Montreal

I was going to add something or other here, but you've all already said everything that I was going to say. Just let Francophones know that you're from south of the border and they'll bend over backwards to be nice to you, as soon as they realize you're not one of those uppity Anglophones from Ontario.

Just thinking - the whole concept of the term joual would be an interesting discussion. We'd need a few more Canadians, as well as people interested in the linguistics and the politics of language. Not sure where they're hiding, though.

pffffffffft to uppity Andrew

pffffffffffffffft, I say




a link to Forillon (trying to find something about the trail and its history)

http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/qc/forillon/index_e.asp

Ehbth wrote :



I assume you mean : La Parlure Québecoyse :wink:

Joual is spoken in a region of Canada, not defined by political boundaries. As I learned it, and experienced it, it is the dialect developed in a band that runs from Northern New Brunswick through the Gaspe, north of Quebec and Montreal and into North Eastern Ontario - roughly following the lumber camps of the 1800's. It is not the same dialect spoken in the Prairies, or other parts of Quebec.

Some think this about joual, I'm not an expert :

Francis

I was thinking, before I read all those posts, that "joual" must have come from France. Would it be a kind of ancient dialect in France and would it still be spoken there?

Certainly, Quebecers speak French with a "strange" accent, which may be a little tough on the ears, if you are familiar with Parisian French. But otherwise, there are many regional dialects or accents in France, also. I like the accent from Marseille, after reading so many Marcel Pagnol books!!

Is there a definition in the dictionary, by the way, of "joual"?

And I mean ... uppity Ontarians? Why, what would you call people from further West?

That makes a certain amount of sense, as the people in the lumber camps were isolated from the development of French in Quebec in the urban areas. It would be much like the Elizabethan English that is still spoken on some islands in the Chesapeake Bay.

Or the peculiar dialect of German that I speak, that none of my cousins seem to have heard except on public television documentaries. The language moved on without me

Bram,

I must say I'm delighted hearing a "strange" accent, which may be a little tough on the ears

Sure we have several accents in France regions.

"joual" is in the dictionnary :

Here a link to it :joual

"Uppity Ontarians" is certainly Canadians affairs!

When I initially learned to speak French, we had teachers who'd been trained in Paris. Then I head off to Rimouski where I didn't understand a word for at least a week - quoi - pardonnez-moi - quoi - pardonnez-moi - quoi ?

The program I was in, we got dinged a full mark off the final grade each time we were caught using English - quoi? pardonnez-moi? je ne comprends PAS !!!!

Anyway, you have learned!

Now you can say : je COMPRENDS!!!

Another link to : joual

Not all Ontarians are uppity, of course. That crack was aimed squarely at Mz. ehhhBeth (as she well knows). Further west? There are people further west in Canada?

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Hi, Bram!

The king/queen said "nous" when imposing his will!

Usually he/she said "moi".

Louis XIV motto : "L'état c'est moi".

Interesting, Francis!!

That seems familiar to me ... I wonder if it is because that expression has been used by many leaders after Louis XIV.

Must be that!

You were in Toronto, Bram?
and you didn't let our local contingent of A2K'rs know?

tsk tsk

There are a number of A2K's further west in Canada. A handful strewn across the prairies and then a lovely selection in British Columbia. They're probably afraid to post in a Montreal thread

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Just remember us the next time you head our direction, Bram. Shake on it?

Sure will. Thanks for the invitation, ehBeth.

But please, no shaking, I was shaking enough in Toronto ... out of cold.