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 letter is therefore intended 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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A little advice before starting this article: sit down comfortably, hold your arms firmly on the armrests and take a deep breath. That’s it ? Do you feel ready? So now read this: French was first an oral language before becoming a written language.
Does it seem obvious? This is indeed the case, but if I feel the need to recall what is in fact a truism, it is that we tend to forget it and to judge spoken French negatively by considering as ” faulty” any expression that deviates from the printed standard. We often hear that the spoken word does not respect the basic rules of grammar or that it is a sign of culpable laxity. “Until the end of the 20th century, the ‘good use’ was that of the written language, which the spoken language tried to resemble. In recent decades, this good use has been questioned, as have the ideas of ‘norm’ and ‘fault’. It’s a mistake”, explains Hélène Carrère d’Encausse, “the” (she insists on it) perpetual secretary of the French Academy.
These reflections reflect what is called a “graphocentric” point of view (focused on the written word), as a recent work, sometimes questionable, but always stimulating, published by a group of linguists rightly reminds us (1) . Also, in this period of great oral exams for the baccalaureate, it does not seem useless to recall a few truths on this complex subject, which are as follows:
– The spoken word is as spontaneous as the written word is worked on. When you put a few lines down on paper (a terribly dated image in the age of the Internet and cell phones, I agree, but you’ll understand me), you have plenty of time to think, to check if necessary and even, now, to use spell checkers. Nothing of the sort when the word is emitted spontaneously, without possibility of going back.
– There are several types of orals. We don’t express ourselves in the same way during a drunken meal and during a job interview (in any case, I strongly advise against it). Similarly, there are different forms of writing: a quickly sent SMS such as “What time are you coming back?” will not be as chiselled as the first fiery love letter addressed to his sweetheart. It is therefore not intellectually rigorous to compare a neat text and a relaxed conversation.
– Our judgments are influenced by the idealization of the language of the past. When we think of the French of the generations that preceded us, we spontaneously think of the texts of Racine, Montesquieu or Hugo. Magnificent references, but… totally biased. To establish a true parallel with today’s oral, one would have to know how were talking the average French of previous centuries. Which, for lack of radio and tape recorder, is almost impossible.
– The discrepancy between the written and the oral is growing. For a long time, French evolved freely, including under the pen of our great writers. It was with the generalization of schooling, under the Third Republic, that the written language began to become more rigid. “Since the 20th century, spoken French has evolved a lot, noted Alain Rey, the boss of Petit Robert. The past simple has regressed; abbreviations, such as “proprio” or “prof”, have multiplied; of paw and dough has faded. The problem is that this evolution of oral French, which is natural, has coincided with a quasi-stability of written French. In fact, the last significant reform of the French Academy in this area dates back to… 1835. Since then, the Immortals have only made objectively marginal rectifications. Result: a growing gap between the language as it is spoken and the language prescribed in writing.
– As a general rule, however, the written word ends up aligning itself with the spoken word. Eh yes ! And besides, if such were not the case, this article would be written… in Latin!
– Corollary: as the spoken word will continue to evolve, the written word will inevitably change. We don’t talk anymore like in 1923? It is just as certain that the French of 2123 will be different from ours. Which means – as embarrassing as this idea may be – that, despite inevitable resistance, certain “mistakes” heard today in our conversations will be considered good written French tomorrow. I don’t read coffee grounds, but it is likely that the “ne” will eventually disappear from negative sentences and that the personal pronoun “we” will recede more and more in favor of “on”. And I won’t bet my favorite floral shirt on the odds of surviving past participle agreement with the auxiliary “have.”
Do these developments strike us? It’s completely normal: no one appreciates rules that he has learned and that he makes the effort to respect are not applied by others. But let’s face it: at the same time, we willingly forgive ourselves the use of expressions that were once considered faulty. Personally, I must confess: it rarely happens to me to say in a café: “Waiter, I would like you to bring me a glass of Jurançon”. And yet, such is the rule required by the concordance of times…
All this to say that the spoken word often deserves better than what is said about it and that it can even sometimes reach heights of expressiveness. Through eloquence contests, video CVs, the success of rap and, now, a test dedicated to the baccalaureate, he has even been gaining ground for some time. This is why it seems essential to reduce the gap that separates it from the written language by making it evolve, without laxity, but with flexibility, as it has long done in previous centuries. At the risk, failing that, of making two idioms foreign to each other.
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(1) French is fine, thank youby Attered linguistses. Gallimard, Tracts collection.
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