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Swiss French

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This article is about the Swiss variety of the French language. For the ethnicity, see Swiss French people.
Swiss French
French of Switzerland
français de Suisse (French)
Native toRomandy, Switzerland
Native speakers
2.1 million in Romandy (2020)[1]
Early forms
Latin (French alphabet)
French Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Linguasphere51-AAA-if
IETFfr-CH
The French-speaking part of Switzerland is shown in green on this map.
Map of the Franco-Provençal area, historical language spoken in Romandy, with place names in arpitan and historic political divisions.

Swiss French (French: français de Suisse or suisse romand) is the variety of French spoken in the French-speaking area of Switzerland known as Romandy. French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland, the others being German, Italian, and Romansch. In 2020 around 2 million people, or 22.8% of the population, in Switzerland spoke French as their primary language, and 28% of the population used French most often at work.[1]

Clara, a speaker of Swiss French

The French spoken in Switzerland is very similar to that of France or Belgium. The differences between the French of Switzerland and of France are mostly lexical, influenced by local substrate languages. While substantial phonological differences exist, as the French of Switzerland preserves many distinctions lost elsewhere, the phonetic qualities are often quite close, such as with the existence of long vowels or the distinction between /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/. This contrasts with the differences between Standard German and Swiss German, which are largely mutually unintelligible.

Swiss French is characterized by some terms adopted from Arpitan, which was formerly spoken widely across the alpine communities of Romandy, but has far fewer speakers today. In addition, some expressions have been borrowed from both Swiss and Standard German. Although a standard form of French is taught in schools and used in the government, the media and business, there is no uniform vernacular form of French among the different cantons of Switzerland. For example, some German terms in regions bordering German-speaking communities are completely unused in the area around Geneva, a city by France's border with Switzerland.[2]

Phonology

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This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Oral
  Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
Close i/iː y/yː u/uː
Close-mid e/eː ø/øː ə o
Open-mid ɛ/ɛː œ ɔ
Open a ɑː
Nasal
Front Back
unrounded rounded
Mid õ
Open æ̃ œ̃ ɒ̃
  • The nasal vowels are pronounced like in France. /ɑ̃/ → [ɒ̃], /ɛ̃/ → [æ̃], /ɔ̃/ → [õ]. Conversely, the nasal vowels /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/ are kept separate in much Swiss French speech, where much speech in France has merged them. For example, brin (stalk) and brun (brown) are still pronounced differently, like in Quebec and Belgium, unlike in Paris.[3]
  • As in Belgium, the distinction between the vowels /ɛ/ and /ɛː/ is maintained in Switzerland, but they have merged in France. For example, mettre (put) and maître (master) are still pronounced differently, unlike in France.
  • The distinction between mid vowels /o/ and /ɔ/ has also been maintained in final open syllables, as well as that between /e/ and /ɛ/. For example, peau (skin) and pot (jar) are still pronounced differently, unlike in France and Quebec. For that reason, entré (entered; past participle of the verb entrer) and entrait (third-person singular of entrer in the imperfect indicative) are differentiated, just like in Standard French.[3]
  • There is a stronger distinction between long and short vowels in Switzerland:
    • Long vowels are allowed in open syllables, even at the end of a word: ⟨ée⟩, ⟨aie⟩ [eː], ⟨ue⟩ [yː], ⟨ie⟩ [iː], ⟨oue⟩ [uː] and ⟨eue⟩ [øː]. As a result, almost all feminine adjectives are still phonetically distinct from their masculine counterparts, unlike in France and Quebec.[3]
    • Speakers also differentiate masculine from feminine adjectives phonetically, including in final closed syllables, although the spelling only partially bears out this occurrence, e.g. mental is pronounced /mɑ̃.tal/, whilst the feminine mentale is pronounced /mɑ̃.tɑːl/. Other minimal pairs are similarly differentiated, like amen and amène (third-person singular in the present indicative of amener, to lead).[3]
    • The marginal phoneme /ɑ/ is usually pronounced [ɑː], meaning pattes (paws) and pâtes (pasta) are differentiated. Similar to the process described above, the circumflex also affects vowel length when used above a vowel, meaning ⟨î⟩ is pronounced [iː], ⟨ê⟩ as [ɛː], ⟨û⟩ as [yː], ⟨oû⟩ as [uː] and ⟨eû⟩ [øː].[3]

