Ethnography of speaking, remembered by the mnemonic SPEAKING:

Setting and scene
Participants and their communication roles
Ends: conventional outcomes and personal goals
Act sequences: message form and content
Key: tone, manner or spirit of the interaction
Instrumentalities: channel and forms
Norms: of interpretation and of interaction
Genres: such as poem, lecture

Argyle describes three types of information that is exchanged:

1. cognitive information, relating to the outside world and hence conveying factual content
2. indexical information, corresponding to the expressive and conative functions. This type of information enables the recipient of the message to ‘place’ the speaker against his social, geographical or occupational background, and to situate the exchange against the wider context
3. interaction management, enables the participant to ‘construct’ the interchange, managing their interaction in terms of their communicative roles as well as in terms of the sequencing of the different phases of the interaction.

Harriet kindly put together this glossary of terms:

Diaphrasia = the study of the capacity of speakers to vary their manner of talking according to circumstances (situation, person(s) to whom they are talking, activity, etc.)

• There are three circumstances in which ‘que’ is used.

  • The relative ‘que’

  • The general subordinating conjunction

  • Other circumstances

• The relative ‘que’

  • In standard French one says

    • L’homme que j’ai vu

Because the verb takes a direct object – j’ai vu un homme

• • However, one says

    • L’homme dont je parle; or

    • L’homme de qui je parle; or

    • L’homme duquel je parle

    • Le garage dans lequel il est rentré

    • La reunion à laquelle j’ai assisté

Because the verb is indirectly transitive (it requires an object introduced by a preposition) or it takes a direct and an indirect object

An example of a verb requiring an object introduced by à is assister à

Some verbs are ditransitive (they take a direct object and an indirect object introduced by a preposition

• • • L’homme à qui j’ai donné le livre ; or

    • L’homme auquel j’ai donné le livre

  • The non-standard usages in these circumstances are:

    • L’homme que je parle de lui; or

    • L’homme que j’en parle

    • Le garage qu’il est rentré dedans

    • La réunion que j’assiste à elle

    • La réunion que j’y assiste

    • L’homme que j’ai donné le livre à lui

    • L’homme que je lui ai donné le livre

  • This is known as the ‘décumul du rélatif’ or relieving of the relative pronoun of some of its functions.

  • French relative pronouns bear a heavy syntagmatic load, because they have to fulfil a number of functions

    • Introduce the subordinate clause

    • Replace a substantive already mentioned

    • Indicate the function of that substantive in the subordinate clause; i.e. is the subject or object of the verb; if the object is it the direct or indirect object, etc

  • Gadet suggests that in français populaire the relatives, such as the non-standard usages illustrated above, have a decumulative function.

    • ‘que’ merely indicates the start of the relative clause. The task of replacing the preceding substantive is shifted to a pronoun.

    • The functional role of indicating syntagmatic relationships/parts of speech is shifted either to a pronoun (in the examples above ‘lui’ ‘en’ or ‘y’) or a proposition (in the examples above ‘à’ or ‘de’) or an adverb (in the examples above ‘dedans’)

  • Sometimes there is the use of hypercorrection or pleonasm

    • L’homme dont j’en parle

    • L’homme dont je parle de lui

  • Gadet also identifies the ‘defective’ relative – the use of ‘que’ on its own and distinguishes this from the relatives of français populaire

    • L’homme que je parle

  • While the relatives of français populaire are used by educated people (i.e. the use or non-use is diaphasic) defective relatives are only used by lower classes. (i.e. the use or non-use is diastratic)

• The general subordinating conjunction

  • Standard French employs a range of subordinating conjunctions

    • Autant que, comme, puisque, sinon que, tandis que, bien que, après que, etc.

  • Non-standard usages reduce these to ‘que’

    • Je vais voir les enfants qu’ils font beaucoup de bruit = je vais voir les enfants parce qu’ils font beaucoup de bruit

• Other circumstances

  • Gadet identifies other functions

    • ‘Une incise d’énonciation’ – an interpolation

Quatre degrés à Lamorna le matin qu’il a dit le boucher

• • • An ‘introducteur du prédicat’

Heureusement qu’il a réussi

• • • ‘Téléscopage’

T’as besoin de rien que je monte ? = est-ce que je te monte quelque chose ?

