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Quebec French | |
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French of Quebec | |
Français québécois (French) | |
Native to |
|
Ethnicity | Québécois people |
Native speakers | 7 million in Quebec; 700,000 speakers elsewhere in Canada and the United States (2006)[1] |
Early forms | |
Latin script (French alphabet) French Braille | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Quebec |
Regulated by | Office québécois de la langue française |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | queb1247 |
Linguasphere | & 51-AAA-icd & 51-AAA-ii 51-AAA-hq & 51-AAA-icd & 51-AAA-ii |
IETF | fr-u-sd-caqc |
Quebec French (French: français québécois [fʁɑ̃sɛ kebekwa]), also known as Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language spoken in Canada. It is the dominant language of the province of Quebec, used in everyday communication, in education, the media, and government.
Canadian French is a common umbrella term to describe all varieties of French used in Canada, including Quebec French. Formerly it was used to refer solely to Quebec French and the closely related dialects spoken in Ontario and Western Canada[citation needed], in contrast with Acadian French, which is spoken in some areas of eastern Quebec (Gaspé Peninsula), New Brunswick, and in other parts of Atlantic Canada, and Métis French, which is found generally across the Prairie provinces.
The term joual[2] is commonly used to refer to Quebec working class French (when considered a basilect), characterized by certain features often perceived as phased out, "old world" or "incorrect" in standard French.[3] Joual, in particular, exhibits strong Norman influences largely owing to Norman immigration during the Ancien Régime (they were perceived as true Catholics and allowed to immigrate to the new world as an example of ideal French settlers). For example the word placoter can mean both to splash around or to chatter which comes from the Norman French word clapoter which means the same thing. Its equivalent in Acadian French is called Chiac.