Essay On French Language

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lll. French dialects.
France is one of the largest and highly centralized countries of Western Europe. According to French Constitution French is the only official language of the country. The Standard French is based on the pronunciation and vocabulary used in the formal registers of French in Metropolitan France (Simo K. Määttä (2004), p.167) The Parisian version of French considered as a standard language, however at the same time several other languages have developed in France.

To promote the language and “reinforce French nationality”, in 1635 cardinal Richelieu established French Academy. At that time “literacy was confined to very a few” and “was very little national consciousness”. The establishment of French Academy “undoubtedly …show more content…

Where the differences between the Sothern languages themselves are related to cultural and historical characteristics of different regions. However the southern dialects share the same pronunciation, however people from different regions can identify the difference between them (Blanchet, P., Armstrong, N., (2006) p.264.)
For example, in “Auvergne and Limousin, situated half way between northern and southern France, with Poitou to the west (o¨ıl region) and Dauphin´e-Savoie to the east (franco-provenc¸al region), French is pronounced with some southern characteristics (notably the oral vowel system) and some northern characteristics (nasal vowels, loss of schwa), with more southern features gradually appearing southwards, and vice-versa for northern features” (Walter, 1982: 205; Soupel, 2002, cited in Blanchet, P., Armstrong, N., (2006) p.264.).

The southern dialect is well known by the whole French population and outside of France. “The association is so well known that the French expression “avoir l’accent” generally means, ‘to have a southern pronunciation’. “It is the only French-specific regional pronunciation that is internationally recognized”. Which shows the positive image of southern French even in outlying parts of the French-speaking …show more content…

For example both Kansai and Southern France dialects are seems to be popular within the countries and used widely. Southern France dialect is considered to be friendly and warm; Kansai dialect is entertaining and fun. In oppose to them Northern French and Tohoku dialects are considered to be rural and unpopular. However, sometime the dialects judged less by the sounds themselves than by characteristics of the areas, which from they come. Therefore, people tend to associate certain characteristics with speakers from these regions, where the prestige of the region influences the prestige of the

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