Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Which part of Quebec would this accent be from? Lots of Quebecois in the comments suggesting she's exaggerating and young folks don't talk this way anymore even in the countryside, and a few disagreeing with that. But no consensus in the comments on where the accent's from, with people somewhat randomly suggesting places all over the map.
Which part of Quebec would this accent be from? Lots of Quebecois in the comments suggesting she's exaggerating and young folks don't talk this way anymore even in the countryside, and a few disagreeing with that. But no consensus in the comments on where the accent's from, with people somewhat randomly suggesting places all over the map.
Interesting though quite a few accents are missing, and many aren't necessarily the dominant accent of the region identified. More like sub-accents in some cases - typical of a regional minority.
I'd wondered about it back then, but had totally forgotten about it by the time I started posting here. It was interesting to me that there was no consensus on the origin and people just seemed to be guessing (btw why do so many Quebecois think any strong accent is Acadian? ), and even a bit of controversy over whether she was exaggerating it.
I'd wondered about it back then, but had totally forgotten about it by the time I started posting here. It was interesting to me that there was no consensus on the origin and people just seemed to be guessing (btw why do so many Quebecois think any strong accent is Acadian? ), and even a bit of controversy over whether she was exaggerating it.
OK, so about that video allegedly contrasting urban vs. rural accents...
I am on the side of people who say there isn't that much difference anymore. Especially not among young people. Perhaps among people over 70 there might be more people who talk with that rural accent and use those expressions. But not really many among the younger.
Generally speaking, accents and vocabulary in Quebec will vary more according to socio-economic and educational status than geographic location. There might be slight differences in accent but by and large a lawyer or teacher will speak French the same way whether they are in Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski or Montreal. There are proletarian francophones within Montreal itself who speak pretty rough, colloquial French.
The supposedly rural stuff she says and the way she says it also seems more like a mash-up of stuff that might exist in various regions, as opposed to being typical of a single region. Some of the pronunciations even sound Acadian.
OK, so about that video allegedly contrasting urban vs. rural accents...
I am on the side of people who say there isn't that much difference anymore. Especially not among young people. Perhaps among people over 70 there might be more people who talk with that rural accent and use those expressions. But not really many among the younger.
Generally speaking, accents and vocabulary in Quebec will vary more according to socio-economic and educational status than geographic location. There might be slight differences in accent but by and large a lawyer or teacher will speak French the same way whether they are in Rouyn-Noranda, Rimouski or Montreal. There are proletarian francophones within Montreal itself who speak pretty rough, colloquial French.
The supposedly rural stuff she says and the way she says it also seems more like a mash-up of stuff that might exist in various regions, as opposed to being typical of a single region. Some of the pronunciations even sound Acadian.
Thanks, Acajack, that's very helpful!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
There are proletarian francophones within Montreal itself who speak pretty rough, colloquial French.
Is the joual in Montreal still relatively stable, despite the big demographic changes, or do you foresee what famously happened with working class London English happening - the birth of an entirely new working class dialect in its place?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Some of the pronunciations even sound Acadian.
The shared traits of traditional QF and AF, which are toned down in speakers with accents that have moved closer to "standard" French, can make more conservative QF and AF speakers stand out as similar in some ways (e.g. saying /kanadɔ/, as opposed to /kanadɑ/ in more "cultivated" speakers, and as opposed to /kanada/ in France). But in many of the words in this video Quebec-specific conservative features not found in AF (e.g. the diphthong in table, the "pourde" pronunciation) are so very very pronounced that I do find it funny that people on Twitter and Reddit were suggesting it (And of course, an Acadian with a similarly strong accent would definitely have tcheque for quelque and maybe at least a trace of ouisme in homme, but it's not surprising they would miss that, I definitely don't expect many Quebeckers without Acadian ties to be aware of such features when trying to place an accent.)
Any ideas why it happened so very quickly? What kind of remaining presence would you say these terms now have in Quebec? Are they more present or well known in certain parts of Quebec, or in rural areas as opposed to urban ones, or in certain socioeconomic categories? Are there still any kids in Quebec who call their grandparents that? Are the new terms spreading to French Canadians outside of Quebec, and at what pace?
Is the joual in Montreal still relatively stable, despite the big demographic changes, or do you foresee what famously happened with working class London English happening - the birth of an entirely new working class dialect in its place?
It's definitely shifting.
Lots of influences from Haitian Creole and Arabic in particular in Montreal street French.
Any ideas why it happened so very quickly? What kind of remaining presence would you say these terms now have in Quebec? Are they more present or well known in certain parts of Quebec, or in rural areas as opposed to urban ones, or in certain socioeconomic categories? Are there still any kids in Quebec who call their grandparents that? Are the new terms spreading to French Canadians outside of Quebec, and at what pace?
Sounds like a bit of a conceit, Ã la ''oh we're above that - never even heard of it (cough)''.
Thanks, that's interesting! Are these influences mostly restricted to the working class or are they as noticeable in young people in general? I know in France use of some Arabic expressions seems pretty universal in youth across the class spectre. (Also noticed it from Belgians. No idea if they're used in Swiss French, or if it has different immigrant influences instead.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Sounds like a bit of a conceit, Ã la ''oh we're above that - never even heard of it (cough)''.
I was definitely a bit suspicious when I first started noticing this "in the wild" that it might be something like that, even though they seemed honest in their confusion or cluelessness. But then I saw it come up a few times in r/Quebec, and the responses were always similar (most don't know about it, some know but consider it non-Quebecois, a couple chime in to say they use it or at least know Quebeckers who do), and that convinced me, cause I don't think a whole subreddit would go along with feigning something just to be modern or cool or whatever people who do that sort of thing perceive themselves as. But Reddit definitely skews pretty young. Not sure, but I'd expect the average age to be somewhere in the early twenties.
Do all your ROC relatives use them, or do they also use mamie/papie or grand-maman/grand-papa, and if they do, which variant would you say is prevalent? And is there a difference among them depending on the region? I imagine SE NB and the western provinces would be slow to change, and that the Ottawa area would follow Quebec very closely. But what about Northern NB and the rest of Ontario?
Another surprising thing I saw (just the other day) is putain de used in a Quebecois article to translate the English ****ed up. I'd expect something like criss instead. Is putain making inroads in Quebec, or is it considered more proper to use in a newspaper than the Quebec alternatives or something? Struck me as odd. Maybe the journalist is European
Last edited by tonedeaf; 08-29-2021 at 10:46 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
), and even a bit of controversy over whether she was exaggerating it.
