Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-05T13:33:38.942Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

New insights on an old rivalry: The passé simple and the passé composé in spoken Acadian French1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2012

PHILIP COMEAU ,
RUTH KING  and
GARY R. BUTLER
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigates the expression of past temporal reference in a highly conservative variety of Acadian French spoken in the Baie Sainte-Marie region of Nova Scotia, Canada. Variationist analysis of data from a sociolinguistic corpus for the village of Grosses Coques reveals a split between narrative and conversational discourse, with variation mainly between use of the passé simple and the imparfait in the former and between the passé composé and the imparfait in the latter. The passé simple remains in robust use in this variety and is constrained in a manner similar to that found in 17th-century representations of colloquial speech involving narration.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of French Language Studies , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , November 2012 , pp. 315 - 343
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Ayres-Bennett, W. (2004). Sociolinguistic Variation in Seventeenth-Century France: Methodology and Case Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9780511486630CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benveniste, É. (1959). Les relations de temps dans le verbe français. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris, 54: 69–82. Reprinted 1966 in Problèmes de linguistique générale, Vol. 1, pp. 237–50.Google Scholar
Bernard, H. (1973). Le parler de Plouguenast. Master's thesis, Rennes: Université de Haute-Bretagne.Google Scholar
Blanche-Benveniste, C. and Jeanjean, C. (1986). Le français parlé: transcription et édition. Paris: Didier.Google Scholar
Bourel, M. (1976). Le parler de Loudéac. Dastum, 4: 71–95.Google Scholar
Bybee, J., Perkins, R. and Pagliuca, W. (eds) (1994). The Evolution of Grammar: Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Carey, K. (1995). Subjectification and the development of the English perfect. In: Stein, D. and Wright, S. (eds), Subjectivity and Subjectivisation: Linguistic Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 83–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caron, P. and Liu, Y.-C. (1999). Nouvelles données sur la concurrence du passé simple et le passé composé dans la littérature épistolaire. L'Information grammaticale, 82: 38–50.10.3406/igram.1999.2807CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carruthers, J. (2006). Temps et oralité dans le conte oral. La Linguistique, 42.1: 97–114.10.3917/ling.421.0097CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaurand, J. (2000). Les variétés régionales du français. In: Antoine, G. and Cerquiglini, B. (eds), Histoire de la langue française, 1945–2000. Paris: CNRS, pp. 643–664.Google Scholar
Chauveau, J.-P. (1984). Le gallo: une presentation. Studi 26&27. Brest: Université de Bretagne.Google Scholar
Chauvin, C. (1999). Comptines, formulettes et jeux enfantins dans les Alpes occidentales (région Rhône-Alpes, Suisse romande et Val d'Aoste). Étude gestuelle, rythmique et verbale. Thèse nouveau régime. Grenoble: Université Stendhal.Google Scholar
Chifflet, L. (1659). Essaie d'une parfaite grammaire, de la langue françoise. Anvers: Jacques Van Mevrs.Google Scholar
Comeau, P. (2011). The Subjunctive Mood in Baie Sainte-Marie Acadian French. Paper presented at the International Conference on Methods in Dialectology 14, London, Ontario.Google Scholar
Comrie, B. (1985). Tense. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dauzat, A. (1927). Les patois: évolution, classification, étude avec 7 cartes. Paris: Delagrave.Google Scholar
Dauzat, A. (1947). Études de linguistique française, 2nd ed. Paris: D'Artrey.Google Scholar
Elsness, J. (1997). The Perfect and the Preterite in Contemporary and Earlier English. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Estienne, H. (1569). Dictionnaire francois-latin: autrement dict les mots françois, avec les manieres duser diceulx, tournez en Latin. Paris: R. Estienne.Google Scholar
Estienne, H. (1578). Deux dialogues du nouveau langage francois. Ed. by Smith, P.M.. Geneva: Slatkine, 1980.Google Scholar
Évang, A. (1984). Description grammaticale et code parlé: l'emploi du passé simple et du passé composé dans des manuels d'étude parus entre 1600 et 1650. Travaux de linguistique et de littérature, 22.1: 161–177.Google Scholar
