 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017) |
| Quebec French | |
|---|---|
| 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.
- ^ Source: 2006 Census of Canada Archived 2009-03-12 at the Wayback Machine. Includes multiple responses. The simplifying assumption has been made that there are no native speakers of Quebec French in Atlantic Canada (see Acadian French) but that all native speakers of French in the rest of Canada are speakers of Quebec French.
- ^ "Joual - Definition of Joual by Merriam-Webster". merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
- ^ Entry for joual in Dictionnaire du français Plus. "Variété de français québécois qui est caractérisée par un ensemble de traits (surtout phonétiques et lexicaux) considérés comme incorrects ou mauvais et qui est identifiée au parler des classes populaires."