Joual

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Joual is the name given by some to a working-class sociolect of Quebec French spoken in Montreal, after its pronunciation of the word cheval (horse). Its most important trait is said to be the quantity of loanwords from English. The term is said to have been coined by journalist André Laurendeau but the usage of this term can in fact be traced back to the 1930's and even before all around Francophone Canada.

Joual was traditionally spoken on the streets of working-class Montreal, but was popularized in the mid-20th century by authors such as Michel Tremblay and songwriters such as Robert Charlebois.

Common joual words and their standard French equivalent (with English translation):
- toé -- toi (you)
- moé -- moi (me)
- chu -- je suis (I'm)
- té -- tu es (you're)
- ché -- je sais (I know)
- pis -- puis (then)
- y -- il (he)
- a -- elle (she)
- ouais / ouin -- oui (yes)
- y'a -- il y a (there is, there are)
- icitte -- ici (here)
- ben -- bien (well)
- sah -- sur la (on the 'xyz' (feminin))
- su'l -- sur le (on the 'xyz' (masculin))
- tsé -- tu sais (y'know)
- nuitte -- nuit (night)
- litte -- lit (bed)
- haille? -- hein (what?)

English words that were used in joual (although have, since the 1960s, been stigmatised):
- Bécosse: From backhouse, used generally in the sense of a bathroom. Unlike most borrowing, this one can sometime be seen written, usually as here.
- Bicycle or bécik (bicycle)
- Bike or bécik (motorbike)
- Blood: compliment as in "Té Blood" [You're all right]. Rarely heard nowaday.
- Braker: pronounced [breakay]. Verb meaning "to brake"
- Breaker: pronounced [bray-koer]. Fuse.
- Coat: only for the clothing item, never in the sense of "layer"
- Chum: Most often in the sense of boyfriend although sometime simply as friend.
- Frencher: Pronounced [fran-shay]. To French-kiss
- Fuse
- Gun
- Gas: Pronounced [gaaz]. In the sense of fuel.
- Lift: Pronounced [liff] only used in the sense of giving a lift to someone in one's vehicle.
- Peppermint: Normally pronounced [pa-par-mhan].
- Pinotte: Peanuts. Unlike most other borrowing, this one is sometime seen written, usually as here.
- les States: Pronounced [lay Stayt] (the "s" is mute). Use when referring to the USA.
- Tank: usually pronounced [teink]. Used in the sense of "container": Tinque a gaz [fuel tank]
- tchine-tchine: from "cheers", said when making a toast.
- Tough
- Truck
- Suit: For a coat
- Ski-doo: For a snowmobile (It is the name of a Bombardier trademark)

Some words were also previously thought to be of English origins although modern research has shown them to be from regional French dialects:
- Bonhomme sept-heure [boogeyman]: previously believed to come from "bone setters". similarly called characters exist in some part of northern France.
- Pitoune (log, cute girl, loose girl): previously thought to come from "happy town" although the word "pitchoune" exists in auvergnat that means "cute girl".
- Poutine: was thought to come from pudding but some have drawn parallel with languedocian's "poudingo", a stew made of scraps which was (in Montréal) the previous use of the term.

A common rule in Joual is to extend the syllables using additional letters.

Although moé and toé are today considered substandard slang pronunciations, these were the pronunciations of Old French used by the kings of France, the aristocracy and the common people in many provinces of France. After the 1789 French Revolution, the standard pronunciation in France changed to that of the bourgeois class in Paris, but Quebec retained many old pronunciations and expressions, having been isolated from the Revolution by the 1760 British Conquest of New France.

Joual shares many features with modern Oïl languages such as, Norman, Gallo, Picard and Poitevin-Saintongeais. Speakers of these languages of France were predominant in settlers to New France.

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