Although both are grounded in modern period Classical French, Metropolitan (or Regular European) and Québec (or Canadian) French seem two wholly different dialects of French.
Even though a non-French person could accurately make this supposition, most people would have a hazy notion of how different the two are.
Key Takeaways
- Quebec French preserves older linguistic features and has a more archaic pronunciation, while France French is more standardized and modern.
- Quebec French incorporates Anglicisms and borrowed English words due to its proximity to English-speaking regions, whereas France French uses fewer English loanwords.
- Quebec French and France French have distinct expressions and idioms, with some phrases unique to each dialect.
Quebec French vs France French
Quebec French retains more old features of the French language and has adopted some vocabulary and structures from English, it also has a distinguishing accent and timbre. France French is considered more standard and closer to traditional Parisian French.
In plain terminology, Québécois is Canadian French. Yes, there seems to be Acadian French, however, most keep referring to Québécois whenever they talk about Canadian French.
This dialect of French being used in the region of Québec is known as Québécois. Despite popular belief, this is not an additional language.
The French spoken in France seems to be the main dialect of the nation. Also, many languages are spoken in France, but French remains the main language throughout the country.
Also, the French spoken in France doesn’t use many English words.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Quebec French | France French |
|---|---|---|
| Main Language of | Quebec French is the main dialect of Quebec, Canada. | Whereas French is indeed the native tongue but in France. It is also the primary language of France. |
| Pronunciation | Quebec French is spoken with a nasal accent. | On the other hand, French in France is spoken with a ‘front-mouth’ accent. |
| Rhythm of Speech | The rhythm of speech peaks near the end of the statement in Quebec French. | Whereas, in case of France French, the rhythm of dialect goes up and down throughout the phrase in French. |
| Inclusion of English | Quebec French never encompasses any English word. | On the other hand, France French encompasses many English Words. |
| Evolution | With considerable impacts from the United Kingdom and the USA, Québec French, has a higher amount of acquired English words, particularly in colloquial speaking Canadian French. | Whereas, Metropolitan French is a direct descendant of European French. However there are some impacts from surrounding additional languages, these tendencies are subtle, if not non-existent, in spoken Metropolitan French. |
What is Quebec French?
Quebec French is perhaps Canada’s most widely recognized French dialect since it is utilized in practically every aspect of society, including school, government, journalism, and everyday life.
When Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec City in 1608, he established French as a dialect in North America.
Nonetheless, it was not until the creation of the Sovereign Council in 1663 that the provinces of New France began to flourish.
French is also being recognized to ensure that the required terms are developed in French whenever distinct English words are generated, contrasted to France, where several concepts, like ‘parking,’ are very Anglicized into French.
Throughout Quebec, this would be referred to be ‘Staionnement,’ whereas, in France, it is referred to as ‘Parking.’ France seems more ready to embrace an English word than coin a unique one.
Quebec French derives from localized versions (dialects) of modern-period French, referred to as Classical French, including various langues d’ol, introduced to New France by French colonists within the 17th and 18th centuries.
What is France French?
Despite the fact that numerous main languages are recognized throughout the nation, French is the nation’s primary language.
The state recognizes no other dialect but French as the primary language. French seems to be the world’s second most widely spoken dialect, behind English.
The number of persons who speak French as their first or second language is around 300 million.
It might be the only dialect studied in every country on the planet, with a youth population of 100 million, including a teaching population of 2 million.
The Gallo-Romance languages of northern France gave rise to French, which is a Romance language (primarily derived through Vulgar Latin). Old French, as well as Middle French are two of the earliest varieties of the dialect.
Various dialects sprang from Old French, yet the Francien language survived and flourished even during the Middle French era (14th–17th century). The Francian language gave birth to modern French.
Main Differences Between Quebec French and France French
- Quebec French is a complete contrast to French. There are approximately 13 vowel sounds in the latter, whereas there are more than 15 in Québécois. A few additional sounds would go a long way.
- Québécois residents still use words that already have dropped out of usage in France. The French, for instance, use “voiture” (auto), whereas Québécois prefer to use the antiquated word “char,” which originates from an old concept for chariots.
- Nasal noises are also important. Despite the fact that French is a nasal dialect by definition, Québécois would be even more nasal. With French, for instance, we enunciate in/un in almost the same manner. They speak it as if it were an, which is not the case in France.
- Quebec French never encompasses any English word. On the other hand, France French encompasses many English Words.
- Another element of distinction between Canadian and French would be that Canadian French has a significantly larger vocabulary drawn among First Nations dialects. For comparison, if you decided to purchase a few sandals in French, you would search for les sandales. On the other hand, Les babiches, the Aboriginal loanword, is what you’d inquire about that in Canadian French.
- https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004334410/B9789004334410-s013.xml
- https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:225323/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page.
Who would have thought French would have such a rich history. I found it very engaging to compare the two versions. I’ve never heard of a language having two dialects.
It just goes to show how languages evolve over time.
I find it quite surprising myself.
The Quebec French seems to have more words coming from the pronunciation while the France French seems to always take the easy way with English words. I honestly thought Quebec French had no influences from the English language.
I never really thought about it but now it all makes sense.
You are right. The article is very well documented, I too thought Canadian French didn’t take any words from English.
I’m a little taken aback by how much Canada French has evolved from regular French.
It’s interesting how two dialects can come from the same language.
This article was enlightening thank you! I never knew the roots of Canadian French and French from France.
It seems these dialects have had a bigger impact on language than we thought.
It was a revelation to me too.
This was a very informative read! I always thought Canadian French was just a regional accent of France French. This showed me how wrong I was.
It’s disappointing to see that the French from France has so many English words in it.
Actually it’s quite interesting how this has come about!
It’s a shame to see such a beautiful language being taken over by English.