5.29 Regional and Francophone vocabulary — Epoché
What you will be able to do Recognise the commonest words that differ between the French of France and the French of Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland and West Africa. Avoid misunderstandings over meals, numbers and everyday objects when you travel or read outside France. Know which regional forms count as standard where they are used, and which are informal everywhere. Sentences from this lesson, before the explanation. Read the French aloud; all of them come back below. French English Nous avons pris le ferry pour aller de l'île au continent. [1] We took a ferry from the island to the mainland. Qu'aimeriez-vous pour votre petit-déjeuner ? [2] What would you like for breakfast? Aimeriez-vous venir avec nous ? [3] Would you like to come with us? Cette robe vous va comme un gant. [4] This dress fits you like a glove. Nous avons lavé les assiettes après le souper. [5] After dinner we did the washing-up. Est-ce que je peux essayer ce pull, s'il vous plaît ? [6] Can I try on this jumper, please? Prerequisites : 5.28 — this lesson follows 5.28 Vocabulary . The French-speaking world was introduced in 11.1 Background , where septante , huitante and nonante were taught; the Quebec words of the internet, courriel , clavarder and magasiner , were taught in 5.11 Vocabulary ; and language policy in Quebec in 11.6 Background . About three hundred million people speak French, and fewer than a quarter of them live in France. The grammar is the same everywhere, and speakers from Montreal, Brussels, Geneva and Dakar understand each other with little trouble. The differences are in pronunciation, in a few hundred everyday words, and in the names of meals. Each country also has its own standard: septante is correct in Brussels, and le dépanneur is correct in Montreal. Neither is slang. Word list Sixteen regional words that the sentence corpus illustrates, in four groups. The lists after the examples give many more, without corpus sentences. Words of Quebec Word Meaning Notes le char fr (Quebec) car Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France la voiture ; le char is a tank or a float. Je vais prendre mon char. [7] I'm going to take my car. le dépanneur fr (Quebec) convenience store Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France a breakdown mechanic. Ce dépanneur ne ferme jamais. [8] This convenience store never closes. le chandail fr (Quebec) sweater, jumper Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le pull . J'adore ton chandail. [9] I love your sweater. le stationnement fr parking; (Quebec) car park Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le parking for the place. Le stationnement est interdit. [10] Parking is prohibited. le traversier fr (Quebec) ferry Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le ferry or le bac . Nous avons pris un traversier de l'île jusqu'au continent. [11] We took a ferry from the island to the mainland. la débarbouillette fr (Quebec) facecloth Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs In France le gant de toilette . C'est-tu toi qui as pris ma débarbouillette ? [12] Was it you who took my facecloth? la liqueur fr liqueur; (Quebec) soft drink Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs In Quebec une liqueur is often a fizzy drink. Cette liqueur a un goût unique. [13] This liqueur has a unique taste. écœurant fr sickening; (Quebec) great Gender / part of speech adjective How English differs In Quebec speech also enthusiastic: awesome . N'est-ce pas écœurant ? [14] Isn't it sickening? le pourriel fr (Quebec) spam email Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs From poubelle and courriel . C'est un pourriel. [15] This is a spam email. c'est correct fr (Quebec) it's fine, it's OK Gender / part of speech phrase How English differs In France c'est correct means it is accurate . C'est correct. [16] That's fine. The evening meal Word Gender / part of speech Meaning How English differs Example Example translation le souper masculine noun (Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland) dinner, the evening meal Where le dîner is lunch and le déjeuner breakfast. Aimeriez-vous venir souper ? [17] Would you like to come over for dinner? Words of Belgium and Switzerland Word Meaning Notes le GSM fr (Belgium) mobile phone Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le portable . As-tu un GSM ? [18] Do you have a cellphone? le natel fr (Switzerland) mobile phone Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le portable . As-tu un natel ? [19] Do you have a mobile phone? le cornet fr cone; (Switzerland) bag Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs In France le sac for a shopping bag. Voulez-vous un cornet ? [20] Do you want a bag? Words of Africa Word Meaning Notes la brousse fr the bush Gender / part of speech feminine noun How English differs The countryside away from towns, in Africa. N'est-ce pas un simple feu de brousse ? [21] Isn't that just a brush fire? le maquis fr scrub; the Resistance; (Ivory Coast) open-air eatery Gender / part of speech masculine noun How English differs prendre le maquis , to go into hiding . Il est parti au maquis. [22] He's gone into hiding. Examples Five more corpus sentences in the French of Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland. French English Bonne fin de semaine. [23] Have a nice weekend. Je pesais septante kilos. [24] I used to weigh seventy kilos. Cette sucrerie coûte huitante centimes. [25] This candy costs eighty cents. Où puis-je magasiner ? [26] Where can I shop? Je cherche mon cellulaire. [27] I'm looking for my cell phone. Meals The most frequent misunderstanding is about meals. Quebec, Belgium and Switzerland keep the older French names, which France changed in the nineteenth century. Meal France · Quebec, Belgium, Switzerland breakfast le petit-déjeuner · le déjeuner lunch le déjeuner · le dîner dinner le dîner · le souper An invitation à dîne