This year, a French panel composed of members of the Académie Française, French politicians and the French rapper MC Solaar, met to find French options to English words too often used in France: words like “buzz”, “newsletter” and “talk”. It is not the first time that the language-conscious French attempt to ban the politically incorrect Anglicism’s. At the beginning of the year a contest was launched: “Francomot” in order to find the best French options for five words: “chat”, “buzz”, “tuning”, “newsletter” and “talk”.

Here is a summary of the results which will be added to the French dictionaries this year:

1)      Buzz: word chosen: “ramdan” (which comes from the Arabic word “Ramadan” and refers to the noise made during the nightly festivities that take place during the ramadan) Other propositions included: “actuphène”, “bruip”, “cancan”, “écho”, “échoweb”, “foin”, “ibang”, “potin”s ou “réseaunance”.

2)      Tuning: term chosen “bolidage”.

3)      Chat: term chosen “éblabla” and “tchache”.  Other propositions included “parlotte”, “blab” et “toilogue”.

4)      Newsletter: term chosen “infolettre”. Other propositions included: “cybernote”, “netzine”, “truchimèl” et “périodiciel” .

5)      Talk: term chosen “débat”.  Other propositions included : “callipotion”, “causiel” et “cybercausette” .

Will the vox populi decide to use these words? Will they suffer the fate of “courriel” which the Académie Francaise approved in 2003 and is still being supplanted by email? Time will tell…

Some examples of successful alternatives:

“Bogue” for “bug”

“Logiciel” for “software”

“Baladeur” for “Walkman”

“Capital risque” for “venture capital”

“Logiciel” for “software”

“Mondialisation” for “globalization”

“Voyagiste” for “Tour operator”

Some words that completely flopped:

“Jeune pousse” for “start-up”

“Fouineur” for “hacker”

“Frimousse” for “smiley”

“Presonorisation” for “play-back”

“Papillons” for “post-its”

Stay Up To Date:

If you want to stay up to date with the constant evolution of the French language, especially if you are interested in technical and scientific terms, you can go to the site of the Journal officiel:

http://franceterme.culture.fr/FranceTerme/

For more information, you can read these two articles published in Le Monde:

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-1119488,0.html

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/recherche_breve/1,13-0,37-1119488,0.html

In this conversation, we are reminded why diversity is so crucial. Each language helps us see the world in a certain way and with each language comes a frame of reference, a way of seeing the world.  All these ways complete each other. That’s why  it is so sad when a language disappears, as a vision of the world dies with it, and the world “shrinks” a little.

Even though Hagège is at time a flawed ”authority” in the typical French tradition…. for a scholar, he seems at time to thrive on clichés…

There are today more than 6000 languages used around the world.  It has been said that by 2050, as many as half would be extinct.  Languages are gifts that we should preserve!

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