Flikeid, K. (1994). Origines et évolution du français acadien à la lumière de l'étude de la diversité contemporaine. In: Mougeon, R. and Beniak, É. (eds), Les origines du français québécois. Québec: Les Presses de l'Université Laval, pp. 275–326.Google Scholar
Flikeid, K. and Péronnet, L. (1989). N'est-ce pas vrai qu'il faut dire « J'avons été? »: divergences régionales en acadien. Le Français Moderne, 57.3/4: 219–242.Google Scholar
Fouché, P. (1967). Morphologie historique du français: le verbe. Paris: Klincksieck.Google Scholar
Fournier, N. (1998). Grammaire du français classique. Paris: Belin.Google Scholar
Galet, Y. (1974). Passé simple et passé composé. Le Français Moderne, 42: 13–19.Google Scholar
Gesner, B. E. (1979a). Étude morphosyntaxique du parler acadien de la Baie Sainte-Marie, Nouvelle-Écosse (Canada). Québec: CIRB.Google Scholar
Gesner, B. E. (1979b). L'emploi du passé simple dans le français acadien de la Baie Sainte-Marie, Nouvelle-Écosse. Cahiers de linguistique, 9: 123–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilliéron, J. and Edmont, E. (1901–1910). Atlas linguistique de la France. Paris: Champion.Google Scholar
Grevisse, M. (1985). Le bon usage (9th edition). Paris: Duculot.Google Scholar
Haden, E. (1948). La petite Cendrillouse: version acadienne de Cendrillon: étude linguistique. Archives de folklore, 3: 21–34.Google Scholar
Hervé, B. (1973). Le parler de Plougueast. Master's thesis. Rennes: Université de Haute-Bretagne.Google Scholar
Herzog, C. (1981). Le passé simple dans les journaux du XXe siècle. Berne: Franke.Google Scholar
Imbs, P. (1960). L'emploi des temps verbaux en français moderne: essai de grammaire descriptive. Paris: Klincksieck.Google Scholar
Jones, M. C. (2001). Jersey Norman French: A Linguistic Study of an Obsolescent Dialect. Oxford: Publications of the Philological Society.Google Scholar
Judge, A. and Healey, F.G. (1983). A Reference Grammar of Modern French. London: Edward Arnold.Google Scholar
King, R., Martineau, F. and Mougeon, R. (2011). The interplay of internal and external factors in grammatical change: First person plural pronouns in French. Language, 87.3: 470–509.10.1353/lan.2011.0072CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, R. and Nadasdi, T. (2003). Back to the future in Acadian French. Journal of French Language Studies, 13: 323–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, R. and Nadasdi, T. (2005). Deux auxiliaires qui voulaient mourir en français acadien. In: Brasseur, P. and Falkert, A. (eds), Français d'Amérique: approches morphosyntaxiques. Paris: L'Harmattan, pp. 103–111.Google Scholar
King, R., Nadasdi, T. and Butler, G.R. (2004). First person plural in Prince Edward Island Acadian French: The fate of the vernacular variant je. . .ons . Language Variation and Change, 16: 237–255.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Korrel, L. (1993). The use of the present perfect in English and in Dutch: A look behind the scenes. Lingua, 89: 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labeau, E. (2004). Le(s) temps du compte rendu sportif. Journal of French Language Studies, 14.2: 129–148.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labeau, E. (2009). Le PS: cher disparu de la rubrique nécrologique? Journal of French Language Studies, 19.1: 61–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, W. (1978). Where does the linguistic variable stop? A response to Beatriz Lavandera. Sociolinguistic Working Paper, 44. Austin, Texas: Southwest Educational Development Laboratory.Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1982). Building on empirical foundations. In: Lehman, W. P. and Malkiel, Y. (eds), Perspectives on Historical Linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins, pp. 17–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, W. (1997). Some further steps in narrative analysis. Journal of Narrative and Life History, 7: 395–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Labov, W. and Waletzky, J. (1967). Narrative analysis. In: Helm, J. (ed), Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts. Seattle: University of Washington Press, pp. 12–44.Google Scholar
Lawrence, H. (2000). Aspects of English: An Examination of Aspect within Past Temporal Reference in Northern British English. PhD dissertation, University of York, U.K.Google Scholar
