Department of French and Italian

Prerequisite: FRIT-F 313, FRIT-F 314, 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 explore the history of the French language from an external perspective (historical events relevant to the language) and from an internal perspective (changes in the language itself). We will then explore variation in French, focusing on 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 or the context in which they're speaking, etc.). Along the way we will discuss spoken versus written French, slang, and colloquial or conversational French. We will conclude with a discussion of new and ongoing developments in French: how words are created, how other languages do (or don't) affect French, and how innovations like feminized occupation names are developed. This course is taught in French.

COLL (CASE) S&H Breadth of Inquiry credit

FRIT-F 401   #2134         4:45P-6:00P            MW        BH 221      Lamontagne J

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