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The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics

  • Hélène Blondeau
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Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities
This chapter is in the book Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities

Abstract

This article examines three zones of variation in the French pronoun paradigm in relation to the general issue of language contact in Québec. Three variables, associated with language change in contemporary Montreal French, are analyzed: (1) variation between the pronouns on ‘one’ and nous ‘we’ expressing the first-person plural, (2) variation among on ‘one’, tu ‘you’, and vous ‘you’ to express indefinite reference, and (3) variation between simple and compound forms of plural pronouns with -autres ‘others’. The article reassesses the situation using data that represent different degrees or dimensions of contact between French and English. A comparison between nineteenth- and twentieth-century Québec French data highlights how certain tendencies were or were not yet implemented at an earlier stage when the contact between French and English was less intense. The article also examines how young bilingual Montrealers behave in relation to these changes in progress.

Abstract

This article examines three zones of variation in the French pronoun paradigm in relation to the general issue of language contact in Québec. Three variables, associated with language change in contemporary Montreal French, are analyzed: (1) variation between the pronouns on ‘one’ and nous ‘we’ expressing the first-person plural, (2) variation among on ‘one’, tu ‘you’, and vous ‘you’ to express indefinite reference, and (3) variation between simple and compound forms of plural pronouns with -autres ‘others’. The article reassesses the situation using data that represent different degrees or dimensions of contact between French and English. A comparison between nineteenth- and twentieth-century Québec French data highlights how certain tendencies were or were not yet implemented at an earlier stage when the contact between French and English was less intense. The article also examines how young bilingual Montrealers behave in relation to these changes in progress.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
https://doi.org/10.1075/impact.24.17blo

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgements ix
  4. Introduction: Social lives in language 1
  5. Photos of Gillian: Then and now 17
  6. Biographies of contributors and email addresses 19
  7. Part I. Language Ideology: From the speakers, what can we learn about the language?
  8. Language, mobility and (in)security: A journey through Francophone Canada 27
  9. Language repertoires and the middle class in urban Solomon Islands 43
  10. Land, language and identity: The socio-political origins of Gurindji Kriol 69
  11. "I've been speaking Tsotsitaal all my life without knowing it": Towards a unified account of tsotsitaals in South Africa. 95
  12. Tok Bokis, Tok Piksa: Translating parables in Papua New Guinea 111
  13. Part II. Bridging Macro- and Micro-sociolinguistics
  14. Chiac in context: Overview and evaluation of Acadie's Joual 137
  15. How to predict the evolution of a bilingual community 179
  16. How local is local French in Quebec? 195
  17. Part III. Quantitative sociolinguistics: From the languages, what can we learn about the speakers?
  18. Ne deletion in Picard and in regional French: Evidence for distinct grammars 223
  19. The dynamics of pronouns in the Québec languages in contact dynamics 249
  20. Subordinate clause marking in Montreal Anglophone French and English 273
  21. Mysteries of the substrate 315
  22. Empirical problems with domain-based notions of "simple" 327
  23. Index of names 357
  24. Index of subjects 361
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