The development and future of the French language.

Francais familiar is very rich in synonyms for everyday situations and concepts.

As we move away from formal French, we find more ways of saying something.

Words can take a long time to form or happen overnight, and in just the same unpredictable way, they can go out of fashion.

Studies have shown that the number of words used is actually very small. It is only when wandering into abstract, specific or technical contexts that a wider range of vocabulary is required.

Language evolves and develops new words for one of two reason:

1. Technical innovation produces a new term

2. Expressive needs of language users in their daily conversations

Neologism = new word.

Neologisms that are technical are concerted, systematised and channelled, whereas fashionable expressions are born in a spontaneous, individualistic and disordered way and spread is governed by whims of fashion or needs of the moment.

New words are created in accordance with certain established principles:

1. Suffixation

2. Abbreviation

3. Repetition

4. Inversion

5. Anglicisms

Suffixation – inside this lies resuffixation where the standard word ending is replaced by a non standard word ending. E.g. Cinoche instead of cinema, instead of governement they would say governoche. There is also gratuitous suffixation which is the addition of an extra ending where none exists in standard. For example, instead of cher they say cherot and instead of chic they would say chicos.

Abbreviation – apocope is a common example of abbreviation – aka right hand syllabic deletion. In simplest of terms, for example, le professeur becomes le prof. Many forms end in a non-etymological fashion, so an o is added for ease of pronunciation, eg. Aperitif becomes aper which becomes apero. In English we can use o, but also ies, such as commies or lefties.

Repetition –

Syllabic – identical repetition of syllable, with euphemistic or hypocoristic function, such as calling someone coco for communiste, nunu for nudiste. It’s very childish, and by making the word sound funny you’re masking the nastier meaning.

Whole word repetition – repeating the word with intensive function, reinforcing its meaning. eg. Mignon-mignon. Etre boulot-boulot for hard working. Particularly with exclamations and oaths, such zut zut zut, merde merde, putain de putain (Quebec influence)

Non-identical – euphemistic or hypocoristic such as be-bete meaning silly-billy, or gueguerre for guerre. It has the same intentions as syllabic, but uses a different method.

Inversion -

Verlan – ’nuff said.

Largonji and loucherbem – displace the initial consonant of a standard word, substitute for an L and then add a suffix. Eg. Jargon → argonj → largonji. Boucher → loucherb → loucherbem. Sac → lacse. Damme → lammede. Deux → leude. Cher → lerche. Pisser → lissepem. Putain → lutainpem.

Derives from the butchers slang of La Villette. Largonji appears to be unproductive and limited to a small number of working class Parisians.

Anglicisms – le chewing-gum, le babysitter, le weekend.

Hybrids – part english, part french. Top-niveau, opera-rock, top modele, block systeme, credit revolving.

Pseudo-anglicisms –

1. created inside French, taking bits of English, mashing them together, and although the component parts are from English words they don’t really represent English. E.g. un crossman (cross country runner), une tenniswoman.

2. Discrepancies in French and English usage, such as a pullover → le pull.

3. Break with convention in that many Anglicisms take on different meanings in French. E.g. palace means 5 star hotel in French. Le building is a high rise block. Un jogging is a tracksuit.

You can then apply any of the other styles to Anglicisms eg abbreviation, verlan etc. E.g domb – useless, lousy = verlan (dombi < bidon) + apocope. Eg. Linguebur – office = resuffixation (burlingue < bureau) + verlan. E.g. blackos – black person = anglicism + gratuitous suffixation.

Society is made up of human groups which engage in interaction. The groups – a family, a faith, women, children, the working class – can be identified through their roles in social systems: the legal, educational, religious, political, economic; while their interaction is revealed through such social processes as the differentiation of functions, the socialisation of children, or the dialectic of the power struggle. Social groups can interact in a number of ways: through political activity, economic domination, and through the exchange of symbols/language. There are three types of linguistic and attitudinal interaction:

1. Based on a stratified (structural, functional) approach, allows correlation of linguistic and social variables: cooperation.

