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Francophonie
DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
Spelling variants:la Francophonie, francophonie
1n. — French relations
an association of French-speaking countries.
Type: 5. Frequency — This meaning is not Canadian in origin or scope, though it plays a role within the cultural fabric of an English-French bilingual concept of Canada. However, in contrast with other varieties of English, this term likely acquires a Canadian dimension by virtue of its frequency (see Chart 1, but note that the chart collapses meaning 1, 2 and 3)
See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "Francophonie", and OED-3, s.v. "Francophonie" (a); COD-2 labels the term "Cdn", however.
See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "Francophonie", and OED-3, s.v. "Francophonie" (a); COD-2 labels the term "Cdn", however.
See: francophone
Quotations
1967
Quebec participation in a French Commonwealth, and finances, will be two top items on the agenda when Premiere Daniel Johnson leads a provincial delegation to Paris later this month.
Premiere Johnson, who announced last week that he would be meeting President Charles de Gaulle when he visits Paris from May 18 to 22, confirmed yesterday that "la Francophonie" would be discussed at the meetings with French officials.
1967
The premier said in an interview the Paris agenda includes Francophonie, a word coined to describe the cultural community of French-speaking nations.
1983
The federal Liberal Government has always opposed PQ recognition by official and semi-official international bodies, such as La Francophonie, a cultural and technical exchange organization that is the French-speaking world's equivalent of the Commonwealth.
1989
Lucien Bouchard, then Canadian ambassador to France, led the Canadian campaign to launch la Francophonie - the French-speaking counterpart to the Commonwealth that had its kickoff in Paris in February, 1986.
2008
Oct. 17-19: The summit of la Francophonie, the organization of French-speaking countries, takes place in Quebec City.
2010
As la Francophonie approaches its 40th anniversary, the organization, made up of 70 French-speaking states, has hit a rough patch.
2n. — French relations
all French speakers world-wide.
Type: 5. Frequency — This meaning is likely more frequent in Canadian English (see Chart 1), than in other Englishes. It is of cultural salience to one of Canada's founding populations.
Quotations
1987
But today, the 38-year-old Lavoie is asking himself whether pop stardom in the francophonie (a miniscule market of only 70 million people compared to the massive global English-language pop culture market) has been worth the effort.
2010
"Before, the most optimistic projections had us at 1.5 million visits a year, and now we're at 3 million - that's more than any other library in the francophonie. It's even more than the New York Public Library, even more than the Toronto Public Library."
3n. — French relations
French speakers in Canada.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — As shown in Chart 1, the term is most frequent in Canada and likely pertains for Canadian English to this sense of the word.
See also COD-2, s.v. "Francophonie" (2), which is labelled "Cdn", OED-3, s.v. "Francophonie" (b), labelled "Canad.".
See also COD-2, s.v. "Francophonie" (2), which is labelled "Cdn", OED-3, s.v. "Francophonie" (b), labelled "Canad.".
Quotations
1979
French Canada outside Quebec is changing profoundly. The crisis of the loss of protective remoteness is not yet resolved. But the French Canada of the future will be a francophonie with many participants from other ethnic groups.
1982
The next stage, already to be found in Toronto, is of a new francophonie which brings together French Canadians, French-speaking immigrants, people whose mother tongue is not French but who have chosen to participate in social communication mediated by French. That seems to be the francophonie emerging in the five provinces west of Quebec.
1985
The wording may need some fine-tuning to make it clear that "duality" applies in Quebec as well as outside, and that Quebec is the home of substantial minorities as well as the centre of francophonie.
1999
Back in Gravelbourg, Ms. Labelle continues to battle against the odds to keep the French language alive. She's not ready to accept assimilation: not in her town, and not in any town in Canada. For her, every town lost to assimilation is a loss to la francophonie.
2009
[...] Lesperance often gets surprise, even incredulity, from Quebecers, when they learn he lives in Vancouver and works in French. "What? In British Columbia? They are so amazed to discover there are actual French towns in Alberta, with 'rues' instead of 'streets'....They think French-speaking ends on the border of Quebec."
Lesperance is about to review his acquaintanceship with la francophonie outside Quebec.
2015
Many expected Quebec to appear before the Supreme Court advocating a position of "asymmetry," one that would support the aspirations of francophone communities in other parts of the country.
Instead, Quebec sided with the Yukon government and argued for a restrictive application of Article 23.
I've read many articles on this case, a number of which lament the state of a divided Francophonie. To me, the surprise is not that the Francophonie might be divided, but that we still give so much credence to the strange idea that people who speak the same language - whether it be French or English - would automatically think or act in a unified block.
4in compounds, e.g. Francophonie summit — French relations
something pertaining to francophonie, meaning 2.
Type: 5. Frequency — Compared to other varieties of English, this meaning is more frequent in Canadian English.
Quotations
1969
Canada expands Francophonie aid Secretary of State Gerard Pelletier said here yesterday that Canada was prepared to pay up to 30 per cent of the budget of the proposed cultural and technical co-operation agency of Francophone countries.
1986
After two decades of inventing obstacles, France threw open wide the door for Canada at last week's Francophonie summit of some 40 French-speaking nations.
1997
The Ottawa-Hull region has won the right to host the 2001 Francophonie Games.
Ottawa beat out Beirut to host the event, which brings together about 30 French-speaking nations every four years.
The games include sports such as track and field and basketball, as well as cultural events such as storytelling, singing and photography.
5n. — French relations
general, not necessarily country specific, French-ness.
Type: 4. Culturally Significant — This meaning seems to be a semantic generalization influenced by French. It is of cultural salience in Canada, an officially English-French federal entity.
Quotations
1966
"It is our conviction," he said, "that true culture entails deep roots in one's own race and country. But the second consideration is to seek complementary relations with another country, culture or race. That is why we support both the concept of Negritude and of Francophonie, the term applied to a French-speaking community. We have had 300 years of French cultural influence. [...]"
1979
A NEW KIND OF francophonie is emerging from the melting pot of British Columbia. It is cosmopolitan and international rather than stemming from Quebec. It blends many French accents from all over the world with the regional French accents of Canada - and with the studious phrasings of anglophones who have taken up with French. British Columbia is a province like no other, and so is its francophonie. The common bond here is the French language rather than community, identity, history, religious institutions, shared ancestry or familial pieties.
1987
For Mulroney's information, there has been altogether too much francophonie to date, and not nearly enough anglophonie. Isn't it about time he equalized la difference?
1989
Claude Hurtubise, who heads the Ontario region of Radio-Canada, is a Franco-Ontarian. He contrasted what being French meant for his own parents, and what it means for his children.
"My children consider their francophonie as an advantage. For my parents it was a drawback."
Many pointed to Bill 8, the Ontario French Language Services Act, as the official recognition of French that generations of Franco-Ontarians had craved in vain.
"It tells us that we have the right to exist," Hurtubise said.
1999
Organizers were taken aback by the estimated 1,500 souls who laid siege to the church, though the Sing-In's popularity has grown exponentially since it was founded in 1980 by Montreal radio producer Frances Wainwright. Back then the concert felt like an oasis of Anglo-Protestant solidarity in a sea of hostile francophonie.
2010
I have earned a living in five of our provinces because I could speak two languages. I have never tried to force my culture, my language, on anyone but I can definitely say that I have made and retain a lot of friendships with people who have just become more interested in learning about me or my "Francophonie" out of mutual respect. I saw French-only and bilingual signs in places where no one was forced to do it. Just out of respect for one another.
References
- OED-3
- ITP Nelson
- COD-2
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