Department of French and Italian

Prerequisite: F313 or F314, or consent of instructor.

This course provides an overview of the structure of present day French, a perspective on its historical development, and an analysis of some of the current language-related issues in the French-speaking world. We will first consider the history of Modern French from an external perspective, by examining some important historical events in the history of the language, and from an internal perspective, by looking at some of the specific ways the language has changed over time. Then we will talk about variation in French, or how French differs geographically (i.e. dialects and regional varieties in France and in the French-speaking world), how it differs socially (i.e. how social categories such as socioeconomic class or sex are reflected in language use), and how it differs situationally (i.e. how people change the ways they speak depending on who they’re talking to, the formality of the situation, etc.). Along the way we will look at spoken versus written French, slang, and français populaire. Next we will discuss directions for the future: how French creates new words (neologisms), copes with English influence (Anglicisms), and addresses issues concerning the feminization of the names of occupations traditionally practiced by males.

Class number: 2639

3 credits

• S&H
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