Nollet, Jean Antoine
the Norman people
Norman-French (language)
the norme
francophone attachment to
imperviousness to argot of
thought to be Parisian French
Norse (language)
North, Xavier
Notre Dame Cathedral, the rescue of
novels, French
Nye, Joseph
Occitan (language)
oc languages
eclipse of the
Office de la langue française (France)
Office de la langue française (Quebec)
Official Languages Act (Canada, 1969)
oïl languages. See also Walloon
the triumph of
Ordinance of Villers-Cotterêts
Organisation internationale de la Francophonie. See Francophonie (organization)
Organization for African Unity
Orsenna, Erik
Pailleterie, Antoine Davy de la. See de la Pailleterie, Antoine Davy
Palsgrave, John
Papin, Denis
Paris (city)
as a centre for science & industry
early settlement of
as a magnet for grand-tourism
naming of
Paris, Gaston
Paris Match (magazine)
Parti Québécois
Pascal, Blaise
Pasteur, Louis
patois (languages)
defined
low status of
Pearson, Lester
Peckham, Robert (Tennessee Bob)
Pelchat, Michel
Pellisson, Paul
Perrault, Charles
Perret, Jacques
Personne, Laurent
Petrus Ramus. See la Ramée, Pierre de
Philippe Augustus, (king)
phonetics, defined
Piaf, Edith
Picasso, Pablo
Picoche, Jacqueline
pidgin language
Pillonel, Barnard
Pilon, Robert
Pitt, William (the Elder)
Pivot, Bernard
plague. See the Black Plague
Plamondon, Luc
the Pléiade poets
plurilingualism
defined
promotion of
the value of
Polo, Marco
Pol Pot
Polynesia
Pompadour, Madame de
Pompidou, Georges
Pondicherry, India
Portugal
Portuguese (language)
postal service, early French
Poubelle, Eugène
printing presses, influences of
the Prix Goncourt
Protestantism
in sixteenth-century France
the rise of
Provençal (language)
purism. See puriste
puriste
advantages of
drawbacks of
education as a force for
effects following from
embraced by the Académie
the French concept of
illusory assumptions about
limits on reaching the ideal of
mocked or derided
modern French debates about
ultraconservative nature of
Quebec. See also French Canadians; New France
cultural diplomacy and
efforts to protect the culture of
its foreign affairs disputes with Canada
francophone advancement in
French language development in
isolation from France of its francophones
its language laws and protections
separation referenda in
separatist sentiment in
transformation of francophone society in
the Quebec Act,
Québécois. See French Canadians
Queneau, Raymond
Rabelais, François
Racan, Honorat de
Racine, Jean Baptiste
Radio-Canada (French division)
Radisson, Pierre-Esprit
Rambouillet, Marquise de
Réaumur, René de
Reclus, Onésime
Red Cross (International), founding of
Régie de la langue française (Quebec)
remarquistes, the French culture of
Renaud (French singer)
Renault, Louis
Renoir, Pierre Auguste
Réunion island
Reuters, Julius
Revere, Paul
Rey, Alain
Rhodes, Alexandre de
Richard, Maurice
Richard, Zachary
Richelet, César-Pierre
Richelieu, Cardinal
his personality & acts
Riel, Louis
Ritz, César
Rivarol, Antoine de
Robespierre, Maximilien de
Robichaud, Louis
Robitaille, Louis-Bernard
Rodgers, Raymond Spencer
Roget, Peter Mark
Romain Gary (bookstore)
Romance (language)
its contributions to English
the Roman Empire
rise of
Romania, French influence upon
Romanian (language)
Romanticism
Ronsard, Pierre de
Roosevelt, Franklin
Rousseau, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, Théodore
Rowling, J.K.