Examples of words that differ between Switzerland and France

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Swiss French Metropolitan French English Notes
action promotion special offer Germanism, from "Aktion" ("promotional campaign").
adieu[4] salut hello/goodbye In French, "adieu" means "farewell" and is generally never used except in cases where the people concerned will not meet again. In Switzerland it is used as an informal general form of greeting when people meet or leave each other.
attique dernier étage top floor
bancomat Distributeur automatique de billets ATM
bobet[4] crétin (noun) or bête/stupide (adjective) idiot (noun) or stupid (adjective)
boguet mobylette moped
bonnard sympa or bien nice Informal term.
bonne-main pourboire tip (gratuity) Literally "good-hand".
borne hydrante bouche d'incendie fire hydrant
bourbine suisse-allemand Swiss-German This word is considered pejorative.
carnotzet cave à vin/cellier/fumoir Wine cellar This expression can sometimes be found in France, in places close to Switzerland.
chenis [4] désordre mess
chiquelette chewing-gum chewing-gum
collège (Genève, Valais, Fribourg) or gymnase (Vaud) lycée high school
crousille tirelire piggy bank
cornet sac en plastique plastic bag In France, "cornet" would typically designate an ice cream cone.
cutips coton-tige cotton bud/swab Antonomasia from the brand Q-tips which phonetically becomes "cutips" when pronounced in French.
cycle (Genève, Fribourg, Valais) collège middle school
déjeuner[5] petit-déjeuner breakfast Meal names have shifted in the French of France, where déjeuner is now the name for lunch, and dîner now refers to dinner. Swiss French (like those of Belgium and Québec) has retained the older meanings.
dîner[5] déjeuner lunch Meal names have shifted in the French of France, where déjeuner is now the name for lunch, and dîner now refers to dinner. Swiss French (like those of Belgium and Québec) has retained the older meanings.
duvet couette comforter / duvet "Duvet" comes from the fact that comforters used to be filled with down feather (duvet). "Duvet" in France means sleeping bag, for similar reasons.
s'encoubler se prendre les pieds dans quelque chose/trébucher to trip over
s'énuquer se briser la nuque to break one's own neck
étude d'avocats cabinet d'avocats law firm
fœhn sèche-cheveux hairdryer Germanism, from der Föhn (the hairdryer); both names ultimately derive from the Foehn wind.
fonds terrain or champs field
fourre dossier/housse folder In French, "fourrer" means "to stuff".
Frouze / frouze Français / français people from France / French This word is considered pejorative. Used also in Belgium.
galetas grenier attic Also used in Alpine regions of France, down to Dauphiné.
giratoire rond-point, giratoire roundabout Comes from "carrefour à sens giratoire" which would translate to "circular crossroads".
gouille flaque puddle
huitante[6] quatre-vingts eighty In Swiss French, as opposed to the French of France, the words for seventy, eighty and ninety are similar in construction to the ones used for thirty up to sixty. Huitante is only heard in Vaud, Valais and Fribourg.
linge serviette towel Swiss French still uses the generic uncountable word “le linge” to define “laundry”, but the countable word “un/le/les linge-s” (which has no meaning in the French of France) means “une/la/les serviette-s”. Furthermore, the use of “serviette” is exclusively for “napkin” in Swiss French, whereas in regular French it could mean both “towel” or “napkin”.
lolette[7] tétine pacifier/teat
maman de jour assistante maternelle day care assistant
mascogner tricher aux examens cheat during exams
maturité baccalauréat high-school final examination From German "Maturitätsexamen", "Matura".
mutr mère mother Comes from the German word for "Mother", "Mutter".
natel[6] (téléphone) portable mobile phone
nom de bleu ! nom de dieu ! in the name of god!/god dammit!
nonante[6] quatre-vingt-dix ninety In Swiss French, as opposed to the French of France, the words for seventy, eighty and ninety are similar in construction to the ones used for thirty up to sixty.
panosse[6] serpillière floorcloth or mop
papier ménage papier essuie-tout paper towel
pive pomme de pin conifer cone
poutzer nettoyer to clean Comes from the German verb "putzen" which means "to clean".
Procès verbal d'examen (PV) bulletin de note report card
réclame publicité advertisement "Réclame" is an older disused word for advertising in French.
régie agence immobilière real estate agency
roye pluie rain
royer pleuvoir to rain
sans autre sans plus attendre without delay
santé à tes/vos souhaits bless you (when someone sneezes)
septante[6] soixante-dix seventy In Swiss French, as opposed to the French of France, words for seventy, eighty and ninety are similar in construction to the ones used for thirty up to sixty.
service je t'en/vous en prie you're welcome From "à votre service" meaning "at your service".
services couverts cutlery
signofile/indicateur clignotant indicator/turn signal (motor vehicle)
souper[5] dîner dinner Meal names have shifted in the French of France, where souper has been replaced by dîner (which historically referred to lunch). Swiss French (like those of Belgium and Québec) has retained the older meanings.
tablard étagère shelf
uni (short for université) fac (short word for faculté) university
votation scrutin voting
vatr père father Comes from the German word for "Father", "Vater".

See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ a b "Languages". Federal Statistical Office. Retrieved 2022-07-07.
  2. ^ "L'aire de diffusion de l'arpitan, en France, en Italie et en Suisse". NotreHistoire.ch (in French). Archived from the original on 2013-07-23.
  3. ^ a b c d e Knecht, Pierre (2004). Dictionnaire suisse romand (in French). Éditions Zoé. ISBN 9782881825088.
  4. ^ a b c Babbel.com; GmbH, Lesson Nine. "20 Swiss French Expressions To Know Before Visiting Switzerland". Babbel Magazine. Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  5. ^ a b c "DÉJEUNER, DÎNER, SOUPER". www.tlfq.org (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-27.
  6. ^ a b c d e "From 'natel' to 'ça joue': The Swiss French words which help you sound like a local". The Local Europe. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
  7. ^ "From 'natel' to 'ça joue': The Swiss French words which help you sound like a local". The Local Europe. 2021-09-06. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
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  • French (Swiss) DoReCo corpus compiled by Mathieu Avanzi, Marie-José Béguelin, Gilles Corminboeuf, Federica Diémoz and Laure Anne Johnsen. Audio recordings of narrative texts with transcriptions time-aligned at the phone level, translations, and time-aligned morphological annotations.
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