stop speaking franglais

 

The national linguistic watchdog, the Académie Française, has condemned the growing use of Franco-English or 'franglais' by public and private bodies. The Académie warns of the dangers of limited and overly simplified communication, saying it could further undermine social cohesion.

 

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"Pick-up station", "cluster", "bleisure", "drive-in". In recent years, anglicisms have flourished in institutional communication, and this is of particular concern to the centuries-old French language watchdog.
The report by six members of the body, adopted in early February and published online this week, warns that "today's communication is characterised by a degradation that must not be seen as inevitable".

In 30 pages, the report picks through dozens of messages from public bodies such as ministries, town halls, museums, universities, as well as private firms, highlighting examples of bilingual wordplay.

The report, entitled Pour que les institutions françaises parlent français, explains that "it is not a question of opposing the evolution of French and its enrichment through contact with other languages".The document states that "it is obviously necessary to accept the relatively large number of words acquired long ago in French, present in modern dictionaries, which cannot be considered as Anglicisms (...): design, fan, high-tech, job, kit, leader, meeting, outsider, pack, roller, shopping, test, top, thriller, zoom..."

 'Invasive anglicisation'

In charge of "defending the language of Molière", the Académie has identified "a worrying development", namely an "invasive anglicisation".

 "Many anglicisms are used in place of existing French words or expressions, inevitably leading to the gradual erasure of the French equivalents," said the body, which was founded in 1635 under King Louis XIII.

 "Aside from fashion and sport, the internet and digital field is unsurprisingly the most strongly and visibly 'anglicised'," the Académie said, dubbing tech terms "Californisms" such as "follower", "hashtag", "start-up", "kit de com."

 The Covid-19 pandemic has also brought about the use of a number of terms from English like "cluster", "testing" or "click and collect".

 English words themselves are "often distorted" to fit French pronunciation or syntax, the Académie notes, resulting in "the creation of hybrid forms that are neither English nor French", for example "Plug-in hybrid" or "éco-friendly".

 Fear of a social divide

What the Académie fears most is "a social and generational divide", as the French are far from proficient in English, especially among the elderly.

 In the document, it points out that access to English "concerns a small, privileged and educated fringe of the population".

 Some words require a certain level of English to understand concepts such as the term "bleisure", (a composite of "business" and "leisure").

 Sometimes this can make even fluent speakers stumble, as with the concept of a "drive piétons" (a "pedestrian drive-through", or pick-up point for products ordered online).

 Thus, the massive use of franglais in institutional communication risks creating "linguistic insecurity".

 The Académie also notes a deterioration in slogans used by these institutions since the 1980s.

 "English has become the new Esperanto. Advertisers think it's hip to use puns with Anglicisms, but it's a false sense of humour."

 The report mentions for example, the slogan "Unboring the future" used for the car manufacturer Peugeot, "France is in the air" for Air France, or "Ready to Ouigo?" (SNCF slogan) and so on.

 Jumbled syntax, influence of advertising

Overuse of English "has the contradictory consequence of risking both an impoverishment of French vocabulary and growing discrimination among sections of the public," the Académie adds.

 "By widely using an English vocabulary not understood by much of the public, online services contribute to stoking the defiance that has visibly developed in recent years towards all kinds of authorities."

 In addition to the lexicon, the report deplores "the consequences of a certain gravity on the syntax and the very structure of French".

 Académie Française denounces French ID card's 'unconstitutional' use of English

Why fighting 'franglais' is not just a war of words

With "the disappearance of prepositions" and "the deletion of articles", according to its observation, "syntax has been disrupted, which constitutes a real attack on the language.

 "The current language of communication is very strongly influenced, even contaminated, by that of advertising, which is at once very compact, limited and often simplifying."

 The Académie Francaise has become more assertive under permanent secretary Hélène Carrere d'Encausse about its mission "to protect the French language".

 In January, the institution threatened legal action against the government for including English translations of information fields on national identity cards.

 

Isabelle Martinetti
RFI 20/02/2022