Roy, Gabrielle
Roy, Jean-Louis
Royal Spanish Language Academy
Rozier, François Pilâtre de
Russian (language), rise & fall in importance of
Saint-Domingue. See Haiti
Salon, Albert
salon culture, the raise of
Sartre, Jean-Paul
Satie, Erik
Sauvegeau, Philippe
Sax, Adolphe
Saxons
Schiller, Johann Friedrich von
schools, in French. See also French (language), schools to teach the
Schwab, Jean-Christ
Scottish merchant immigration to Canada
Scudéry, Madame de
Secord, Laura
semaphore telegraphy
Semprun, Jorge
Senegal
colonization of
independence in
recent diplomatic efforts by
Senghor, Léopold Sédar
Seven Years War (1756–63)
the Seychelles
Shakespeare, William
Sihamoni, Norodom
Sihanouk, Norodom, (King of Cambodia)
Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong (book)
slang. See French (language), argot and slavery, post-revolution evolution of
slave trade (African)
Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises) (SODEC)
Société du parler français au Canada
Société St-Jean Baptiste,
SODEC. See Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (Society for the Development of Cultural Enterprises) (SODEC)
the Sorbonne. See also universities (French)
South Korea, efforts to protect the culture of
Spain
Spanish (language)
Spanish flu, its effects in France
Staël, Madame de
Stanley, Henry Morgan
Statute of Pleadings (England, 1362)
Sterne, Laurence
Strauss-Khan, Dominique
the Suez Canal
sugar trade
Suleiman the Magnificent
Swift, Jonathan
Switzerland. See also French (language), in Switzerland; Geneva
cultural diplomacy and
French language development in
Syria & Lebanon
Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de
Tamazight (language)
tchatche,
Tebbal, Abdelkader
technology, its impact on languages
Tencin, Madame De. See De Tencin, Madame
Terminology Bank (Quebec)
Terror (the French)
Thogmartin, Clyde
Tocqueville, Alexis de
“tongue troopers”. See Commission of Protection (Quebec)
Tory, Geoffroy
Toubon, Jacques
trade. See fur trade; slave trade; sugar trade
Traisnel, Christopher
Treaty of Utrecht
Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Vienna
Tremblay, Michel
Trichet, Jean-Claude
troubadours
Trudeau, Pierre Elliott
Tunisia
Turkey, efforts to protect the culture of
Turner, William
TV5
its accomplishments
UNESCO. See Convention on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO)
Union culturelle française
the Union française
the United Kingdom. See also British; English
nuanced feelings for the French in
the United Nations
emphasizes English for managers
founding of
Universal Israelite Alliance. See Alliance israélite universelle (AIU)
Université Cheikh Anta Diop
universities (French). See also the Sorbonne
cultural diplomacy of
problems within
urbanization, importance of for minority language survival
U Tam’si, Gérard-Felix Tchicaya
Vallières, Pierre
Vandals
Van Gogh, Victor
Vanuatu
Vaucanson, Jacques de. See de Vaucanson, Jacques
Vaugelas, Claude Favre de
verlan,
Verne, Jules
Vianney, Jean-Noël
Vike-Freiberga, Vaira
Vikings
Villepin, Dominique de. See de Villepin, Dominique
Voltaire
his importance in France
Wace, Robert
Wade, Abdoulaye
Wahl, Jacques
Walch, Agnès
Walloon (dialect of d’oïl)
Walpole, Horace
Walter, Henriette
war, its role in the spread of language
Wells, H.G.
William the Conqueror
Williams, Robin
Wilson, Woodrow
Wolfe, James
Wolof (language)
women, their status in Enlightenment France
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Yehuda, Eliezer Ben
Zaire
Zein, Fady
Zeldin, Theodore
Zola, Émile
Partners in life and in writing, Canadian journalist-authors JEAN-BENOÎT NADEAU and JULIE BARLOW are award-winning contributors to Quebec’s national news magazine L’actualité. Their writing has appeared in many publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, the International Herald Tribune, and the Courrier international. In 2003, Nadeau and Barlow published their critical and popular success, Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong. They live in Montreal.
Notes
1 Translated by Brigitte Cazelles
2 Unless otherwise noted, all translations are by the authors.
THE STORY OF FRENCH. Copyright © 2006 by Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nadeau, Jean-Benoît.
The story of French / Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN: 978-0-312-34184-8
1. French language—History. I. Barlow, Julie. II. Title.
PC2075.N33 2006
440.9—dc22
2006049348
First published in Canada by Alfred A. Knopf Canada, a division of Random House of Canada Limited
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Acknowledgments
Linguistic Map of France in the Middle Ages
Map of the French-Speaking World
Introduction
Part One ~ Origins
Chapter 1 The Romance of French
Chapter 2 In French and Not Otherwise
Chapter 3 The Dawn of Purism
Part Two ~ Spread
Chapter 4 Far from the Sun
Chapter 5 The Language of Genius
Chapter 6 Revolutionary French
Chapter 7 New Sanctuaries
Chapter 8 French without Faute
Chatper 9 Tool for an Empire
Chapter 10 Lost Worlds
Part Three ~ Adaptation
Chapter 11 The Power of Attraction
Chapter 12 The Invention of Cultural Diplomacy
Chapter 13 A New Playing Field
Chapter 14 Choosing French
Chapter 15 Rocking the Boat
Chapter 16 The Francophonie
Part Four ~ Change
Chapter 17 The Struggle for Standards
Chapter 18 Protecting the Future
Chapter 19 Global Hesitations
Chapter 20 The Unwritten Chapters
Appendices
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
Notes
Copyright
Table of Contents
Title Page
Contents
Acknowledgments
Linguistic Map of France in the Middle Ages
Map of the French-Speaking World
Introduction
Part One ~ Origins
Chapter 1 The Romance of French
Chapter 2 In French and Not Otherwise
Chapter 3 The Dawn of Purism
Part Two ~ Spread
Chapter 4 Far from the Sun
Chapter 5 The Language of Genius
Chapter 6 Revolutionary French
Chapter 7 New Sanctuaries
Chapter 8 French without Faute
Chatper 9 Tool for an Empire
Chapter 10 Lost Worlds
Part Three ~ Adaptation
Chapter 11 The Power of Attraction
Chapter 12 The Invention of Cultural Diplomacy
Chapter 13 A New Playing Field
Chapter 14 Choosing French
Chapter 15 Rocking the Boat
Chapter 16 The Francophonie
Part Four ~ Change
Chapter 17 The Struggle for Standards
Chapter 18 Protecting the Future
Chapter 19 Global Hesitations
Chapter 20 The Unwritten Chapters
Appendices
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Authors
Notes
Copyright
The Story of French Page 46