Editing Quebec French (section)

== Relation to European French ==
Historically speaking, the closest relative of Quebec French is the 17th and 18th-century [[koiné]] of [[Paris in the 17th century|Paris]].<ref>{{cite journal
 |last = Wittmann
 |first = Henri
 |date = 1997
 |title = Le français de Paris dans le français des Amériques
 |language = fr
 |journal = Proceedings of the International Congress of Linguists
 |doi = 10.13140/RG.2.1.4046.0328
 |url = http://www.nou-la.org/ling/1998a-fpparis.pdf
}}</ref>

Formal Quebec French uses essentially the same [[orthography]] and [[grammar]] as the French of France, with few exceptions,{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=99}} and exhibits moderate lexical differences. Differences in grammar and lexicon become more marked as language becomes more informal.

While phonetic differences also decrease with greater formality, Quebec and European accents are readily distinguishable in all [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]]. Over time, European French has exerted a strong influence on Quebec French. The phonological features traditionally distinguishing informal Quebec French and formal European French have gradually acquired varying sociolinguistic status, so that certain traits of Quebec French are perceived neutrally or positively by Quebecers, while others are perceived negatively.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

=== Perceptions ===
Sociolinguistic studies conducted in the 1960s and 1970s showed that Quebecers generally rated speakers of European French heard in recordings higher than speakers of Quebec French in many positive traits, including expected intelligence, education, ambition, friendliness and physical strength.{{sfn|Ostiguy|Tousignant|1993|page=27}} The researchers were surprised by the greater friendliness rating for Europeans,<ref name="L'attitude linguistique">[http://wwwens.uqac.ca/~flabelle/socio/attitude.htm ''L'attitude linguistique''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128132643/http://wwwens.uqac.ca/~flabelle/socio/attitude.htm |date=November 28, 2012 }}</ref> since one of the primary reasons usually advanced to explain the retention of low-status language varieties is social solidarity with members of one's linguistic group. François Labelle cites the efforts at that time by the {{Lang|fr|[[Office québécois de la langue française]]|italic=no}} "to impose a French as standard as possible"<ref name="L'attitude linguistique"/> as one of the reasons for the negative view Quebecers had of their language variety.

Since the 1970s, the official position on Québécois language has shifted dramatically. An oft-cited turning point was the 1977 declaration of the ''Association québécoise des professeurs de français'' defining thus the language to be taught in classrooms: "Standard Quebec French [''le français standard d'ici'', literally, "the Standard French of here"] is the socially favoured variety of French which the majority of Francophone Québécois tend to use in situations of formal communication."{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=77}}{{refn|Original text: "''Le français standard d'ici est la variété de français socialement valorisée que la majorité des Québécois francophones tendent à utiliser dans les situations de communication formelle.''"{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=77}}|group=note}} 

Ostiguy and Tousignant doubt whether Quebecers today would still have the same negative attitudes towards their own variety of French that they did in the 1970s. They argue that negative social attitudes have focused instead on a subset of the characteristics of Quebec French relative to European French, and particularly some traits of informal Quebec French.{{sfn|Ostiguy|Tousignant|1993|page=27}} Some characteristics of European French are even judged negatively when imitated by Quebecers.{{refn|See for example Ostiguy & Tousignant, p. 68, on the perception as "pedantic" of the use of the tense allophones {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[y]}}, {{IPA|[u]}}, where {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA|[ʏ]}}, {{IPA|[ʊ]}} would be expected in Quebec French. "''En effet, l'utilisation des voyelles tendues peut avoir allure de pédanterie à l'oreille d'une majorité de Québécois.''"{{sfn|Ostiguy|Tousignant|1993|page=68}}|group=note}}

