French fail to stem Franglais invasion
By Henry Samuel in Paris
14/03/2007
More English words have entered the French language in the past decade than in the preceding century despite desperate attempts to stem the invasion, a guardian of la langue française conceded yesterday.
"We have not stopped borrowing massively from English for the past 10 years," said Xavier North, whose task is to promote, protect and apply the French language at home and abroad.
His words came as the country celebrated French language week.
"Le weekend", or "fast food", are now common in French, but a plethora of other terms, many linked to new technology have arrived.
"We are even taking English words without giving them a French pronunciation, like 'standing ovation' or 'stock options'," said Mr North.
Sometimes the spelling does change. Celebrities have become "pipole" (from the English people) and the French bemoan the "pipolisation" of their camera-hungry politicians.
In an attempt to halt this perfidious influx, the government has an army of Franglais-busters on call.
But their attempts to turn airbag into "sac gonflable," post-it note into "papillon" and bulldozer into "bouteur", have failed miserably.
Mr North said that every month, 18 government "terminology commissions" send a list of "official" new words deemed acceptable for use by public sector workers in order to "make French a productive language apt at expressing modernity".
His department's job is to "guarantee the primacy of French on national territory," as well as "promoting the employment of French and favour its use as an international language''.
While France must remain "vigilant", Mr North insisted there was no need to panic. He said: "In the 16th century, the same thing happened when Italian took French by storm. Many of the words used then were later rejected. Some we keep, some we spit out.''
telegraph.co.uk
By Henry Samuel in Paris
14/03/2007
More English words have entered the French language in the past decade than in the preceding century despite desperate attempts to stem the invasion, a guardian of la langue française conceded yesterday.
"We have not stopped borrowing massively from English for the past 10 years," said Xavier North, whose task is to promote, protect and apply the French language at home and abroad.
His words came as the country celebrated French language week.
"Le weekend", or "fast food", are now common in French, but a plethora of other terms, many linked to new technology have arrived.
"We are even taking English words without giving them a French pronunciation, like 'standing ovation' or 'stock options'," said Mr North.
Sometimes the spelling does change. Celebrities have become "pipole" (from the English people) and the French bemoan the "pipolisation" of their camera-hungry politicians.
In an attempt to halt this perfidious influx, the government has an army of Franglais-busters on call.
But their attempts to turn airbag into "sac gonflable," post-it note into "papillon" and bulldozer into "bouteur", have failed miserably.
Mr North said that every month, 18 government "terminology commissions" send a list of "official" new words deemed acceptable for use by public sector workers in order to "make French a productive language apt at expressing modernity".
His department's job is to "guarantee the primacy of French on national territory," as well as "promoting the employment of French and favour its use as an international language''.
While France must remain "vigilant", Mr North insisted there was no need to panic. He said: "In the 16th century, the same thing happened when Italian took French by storm. Many of the words used then were later rejected. Some we keep, some we spit out.''
telegraph.co.uk