Familiar orally in many African capitals, several words have been found in recent years in the two main dictionaries of the French language. Their usual users see it as a kind of consecration when the lexicographers recall that these entries are only the illustration of the dynamism of a French language nurtured by its speakers, the majority of whom are between 15 and 24 years old in Africa according to the Observatory of the French language.
Three terms, originating from the African continent, have integrated the 2023 edition of Le Petit Robert: “go” (young woman or girlfriend), “grazer” (crook who operates on the Web) and “babtou fragile” (expression formed with the verlan of “toubab” designating a person who poses as a victim or fragile). These entries constitute “a high average” for the dictionary for which she is responsible, assures Géraldine Moinard, the editorial director of Editions Le Robert, stressing that “it’s more than usual” and “rare”.
However, the figure seems insignificant when Le Petit Robert opens the door to its dictionary every year to around “150 words, meanings and expressions”. Just like Le Petit Larousse, the other great dictionary of the French language for more than a century. In its 2020 edition, the latter welcomed “literate” (a term used in Burundi and Morocco to define a person who can read and write), “quinine” (to designate the tablet of any medicine in Chad and the Central African Republic) , “taxieur” (word of Algerian origin which means taxi driver) or even “buccaneer” (Ivorian term which refers to an artist of the coupé-décalé musical movement or to an individual who displays his material ease).
These entries are the expression of a trend and reflect the contribution of Africans, who represent the majority of the 321 million people speaking French in the world, to the enrichment of the everyday language. “French in Africa moves a lot, it creates words. The nouchi [que le Larousse définit comme “l’argot parlé en Côte d’Ivoire principalement par les jeunes] is an example and proof”analyzes Bernard Cerquiglini, scientific advisor for the Petit Larousse illustré.
“These words come [dans Le Robert] because they are no longer words specific to Africa, they have spread throughout the French-speaking world, they are no longer found only orally in Africa, but also in writing, in songs as well as on social networks in general. Writing can be an indicator for words that are a little less supported language such as ‘go'”, we eexplains to Géraldine Moinard. “Le Petit Robert is a general language dictionary that deals with the language connecting all French speakers.”
Thus “go”, a word from the nouchi which has been infused for decades in West Africa and an important source of new words in dictionaries, “we will hear it in France, broadcast by songs, the language of the cities…”, noted the lexicographer. The authors, of all kinds, through their writings, constitute the vehicles of the words used in African countries, transporting them to the main dictionaries of the French language, published in France, which are Le Petit Larousse illustré and Le Petit Robert .
“At Larousse, we are faithful to the heritage of Pierre Larousse, who in the 19th century wanted to describe the French language in its reality”, recalls Bernard Cerquiglin. In his time, it was the “French from France” but today “we are trying to describe a globalized French“. “We sometimes tend to forget it, but France is a very small part of the Francophonie.e“, points out for her part Géraldine Moinard of Le Robert editions. “There is not a single French, there are French people, with sometimes different words but with a lot of common points and particularities which sometimes feed on each other”.
Before appearing in dictionaries, new words undertake a long journey, the first stopover being called identification. The processes are multiple but, in the digital age, computers are proving to be a precious ally for lexicographers in the exploration of the corpora they constitute.
“Automatic tracking thanks to the power of computing and human tracking to extract a whole list of terms and new candidate words as well as new candidate expressions for entry into our dictionaries. And then these candidates, we will study them regularly in the editorial committee, discard them or accept them”abstract Géraldine Moinard from Le Robert editions.
Lexicographers often conduct a small survey. “This is even truer for the new senses, she explains. For example, the word “go” already existed in the masculine and as an adverb. Therefore, spotting “go” in the feminine is closer to “craft”. Lexicographer, “it’s a constant job”confirms Bernard Cerquiglini. “Le Petit Larousse is published every year, you spend a year noting, listening, reading, hearing”.
Bernard Cerquiglini specifies that “the words which are very common in the French of Quebec, Senegal or Côte d’Ivoire and which, in addition, are heard in France, (them) interest”. “We are very attentive to innovation in the French-speaking world” of which young people are often the source. “Now, (they) are interconnected, they listen to Ivorian music, Malian music… All this feeds an international language which is becoming the common language” in the French-speaking world.
This is how “s’enjailler” (to rejoice), integrated into the Larousse 2017, caught the attention of the famous publisher. It was noted in “the language of young people”. “Enjailler is “enjoy [mot anglais issu lui-même d’un emprunt au français]”. It’s also Ivorian and Vendée. “A friend from Vendée, passing through Abidjan (the economic capital of Ivory Coast)heard to enjailler”, says Bernard Cerquiglini. And in Vendée, he says to himself: “I enjaille on Saturday evening. It’s regional French and it’s a word created by the nouchi but which takes up an old French word which mixes with English”.
In France, the wesh wesh language (that of young people in the French suburbs) constitutes one of the transmission belts between young French-speakers on the continent. − 15-24 year olds are the ones who use French there the most − and their French counterparts who live in France. The latter sometimes share common origins with the former due to immigration. This language ultimately resembles “a sometimes ephemeral laboratory, but it is a good laboratory”, concludes Bernard Cerquiglini.
“Ambiancer, ambianceur” who entered the Larousse a few years ago, are “very common Congolese words” employed by young people in France for whom they are “useful”, note Bernard Cerquiglini. By entering a word into the dictionary, lexicographers rely on “a certain durability”, affirms Géraldine Moinard for whom, she insists, “the most important criterion is use”. “The Petit Robert remains a general dictionary”. As such, a term discarded a few years ago will reappear under the radar of lexicographers if “its frequency increases”, if he “spread more widely”. “One of our criteria, she insists, it’s really the spreading of words.”
The lexical loop then closes. “Larousse authors describe the language but users often ask for a prescription. There is a prescriptive usage that is not intended by lexicographers. When a word is in Larousse, it is considered validated as being French . This gives it weight, value and reputation. We French speakers like the dictionary and we respect it”, notice Bernard Cerquiglini. And the scientific adviser to take the opportunity to twist the neck of a recurring criticism : “We have brought in more words from the Francophonie than Anglicisms over the past twenty-five years!”.