2. Based on Marxist approaches, leads to analyses of conflictual power relationships as mediated through language.

3. Interactional, based on the informal relationships contracted by the individual. May lead to the analysis of an individual’s linguistic repertoire and its relationship to his social network.

Most sociolinguistic research in France is based on the conflictual approach, while most American work is derived from the cooperative approach.

• The convention in French of using the second person plural as a mark of respect was established by the 14^th century. In these circumstances it was non-reciprocal.
  • Tu used by:
    • Higher class to address lower class
    • Master to address servant
    • Parent to address adult children
    • Priest to address parishioner
  • Vous used by:
    • Lower class to address higher class
    • Servant to address master
    • Adult child to address parent
    • Parishioner to address priest
• After the Revolution in 1789, an attempt was made to use ‘tu’ in all circumstances but the practice failed to become established.
• After the student riots in May 1968, there was a fashion for addressing everyone as ‘tu’ indiscriminately as a mark of ‘solidarity’ but it was not generally adopted.
• However, the tendency now is for a reciprocal use of either ‘tu’ or ‘vous’. In other words, its use no longer denotes the relative social status of people to the same extent.
  • Exceptions:
    • There are still certain people who use ‘tu’ very little, eg; ‘la vieille France’ (Giscard d’Estaing etc)
    • A non-reciprocal use is still observed between:-
      • Teacher/pupil
      • In-laws
      • Employer/employee (depending on the nature of the work)
• Cote 33 du Règlement de discipline générale des armées. Le 5 août 1975. ‘Le tutoiement est formellement interdit en service.’
  • Apart from this, there has been no particular ruling on the topic, either in connection with education or administration.
• It looks as though a change in the political climate has brought about a return to a form that is stylistically marked.
• ‘tutoiement versus vouvoiement in different contexts
  • Family : tutoiement is general amongst members of the immediate family, exceptions being:-
    • The ‘grandes familles’
    • In-laws. Even if parents-in-law tutoient their sons/daughters-in-law, the reverse is less likely. Tutoiement is now more common between brother-in-law and sisters-in-law, particularly if they are of the same sex; i.e. a man is less likely to tutoyer is sister-in-law than his brother-in-law.
  • Age
    • Children up to the age of 10 are routinely addressed as ‘tu’. Above that age the position is less clear

Research among school children produced the following results.

In reply to the question, ‘If a new pupil arrives at your school, do you automatically tutoyer him?’ 80.55% of the sample said they would do so straightaway.

The next question was, ‘What is your reaction if the new arrival uses vouvoiement? Do you

(a) think that it’s a bit unfriendly – 23.25%

(b) think that it’s up to him – 23.25%

(c) ask him why – 20.93%

(d) find it funny – 11.63%

(e) think that it’s quite normal – 9.30%

(f) have any other reaction ­ 2.33% would ostracise him; 9.33% would invite him to tutoyer

On balance, the majority of opinions either expressly or implicitly disapprove.

• • • People over the age of 50 are more likely to vouvoyer but this could indicate
      • Either a general tendency
      • Or the behaviour of older people
  • Sex:
    • Vouvoiement is more common between persons of the opposite sex
    • Women tend to use vouvoiement more than men
  • Other factors
    • Political orientation
    • Social class
    • Upbringing – education, military service, etc.
    • Interests in common – sport, leisure activities, etc.
    • Certain professions
    • External appearances
    • Personality
• Certainties
  • Fixed usages of tu’
    • God (but not the Blessed Virgin Mary)
    • The Army – but see above
    • Cases where several criteria coincide (e.g. youger person, whom one knows well
    • Close family (but see above re in-laws)
  • Fixed usage of ‘vous’
    • Always, if a person is addressed simply as ‘monsieur’ or ‘madame’
• Uncertainties
  • Cases where there is a conflict of principals; e.g. an acquaintance who is older, in-laws, friends of friends.
• Variation with the same person
  • Different circumstances
  • Passing passions

