Of course there are reasons to be concerned about the future of French in Quebec, believes Lionel Meney. The linguist has just published a survey entitled The shipwreck of French, the triumph of English. “It’s not normal that we’re at this point in Montreal,” he says in an interview. “Hey, the other day at the airport: my wife needed assistance. The person who introduced himself did not speak a word of French. Just English. Let’s say that this poses a problem in a city like Montreal. »
At the same time, he hastens to add, to understand the dimension of the problem facing French, we must above all not remain glued to the case of Quebec. The linguist also deplores the neglect of responsibilities assumed by States, starting with France. “If the battle for French is lost in France, what will remain for Quebec, in North America? It will be difficult…”
In the sphere of the French-speaking world, France has the largest French population. Its economy is the strongest. However, France is immersed in globalization whose dimension invites it to ignore French, regrets Lionel Meney.
The French language problem may now seem minor. Perhaps it is, in fact, concedes Lionel Meney, compared to the challenges posed by global warming, new epidemics, Russia’s aggressive policy, the crisis in the Middle East, Islamist terrorism, immigration uncontrolled, insecurity, deindustrialization, the explosion of public debt… “However, it puts national identity and social cohesion at stake. » Which is not nothing either, he affirms.
The state of things
“I devote a good part of my book to the question of the incredible figures offered to us each year by the International Organization of the Francophonie (OIF). For a long time I have questioned these figures which are repeated by the media, in my opinion without sufficient critical thinking. »
According to the OIF, there are today 321 million French speakers in the world. Projections suggest that this figure will swell to 767 million individuals by 2065. The OIF represents 88 countries, or 16% of global wealth. French would thus continue to shine considerably. But this data appears to be boosted, criticizes Lionel Meney.
The linguist and lexicographer reaches 84 million French speakers around the world. You shouldn’t tell stories, he says. “In Africa, French is only spoken by a very small minority”, linked to the effects of colonization. “The vast majority of people speak their national language. Which is completely normal. »
We lose sight of the fact that “language expresses the power of the people who really speak it.” However, French only represents 2% of the texts written at the UN and 2% of those written at the Secretariat of the Council of the European Union.
Along the way, the linguist observes, the English language has itself become a business. Language teaching constitutes a rich market. In 2020, the British Council estimated that two billion people were studying English. Some companies make a fortune from this. The New Oriental Education & Technology Group, a Chinese company with a market capitalization of $14 billion, for example, teaches English through 771 “ learning centers », notes Lionel Meney. “English no longer belongs to the English. Even China is taking it on. The English language has become a product. And we want the product. »
Everywhere, he notes, the reality is that French has lost ground to English. In France to start, he regrets.
Like it or not, English has become a global language. The time has come to recognize that English must occupy a place in the French space, “unless it becomes ghettoized,” argues Lionel Meney. He immediately specifies that this must be done within the framework of scrupulously respected legislation. “If the expansion of the domain of English seems inevitable, at least, to save what can still be saved, we must organize the cohabitation of the two languages”, particularly on the French side. However, the law in Europe works against French, he argues.
Looking at the New French
Part of Lionel Meney’s work consists of examining what he calls the New French. “In 1964, the writer Étiemble spoke of “Franglais”. I see that things have progressed towards the worst. We went from “Franglais” to New French. »
The language of the big bosses of globalized finance is increasingly penetrating our mode of expression. She imports thousands of words, acronyms and acronyms, modifies the meaning of French words, introduces prefixes, suffixes and layers into the grammar, images into the phraseology. The linguist believes that we do not yet understand enough to what extent the French language is subject to English, as much in its lexicon and grammar as in its use. How to explain the use of words such as check, chill, drive, fake news, follower, ghost, like, outlet, people, podcast, shopper, streaming ? A quantity of Anglicisms are ratified each year by lexicographers, he regrets.
English exerts a double pressure on French. A pressure not only on the corpus of the language, with its share of anglicisms, but also and above all on its status, on its situation in terms of influence in the world and in French-speaking societies.
Thousands of competing languages
Languages, numbering 5,000 to 6,000 in the world, are in competition, explains Lionel Meney. They form a structured whole that English now appears to dominate. English sits first, with at least 1.3 billion speakers. It is followed by a dozen central and major languages: German, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili and Turkish.
We then find ourselves on another floor of the linguistic building. There live Italian, Dutch, Polish and several other languages. Finally, we find a block that includes 98% of the world’s languages. However, these languages are spoken by only 10% of the population.
“I am relatively pessimistic. I don’t see how we could restore the situation of French,” laments the linguist. In the world of science, it is undeniable that everything is now played in English. “Previously, we counted French, English and German as the major scientific languages. France has lost intellectual territories. » Nowadays, the share of French in scientific publications has collapsed: while that of publications in English exceeds 90%, that of French does not exceed 1%, except in the social and human sciences, where it reaches 7%.
“I think we can at least stabilize things, in terms of our lives. I wrote this book to raise awareness. »Quebec is not outside the world, he said. “I wanted us to stop feeding ourselves with illusions. Perhaps showing what is happening elsewhere is more important than ever. »
Faced with the French shipwreck, Lionel Meney believes that we must work to row.