Lavandera, B. R. (1978). Where does the sociolinguistic variable stop? Language in Society, 7.2: 171–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leroux, M. (2004). Relics of the Canadian French PAST. Paper presented at New Ways of Analyzing Variation 33, Ann Arbor, Michigan.Google Scholar
Leroux, M. (2005). Past, but not gone: The past temporal reference system in Quebec French. Penn Working Papers in Linguistics, 33.2: 119–131.Google Scholar
Lodge, R. A. (2004). A Sociolinguistic History of Parisian French. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Longobardi, G. (2001). Formal syntax, diachronic minimalism, and etymology: The history of French chez . Linguistic Inquiry 32.2: 275–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maupas, C. (1618). Grammaire et syntaxe francoise, 2nd edn (1973). Geneva: Slatkine Reprints.Google Scholar
Maury, N. (1976). Système vocalique d'un parler normand. Liesville-sur-Douve, Manche: phonétique et phonologie. Volume 11 of Studia Phonetica. Quebec: Didier.Google Scholar
Meigret, L. (1550). Traité touchât le commun usage de l'escriture francoise, J. de Marnef. Paris/France-Expansion microfiche.Google Scholar
Meillet, A. (1948). Linguistique historique et linguistique générale. Paris: Champion.Google Scholar
Millon, C. (1936). Le passé simple chez les romanciers et les dramaturges. Le Français Moderne, 4: 239–248.Google Scholar
Molière (1671). Les Fourberies de Scapin. Harrap's Modern Language Series Edition, 1949. London: George G. Harrap & Co.Google Scholar
Mougeon, R. and Beniak, É. (1991). Linguistic Consequences of Language Contact and Restriction: The Case of French in Ontario. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pope, M. K. (1952). From Latin to Modern French. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar
Poplack, S. and Dion, N. (2009). Prescription vs. praxis: The evolution of future temporal reference in French. Language, 85.3: 557–587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Poplack, S. and Tagliamonte, S. (1996). Nothing in context: Variation, grammaticization and past time marking in Nigerian Pidgin English. In: Baker, P. and Syea, A. (eds), Changing Meanings, Changing Functions: Papers Relating to Grammaticalization in Contact Languages. Westminster, UK: University Press, pp. 71–94.Google Scholar
Ramus, P. (1572). Grammaire. Paris: A. Wéchel. Reprinted (1972). Geneva: Slatkine.Google Scholar
Rowlett, P. (2007). The Syntax of French. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sankoff, D., Tagliamonte, S. A., and Smith, E. (2005). Goldvarb X: A multivariate analysis application. Department of Linguistics, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Schwenter, S. A. and Torres Cacoullos, R. (2008). Defaults and indeterminacy in temporal grammaticalization: The ‘perfect’ road to perfective. Language Variation and Change, 20.1: 1–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Squartini, M. and Bertinetto, P. M. (2000). The simple and compound past in Romance languages. In: Dahl, Ö. (ed.), Tense and Aspect in the Languages of Europe. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 403–439.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Canada (1996). Profile of Census Divisions and Subdivisions, 1996 Census: Clare, MD. Updated January 14, 2010. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/english/census96/data/profiles/DataTable.cfm?YEAR=1996&LANG=E&PID=35782&S=A&GID=199653 (Accessed December 28, 2010).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Svenson, L.-O. (1959). Les parlers du Marais-Vendéen phonétique, morphologie et syntaxe, textes, onamastique, lexique. Göteborg: Elanders.Google Scholar
Szmrecsanyi, B. (2005). Language users as creatures of habit: A corpus-based analysis of persistence in spoken English. Corpus Linguistics and Linguistic Theory, 1.1: 113–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Herk, G. (2004). Rates versus rules: Behind the “growth” of the present perfect in Early Modern English. Paper presented at the 8th Bilingual Workshop in Theoretical Linguistics, York University, Toronto.Google Scholar
Weinrich, H. (1973). Le temps. Paris: Seuil.Google Scholar
Wrenn, P. (1981). Allophonic variation of /E/ and its morphologization in an Acadian dialect of Nova Scotia. Language and Speech, 24.4: 327–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zink, G. (1997). Morphosyntaxe du pronom personnel (non réfléchi) en moyen français (XIVe-XVe siècles). Genève: Droz.Google Scholar