=== Typography ===
Quebec French has some typographical differences from European French. For example, in Quebec French a full non-breaking space is not used before the [[semicolon]], [[exclamation mark]], or [[question mark]]. Instead, a [[thin space]] (which according to ''Le Ramat de la typographie'' normally measures a quarter of an [[em (typography)|em]]{{sfn|Ramat|2012|page=12}}) is used; this thin space can be omitted in word-processing situations where the thin space is assumed to be unavailable, or when careful typography is not required.{{sfn|Ramat|2012|page=191}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://66.46.185.79/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?t1=1&id=2039|title=La typographie: Espacement avant et après les principaux signes de ponctuation et autres signes ou symboles|publisher=[[Office québécois de la langue française]]|language=fr|quote=''Ce tableau tient compte des limites des logiciels courants de traitement de texte, qui ne comportent pas l’espace fine (espace insécable réduite). Si l’on dispose de l’espace fine, il est toutefois conseillé de l’utiliser devant le point-virgule, le point d’exclamation et le point d’interrogation.''|access-date=2 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141005060747/http://66.46.185.79/bdl/gabarit_bdl.asp?t1=1&id=2039|archive-date=2014-10-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Spelling and grammar ===
==== Formal language ====
A notable difference in grammar which received considerable attention in France during the 1990s is the feminine form of many professions that traditionally did not have a feminine form.{{refn|The {{langr|fr|Académie française}} has taken strong positions opposing the officialization of feminine forms in these cases.{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=109}} [[Lionel Jospin]]'s female cabinet ministers were the first to be referred to as {{lang|fr|Madame {{strong|la}} ministre}} instead of {{lang|fr|Madame {{strong|le}} ministre}}, whereas this had been common practice in Canada for decades.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}|group=note}} In Quebec, one writes nearly universally {{lang|fr|une chercheuse}} or {{lang|fr|une chercheure}}<ref>Grand dictionnaire terminologique, "chercheuse", {{cite web|url=http://www.granddictionnaire.com/btml/fra/r_motclef/index800_1.asp |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604201446/http://www.granddictionnaire.com/btml/fra/r_motclef/index800_1.asp |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |title=Grand dictionnaire terminologique |access-date=September 3, 2010 }}</ref> "a researcher", whereas in France, {{lang|fr|un chercheur}} and, more recently, {{lang|fr|un chercheur}} and {{lang|fr|une chercheuse}} are used. Feminine forms in {{lang|fr|-eur{{strong|e}}}} as in {{lang|fr|ingénieu{{strong|re}}}} are still strongly criticized in France by institutions like the {{langr|fr|[[Académie française]]}}, but are commonly used in Canada and Switzerland.

There are other, sporadic spelling differences. For example, the {{Lang|fr|[[Office québécois de la langue française]]|italic=no}} formerly recommended the spelling {{lang|fr|tofou}} for what is in France {{lang|fr|tofu}} "tofu". This recommendation was repealed in 2013.<ref>{{Cite web |title=tofu |url=https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/26526882/tofu |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca |language=fr}}</ref> In grammar, the adjective {{lang|fr|inuit}} "Inuit" is invariable in France but, according to official recommendations in Quebec, has regular feminine and plural forms.{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|pages=97,99}}

==== Informal language ====
Grammatical differences between informal spoken Quebec French and the formal language abound. Some of these, such as omission of the negative particle {{lang|fr|ne}}, are also present in the informal language of speakers of standard European French, while other features, such as use of the interrogative particle {{lang|fr|-tu}}, are either peculiar to Quebec or Canadian French or restricted to nonstandard varieties of European French.

=== Lexis ===
{{main|Quebec French lexicon}}

==== Distinctive features ====
While the overwhelming majority of lexical items in Quebec French exist in other dialects of French, many words and expressions are unique to Quebec, much like some are specific to American and British varieties of English. The differences can be classified into the following five categories.{{sfn|Poirier|1995|page=32}} The influences on Quebec French from English and Native American can be reflected in any of these five:
* lexically specific items ({{lang|fr|québécismes lexématiques}}), which do not exist in other varieties of French;
* semantic differences ({{lang|fr|québécismes sémantiques}}), in which a word has a different meaning in Quebec French than in other French varieties;
* grammatical differences in lexical items ({{lang|fr|québécismes grammaticaux}}), in which a word has different morpho-syntactic behaviour in Quebec French than in other varieties;
* differences in multi-word or fixed expressions ({{lang|fr|québécismes phraséologiques}});
* contextual differences (roughly, {{lang|fr|québécisme de statut}}), in which the lexical item has a similar form and meaning in Quebec French as in other varieties, but the context in which the item is used is different.

The following tables give examples{{sfn|Poirier|1995|pages=32–36}} of each of the first four categories, along with the [[Metropolitan French]] equivalent and an English gloss.  Contextual differences, along with individual explanations, are then discussed.

