Le français québécois d’aujourd’hui par Kristin Reinke, Luc Ostiguy

Reviews 261 Reinke, Kristin, et Luc Ostiguy. Le français québécois d’aujourd’hui. Berlin: Gruyter, 2016. ISBN 978-11-034929-0. Pp. xiv + 182. The authors have given themselves the task of describing the history of the French language in Quebec, describing the language itself, and analyzing the various language laws that have been passed in that province, all in the slender space of 167 pages. They have succeeded admirably. Though written with German students in mind, this book is appropriate for any group, as there are no references to German-specific phenomena. The book targets students in French studies who do not know much about the fleurdelisé variety of French. The authors also assume that the reader has some notions of linguistic terminology, but they avoid overly specialized language. The book opens with an overview of the French presence in Quebec, from the founding of New France to Canada today. Chapter 2 focuses on the structure of the language itself, necessarily comparing and contrasting it with the français de référence, with emphasis on phonetics and the lexicon. There is also some discussion of social and geographical variation, as well as discussion of register. Chapter 3 covers the evolution of Québécois French, chapter 4 discusses attitudes toward the language, and chapter 5 details various language planning efforts and the laws they produced. Each chapter begins with a general introduction (Une typologie de normes and Qu’est-ce qu’une attitude sur la langue for chapter 4 and Quelques principes de base de l’aménagement linguistique for chapter 5) and then applies those principles to the situation in Quebec, giving a solid foundation for those students who want to further pursue the topic on their own. Finally, there are comprehension and analysis questions after the chapters.Again, these questions do not make reference to German- or European-specific phenomena, so they are useful for a North American audience. Chapters 4 and 5 are especially solid, giving a good overview of topics that are not usually covered in most introductory linguistics classes. However, chapter 2, on the structure of the language itself, is probably the weakest. There is some inconsistency in orthography, with an overuse of the apostrophe to show a dropped e-caduc: Qu’est-c’que c’est beau (33) in some instances, whereas normal orthography is used in others (the list of sacres on p. 48); or it is not clear what the apostrophe refers to: al’ a envie de dormir (62) or Donne-moiz ’en (64). Char appears on a list of Anglicisms (51), even though it is the stereotypical example for those who would argue that Québécois French is an archaic version of French. These are minor quibbles, however, in an overall excellent contribution to expanding knowledge about this important variety of French. Teachers and students in upper-division French classes will find this a useful and accessible overview of Québécois French. Arizona State University Helene Ossipov ...

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