Anglicisms: two distinct approaches in Quebec and France

As one of the world's most spoken languages, and especially as the language of global trade and business, English has become a source of debate in many non-English-speaking countries over its impact on their own languages. Here's how France and Quebec each approach the issue of anglicisms in their culture, from safeguarding their culture to adopting a pragmatic stance. Analyses and examples.

Quebec: active and institutional defence of French

In Quebec, safeguarding the French language is of paramount importance, and has even become institutionalised. A clear example is the Quebec Office of the French Language (OQLF, from its French initials), founded in 1961 to promote and safeguard the use of French in the province. This was further cemented with the adoption of the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) in 1977, which declared French the official language of administration, education, and commerce.

But why is there such reluctance towards English?

English has been the dominant language in North America ever since the British Conquest of 1763. Quebec, a French-speaking minority in an English-dominated environment, therefore sees French as a crucial symbol of its identity.

To safeguard the language, Quebec enforces strict laws and adapts English words into French, in order to maintain a unique vocabulary. For example, English words frequently used in France such as email, spam, or sweatshirt are adapted to courriel, pourriel, and chandail. While some of these equivalents might seem amusing, they reflect a real issue: preserving the French language in a world dominated by English in technology, science, and international trade.

The Quebec approach stems from a unique historical and cultural context, in which using French words is seen as a way to maintain cultural identity. Across the Atlantic, however, things are quite different. In France, anglicisms are widely accepted in both professional and everyday contexts, often without objection.

But why does France accept these anglicisms?

Anglicisms can be found across nearly all sectors in France, especially in professional contexts. Terms such as start-up, afterwork, briefing, open space, and business plan are now widely used, even by defenders of the French language.

The French Academy and the official FranceTerme database regularly publish French equivalents: mot-dièse (hashtag), courriel (email), jeu vidéo de tir à la première personne (first-person shooter). However, these French equivalents rarely take hold, frequently perceived as less effective or less practical than the English originals.

In 2022, the Academy highlighted the proliferation of anglicisms in institutional and media communications, arguing that they can create a social divide between those who understand them and those who do not (The Guardian). Yet in practice, their use remains widespread, particularly in advertising, fashion, technology, and sports.

Recent examples illustrate this duality:

• The attempt to replace FPS with ‘jeu vidéo de tir à la première personne’ did not catch on with gamers.
• Despite official guidance, the term ‘streamer’, now widespread on platforms, is seldom substituted with ‘diffuseur en direct’.

Two approaches, one common goal

Quebec and France share a common goal: to preserve and promote the French language. But their strategies differ:

• Protecting the French language in Quebec is considered a cultural and political mission. The institutional framework, embodied by the OQLF, aims to systematically replace anglicisms and protect the province's unique vocabulary.
• France takes a more pragmatic stance. Anglicisms are part of everyday language, even though their use regularly sparks debates. Institutions such as the French Academy try to propose alternatives, but they are not consistently embraced.
• In Belgium, by contrast, anglicisms are not a contentious issue, as the country safeguards its official languages (French, Dutch, German) through linguistic freedom, allowing Belgians to use more than one language if they wish. This also provides linguistic flexibility for minorities in certain municipalities.
• Meanwhile, in Algeria there is a noticeable decline in the use of French, particularly in the national education system, to safguard local languages (Arabic and Tamazight), alongside the growing influence of English.

These examples highlight the varied approaches to anglicisms (or other languages), and more broadly, to the protection of language in the countries mentioned. Some try to safeguard their local languages like Quebec or Algeria, while others adopt a more pragmatic approach, such as France or Belgium, which tend to be more relaxed about language preservation, even allowing greater freedom in this regard.

Ultimately, these two approaches reflect different linguistic realities.

In Quebec, English is a dominant neighbour that must be contained; in France, it is an influence to be accommodated. In both cases, the issue of anglicisms reflects a common challenge: adapting the French language to meet modern needs while safeguarding its identity and richness. After all, every language in the world is shaped through contact with others: the history of French is just a chapter in the wider tale of linguistic exchange.