Same languages from diffrent regions

Joel   Sun May 13, 2007 3:36 pm GMT
how diffrent is the French spoken in Canada & the French spoken in Europe ...?

I'v been told by some Canadians who speak French that French people from Europe have a some minor problems understanding the French speaking Canadians


How diffrent is the Portugese spoken in Brazili & the Portugese spoken in European ...?


I'v been told that the Brazilians understand perfectly the Portugese, but the portugese do not understand very well the brazilians...


Another question, can the French understand Spanish when its writin...? or maybe spoken...?



Thanks alot
A-S   Sun May 13, 2007 7:28 pm GMT
The french speaking in Quebec or Louisiana is the Vendean or Atlantic french of the XVII century.


<<I'v been told by some Canadians who speak French that French people from Europe have a some minor problems understanding the French speaking Canadians >>

Yes, the vocabulary is really different... there are some amerindian or english mixture, or former French words whose are unused now in the Metropolitan French.


<<Another question, can the French understand Spanish when its writin...? or maybe spoken...? >>

Yes, I think, Spanish is quite close with French, after, the 2 languages have different peticuliarities.
Writing French and Spanish are mutually intelligible, I think.
Speaking, French and Spanish have many differencies on the pronounciation, and it can be hard to have a conversation between them.

<<
I'v been told that the Brazilians understand perfectly the Portugese, but the portugese do not understand very well the brazilians...
>>

I went to Portugal, and I think the Portugal Portuguese is very hard to undestand, much than Brazilian Portuguese (for me)
Josh Lalonde   Sun May 13, 2007 8:03 pm GMT
<<The french speaking in Quebec or Louisiana is the Vendean or Atlantic french of the XVII century. >>

Well, that's not entirely true. Quebec French (I don't know much about Louisiana French) preserves certain features that modern Metropolitan French has lost, but it has its own innovations as well. For example, the contrasts between 'a' /a/ and 'â' /A/, 'o' /O/ and 'ô /o/', 'in' /E~/ and 'un' /9~/ are all strong in Quebec, but lost or fading in France. Among the innovations are the laxing of short high vowels, so that 'site' /sit/ sounds like English 'sit' [sIt]. There are also major grammatical innovations, like using 'tu' for questions: "Je peux-tu aller?". Overall though, Quebec French is still fairly close to Metropolitan French, especially in more formal registers. I've seen shows from Quebec with subtitles on French TV, though.
greg   Sun May 13, 2007 11:27 pm GMT
A-S : « The french speaking in Quebec or Louisiana is the Vendean or Atlantic french of the XVII century. »

Il est vrai que le français transplanté en Amérique du Nord (et surotu au Canada) est assez largement issu et/ou influencé par les parlers de la côte atlantique française (Vendée, Aunis, Saintonge), mais pas seulement. Il y a aussi des influences normandes et francîliennes.




Josh Lalonde : « Quebec French (...) preserves certain features that modern Metropolitan French has lost, but it has its own innovations as well. (...) Among the innovations are the laxing of short high vowels, so that 'site' /sit/ sounds like English 'sit' [sIt]. »

La prononciation /sIt/ de <site> n'est absolument pas une exclusivité nord-américaine puisqu'on la rencontre fréquemment en Aunis et en Saintonge. Ce qui, au contraire, montre qu'il s'agit d'un régionalisme français érigé au rang de norme au Québec. C'est au niveau sociolinguistique que se situe l'innovation, pas au niveau phonologique (lequel dénote un fort conservatisme).
Josh Lalonde   Mon May 14, 2007 2:31 am GMT
I didn't know that lax vowels occurred in France. I don't often get to hear the more 'provincial' varieties of French from France; basically the only European French I get here is the news a few times a day.
Guest   Mon May 14, 2007 4:28 am GMT
>> I didn't know that lax vowels occurred in France. I don't often get to hear the more 'provincial' varieties of French from France; basically the only European French I get here is the news a few times a day.<<

Isn't it more that they don't distinguish tense from lax vowels, and treat both as allophones, more than it is that they don't possess lax vowels?
A-S   Mon May 14, 2007 5:55 pm GMT