drawn from agriculture, fishing, and winter survival.
British Control (1763–1840)
By the mid 18 century, the gradual arrival of British interests in the New World – most notably the 13 colonies bordering New France — began to significantly influence the original French settlers. The inevitable clashes between the two sides reflected the almost continuous state of war between their mother countries. The British and French approaches to colonization were notably different, however. Whereas the British remained in an essentially urban lifestyle, the French became familiar with the Native Americans, signed treaties with the tribes, and learned their languages. The significant linguistic overlaps with both English and the native tongues increased, and entirely new French words began to appear.
In September of 1759, the armies of British Major General James Wolfe and French General Louis Joseph de Montcalm clashed on the Plains of Abraham, just south of Quebec City. The British victory in this battle, and the fall of Quebec City to English forces, forever changed the future of New France. The other major French towns, such as Montreal, surrendered soon after. This victory prompted the departure of many of the wealthy French and French academics; those who did not return to France were on the whole tradesmen, craftsmen, and farmers, who had already put down familial roots in the New World.
Under the Treaty of Paris of1763, the King of France surrendered the full rights to the territory of Canada to the British monarchy. This transfer of power opened the doors to a flood of new English-speaking European colonists, who brought with them new ideas, words, and dialects. Many new terms that developed during this period were based on the perception and integration of these new immigrants, including words such as enfirouape (meaning "wrapped in fur"), a pejorative colloquialism for the wealthy English arriving in Quebec City in the post-war years.
Whereas Quebec's earliest commerce had been based on fur trading, the evolving social economy of Quebecers began to centre increasingly around agriculture. The years that followed the Treaty of Paris were marked by the establishment of the seigneurial system; some two hundred separate fiefs of land along the St. Lawrence River were owned by wealthy landowners, with the the land worked principally by farmers and tradesmen. These so-called habitants (those who lived and worked on the land) evolved the Québec tongue even further. The harsh winters, and the almost complete dependency on the St. Lawrence River, brought a spirit of strong independence – un sens débrouillard – to the culture and helped evolve a sense of savoir-faire that is noticeable in Quebec even today.
As the seigneural system continued to thrive, so did the deep roots of the Catholic theocracy that dominated much of Quebec, and its politics, for the century that followed. This religious influence markedly affected the language and brought many religious terms and words into common use.
The Birth of Canada (1840–Present)
As the Industrial Revolution sparked the rise of manufacturing, the process of Quebec urbanization accelerated, and the previously rural francophones began to increasingly answer the call of opportunity close to ports and commerce. By the late 19 century, Montreal had become Canada's premiere industrial centre, welcoming waves of European immigrants fleeing war in their homelands. Unfortunately, this quick urbanization caused tension between the British and French cultures. English – the traditional language of commerce – was being challenged for the first time as the province's language for business.
The middle of the twentieth century marked Quebec's transition away from the Catholic theocracy, which had effectively ruled its society for a century and a half, and toward a unified and integrated social structure. This "Quiet Revolution" – a sometimes-violent period denoted by a resurgence of pride in Quebec's French heritage — marked an increasing Francophone determination to publicly assert their identity, both in Canada and globally. A new sense of unity developed among francophones, culminating in the founding of the Parti Québécois and the referendums for Quebec independence in the years that followed.
The founding of the Office de la langue Française in 1961 — a governmental organization instituted to promote the use of the French language in the workplace and in general — for the first time formalized Quebec's intent to define the linguistic side of its French heritage. In 1969, then prime minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau's government introduced the Official Languages Act, defining both French and English as official languages of Canada and guaranteeing that all government services would be available in both tongues. Quebec, on its own initiative, declared itself a bilingual province and extended these rights at the provincial level as well. In 1977 the Quebec government enacted Bill 101, declaring French the official language of the province, making the province officially unilingual.
Today, the French and English languages coexist comfortably in most parts of Quebec. Although French is the official language of the province, many Quebecers are bilingual, communicating freely in both languages.
