Everyone knows it, or feels it: languages are the expression of a sensitivity, of a certain relationship to the world, of a particular outlook on life. In this, they are a treasure for all humanity.
However, France allows its exceptional linguistic wealth to sink into general indifference. If nothing is done, most of our so-called “regional” languages will have disappeared by the end of the century, according to Unesco. As for our national idiom, it is certainly not threatened, but it is often abused, in particular by our collective mania for Anglicisms.
This newsletter therefore aims to support the weaker languages against the stronger ones. To simultaneously protect French against Anglo-American, but also Corsican, Picard and Breton against French, when the latter becomes overwhelming.
For languages to live. All the languages.
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Special Rapporteur of the United Nations on the question of the rights of minorities, the Canadian Fernand de Varennes is not exactly anyone. But what he says has something to send chills down my spine. “If French is the only language of the State [français]if article 2 of the Constitution imposes French as the exclusive language, that [veut] say that even sign language should not be used.” (1)
“The language of the Republic is French”
A priori, the reasoning of the senior international civil servant is valid. What does article 2 of the Constitution say since 1992? “The language of the Republic is French.” How has the Constitutional Council interpreted it for thirty years? The exclusive use of French imposes itself on all the authorities and institutions that embody the Republic. Therefore, any other language seems excluded from the public sphere, including sign language. We measure the explosive nature of such an analysis for deaf people in our country.
In 2005, a law on the handicap had however offered the possibility to the pupils to receive an education in this language. In the process, it was planned that complete courses, from kindergarten to terminale, be set up for the students concerned, and this in all the academies. “Eighteen years later, the promise is far from being kept: the said sectors only exist in Poitiers, Toulouse and Lyon and only concern… 3% of deaf children”, underlines teacher-researcher Brigitte Garcia , professor at the University of Paris VIII. Nevertheless: they exist and, in these establishments, sign language is mainly used. “Orally, all subjects are taught this way, and it is logical: the children concerned do not hear. In writing, on the other hand, we use French.” There are therefore public schools where the “language of the Republic” is not used for the most part.
However, it is exactly this argument that the Constitutional Council invoked, in 2021, to censure the Molac law on regional languages, and in particular its article 4, which precisely authorized the main use of Basque, Occitan or Catalan, what is called “immersive education”. “By providing that the teaching of a regional language can take the form of immersive education, Article 4 of the referred law disregards Article 2 of the Constitution. It is therefore contrary to the Constitution”, had estimated the high court. If we apply this reasoning to all the languages of France other than French, the majority use of sign language should therefore also be prohibited…
Two weights, two measures ?
Is it so simple? Not necessarily. “A 2008 circular, specifying the 2005 law, emphasizes that ‘the law recognizes French sign language as a language of the Republic in the same way as French, […] its distribution in the administration [étant] facilitated'”, emphasizes Brigitte Garcia. In addition, “LSF is recommended throughout the school career of young deaf people. So there’s no need to worry.”
Same reassuring analysis from an excellent connoisseur of the Basic Law. “The Constitutional Council has never had to rule on sign language, but, if it had to do so, it is likely that it would not prohibit its teaching by the immersive method, and this for at least three reasons. Firstly, sign language is not a regional language. Moreover, article 2 of the Constitution – ‘The language of the Republic is French’ – would not be the only reference taken into account in a possible decision. Values such as solidarity, fraternity or even dignity would come into consideration. Finally, during the preparatory debates for the introduction of French into the Basic Law in 1992, there was never any question of excluding the sign language.”
Close the ban? Even. Because let’s take these four counter-arguments one by one:
– A flyer promotes sign language? Certainly, but a circular does not have the legal value of a decision of the Constitutional Council.
– Sign language is not a regional language? No, but neither is it the French language, which the Constitutional Council considers to be the only “language of the Republic”.
– Article 2 does not directly target sign language? No, but it did not target regional languages either. The parliamentarians, like the government of the time, had even assured it: the said article was intended to fight exclusively against English and… in no case against regional languages! This does not prevent the Constitutional Council from doing exactly the opposite for three decades.
– As for values such as solidarity, fraternity and dignity, researchers have demonstrated how, for decades, the unfortunate pupils “guilty” of speaking the language of their parents in Alsace, Picardy, Auvergne, Martinique and elsewhere were punished in the schools of the Republic (2). A policy which, it has now been demonstrated, has caused many illnesses, even cancers (3).