Examples of lexically specific items:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Quebec French
! Metropolitan French
! English [[Gloss (annotation)|gloss]]
|-
| {{lang|fr|abrier}}
| {{lang|fr|couvrir}}
| to cover
|-
| {{lang|fr|astheure (à c't'heure)}}
| {{lang|fr|maintenant}}
| now
|-
| {{lang|fr|chum}} (m)
| {{lang|fr|copain}} (m)
| friend (m) or boyfriend
|-
|{{lang|fr|chum}} (f)
|{{lang|fr|amie}} (f)
|friend (f)
|-
| {{lang|fr|magasiner}}
| {{lang|fr|faire des courses}}
| to go shopping/do errands
|-
| {{lang|fr|placoter}}
| {{lang|fr|papoter}}
| to chat/chatter
|-
| {{lang|fr|pogner}}
| {{lang|fr|attraper, prendre}}
| to catch, grab
|}

Examples of semantic differences:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Lexical item
! Quebec French meaning
! Metropolitan French meaning
|-
| {{lang|fr|blonde}} (f)
| girlfriend
| blonde-haired woman
|-
| {{lang|fr|char}} (m)
| car
| tank
|-
| {{lang|fr|chauffer}}
| to drive (a vehicle)
| to heat
|-
| {{lang|fr|chialer}}
| to complain
| to bawl, blubber
|-
| {{lang|fr|dépanneur}} (m)
| convenience store (and also repairer)
| mechanic
|-
| {{lang|fr|gosse}}
| {{lang|fr|gosses}} (fem pl): balls (testicles)
| {{lang|fr|gosse}} (masc sg): child/kid
|-
| {{lang|fr|suçon}} (m)
| lollipop
| hickey/love bite
|-
| {{lang|fr|sucette}} (f)
| hickey/love bite
| lollipop
|-
| {{lang|fr|éventuellement}}
| eventually
| possibly
|}

Examples of grammatical differences:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Lexical item
! Quebec French grammar
! Metropolitan French grammar
! English gloss
|-
| {{lang|fr|autobus}} (noun)
| {{lang|fr|autobus}} (f) (colloquial)
| {{lang|fr|autobus}} (m)
| bus
|-
| {{lang|fr|pantalon}} (noun)
| {{lang|fr|pantalons}} (pl)
| {{lang|fr|pantalon}} (masc sg)
| trousers
|}

Examples multi-word or fixed expressions unique to Quebec:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Quebec French expression
! Metropolitan French gloss
! English gloss
|-
| {{lang|fr|avoir de la misère}}
| {{lang|fr|avoir de la difficulté}}
| to have difficulty, trouble
|-
| {{lang|fr|avoir le flu}}
| {{lang|fr|avoir la diarrhée}}
| to have diarrhea
|-
| {{lang|fr|avoir le goût dérangé}}
| {{lang|fr|gouter une saveur étrange}}
| to taste something strange, unexpected
|-
| {{lang|fr|en arracher}}
| {{lang|fr|en baver}}
| to have a rough time
|-
| {{lang|fr|prendre une marche}}
| {{lang|fr|faire une promenade}}
| to take a walk
|-
| {{lang|fr|se faire passer un sapin}}
| {{lang|fr|se faire duper}}
| to be tricked
|-
| {{lang|fr|parler à travers son chapeau}}
| {{lang|fr|parler à tort et à travers}}
| to talk through one's hat
|}

Some Quebec French lexical items have the same general meaning in Metropolitan French but are used in different contexts. English translations are given in parentheses.
* {{lang|fr|arrêt}} (stop): In Quebec, most [[stop sign]]s say {{lang|fr|arrêt}}. Some Quebec stop signs say {{lang|fr|stop}} and older signs use both words. However, in France, all such signs say {{lang|fr|stop}}, which is the standard in Europe.
* {{lang|fr|condom}}, pronounced {{IPA|[kɔ̃dɔ̃]}} (condom): In Quebec French, this term has neutral connotations, whereas in Metropolitan French, it is used in more technical contexts. The neutral term in Metropolitan French is {{lang|fr|préservatif}}.

In addition, Quebec French has its own set of swear words, or [[Quebec French profanity|{{lang|fr|nocat=true|sacres}}]], distinct from other varieties of French.

