In the middle of the 18th century, the French language was at the height of its glory. From London to Moscow via Berlin, many aristocrats consider it synonymous with culture and refinement and make it their duty to speak it. Casanova and Leibniz chose it for some of their writings. The works of the Enlightenment, led by Voltaire and Rousseau, radiate beyond our borders. But, as is often the case, the Tarpeian rock is close to the Capitol. In a few decades, French will fall from its pedestal. And the country’s leaders will themselves contribute to its decline.
Everything began to deteriorate under the Revolution. We can easily imagine: the beheading of Louis XVI did not really excite the courts of the Old Continent. The popularity of French in Europe is affected, especially since the period of Terror also disappoints lovers of freedom. But the worst is to come and must be attributed to a man known for his small size, his cocked hat and his military genius: a certain Napoleon Bonaparte.
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The great man’s first mistake consisted of degrading the image of our country by multiplying conquests using violent methods. “The brutality of Napoleon’s armies created an anti-French feeling in several European countries,” underlines linguist Gilles Siouffi. Thus, in Spain, clashes broke out almost everywhere between the population and the soldiers. Goya paints his famous canvas Tres de Mayo to denounce the abuses of the French soldiers, andfrancesados who, out of conviction or interest, had supported the occupation, are ostracized. In Italy, the poet Alfieri publishes THE Misogallo (literally, “the one who hates the French”) to criticize the excesses of the Revolution and the occupation of the north of the peninsula by our armies. Result: while in the 18th century French served as a passport for an entire cultured elite, “many, in Germany, Austria and Russia, ‘defrancized’ themselves, often for the benefit of English”, writes Gilles Siouffi in his recent and remarkable work Paris-Babel*. It is not unreasonable to draw a parallel with the current situation in Ukraine, where the use of Russian has declined since Vladimir Putin’s invasion of the country.
The second error, even more decisive, occurred with the sale of Louisiana which, with the notable exception of Quebec and Acadia, put an almost definitive end to the use of our language in North America. Let’s be honest: the loss of these territories – much larger than the current state of the same name – had largely begun under the monarchy, but part of them had been returned to France by Spain in 1800 by the Treaty of San Ildefonso. Alas, Napoleon definitively abandoned them in the United States in 1803. Fatal error.
However, several “intellectuals” of the 18th century, as it was not yet called, understood to what extent this region of the world would determine the linguistic supremacy of times to come. Thus, Johann Christoph Schwab, joint winner with Rivarol of a competition on the universality of the French language organized in 1784, predicted that English, despite “its lack of appeal”, had a considerable advantage : his “prodigious empire” in America. Likewise, the Scottish philosopher David Hume announced that after the loss of its possessions on this continent, France would be excluded from the international scene for a long time.
Because it is a well-known rule of linguistics: the influence of a language owes nothing to its supposed clarity, but everything to the power of its economy, its army and its demography. So what had to happen happened: the influence of French would fade as our country lost its splendor in the New World.
A hundred years later, another figure from our national Pantheon will deal another terrible blow to our language. Since the Treaty of Rastatt, signed on March 6, 1714, French had established itself as the language of diplomacy? This monopoly was abandoned in 1919 during the Treaty of Versailles, following the First World War, by… Clemenceau. The President of the Council, whose wife was originally from Wisconsin, prided himself on speaking English and intended to show it. So he acceded to the request of the American Wilson and the British Lloyd George to adopt theenglish as a working language.
That day, Father Victory had transformed into Father Defeat.
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English Carpet Prize: and the worst defenders of the French language are…
The English Carpet Parody Academy awarded its civic indignity award to Astrid Woitellier. At issue: the decision of the general delegate of the Puissance Alpha competition, preparatory to engineering schools, to remove the French test, deemed “anxious”, while the English test remains compulsory. The same award was awarded ex aequo to the Conference of Bishops of France, which implemented the “Holy Games” project on the occasion of the Olympic Games!
Artús affair: France threatened with an appeal to the UN
Call your son Artús with an acute accent on the u, in accordance with the traditional spelling of this Occitan first name? Impossible, estimated the Constitutional Council, relying on article 2 of the Constitution: “The language of the Republic is French”. An argument which does not convince Stéphane Pagès, the lawyer for the child’s parents, who has just sent an “open letter” to Emmanuel Macron. Didn’t the Head of State affirm after this decision of the high court: “The law must liberate, never suffocate (…). The same color, the same accents, the same words: that is not our Nation. »? He therefore asks him to take the necessary measures to put an end to a policy that he considers “assimilationist and linguicidal”. Failing this, he will refer the matter to the UN Human Rights Committee, which has already criticized France on this point.
Why should elected officials not have the right to express themselves directly in Catalan?
Very interesting analysis of the Justice for our languages collective, after the decision of the Toulouse administrative court of appeal to prohibit local elected officials from speaking directly in Catalan. It particularly highlights its potential consequences for other elected officials who use sign language (how can we force them to express themselves first in French?) and for community nationals. Until now, they were authorized to sit in municipal councils without any mastery of the French language being required of them.
Repressive policy towards regional languages and assessment of the Toubon law thirty years after its adoption, these were the themes which were addressed in a surprisingly open manner during the conference organized on December 6 in a symbolic place: the auditorium of the French Academy and the Institut de France. A breadth of mind as rare as it is welcome that we owe to the general delegation for the French language and the languages of France of the Ministry of Culture. You will find here a report written by one of the speakers, the sociolinguist Christian Lagarde.
The Picardy language is looking for volunteers
If you would like to contribute to the development of this langue d’oïl, contact the director of the Picardy Regional Language Agency, Olivier Engelaere: [email protected], 06 82 92 17 77 (SMS or WhatsApp preferably).
Conference on January 11 in Albi: “Bringing Occitan to life, it’s possible!”
This is the theme of the conference that I will give on Saturday January 11 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the amphitheater of the Jean-Jaurès building of the Champollion national university institute in Albi at the invitation of the Occitan Cultural Center of Albigés. Free entry.
To listen
The ten featured words of 2024 from the Robert site
From “entryism” to “nyctalope” via “hubris” and “beepers”, this France Inter program looks back at the ten words that saw the strongest increase in consultations on the digital version of the dictionary in 2024 The Robert.
To watch
When a French school finds success in the United States
This private school in North Carolina saw its enrollment increase by 25% last year. The French language indeed benefits from a positive image in this State which attracts many international companies.
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