Swiss French
From Free net encyclopedia
Swiss French (French: français de Suisse) is the name used for the different dialects of French spoken in the Francophone part of Switzerland known as Romandy.
The differences between Swiss French and French French are mostly difference in vocabulary and both languages are almost entirely mutually intelligible: a Swiss French speaker would have no trouble understanding a French speaker, while a French speaker would encounter only a few words unknown to him while listening to a Swiss French speaker. Swiss French differs from the French of France to a far lesser extent than Swiss German differs from standard German. This was not always the case; however, most of the dialects spoken in the Romandy died out and are thus no longer spoken or used.
There is not one standardised Swiss French language: different cantons (or even different towns in some cases) will use different vocabulary, often derived from the local regional language or from German, since Switzerland is predominantly German speaking.
Many differences between Swiss French and French are due to the different administrative and political systems between Switzerland and France. For example:
- The word canton has a different meaning in the two countries.
- A post office box in France is called boîte postale (BP), whereas in Switzerland, a French speaker would call it case postale (CP).
Other examples:
Swiss French shares several noticeable differences with Belgian French, such as the use of the word septante for seventy and nonante for ninety as opposed to soixante-dix (literally 'sixty-ten') and quatre-vingts-dix (literally 'four twenties and ten') of the "vigesimal" French counting system. The word huitante is also sometimes used for eighty instead of quatre-vingts (literally 'four twenties'), especially in the cantons of Vaud, Valais and Fribourg. Despite what some dicitonaries indicate, the alternative octante is no longer used in Switzerland, or for that manner, anywhere else in the French-speaking world. Also, the words déjeuner (breakfast) and dîner (lunch) are used with the same meaning as in Belgian French and Quebec French, in opposition with the French usage with meanings of lunch and dinner.
Swiss French is not to be confused with Franco-Provençal or Romansh.
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