===== Use of anglicisms =====
One characteristic of major sociological importance distinguishing Quebec from European French is the relatively greater number of borrowings from English, especially in the informal spoken language, but that notion is often exaggerated.{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=110}} The Québécois have been found to show a stronger aversion to the use of anglicisms in formal contexts than do European francophones, largely because of what the influence of English on their language is held to reveal about the historically superior position of anglophones in Canadian society.{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|1996|page=110}} According to Cajolet-Laganière and Martel,{{sfn|Martel|Cajolet-Laganière|2008|pages=459–474}} out of 4,216 "criticized borrowings from English" in Quebec French that they were able to identify, some 93% have "extremely low frequency" and 60% are obsolete.{{refn|That very low frequency was confirmed in a corpus of two million words of spoken French corpus from the Ottawa-Hull region by Poplack {{lang|la|et al.}} (1988).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Poplack |first=Shana |author-link1=Shana Poplack |last2=Sankoff |first2=David |last3=Miller |first3=Christopher |date=1988-01-01 |title=The social correlates and linguistic processes of lexical borrowing and assimilation |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/ling.1988.26.1.47/html |journal=[[Linguistics]] |language=en |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=47–104 |doi=10.1515/ling.1988.26.1.47 |issn=1613-396X|hdl=10315/2504 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>|group=note}} Despite this, the prevalence of anglicisms in Quebec French has often been exaggerated.

Various anglicisms commonly used in European French informal language are mostly not used by Quebec French speakers. While words such as {{lang|fr|shopping, parking, escalator, ticket, email}} and {{lang|fr|week-end}} are commonly spoken in Europe, Quebec tends to favour French equivalents, namely: {{lang|fr|magasinage, stationnement, escalier roulant, billet, courriel}} and {{lang|fr|fin de semaine}}, respectively. As such, the perception of exaggerated anglicism use in Quebec French could be attributed, in part, simply to the fact that the anglicisms used are different, and thus more noticeable by European speakers.

French spoken with a large number of anglicisms may be disparagingly termed ''{{lang|fr|nocat=true|[[franglais]]}}''. According to Chantal Bouchard, "While the language spoken in Quebec did indeed gradually accumulate borrowings from English [between 1850 and 1960], it did not change to such an extent as to justify the extraordinarily negative discourse about it between 1940 and 1960. It is instead in the loss of social position suffered by a large proportion of Francophones since the end of the 19th century that one must seek the principal source of this degrading perception."{{sfn|Bouchard|2008|pages=255–264}}{{refn|Original text: "{{lang|fr|En effet, si la langue parlée au Québec s'est peu à peu chargée d'emprunts à l'anglais au cours de cette période, elle ne s'est pas transformée au point de justifier le discours extraordinairement négatif qu'on tient à son sujet de 1940 à 1960. C'est bien plutôt dans le déclassement subi par une forte proportion des francophones depuis la fin du XIX<sup>e</sup> siècle qu'il faut chercher la source de cette perception dépréciative.}}{{sfn|Bouchard|2008|pages=255–264}}|group=note}}

===== Borrowings from Indigenous languages =====
{{expand section|date=March 2015}}
{{lang|fr|Ouaouaron}}, the Canadian French word for [[American bullfrog|bullfrog]], a frog species native to North America, originates from an [[Iroquoian languages|Iroquois]] word.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billcasselman.com/quebec_sayings/quebec_words_phrases_nine.htm|title=English Words Borrowed into Quebec French as Expressions Québécoises Modernes from Bill Casselman's Canadian Word of the Day|work=billcasselman.com|access-date=11 February 2016|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235701/http://www.billcasselman.com/quebec_sayings/quebec_words_phrases_nine.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

{{lang|fr|Maringouin}}, the word for mosquito, also originates from an aboriginal language, [[Tupi-guarani]], spoken by aboriginals on the northern coasts of Brazil.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gouvernement du Canada |first1=Services publics et Approvisionnement Canada |title=insectes de l'été – Clés de la rédaction – Outils d'aide à la rédaction – Ressources du Portail linguistique du Canada – Canada.ca |url=https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/fr/cles-de-la-redaction/insectes-de-lete?wbdisable=true#:~:text=Le%20mot%20maringouin%20serait%20un,par%20le%20nom%20de%20cousin. |website=www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca |access-date=4 March 2023 |date=14 February 2020}}</ref> It is thought that early French colonists adopted this word in the late 1600s after exchanges with explorers returning from South America.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Corre |first1=Daisy Le |title=Pourquoi, au Québec, les moustiques s'appellent-ils des maringouins? |url=https://mauditsfrancais.ca/quebec-on-appelle-moustiques-maringouins/ |website=Maudits Français |access-date=4 March 2023 |language=fr-FR |date=30 May 2020}}</ref>

