Protecting language

In the United States, the term language police is just a metaphor for those who unofficially try to enforce political correctness. In Quebec, however, there is actually a government agency charged with protecting the French language, which mostly means limiting the spread and influence of English within the province.

Even though the former French colony was ceded to England in 1763 — that’s more than 250 years ago — and is a province in Canada, a member of the British Commonwealth, Quebec continues to have French as its official language. The language laws are intended to keep it that way. Last month a new law passed, by a vote of 111-0, telling merchants to greet customers by saying “Bonjour” rather than “Bonjour hi,” which is considered a little bit too bilingual for some in the province. Merchants who want to sell their goods to English-speaking tourists would prefer more leeway in how they address customers.

I’ve noticed when driving in Ontario that road signs are bilingual, both English and French. In Quebec, however, they are in French alone. Most other signs are in French only as well, although English is permitted as long as it is kept to the equivalent of fine print.

The concern about protecting the French language is understandable, at least up to a point. In Ireland, the battle to preserve Gaelic has been all but lost. In many other nations native languages have been lost, or nearly so. There are those in parts of California, Texas, Florida and other states who worry that English could give way to Spanish.

Because of movies, popular music and especially the web and social media, it is impossible to ban all English usage from Quebec. Most conversations, especially among the young, usually involves many English words scattered among the French. In many cases, English words win acceptance simply because there is no French equivalent

Indeed, the English language includes a great many French words that have been accepted over the centuries until they seem like good English words. History shows that all attempts to guard the integrity of English from foreign influence (or from slang) have been unsuccessful. There really is no way to protect a language in the way the most diehard Quebecers desire.

Language evolves, changing with time and circumstances and the people who speak it. Laws may slow the change but will be unable to stop it.