French

French may refer to:

See also

Quebec French

Quebec French (French: français québécois) or Québécois French or simply Québécois is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government.

Canadian French is a frequently used umbrella term for the varieties of French used in Canada including Quebec French. Formerly it was used to refer solely to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario and Western Canada, but is no longer usually felt to exclude Acadian French, which is also spoken in some areas of eastern Quebec.

The often derogatory term joual is commonly used to refer to a variety of Quebec French associated with the working class, characterized by certain features perceived as incorrect or bad.

History

The origins of Quebec French lie in the 17th- and 18th-century regional varieties (dialects) of early modern French, also known as Classical French, and of other langues d'oïl (especially Poitevin dialect, Saintongeais dialect and Norman) that French colonists brought to New France. Quebec French either evolved from this language base and was shaped by the following influences (arranged according to historical period) or was imported as a koiné from Paris and other urban centres of France.

French Canadian

French Canadians (also referred to as Franco-Canadians or Canadiens; French: Canadien(ne)s français(es)) are a major North American ethnic group who trace their French ancestry from the descendants of colonists who arrived in Canada from the 17th century onward.

Today, French Canadians constitute the main French-speaking population of Canada, accounting for about 22% of the total population of that country.

During the mid-18th century, Canadian colonists born in French Canada expanded across North America and colonized various regions, cities, and towns. Today, French Canadians live across North America, including the United States and Canada. The province of Quebec has the largest population of French-Canadian descent, though smaller communities exist throughout Canada and in the United States (particularly New England). Between 1840 and 1930, roughly 900,000 French Canadians emigrated to the United States, mostly to the New England region.

Other terms for French Canadians who continue to reside in the province of Quebec, are Quebecers or Québécois. The other major group of French Canadians are the Acadians (Acadiens) who reside in the Maritime Provinces. French Canadians (including those who are no longer French-speaking) constitute the second largest ethnic group in Canada, behind the English Canadians, and ahead of Scottish Canadians and Irish Canadians, although it must be noted that essentially those in Canada of French ancestry are the largest group, due to the divide between those identifying as French Canadians and those simply identifying as French. In total, those who identify as French Canadian, French, Quebecois and Acadian number up to 11.9 million people or comprising 33.78% of the Canadian population.

Quebec

Quebec (ⁱ/kwᵻˈbɛk/ or /kəˈbɛk/; French: Québec [kebɛk]) is the second-most populous province in Canada. It is the only Canadian province that has a predominantly French-speaking population, and the only one to have French as its sole provincial official language.

Quebec is Canada's largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division; only the territory of Nunavut is larger. It is bordered to the west by the province of Ontario, James Bay, and Hudson Bay; to the north by Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay; to the east by the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador; it is bordered on the south by the province of New Brunswick and the U.S. states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. It also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia.

Quebec is Canada's second most populous province, after Ontario. Most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, including the Island of Montreal. English-speaking communities and English-language institutions are concentrated in the west of the island of Montreal but are also significantly present in the Outaouais, Eastern Townships, and Gaspé regions. The Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. The climate around the major cities is four-season continental with cold and snowy winters combined with warm to hot humid summers, but further north long winter seasons dominate and as a result the northern areas of the province are marked by tundra conditions. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are very severe in inland areas.

Quebec City

Quebec (/kᵻˈbɛk/; French: Québec [kebɛk]), also Québec, City of Québec,Quebec City, or Québec City (French: Ville de Québec), is the capital of the province of Quebec in Canada. In 2011 the city had a population of 516,622, and the metropolitan area had a population of 799,600 in 2014, making it the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about 233 km (145 mi) to the southwest.

The narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River proximate to the city's promontory, Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond), and Lévis, on the opposite bank, provided the name given to the city, Kébec, an Algonquin word meaning "where the river narrows". Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec (Vieux-Québec) are the only fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of Mexico, and were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the 'Historic District of Old Québec'.

According to the federal and provincial governments, Québec is the city's official name in both French and English, although Quebec City (or its French equivalent, Ville de Québec) is commonly used, particularly to distinguish the city from the province. In French, the names of the province and the city are distinguished grammatically in that the province takes the definite article (le Québec, du Québec, au Québec) and the city does not (Québec, de Québec, à Québec).