Ortho- and Morpho-graphic Transcoding of Acadian "Franglais"

Abstract

The occurrence of English forms in Franco-Acadian discourse acts is a fact of life. Insofar as such occurrences are a matter of choice, they reflect, not linguistic poverty, but the performative bilingualism of the speaker. The visual effect of the insertion of English forms into written Franco-Acadian discourse is determined by the way in which they are formally incorporated into the discourse — syntactic, morphological and orthographic adaptation. The aesthetic effect of this visual bilingualism is determined additionally by the ways in which the English forms are used. A descriptive analysis of data from a published collection of letters-to-the-editor (1895-98) is the basis for a classification of spelling tricks used to make an English word look or "sound" French, the combinatory tricks used to make a word seem French, and the adaptation of English forms to delimit the "speaker" roles. Further evidence from modern written monologues and dialogues is provided. When the discourse act in question has an aesthetic function, the writer’s treatment of Anglicisms becomes a tool in his creative bag of tricks, and a factor in the coherence of the text.