Pronunciation
The common language spoken in Quebec — Québécois — is perhaps most typified by its distinct accent, which is about as different from Parisian French as North American English is from British English. There are about seven major discernable accents throughout the province, ranging from the deep Acadian of the north to the expansive accent of the Trois-Rivières region to the curt patois spoken near the American border. In general, the further out from the cities you go, the deeper and more historical the accent becomes. A good example of this is the pre-revolutionary "rolled" R sound, which is still heard in some of the more remote regions of Quebec.
Sensibly, much of the reason for this historical accent is that the language in Quebec did not follow the same evolutionary path as its mother language in France. Modern Québécois is hence a somewhat complicated mix of sixteenth-century accents combined with tendencies garnered from modern English. There are also many words and phrases that originate directly from accidental slurs of English words and phrases, such as alldress (all-dressed), poutine (put-in), and so on. The resulting language, while pleasing to the ear, can be very difficult to understand. To complicate matters further, Quebecers are renowned for their tendency to speak very quickly and often abbreviate or slur words together.
Below we provide an overview of the major differences in pronunciation and grammar between Québécois and International French.
General Pronunciation Tendencies
/a/ becomes /â/ or /ô/
The Québécois /a/ is often very deep and may more or less resemble an /o/ sound:
moi, là -> moé, lô
là, je te dis -> lô, chte dzi
câlisse -> côlisse
/i/ and /è/ become /é/ and /a/
Perhaps the best-known hallmark of the Québécois accent, this tendency directly reflects the standard pronunciation used in France prior to the French Revolution.
moi -> moé
toi -> toé
merci -> marci
merde -> marde
chercher -> charcher
couverture -> couvart
/e/ becomes /é/
dehors -> dehors
bedaine -> bédaine
pesant -> pésant
/è/ becomes /é/ or /à/
mere -> mere
père -> pére
frere -> frà
j'avais -> j'avà
poulet -> poulà
vrai -> vrà
/ê/ becomes /AY/
fête -> fAYte
fève -> fAYve
/u/ becomes /eû/ in front of a consonant
bûche -> beûche
il fume -> il feûme
/i/ often becomes /é/ in front of a consonant
mille -> mélle
pipe -> pépe
risque -> résque
vite -> véte
/ou/ becomes /ô/ in front of a consonant
courte -> côrte
il pousse -> il pôsse
toute -> tôte
/in/ becomes a nasal /ain/ at the end of words
chemin -> chemain
jardin -> jardain
/i/ is softer
In general, the /i/ sound is pronounced more softly and quickly:
vite -> vit
suite -> swit
Slurs
/le/ and /la/ become /l'/
Québécois often drop the /e/ from le and the /a/ from la in front of words that start with a consonant, simply slurring the two consonants together:
le camion -> l'camion
la chandelle -> l'chandelle
le tapis -> l'tapis
/u/ becomes /i/ and /ou/ becomes /u/
Deeper vowels, such as /u/ and /ou/ are often replaced with sounds more comfortably produced in the front of the mouth:
bas-culotte -> bas-kilotte
député -> dépité
soulier -> sulier
sous-sol -> sus-sol
/j/ is pronounced as /ch/
The /j/ sound is often truncated and replaced entirely by a /sh/ or /ch/ sound:
je suis -> chwee
justifier -> chustifier
/re-/ becomes /ar-/
Québécois sometimes replace the /re-/ at the beginning of words with /ar-/:
revenir -> arvenir
refaire -> arfaire
And they often completely drop the vowels /i/, /u/, and /ou/, creating a liaison as necessary with the /z/ sound:
arriver -> arver
camisole -> camzole
mes idées -> mezdées
Affricates
Heard very frequently, affricates are the deliberate addition of an /s/ or /z/ sound after a /t/ or /d/ and a /il/, /y/, or /u/:
Tu dis -> tsu dzi
dur -> dzur
peinture -> peintsure
tunnel -> tsunnel
Diphthongs
Long and nasal vowels are often transformed into diphthongs, providing a more open and sometimes nasal sound than in International French:
faire -> FAY-yure
banque -> bawnque
A particularly frequent case of this is the transformation of /or/ into /aor/:
encore -> encaor
Clipped Endings
Québécois often completely drop the ends of words, especially those ending with /re/ and / le/:
