Quebec French is the predominant form of French spoken in Canada, native to about 7 million people in the province of Quebec and to further communities in Ontario, western Canada and the northeastern United States. It descends from the koine French brought by settlers of New France and shaped further by contact with English and by centuries of relative isolation from European French, producing hallmark features such as the affrication of /t/ and /d/ before front vowels, a body of profanity drawn from Catholic religious vocabulary known as the sacres, and everyday words like magasiner, chum and blonde that are immediately recognizable as Quebecois rather than metropolitan French.
Facts
Regionthe Canadian province of Quebec, where it is the sole official language, with further speakers in Ontario, western Canada, New England, Michigan and Florida 1 Speaker Communityabout 7 million native speakers in Quebec plus roughly 700,000 more elsewhere in Canada and the United States, overwhelmingly the Quebecois people 1 Distinguishing Featuresaffrication of /t/ and /d/ before high front vowels and glides, so a word like ti sounds close to tsi; diphthongization of long vowels in closed final syllables; a distinctive vocabulary including magasiner for to shop, chum and blonde for boyfriend and girlfriend, and a system of profanity, the sacres, built from Catholic liturgical vocabulary; generalized use of on in place of nous, and the informal tag-question particle -tu 1 Classification
Variety Kind Connections
Descends From
Source Wikipedia: Quebec French
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Quebec French
Wikimedia FoundationHistory section
Quebec French either evolved from this language base and was shaped by the following influences, or was imported from Paris and other urban centres of France as a koine.
Variety kind, Quebec French entity page
Quebec French is the predominant form of French spoken in Canada, native to about 7 million people in the province of Quebec and to further communities in Ontario, western Canada and the northeastern United States.
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