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Lesser Francophonie: where French is losing ground
More that 270 millions speak the language of Molière, but its social or official use recedes in some places · Six examples from four continents show how this is happening
Jersey and Guernsey. Under the "French language" label, most linguists group both its standard version and a number of varieties spoken across northern France and Wallonia, the so-called Langues d'Oïl. One of those is Normand, which has two varieties spoken in the Channel Islands: Guernésiais (in Guernsey) and Jèrriais (in Jersey). Both find themselves in an extreme situation, being spoken by just over 1% of the population -which, to make matters worse, are elderly people. However, Jèrriais has been recently introduced in Jersey schools -where pupils can learn it on a voluntary basis- as part of government efforts to save the language. The linguistic policy carried out by the government of Guernsey is more limited in this respect.
Voeren (Fourons). This Belgian municipality has a unique linguistic history: many of its inhabitants used to speak Limburgish -some linguists classify it as a Dutch dialect while others regard it as a separate language- but at the same time the French and Dutch standard languages also used to have a strong presence. In 1962, when the Flanders-Wallonia linguistic border was officially drawn up, Voeren was left on the Flemish side, prompting protests from Francophones, to whom, however, certain linguistic rights were granted. The arrival of new Dutch-speaking inhabitants to Voeren -the municipality lies close to the Belgian-Dutch border- further contributed to turn French speakers into a minority. Still, it is estimated that 40% of Voeren residents are Francophones.
Aosta Valley. This Alpine region enjoys some degree of self-government in Italy. Francoprovençal was the majority language of its inhabitants until the 20th century, while at the same time French was the dominant language among wealthy classes and the administration. In 1561, Aostan duke Emmanuel Philibert adopted French as the valley's official language. The use of French permeated the valley's aristocracy and bourgeoisie. But in 1861 Aosta was integrated into the soon-to-be Kingdom of Italy. The new state began an Italianizing policy -particularly virulent under the Mussolini regime- that marginalized French. Not even the recognition of French as co-official language in 1948 could stop the decline of French and Francoprovençal. In 2001, an Emile Chanoux Foundation survey showed Italian was the mother tongue of 72% of the population, while Francoprovençal accounted for 16% and French for a mere 1%. The introduction of French in education explains why 58% declared they could speak French "well" or "quite well", but the social use of the language is really low.
Acadia. French speaking pockets are still to be found on the coasts of the Atlantic provinces of Canada. French speakers there mostly use Acadian, a variety emerged from dialects spoken by French colonists settled in the region in the 17th and 18th centuries. French resists in pretty good shape in a very compact area of the province of New Brunswick -it is an official language there, alongside English-, but it recedes in the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, where it has no official status and its speakers are more scattered.
Puducherry. This city is part of an Indian Union territory, also known as Pondicherry, which traces its origins to an old French colony that was ceded to India in 1954. French continues to enjoy official language status, the city's architecture and town planning is reminiscent of France, and the French government maintains several official institutions and bodies there. A French expatriate community of about 10,000 people lives in the city. But as regards locals, French is natively spoken by a mere 200 people: the vast majority of people speak Tamil.
Rwanda. French was the language of prestige in the former Belgian colony of Rwanda for decades. Even today it is one of three official languages in the African country, the other two being Kinyarwanda and English. However, just a few hundred Rwandans are French native speakers. Rwandan governments after the 1994 genocide have progressively distanced themselves from the French sphere of influence, and have been bringing the country increasingly closer to Uganda and Tanzania, where English rather than French is in official use. In 2008, Rwanda passed a law to replace French by English in schools, and the use of French has also fallen in the media.