genre -> /gen/
article -> /arteek/
par exemple -> /par examp/
A final /r/ is also often transformed simply into an /é/:
tiroir -> tiroé
mouchoir -> mouchoé
Verbs & Conjugating
The verbs être and avoir are pronounced quite differently by Québécois and are often almost inaudible in quick speech. Below is a table demonstrating English, International French, and common Québécois pronunciations:
Être (to be)
English Int. French Québec
I am je suis /shui/
You are tu es /tay/
he is il est /yay/
she is elle est /ellay/
it is on est /onay/
we are nous sommes (use "on" form instead)
you (pl.) are vous êtes /vzêt/
they are ils sont /iyson/
elles sont /eson/
Avoir (to have)
English Int. French Québec
I have j'ai /shé/
you have tu as /ta/
he has il a /ya/
she has elle a /ella/
it has on a /ona/
we have nous avons (use "on" form instead)
you (pl.) have vous avez /vzavé/
they have ils ont /ihyon/
elles ont /ezon/
Notable also is the Québécois tendency to use the simple future (futur proche) almost exclusively, instead of differentiating future events by using the verb aller. For example:
English Int. French Québec
I'll go a bit later. Je vais aller tantôt. J'irais tantôt.
You'll see him Tu vas le voir demain. Tu le verra
tomorrow. demain.
Structural Differences
There are a vast number of differences between International French and common Québécois parlance at the structural level. Below is a summary of the elements most frequently heard in daily conversation that require explanation.
Double Words
Words can often be doubled for increased effect, especially in the negative:
Sa musique n'est pas fort-fort. – His music isn't really that great.
Je l'aimais pas ben-ben. – I wasn't really that fond of it.
English Usage
Québécois primarily use English to enhance an idea or to express an extreme. For example:
C'était vraiment bad. – That was really the worst.
This also holds true for well-known English phrases that have not really been appropriated into common usage. If the French word seems overly complex, Québécois will often simply substitute the English word.
Les Autres
Québécois often replace nous with nous autres and vous with vous autres. This is similar in style to the English "you guys" or "y'all" rather than just "you." In the nous form, it's about the same as "we all."
Vous
One of the most confusing usage issues in Québécois is with whom to use the vous forms of verbs. Unlike their Gallic cousins, Quebecers are often significantly less formal, and so frequent use of vous is often more of a distancing measure than a politeness, especially among young people. As a general rule, introductions are made using the vous form and then people quickly switch to using tu.
Supressed Articles
The stand-alone particle à is often used to replace ce when referring to a time already familiar in context, such as à soir (this evening) or à matin (this morning).
When using à (meaning "to"), dans, or jusqu'à, the article that follows is often dropped, for example, à gare (à la gare), à prochaine (à la prochaine), dans maison (dans la maison).
Tenses
Québécois tend to use the conditional very frequently, especially when ordering or asking for something:
Je prendrais le bœuf — I'll have the beef (when ordering at a restaurant)
Word-Level Changes
The /tsu/ construct
When asking a question, especially to an individual, Québécois tend to add an additional /tsu/, or replace "Est-ce que" with /s'tu/. For example:
Tu peux-tsu ... — Can you...
S'tu pour vrai? — Is that for real?
Il and Lui
Québécois often drop articles and pronouns almost completely or relegate them to their final sound. For example:
English Int. French Québec
I've often said ... Je lui ai souvent dit J'y ai
souvent dit ...
There are three. Il y en a trois. Y'en a trois.
La
La is used in two different senses: to mean "there" (indicative) and also "now." Often heard is the expression la, la, meaning "as for that" or, literally, "there, now."
Ne ... pas
In Québécois, either the ne or the pas can be omitted and still retain the negative sense of the sentence.
Je ne peux répondre au téléphone en ce moment. — I can't come to the phone right now.
Je peux pas répondre au téléphone en ce moment. — I can't come to the phone right now.