The functions of language

• Referential
  • Declarative
  • Affirmative
  • Informative
• Expressive
• To command
• Poetic
• Literary
• Ritualistic
• Phatic – a phatic expression is one whose sole function is social rather than informative – a speech act – it keeps the channels of communication open

Language can also vary according to

• The situation
  • The greater the formality of the situation, the higher the register.
  • Does register has a greater importance in French than in English?
• The medium
  • Written v. Spoken
  • Are there two French languages?
    • They seem to be diverging
    • The spoken language follows the natural order of thought, this is not always the classic order of the written language – right displacement.
    • The written language follows the rules of syntax
    • The written language and the spoken language are presented differently –
      • for example, in the spoken language interrogation can be indicated by intonation (rising tone at end of sentence), circumlocution (use of est-ce que); non-standard constructions (use of particle –ti in français populaire or working class speech)
    • The lexis can vary but this is usually a mark of register
    • Studies by Martinet during WW2 among French prisoners of war identified stylistic differences in speech according to the age and social class of the speaker
    • Many of the changes that are taking place in the written language emanate from the spoken language.
    • There are grammar differences between the written and the spoken – non-standard grammatical usages more likely to be found in the spoken language.
      • non-standard use of ‘que’

Differences between the written and spoken languages
Written	Spoken
Prepared	Spontaneous
Revised, corrected	Corrections effected by repetition
Continuous text	Hesitations
Co-ordinated	Fragmented – ‘um’ & ‘er’ to fill in while thoughts collected
Punctuation assists comprehension	Use of parataxe – the use of short, simple sentences without linking conjunctions
Adverbs & adjectives are used to describe the speaker/writer	Use of prosody (intonation, accentuation, rhythm) to indicate expression
Long, complex sentences	Short, simple sentences
More redundancies	Non-linguistic context has linguistic consequences – deixis (point of reference)
More precision
Spelling – fewer ambiguities	Homophones – more ambiguities
Language is clearly marked for gender & number	Marking for gender & number is less apparent

Language marking: Compare

Leur chien aboie / leurs chiens aboient : leur ami ouvre la porte/leur amie ouvre la porte

[lœr ʃjɛ̃ abwɑ] [lœr ʃjɛ̃ abwɑ] [lœr ami uvR la pɔrt] [lœr ami uvr la pɔrt]

• Liaison might mark number but it is rare between a substantive subject and the verb.

In the spoken language markers are suppressed.

• Spoken French has diverged from written French in a way which has not happened in English.
• There is also a distinction between ‘formal’ and ‘informal’ usage, which is greater in French than it is in British English.
• ‘Register’ is a socio-situational variation i.e. dependant on setting and relationship of interlocutors.
  • Cannot simply be reduced to social class, age or text type – though may be linked to all of these.
  • There is an accepted check-list of items at the levels of morphology and syntax which indicate register; e.g. presence or absence of ne; method of indicating the interrogative.
    • Populaire – interrogative particle –ti
    • Familier – no inversion, voice inflexion.
    • Courant – est-ce que + subject + verb
    • Soutenu – inversion of subject + verb
    • Académique/Littéraire – certain other formulae
• What input determines choice of register?
  • Context of communication
    • Spoken
    • Written
    • Subdivisions of both categories
      • Face to face or distance
      • Degree of permanence of medium
      • Nature and degree of mechanical intervention
      • Utterance intended for individual or large audience?
  • Context of situation
    • Type of event (formal meeting/family gathering, lecture, seminar, café discussion
    • Physical location
    • Subject matter
    • Social role being fulfilled at time of utterance
  • Interlocutors ­ speaker/writer & addresse
    • The speaker/writer will take into account the social class, age, sex, regional and (possibly) ethnic affiliations of addressee
    • The degree of formality between them – length of acquaintance or intimacy – solidarity (use of tu/vous)
  • There may be some overlap between the above.
• Caput (1975) represents register in both written an spoken on a five point scale (see copy page 32)
  • N.B. familier/populaire version is not confined to the spoken language
• For several centuries (esp. from 16^th -19^th) the written language was regarded as an idealised ‘norm’
  • Variants conceptualised as ‘deviation, deficiency, error’
• Written French is marked for number and gender – the same is not true of spoken French
  • Leurs livres étaient ouverts

