Mark:
>I'm being faux crabby-cranky xenophobic. You get (justified)
>complaints from other languages about the tyranny of English (the
>French and Quebeckers are especially loud in this regard). I'm just
>turnabouting, and complaining about the tyranny of other languages
>imposing their weight on English; here, it's them insisting we keep
>our langague nice and standard for their own purposes.
Wasn't sure. All I know was that I was dragged into your
faux xenophobia >:) At any rate, I don't understand the French
language debate in Quebec either. Many people joke about the "Language
Police" and the whole Bill 101 thing that enforces the use of French
on public signs in Quebec. I guess some people feel that they can
halt the processes of linguistic or cultural change if they make
enough laws. It doesn't work, of course.
Personally, if French were to die out in the future, it may be
more because of this xenophobia that only alienates non-francophones
enough to make them avoid ever learning the language or culture
altogether, rather than due to "foreign influences" or that big bad
English language. This whole attitude helps to restrict French to
native speakers only... Meanwhile, many francophones are adopting
the more global English language.
Frankly, it doesn't look good for French. I give it 500 years to
live <:)
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