Quebec English - French-language Phenomena in English (not Restricted To Quebec)

French-language Phenomena in English (not Restricted To Quebec)

High-frequency, second-language phenomena by francophones, allophones, and generally non-native-English speakers occur, predictably, in the most basic structures of English. Commonly called "Frenglish" or "franglais", these phenomena are a product of interlanguage, calques or mistranslation and thus may not constitute so-called "Quebec English", to the extent that these can be conceived of separately – particularly since such phenomena are similar among English-subsequent-language French speakers throughout the world, leaving little that is Quebec-specific:

A. N@ – The use of French collocations.

Close the TV – Turn/shut off the TV.

Close the door. – Lock the door.

Open the light. – Turn on the lights.

Close the light. – Turn off the lights.

Take a decision. – Make a decision. (NB "Take" is the older British version)

Put your coat. – Put your coat on.

B. N@ – The use of French grammar or no grammatical change. Many of these constructions are grammatically correct but only out of context. It is both the calquing and linguistic transfer from French and the betrayed meanings that make these sentences foreign to English.

He speak/talk to me yesterday. --> He spoke/talked to me yesterday. (verb tense)

Me, I work in Laval. --> I work in Laval. (vocal stress on "I")

It/He have many books. --> There are many books. (from French il y a meaning "there is/are")

I like the beef and the red wine. --> I like beef and red wine. (overuse of definite article to mean "in general")

You speak French? --> Do you speak French? (absence of auxiliary verb; otherwise it means surprise, disbelief or disappointment when out of context)

We were/are four. --> There were/are four of us. (from French "nous avons" and "nous avions")

I don’t find my keys. --> I can’t find my keys. (lack of English modal auxiliary verb)

At this moment I wash the dishes. --> I’m washing the dishes right now. (verbal aspect)

My computer, he don’t work. --> My computer won’t work. (human pronoun, subject repetition, uninflected auxiliary verb)

I would like a brownies. --> Could I have a brownie? (plural –s thought to be part of the singular word in relexification process; other examples: "a Q-tips", "a pins", "a buns", "a Smarties", "a Doritos", etc.)

I would like shrimps with broccolis. -–> Could I have some shrimp and broccoli? (use of regular plural instead of English unmarked plural or non-count noun; this is not a case of hypercorrection but of language transfer).

Do you want to wash the dishes? --> Will/would you wash the dishes? (lack of English modal verb; modal vouloir from French instead – Voulez-vous faire la vaisselle?)

We have to go in by downstairs --> We have to go in downstairs (via the non-standard French 'entrer par')

C. N@ – Pronunciation of phoneme /ŋ/ as /n/ + /ɡ/ (among some Italian Montrealers) or /n/ + /k/ (among some Jewish Montrealers, especially those who grew up in Yiddish-speaking environments), for instance due to high degrees of ethnic connectivity within, for instance, municipalities, boroughs or neighbourhoods on the Island of Montreal such as Saint-Léonard and Outremont/Côte-des-Neiges/Côte Saint-Luc. These phenomena occur as well in other diaspora areas such as New York City.

D. N@ – The use of false cognates (faux-amis); this practice is quite common, so much so that those who use them abundantly insist that the false cognate is the English term even outside of Quebec. Note that these French words are all pronounced using English sounds and harbour French meanings. While the possibilities are truly endless, this list provides only the most insidious false cognates found in Quebec.

a stage – an internship (pronounced as in French)

college – Cégep (collège, cégep; collégial, cégepien), the acronym which is the official name of the institution which dispenses college-level technical education and precedes university in Quebec.

Chinese pâté – shepherd's pie (pâté chinois; Quebeckers' pâté chinois is similar to shepherd's-pie dishes associated with other cultures)

a cold plate – some cold-cuts (reversed gallicism – assiette de viandes froides)

coordinates – for address, phone number, e-mail, etc.

(a) salad – (a head of) lettuce

a subvention – a (government) grant

a parking – a parking lot/space

a location – a rental

a good placement – a good location

It’s ok. – It’s fine. (from Ça va.)

That’s it. – That is correct. (from C'est ça.)

all-dressed pizza – a deluxe pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and green peppers (from pizza toute garnie.)

soup, two times – two soups, or two orders of soup (from "deux fois.")

Few anglophone Quebeckers use many such false cognates, but most understand such high-frequency words and expressions. Some of these cognates are used by many francophones, and others by many allophones and anglophone accultured in allophone environments, of varying English proficiencies, from the bare-minimum level to native-speaker level.