+ + + +

[lœr livr zetɛ uvɛrt]

– + – –

• Register exists independently of socio-economic groups
• Register can be indicated not only by the phonology but also by the level of syntax
• Difficulties of obtaining data for spoken language
  • Not easy to cover a range of registers
  • Difficult to get unselfconscious recordings in a relaxed or intimate setting
  • Large corpora needed to obtain data on levels of syntax
  • Difficultly in recording and transcribing oral language
    • Paralinguistic phenomena – modified by interaction – presence of interviewer – recording venue etc.
    • Interpretation of recording – unconscious modification – quality of recording etc – putting in what researcher expects to hear
    • Word boundaries in spoken language not obvious – high percentage of homophones
    • Danger of assuming that the speaker has used a deviant form – better to assume the form closest to the norm and note alternative interpretations
• Register use and the vocalic system
  • /i,y,u/ remain stable
  • Oppositions of mid-vowels /e,ɛ/ /o,ɔ/ /œ,ø,ǝ/ and /a,ɑ/ have not been maintained
    • /A/ vowels have undergone as series of changes
      • 1945 – study by Martinet – posterior /ɑ/ = educated and soigné speech; drawled posterior /ɑ/ = working class Paris suburban speech
      • 1970 & 1979: study by Mettas; generation gap between older speakers in haute bourgeoisie (G1) & bourgeoisie (G2); older speakers keep /a,ɑ/ distinction; younger speakers different. G2 speakers tend to front posterior /ɑ/ – replacing it with velar /a/ to replace anterior /a/.
      • Greater use of /e/ or an intermediate sound in places where /ɛ/ is expected

Brief history

• Early seventeenth century
  • France founds two colonies in North America
    • Acadie on the Atlantic seaboard – roughly modern Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island
    • New France – the strip of land extending along the banks of the St. Lawrence, loosely known as Canada – French population calls themselves canadiens/habitants
    • Early settlers of Acadie and New France come chiefly from western France
      • Dialects reflect the linguistic situation in 17^th and 18^th centuries
    • Over half of the Acadians came from south of the Loire
    • Half of Canadians originated north of the Loire
    • Many immigrants were younger sons of noble or bourgeois families and therefore educated – their French closer to Standard French
• 1713 Treaty of Utrecht
  • France cedes Acadie to England
• 1755 le grand derangement
  • England deports two thirds of the acadiens to New England
  • Some of these find their way down to Louisiana - descendants are still called Cajuns [kadʒɛ̃n]
    • Many exiles later return and settle in Acadie – 1981 census: 16.6% of the population of the three provinces claim French as mother tiongue
• 1763 the Treaty of Paris
  • Canada becomes a British colony
  • French in contact and conflict with Canadian English
• 1791 the Constitutional Act
  • Canada divided into
    • Anglophone Upper Canada
    • Francophone Lower Canada
• 1837 the patriotes’ rebellion
• 1840 the Act of Union
  • the Province of Canada established
  • single Assembly – equal representation from Upper and (more populated) Lower Canada
  • English the only official language – French population and language ‘minorised’
• 1867 the British North America Act
  • Canada becomes a Dominion comprising four Provinces
    • Ontario
    • Quebec
    • Nova Scotia
    • New Brunswick
  • French becomes an official language with English but there is no question of making the Federal Government bilingual
• 1871 the first Census
  • total population 3,700,000 of which 30% is of French origin
• 1890 Manitoba (the fifth Province – 1870) abolishes the use of French in its schools – Ontario does the same later on
• revanche des berceaux
  • Francophones survive, thanks to a very high birth-rate (65⁰/₀₀₀) despite emigration (approx 500,00 are estimated to have emigrated between 1860-1900) to western Canada or the USA, high infant mortality and epidemics of small pox, typhus, tuberculosis, diphtheria, scarlet fever and typhoid
• 1931 the Statute of Westminster
  • Canada acquires full autonomy
    • 80% of Francophones voted against entering into WW2 but are outvoted by the Anglophones
• 1959 the beginning of la Révolution tranquille (FLQ)
• 1968 Pierre Trudeau Prime Minister
  • he proclaims French and English official languages (1969)
    • ‘Canada was witnessing a growing geographical concentration and separation of the two official language communities. This territorial polarisation has crucial implications for language planning. The state, whether federal or provincial, has two possible solutions: it can either guarantee individual rights, e.g. the right to education in the language of one’s choice; or it can separate the two communities, each with its own language, with guarantees for linguistic minorities. The first option was and still is the federal institutional response. The second was Quebec’s solution.’
  • The Official Languages Act declares Canada to be a bilingual country
  • instigates and ambitious project to revise the Canadian Constitution (but is opposed to Quebec independence
• Quebec makes French the the sole official language and the language of work in a series of Bills
  • 1969 Bill 63
  • 1974 Bill 74 (?Loi 22)
  • 1977 Bill 101 – the Charter of the French language
• French becomes
  • an instrument of power –
  • a way of gaining control of the economy and education by securing its future and that of French culture
• Language planning implemented through three governmental agencies
  • Office de la Langue Française (OLF)
    • Defines policy and carries out research into socio-linguistics, neology and terminology – issues or cancels ‘francisation’ certificates’ (required by firms for doing business in Quebec.
    • In 2003 the OLF becomes the Office Québecois de la Langue Française
  • The OLF also monitors difficulties encountered in the implementation of Bill 101
  • The Commission de Surveillance et des Enquêtes deals with violations of the language laws

