Saint Pierre and Miquelon French
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| Saint Pierre and Miquelon French | |
|---|---|
| French of Saint Pierre | |
| français saint-pierrais (French) | |
| Native to | Saint Pierre and Miquelon |
Native speakers | 5,800 (2025) |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
| Linguasphere | 51-AAA-iia |
| IETF | fr-PM |
Saint Pierre and Miquelon French or the Saint Pierre French[1][2] (French: Français saint-pierrais) is a variety of the French language spoken in the territorial collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Although the territory is located in North America, St. Pierre and Miquelon French is clearly distinct from Quebec French, Acadian French and the French of Canada's other French-speaking provinces. According to Quebec linguist Jacques Leclerc, it is strongly influenced by the origins of its population, which comes mainly from the Basque Country, Normandy and Brittany. It differs little from the Parisian French, but retains some ‘local particularities’, including a vocabulary of maritime origin.[3][4] French author and New York University professor Eugène Nicole, who was born in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, distinguishes between Miquelon French, which has retained "Acadian features", and Saint-Pierre French, whose accent has sometimes been "likened to that of Granville".
History
[edit]Influences
[edit]Saint-Pierre and Miquelon French has received a significant contribution from the French spoken in the western regions of France, such as Normandy, Brittany, the Basque Country and Poitou.
The influence of Acadian French, on the other hand, is less significant, ‘although notable (...) particularly in Miquelon’, according to Saint-Pierre linguist Andrée Olano.[5] Miquelon, where Acadians from Beaubassin or Beauséjour in New Brunswick had mainly gathered.[3][6]
Quebec French is said to have influenced Saint-Pierre and Miquelon French, particularly in terms of the climate and flora, such as barachois, bleuet and platebière (plaquebière in Québécois French).[4] According to the Quebec government's Centre de la francophonie des Amériques, Saint-Pierrais and Miquelonnais are a French-speaking society that is ‘culturally distinct from France’.[7]
Pronunciation
[edit]The sounds oi are transformed into oué in the last syllable of words, such as vouèr instead of voir, ‘as can be observed in Normandy’ notes the geologist Edgar Aubert de la Rüe, who spent several periods in the archipelago.[4]
In his preface to Mots et expressions de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (Words and Expressions of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon), published by the author and self-taught Saint-Pierre historian Marc Dérible in 1993, the former Prefect Bernard Leurquin noted the absence of "the slightest trace of an accent" in Saint-Pierre, but "the phrases, vocabulary, tone and flow that you might hear in Paris, Caen, Brest or Bayonne". On the other hand, he notes the "words and expressions" that are hidden in the spoken language, "giving the archipelago's vocabulary a flavour of its own".[8]
Glossary
[edit]| Saint Pierre and Miquelon French | Metropolitan French | English gloss | Origin[3] |
|---|---|---|---|
| embarquer | entrer | to enter | Sailors |
| débarquer | sortir | get out | Sailors |
| amarrer | attacher | attach | Sailors |
| embarquer dans son lit | se coucher | go to sleep | Sailors |
| chavirer son champ | labourer son champ | plough his field | Sailors |
| débouquer | sortir à l'improviste | going out unexpectedly | Sailors |
| empoucher | s'empiffrer | guzzle | Sailors |
| mouiller | s'arrêter | to stop | Sailors |
| larguer | laisser partir | to let go | Sailors |
| chiquer | consommer, boire | to consume, to drink | Sailors |
| grâler | frire, griller | to fry, to grill | Brittany French, Normandy French |
| garrocher | lancer | to throw | Acadian French |
| chiquer la raquette | mettre sur la paille | put out of business | Sailors |
| une taouine | une gifle | a slap | Quebec French |
| un bleuet | une myrtille | a blueberry | Quebec French |
| une platebière | une mûre arctique | a cloudberry | Quebec French |
| un maillou, un mayou | un métropolitain | a French national from mainland France | Sailors |
| tantôt | tout à l'heure | earlier today | Quebec French, Normandy French |
| mignon[9] | mon garçon | my boy | Sailors |
| un Niouf | un habitant de Terre-Neuve | a Newfoundlander | Sailors |
| un barachois | une étendue d'eau saumâtre | a coastal lagoon | Quebec French, West Indies French |
| une puck | un palet de hockey sur glace | a hockey puck | Quebec French |
| le déjeuner | le petit-déjeuner | the breakfast | Quebec French, Belgian French |
| le dîner | le déjeuner | the lunch | |
| le souper | le dîner | the dinner | |
| coup de calaouine | coup de vent | gale of wind | Newfoundland English |
See also
[edit]- Saint Pierre and Miquelon Islanders
- Metropolitan French
- Canadian French
- Acadian French
- Quebec French
- Newfoundland French
References
[edit]- ^ "F - The Linguasphere Register". linguasphere.info. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ "Mutterländische Amtssprache". Abhängige und Übersee-Gebiete der Erde (in German). 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2025-04-24.
- ^ a b c Jacques Leclerc. "Données démolinguistiques de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon". www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ a b c Aubert de la Rüe, Edgar (1969). "Le français parlé aux Îles Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon" (PDF). Vie et langage. 208.
- ^ Marie Daoudal (2020-06-17). "Les origines du "parler saint-pierrais", ces mots et expressions emblématiques de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon". Saint-Pierre et Miquelon la 1ère (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ Yves Frenette, Étienne Rivard, Marc St-Hilaire (2012). "Canadiens français, Français, Anglo-Normands et Acadiens dans le golfe Saint-Laurent". La francophonie nord-américaine [The North American French-speaking community] (in French). Quebec City: Presses de l'Université Laval. pp. 120–121.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "La francophonie à Saint-Pierre-et Miquelon". Centre de la francophonie des Amériques (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-20.
- ^ Dérible, Marc (1993). Mots et expressions de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (in French). Saint-Pierre: Imprimerie administrative. ISBN 2-910288-01-3.
- ^ "T'es un p'tit qui toi mignon ?". L'Arche Musée et Archives (in French). Retrieved 2025-04-20.
External links
[edit]- Edgar Aubert de la Rüe (July 1969). "Le français parlé aux Îles Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon" (pdf). Vie et Langage (in French) (208).
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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