Therefore, one of two things. Either sign language ends up suffering the same fate as its counterparts in the name of the “all French” ideology that seems to guide the Constitutional Council, and we are preparing for a humanitarian scandal. Either it escapes, which we will obviously rejoice for its speakers. In a country that swears by the word “equality” there will nevertheless remain the unpleasant feeling of seeing the different languages of France treated in a fundamentally unfair way.
FIND VIDEOS DEDICATED TO FRENCH AND THE LANGUAGES OF FRANCE ON this youtube channel
(1) Statements made on March 31, 2023, during a debate organized by the Assembly of Corsica, in Ajaccio.
(2) The “symbol” (or “signal”) method, widely used in mainland France as well as in the colonies, consisted in rigging up a degrading object (bone, pebble, piece of wood, etc.) on children who let out a word in their mother tongue at school. The offenders then had to spy on their little comrades in the hope of finding another who, in turn, would make the same “error”, in order to give him the object. The “symbol” thus circulated throughout the day, and the last to wear it was punished. See in particular the thesis “From hoof to monkey skull. History, modalities and consequences of the imposition of a dominant language. Brittany, Senegal and other territories”by Rozenn Milin.
(3) See on this topic the work of Prof. Pierre Boquel at the Center for Relational Psychosomatics in Montpellier (Cresmep).
READ ELSEWHERE
How best to apply the Molac law on regional languages?
This is the question that will be asked on July 5 during a study day organized at the Hôtel de la region Occitanie. In the presence in particular of Paul Molac and Jean Castex.
Occitan: the new Dicodòc is online
The already very powerful online Occitan dictionary Dicodòc is still improving. Translation, conjugation, synonyms, expressions, toponyms, literary corpus: this digital tool designed by Lo Congrès permanent de la lenga occitana offers extraordinary resources, all with new, more efficient and pleasant ergonomics. To be consulted free of charge and without moderation from a telephone or a computer.
A trilingual Montessori school puts Polynesian culture in the spotlight
Fare Bambini: this is the name of the multicultural Montessori school created on the island of Raiatea, in French Polynesia. With three languages of education: French, Tahitian and English.
The mayor of Lorient validates the first name Fañch
THE not tildé, diacritical sign of the Breton language, has been officially banned from civil status since a decision of the Constitutional Council of 2021. Never mind: the mayor of Lorient (Morbihan), Fabrice Loher, has just validated, Thursday 22 June, the registration in the town hall of the first name Fañch. In the name of the defense of cultural diversity.
Pupils from Brittany can take the 2023 patent in Breton
College students who so wish can compose the patent in Breton. Indeed, the academy of Rennes has confirmed to the Diwan network, a French network of associative schools where education is given in Breton, that the copies of the students in the Breton language will be fully corrected, and this without negative consequences.
Fin’amors triptic… e May, by Miquela Stenta
Occitan literature is 1,000 years old, and it still lives. The proof with Fin’amors triptic… e May, collection combining short stories and poetry written by Miquèla Stenta, a great specialist in troubadours and a figure in Sète cultural life.
Fin’amors triptic… e maiby Miquèla Stenta (E…rau edicions).
“Should the State supervise the development of French?”
“Yes”, answers here the demographer Yves Montenay, who opposes the supporters of “laisser-faire” in the face of Anglicisms. An interesting argument, despite some regrettable errors (concerning the Villers-Cotterêts ordinance, in particular).
Double consonants, color adjectives, compound word agreement: former proofreader Jean-Pierre Colignon publishes a series of tips to avoid spelling “mistakes”.
Goal zero fault!, by Jean-Pierre Colignon (L’Etudiant ed.).
Can we teach spelling with humor? Yes, answers the speech therapist Aurore Ponsonnet, who relies on puns, puns and tricks (do not confuse “This man got lost near the station” and “this man, weary, had parked near the station”) to convince its readers that one can have fun with the French language.
French for consenting adults, by Aurore Ponsonnet (Ed. First).
TO LISTEN
The Occitan group Cocanha on France Musique
Since 2014, the Toulouse group Cocanha has been revisiting the traditional Occitan repertoire. Born in Toulouse and composed today of Lila Fraysse and Caroline Dufau, it has just had the honors of France Musique. You can also see the two artists in this clip where they interpret the title That his auros, mentioned in this show.
TO WATCH
Vela the spring, by Christian Pacher
There are regional languages that are less well known than others. Such is the case of Poitevin-Saintongeais, a langue d’oïl that is all the more precious in that it remains imbued with its past membership of the Oc ensemble. Christian Pacher, a talented instrumentalist and composer, has the courage and merit to carry this ignored culture high (here, with the group Ciac Boum).
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