Being a leading economic power gives you the ability to create products that are going to be used all around the world (e.g. the computer, the radar, the scanner, etc). In some cases, the name of these products will be translated in other languages. For instance, computer was translated into French as ordinateur. However, in other cases, the word will not suffer any changes. It is called computer also in Italian, Dutch or Russian.
The problem in many languages is what the French call anglomanie, that is to say, many French people use English words, not because they are necessary but because they are prestigious. In the last decades, there has been an invasion of unnecessary English words in most world languages. These unnecessary words, little by little, they take the place of ¨national¨ ones impoverishing those languages as they take the place of the “national” word, which ceases to be used.
The origins of anglomanie go to the end of the Second World War. When the Americans liberated France. American soldiers brought with them: tourism, culture, new products etc. The French people became fond of the “American way of life” and Hollywood films. Everything that was American was seen as godlike as they were the saviours of the nation. Suddenly, English was seen everywhere: in advertisements, in restaurants and airports, and newspaper articles were full of anglicisms. The invasion of the English language was absurd to the point where common French words like fin de semaine were replaced by English ones like weekend.
What was the response of the French Government to the incursion of English words in their society? Linguistic laws were passed in the French Parliament creating institutions for the defence of the French language and the so-called ministerial committees of terminology. In every ministry, a committee was created with linguists and professionals (economists in the Ministry of Economy, lawyers in the Ministry of Justice, etc) to translate into French, English technical words. They succeeded partially in their task, and French neologisms replaced many Anglicism in circulation. Their use was made compulsory in the state administration but not in the private enterprise. Thus, the problem with technical words was solved. But the problem in the common language remained unsolved as unnecessary anglicisms continued to penetrate the French language through mainly the press, publicity and leisure.
English was starting to take over French speaking areas because English speakers occupied all top jobs and the influence of the important neighbour, the USA, and the English speakers of Canada were felt very intensively. There was also a high necessity to learn English amongst the French speakers as most industries in Quebec were run in English. As a result, the French language was deteriorating because of the excessive number of anglicisms.
The history of language conflict in Canada is long and we will not analyse it here but the fact is that language planning was set in 1961 when the Quebec Charter of the French language was passed as a desire from the inhabitants of that Canadian region to protect their language against English. A Government institution was created in Quebec with the mission of enforcing the Charter and also in order to promote the French language and defend its users. The Office Québecoise de la langue Française was to fulfil this task. Out of the many policies set by the charter, the most notable ones are: the introduction of French as the only official language and to ensure that French is the one and only language used at work (communications, commerce, administrations and enterprises).
It is true to say that while in France there is influence from the English language; in Canada there is presence (some even call it linguistic contamination). For that reason, the types of anglicisms that are used in each country are different. In France, raw anglicisms (English words not adapted to French phonetics or morphology such as low-cost, brainstorming, prime time, think-tank, loser and dealer) are predominantly used as they are motivated by the warm welcome offered by the French people. In Canada, however, you can hardly find any of these, rejected by the Quebecer society. Nevertheless, you can find many semantic loans (anglicisms that are truly French words in their form but carry the English meaning. For instance, to say chambre instead of bureau, salle or pièce because of the influence of the English word “room”. The use of semantic loans is the consequence of the pressure from English on the French language in Quebec.
In Quebec, the loans in the common language aren’t used as a way of snobbery or as a way to show off. It is the consequence of the daily contacts between English and French in linguistic and economic encounters.
As for my own opinion, I believe that a language should stay to its roots. I myself love languages (Spanish, French, Italian, English…) but when I speak French want it to sound French and not Franglais. Many theorise that languages evolve and that it is necessary to borrow words from other languages to name new object, ideas etc… however, I don’t think it is correct to import unnecessary words that cause the impoverishment of the importing language.
Rationale
I wrote an informative analytical study on the detrimental effect of anglicisms in French speaking societies (French mainland and Quebec). I wrote in a critical tone with hopes to transmit my opinion on the delicate current situation, which both societies are experiencing. Some of the harsh and critical vocabulary I used: “linguistic contamination”, “snobbery”, “impoverishment”, “deterioration” I used specifically so that my opinion is passed on clearly instead of coming short.
This task addresses the topic of language and culture, specifically language planning. I also found a strong link between the topic of language death and language planning. I see language planning as prevention to language death. When a language dies out, one of the reasons for its disappearance is the increasing use of another upcoming language. This is mostly the reason for language planning. Language planning is the prevention; language death could unfortunately be the consequence.
I chose this topic specifically because my father is finishing up his doctoral dissertation on the influence of the English language in 6 different Europeans languages (Spanish, French, Italian, German, Dutch and Russian). I thought it would be a great idea to choose this topic because I had so much information at hand. I chose using the format of a magazine article because I often encounter myself with these sort of intellectual studies in linguistic magazines. Moreover, I felt that it was the best way to express what I learned from the topics I studied as well as my own knowledge.
Bibliography
"How Can We Help You?" Taal Universum. Web. 22 Feb. 2012.
MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect "Intervention Linguistique, Norme Et Forme." Office Québécois De La Langue Française. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca>.
MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect "Language Planning." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 05 Oct. 2011. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_planning>.
MACROBUTTON HTMLDirect " Network of European Language Planning Boards ." Network of European Language Planning Boards. Web. 22 Feb. 2012. <http://www.languageplanning.eu/home/Pages/index.aspx>.