Franglais - Definition


Franglais - Definition

Franglais has a number of meanings.

In French (and sometimes so used in English), the term refers to the inappropriate use of anglicisms (English words) for which there are more appropriate French equivalents.

It can also mean a mangled combination of English and French, produced either by poor knowledge of one or the other language or for humorous effect. If one tries to speak French and fill in gaps in your knowledge with English words or false friends with their incorrect meaning, the result is Franglais.

Franglais should not be confused with Quebec French, which has a number of longstanding borrowings from English as the result of the historical coexistence of two linguistic communities inside Quebec and especially the Montreal area. Similarly, English spoken by the anglophone minority in Quebec has borrowed certain Quebec French words such as dépanneur. These are permanent and longstanding features of the local dialect, often used by fluently bilingual speakers, rather than the incorrect speech improvised by any given individual user with poor knowledge of the other language. In this sense, the term "Franglais" is used as much in a European context as in Canada (except Quebec). However, the term Franglais is used in New Brunswick, Manitoba and some parts of northern Maine to refer to the mix of English and French spoken there, which is itself a longstanding dialect. This mix uses just about as much English as French.

Alternatively, Franglais can work in reverse to provide puns for humorous effect.

Examples:

Moi aussi — I am an Australian.
se marier — to become a Māori
coupe de grass — lawn mower (play on "coup de gr�ce").
pas de deux — father of twins.
J'accuse r�ception — The secretary did it.
Je ne care pas — I don't care.

The humorist Miles Kington wrote a regular column Parlez vous Franglais which, for a number of years starting in the late 1970s, appeared in the magazine Punch.

Books published by Miles Kington include: Let's Parler Franglais, Let's Parler Franglais Again!, Parlez-vous Franglais?, Let's Parler Franglais One More Temps, The Franglais Lieutenant's Woman and Other Literary Masterpieces.

Another classic is Jean Loup Chiflet's Sky My Husband! Ciel Mon Mari! which is a literal translation (and a correct one too, for comparison) of French into English. (The title might better have been translated as "Good Heavens! My Husband!").

After World War II, a backlash began in France over the increasing use of Franglais there. Corruption of the national language was perceived by some to be tantamount to a hijack of the fibre of the country itself.

During this period import of large amounts of American products had led to increasingly widespread use of some English phrases throughout French culture. Measures taken to slow this trend included government censorship of comic strips and financial support for the French film and French language dubbing industries.

See also