{{lang|fr|Atoca}}, a synonym for [[Cranberry]], also originates from Iroquois.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=Atoca |url=https://usito.usherbrooke.ca/d%C3%A9finitions/atoca |access-date=2024-05-27 |website=Usito |language=fr}}</ref>

===== Additional differences =====
The following are areas in which the lexicon of Quebec French is found to be distinct from those of other varieties of French:
* [[lexical item]]s formerly common to both France and New France but are today unique to Quebec French (this includes expressions and word forms that have the same form elsewhere in [[La Francophonie]] but have a different denotation or connotation);
* borrowings from [[Amerindian language]]s, especially place names;
* {{lang|fr|les sacres}} – [[Quebec French profanity]];
* many [[loanword]]s, [[calque]]s, and other borrowings from English in the 19th and 20th centuries, whether or not such borrowings are considered Standard French;
* starting in the latter half of the 20th century, an enormous store of French [[neologism]]s (coinages) and re-introduced words via terminological work by professionals, translators, and the [[Office québécois de la langue française|OLF]]; some of this terminology is "exported" to the rest of la Francophonie;
* feminized job titles and [[Gender-neutrality in languages with grammatical gender#French|gender-inclusive language]];
* [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] processes that have been more productive:
*# [[suffixes]]: {{lang|fr|-eux/euse, -age, -able,}} and {{lang|fr|-oune}}
*# [[reduplication]] (as in the international French word {{lang|fr|guéguerre}}): {{lang|fr| cacanne, gogauche}}, etc.
*# reduplication plus {{lang|fr|-oune}}: {{lang|fr|chouchoune, gougounes, moumoune, nounoune, poupoune, toutoune, foufoune}}, etc.
*# new words ending in {{lang|fr|-oune}} without reduplication: {{lang|fr|zoune, bizoune, coune, ti-coune}}, etc.

==== Recent lexical innovations ====
Some recent Quebec French [[Lexical Innovation|lexical innovations]] have spread, at least partially, to other varieties of French, for example:
* ''clavardage'', "chat", a contraction of ''clavier'' (keyboard) and ''bavardage'' (chat). Verb: ''clavarder''<ref name="clavardage-oqlf">{{cite web|url=http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8392463.htm|title=chat / clavardage|work=gouv.qc.ca|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402113344/http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8392463.htm|archive-date=2015-04-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''courriel'', "e-mail", a contraction of ''courrier électronique'' (electronic mail)<ref name="courriel-oqlf">{{cite web|url=http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8353974.htm|title=e-mail / courriel|work=gouv.qc.ca|access-date=11 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010231246/http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8353974.htm|archive-date=2017-10-10|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* ''pourriel'', "spam e-mail", is a contraction of ''poubelle'' (garbage) and ''courriel'' (email),<ref name="pourriel-oqlf">[http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8349831.htm spam / pourriel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706200723/http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8349831.htm |date=2011-07-06 }} on the [[Office québécois de la langue française]]'s website.</ref> whose popularity may also be influenced by the word ''pourri'' (rotten).
* ''baladodiffusion'' (may be abbreviated to ''balado''), "podcasting", a contraction of ''baladeur'' (walkman) and ''radiodiffusion''.<ref name="baladodiffusion-oqlf">[http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8357110.htm podcasting / baladodiffusion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706200726/http://w3.olf.gouv.qc.ca/terminologie/fiches/8357110.htm |date=2011-07-06 }} on the [[Office québécois de la langue française]]'s website</ref>

=== Sociolinguistics ===
On Twitter, supporters of the Quebec separatist party [[Bloc Québécois]] used hashtags that align with the syntactic pattern found in hashtags used in [[Elections in France|French political discourse]], rather than adopting the hashtags commonly used by other Canadian parties with similar political positions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Wan |first=Ming Feng |date=2024-03-12 |title=The role of syntax in hashtag popularity |url=https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/lingvan-2023-0051/html |journal=[[Linguistics Vanguard]] |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=693–698 |doi=10.1515/lingvan-2023-0051 |issn=2199-174X}}</ref>