Canadian French is an
umbrella term for the varieties of the
French language used in
Canada. French is the
mother tongue of about seven million Canadians (22% of the national population)
and is one of the country's two official languages, along with
English.
Major varieties
- Quebec French is spoken in Quebec. Closely related varieties are spoken by francophone communities in Ontario, Western Canada, Labrador and in the New England region of the United States, and differ primarily by their greater conservatism. The term Laurentian French has limited application as a collective label for these varieties, and Quebec French, somewhat confusingly, is also used. The overwhelming majority of francophone Canadians speak this dialect, as most of them live in Quebec.
Other varieties
- Brayon French, spoken by Brayons in the Bonaventure and Beauce-Appalaches regions of Quebec and the Madawaska region of New Brunswick and Maine, seems phonologically close to Acadian French but is morphosyntactically identical with Quebec and Métis French.
- Newfoundland French is spoken by a limited population in Newfoundland. It is an endangered dialect — both Quebec French and Acadian French are now more widely spoken among francophones in Newfoundland and Labrador than the distinctively Newfoundland dialect is.
The term
Canadian French was formerly used to refer specifically to Quebec French and the closely related varieties of Ontario and Western Canada descended from it. This is presumably because Canada and Acadia were distinct parts of New France, and also of British North America, until 1867. However, today the term
Canadian French is not usually deemed to exclude Acadian French.
Phylogenetically, Quebec French, Métis French and Brayon French are representatives of
koiné French in the Americas whereas Acadian French, Cajun French, and Newfoundland French are derivatives of non-koinesized local languages in France.