• Many French words end in a written but, in many contexts, unpronounced context
  • e.g. trop /tro/; champ /ʃɑ̃/, sujet /syʒe/, mur /myir/.
  • In some words the final consonant is always pronounced in all positions
    • cap, sac, vif, sens, peril, amer, finir, avoir
  • In other words there are two forms
    • Form without a pronounced final consonant is used before another consonant or a pause
    • Form with a pronounced final consonant is used in some or all contexts when word is followed by a vowel without a pause
• This is known as liaison
  • Liaison must be distinguished form enchaînement
    • Enchaînement applies to final consonants that are pronounced in any event
    • e.g. grande [grɑ̃d] – un grand ami [œ̃ grɑ̃ dami] v un grand cheval [œ̃ grɑ̃ ʃəvɑl] – une grande amie [yn grɑ̃ dami] v une grande maison [yn grɑ̃d mɛzɔ̃]
    • From a practical point of view, the consonant in each case is attached to the following vowel – there is slightly less tension in the consonant in enchaînement than there is in liaison
• Liaison can be (according to Delatte):
  • Compulsory
  • Optional
  • Forbidden
• Encrevé classifies liaison as
  • Invariable (i.e. circumstances in which liaison is either compulsory or proscribed)
  • Variable
  • Erratic
• Granville Price classifies liaison as
  • Compulsory
  • Usual, except in familiar speech
  • Not normal or totally impossible
• The circumstances in which liaison is either compulsory or forbidden are clearly defined
  • Compulsory
    • Determiner + noun/pronoun/adjective
    • Personal pronoun + verb
    • Invariable monosyllables – dont, tout, très, fort, plus, moins, est, sont, rien, dans, dès, en, sans, quand
  • Forbidden
    • Singular noun + following adjective
    • Et + anything
    • Before H aspiré
    • Noun subject + verb
    • Verb (except avoir/être) and any following element
    • Anything + un/huit/onze
• In all other cases it is optional and the use or non-use depends on:-
  • The degree of formality
    • There is a greater tendency to make optional liaison in higher registers
    • Even in familiar conversation a person may not consistently effect liaison
  • Age
    • Older people tend to effect liaison more than younger people
  • Social class
    • Lower classes tend to effect optional liaison less
    • Lower classes also tend
      • not to effect liaison when it is compulsory
      • to make fausse liaison by the introductions of cuirs (intrusive ‘t’) and velours.