Métis French

Métis French (French: français métis) is one of the traditional languages of the Métis people along with Michif and Bungi, and is the French-dialect source of Michif.^[3]

Métis French
Le français métis
Native to	Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba
Ethnicity	Métis people
Native speakers	(undated figure of <100)[1][2]
Language family	Indo-European Italic Latino-Faliscan Romance Italo-Western Western Romance Gallo-Romance French Canadian French Métis French
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Métis "mixed"
People	Métis
Language	Michif Métis French Hand Talk
Country	Michif Piyii

Features

Métis French is a variety of Canadian French with some added characters such as Ññ, Áá, Óó, and Ææ (from older French spellings) (example, il ñá ócun nævus sur ce garçon English: "there is no birthmark on this boy") and words loaned from indigenous languages such as Ojibwe, Beaver and Cree.

Like Michif, Métis French is spoken in Manitoba and North Dakota and adjacent provinces or states. As a general rule, Métis individuals speak one or the other, rarely both. Métis French and Michif share a common phonology and morphosyntax for the noun phrase but differ as to their sources for the verb phrase which is Ojibwe-Cree based in Michif, French-based in Métis French. Examples of this loaning can be found in words such as cacúare French pronunciation: [qɑˈkwɑʁ] from the Cree word, kakwe "to try/attempt" which maintains its Cree meaning with the additional colloquial use of "to wander" as in il á cacúu là English: "he wandered there" which suggests that the subject wandered with little control of his own feet; in the word ttonne French pronunciation: [tʼɔn] meaning "wolf" or "loyal" (in a pack-like sense) when used as an adjective from the word for wolf in Beaver, ch'one or in the words jaganache French pronunciation: [ʒagɑ̃ʃ] meaning "white/non-Métis" person from the Ojibwe word zhaganash and minapæ French pronunciation: [mɛ̃nape] from the Cree word for "good person", miyo-nâpêw though in Métis French it is closer to the word "mec" (guy) and implies that the word refers someone that the speaker knows personally.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar	Uvular
Nasal		m ⟨m⟩	n ⟨n⟩	ɲ ⟨ñ⟩	ŋ ⟨ng⟩
Stop	voiceless	p ⟨p⟩	t ⟨t⟩		k ⟨c/qu⟩	q ⟨c⟩
	voiced	b ⟨b⟩	d ⟨d⟩		ɡ ⟨g⟩
	ejective	pʼ ⟨pp⟩	tʼ ⟨tt⟩		kʼ ⟨cq⟩
Fricative	voiceless	f ⟨f⟩	s ⟨s⟩	ʃ ⟨ch⟩		ʁ ⟨r⟩
	voiced	v ⟨v⟩	z ⟨s/z⟩	ʒ ⟨j⟩		χ ⟨h⟩
Approximant	voiceless		l ⟨l⟩	j ⟨y⟩
	voiced				w ⟨ou⟩

Vowels

Oral   Front Central Back unrounded rounded Close i ⟨i⟩ y ⟨u⟩ u ⟨ú⟩ Close-mid e ⟨æ⟩ ø ⟨é⟩ ə ⟨e⟩ o ⟨ó⟩ Open-mid ɛ ⟨ê⟩ œ ⟨œ⟩ ɔ ⟨ô/o⟩ Open a ⟨á⟩ (ɑ) ⟨a⟩

Nasal Front Back Mid ɔ̃ ⟨on⟩ Open ɛ̃ ⟨en⟩ (œ̃) ⟨un⟩ ɑ̃ ⟨an⟩

See also

• Michif
• Bungi

References

Citations

1. "Aboriginal peoples and language". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
2. Bakker, Peter; Papen, Robert A. "Michif and other languages of the Canadian Métis". metismuseum.ca. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
3. Bakker 1997, p. 85

Bibliography

• Bakker, Peter (1997). A language of our own: the genesis of Michif, the mixed Cree-French language. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195357080.
• Douaud, Patrick C. (1980). "Métis: A case of triadic linguistic economy". Anthropological Linguistics. 22 (9): 392–414. JSTOR 30027800.
• Douaud, Patrick C. (January 1983). "An example of suprasegmental convergence". International Journal of American Linguistics. 49 (1): 91–93. doi:10.1086/465770.
• Douaud, Patrick C. (1985). Ethnolinguistic profile of the Canadian Métis. National Museum of Man, Mercury Series 99. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada. ISBN 978-1-77282-262-5.
• Edwards, John R. (1998). Language in Canada. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521563284.
• Jackson, Michael (1974). "Aperçu de tendances phonétiques du parler français en Saskatchewan". Revue canadienne de linguistique (in French). 19 (2): 121–133. doi:10.1017/S0008413100007714.
• Lincoln, Neville J. (1963). Phonology of the Métis French dialect of St. Paul, Alberta (Thesis). University of Alberta in Edmonton.
• Lussier, Antoine S. (1980). "Un métis écrit une lettre". In Lussier, A.; Sealy, B. (eds.). The other natives: Les Métis (in French). Vol. 3. Winnipeg: Manitoba Métis Federation Press. pp. 167–70.
• Papen, Robert (1979), Le parler français des métis de Batoche (in French), Département de linguistique, Université du Québec à Montréal
• Papen, Robert (1984). "Quelques remarques sur un parler français méconnu de l'Ouest canadien: le métis". Revue québécoise de linguistique (in French). 14 (1). Université du Québec à Montréal: 113–139. doi:10.7202/602530ar.
• Papen, Robert (1993). "La variation dialectale dans le parler français des Métis de l'Ouest canadien". Francophonies des Amériques (in French). 3 (3): 25–38. doi:10.7202/1004439ar.
• Papen, Robert (1998). "Le parler français des Métis de l'Ouest canadien". In Brasseur, P. (ed.). Français d'Amirique: Variation, criolisation, normalisation (in French). Avignon: Centre d'études canadiennes, Université d'Avignon. pp. 147–161. ISBN 9782951196308.
• Pappen, Robert (1998). "French: Canadian varieties". In Edwards, John R. (ed.). Language in Canada. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 160–176. ISBN 9780521563284.
• Papen, Robert (2004). "Sur quelques aspects structuraux du français des Métis de l'Ouest canadien". In Coveney, A.; Sanders, C. (eds.). Variation et francophonie (in French). Paris: L’Harmattan. ISBN 9782747568043.
• Papen, Robert (2004). "Les troub' : une analyse linguistique d'un texte oral en français des Métis". Cahiers franco-canadiens de l'Ouest (in French). 14 Numéro spécial sur les Métis.
• Préfontaine, R. (1980). "Le parler métis". In Lussier, A.; Sealy, B. (eds.). The other natives: Les Métis (in French). Vol. 3. Winnipeg: Manitoba Métis Federation Press. pp. 162–66.
• Thogmartin, Clyde (1974). "The phonology of three varieties of French in Manitoba". Orbis. 23 (2): 335–49.
• Wittmann, Henri (1995). "Grammaire comparée des variétés coloniales du français populaire de Paris du 17e siècle et origines du français québécois". In Fournier, Robert; Wittmann, Henri (eds.). Le français des Amériques (in French). Trois-Rivières: Presses universitaires de Trois-Rivières. pp. 281–334.