Романские языки | Филологический аспект №06 (122) Июнь 2025

Особенности реализации и восприятия специальных вопросов во французском языке в Квебеке

Камрыш Ольга Вячеславовна
канд. филол. наук, доцент кафедры фонетики и методики преподавания иностранных языков, Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет, РФ, г. Санкт-Петербург

Аннотация: В статье предлагаются результаты исследования интонационного оформления вопросительных высказываний, проведенного на материале стандартного французского языка и варианта французского языка, распространенного в канадском Квебеке. Исследование включало в себя сопоставительный анализ интонационных характеристик частных вопросительных высказываний и изучение особенностей восприятия носителями стандартного и квебекского вариантов. Полученные результаты свидетельствуют о бóльшей экспрессивности мелодических характеристик в речи носителей квебекского французского. При этом, были зафиксированы различия в интонационном оформлении изученных вопросительных высказываний в стандартном и квебекском вариантах. Было установлено расширение диапазона изменения мелодических характеристик в квебекском французском и выявлены дополнительные оценочные значения при восприятии этих вопросительных высказываний носителями стандартного французского языка.
Ключевые слова: интонационное оформление высказывания, сопоставительный анализ звуковых систем, просодические характеристики, квебекский вариант французского языка, произносительная норма.

Kamrysh Olga Vyatcheslavovna
PhD in Philology, associate professor at the Department of Phonetics and Methods of teaching foreign languages, Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia, St. Petersburg

Abstract: The article presents the results of a study of the intonation of interrogative utterances based on the material of standard French and the variant of French spoken in Quebec, Canada. The research study included a comparative analysis of the intonation characteristics of particular interrogative utterances and the study of the peculiarities of perception by native speakers of the standard and Quebec variants. The results obtained indicate a greater expressiveness of melodic characteristics in the speech of native speakers of Quebec French. At the same time, differences in the intonation of the studied interrogative utterances in the standard and Quebec versions were recorded. An extension of the range of changes in melodic characteristics in Quebec French has been established and additional evaluative values have been identified in the perception of these interrogative utterances by native speakers of standard French.
Keywords: intonation of the utterance, comparative analysis of sound systems, prosodic characteristics, Quebec version of the French language, pronunciation norm.

The French language spoken in Quebec is a distinct variety of French with unique features at the phonetic, lexical, and morphological levels. The authors of works devoted to the French language in North America note that Quebec French is characterized by the presence of archaisms and dialectisms that have been lost in the French language of the metropolis or have been preserved only in dialects [1; 2; 5, pp. 993–994].

The Quebec variety of French developed in close contact with English, with a general tendency to follow the norms of the standard variety of French. The unique linguistic characteristics inherent in Quebec French are largely determined by the specific conditions of its formation and development [2; 4, pp. 62–64]. One of the essential issues is the concept of normativity in relation to Quebec French [7; 8]. The prevailing opinion in contemporary linguistic literature is that Quebec French has its own linguistic norm and differs from the standard variety of French in a number of ways. This point of view aligns with the notion of French as a global language of communication. Previously, Quebec French was often described as “poor quality” French or was recognized as completely autonomous from the French language of the metropolis [6]. This approach explains the fact that the study of the Quebec variety of French was often inconsistent and failed to consider its systemic features. The same is true for the description of the phonetic system of Quebec French.

The subject of this study was the intonation characteristics of special questions with inversion in the speech of French speakers living in the Canadian province of Quebec.

According to the available theoretical descriptions, the intonation pattern of a special question with inversion in the standard variety of French implies the presence of a melodic peak on the interrogative word and a decrease in the frequency of the main tone at the end of the utterance [11; 14]. Linguistic literature also notes that there may be an additional rise in tone at the end of the utterance (on the last syllable/syllables), which is associated with the speaker’s interest [12; 13].

An attempt to study intonation contours in the Quebec variety of French was made by Baligand and James in the 1960s-1970s [9]. A comparison of intonation contours of special questions in Quebec and standard varieties of French showed that the general shape of the melodic curve was similar – a rise followed by a fall at the end of the utterance. However, a distinctive feature of the intonation of special questions in the Quebec variety of French was found to be the rise of intensity on the interrogative word and a significant increase in the range of changes in the fundamental frequency (FF). Besides, the implementation of the so-called “circumflex” tones, presumably borrowed from English, on single-syllable question words “quand”, “où”, and “quel” was revealed [9].

Obviously, the results of the study by Baligand and James require clarification in relation to the current linguistic situation. Therefore, it seemed necessary to turn to the speech of contemporary Quebec French speakers to identify possible shifts that have occurred in the intonation system. It should also be taken into account that the study of intonation features includes not only the description of possible implementations and acoustic analysis of the identified intonation contours but also a perceptual experiment to reveal the regularities of their perception. To solve these problems, together with Yu.I. Kleimenova, a student of the Department of General and Applied Phonetics of the Philological Department of St. Petersburg State University, the melodic pattern of one of the types of special questions in Quebec French was analyzed.

This paper presents the results of the conducted experimental study. The study material consisted of special questions with inversion. The participants were native speakers of standard French and native speakers of Quebec French. All obtained audio recordings were subjected to acoustic analysis using the Praat program. A total of 45 utterances were examined. In the next stage, a perceptual experiment was carried out to establish the specifics of the interrogative utterances under study. The study material included special questions containing the interrogative words “où” (where), “d’où” (where from), and “quand” (when). The length of the interrogative utterances ranged from three to nine syllables. According to this criterion, all the questions examined were divided into three groups: short questions (3–4 syllables); medium-length questions (4–6 syllables); and long questions (7–9 syllables). All the questions were included in the minimal context “Je lui ai demandé: ...” (“I asked him: ...”). During the acoustic analysis of the melody of special questions, the shape of the intonation contour was studied, the total range of changes in FF within the utterance was calculated; the nature of tone movement and the range of melodic changes in the section of the interrogative word and at the end of the utterance were determined; the maxima and minima of the FF of the intonation curve were recorded.

The study of the melodic characteristics of special questions with inversion revealed that in the speech of native speakers of Quebec French, the range of changes in FF within a statement was significantly greater than in the speech of native speakers of the standard variety of French. The range of FF changes was determined as the difference between each speaker’s maximum and minimum FF values in each of the interrogative utterances considered. The data obtained showed that in 66.6% of cases, the most significant indicators (from 294.6 Hz to 400 Hz) were characteristic of the speech of native speakers of Quebec French. No correlation was found between the length of the utterance and the range of FF changes,

A comparative analysis of intonation contours in the speech of native speakers of standard and Quebec French reveals that in both cases, a model with a high onset on the question word and a gradual decrease in FF toward the end of the interrogative utterance, proposed in Delattre’s classification for special interrogatory sentences, is possible [11]. At the same time, a rise was noted on the last syllable of the utterance in 56.9% of cases, which may indicate the presence of an additional meaning of interest [12; 13]. This manner of uttering special questions was equally common among native speakers of the standard variety and native speakers of Quebec French. Besides, a model with a flat rising tone was recorded (in 9% of the interrogative utterances examined). According to Delattre and Leon, this intonation contour is characteristic of the melody of a general question with a direct word order, i.e., the so-called “intonation question” [11; 14]. At the same time, no dependence on the speaker’s regional affiliation was found in the implementation of the rising or falling intonation contour. One can assume that the choice of the intonation structure is primarily determined by the speaker’s individual speech strategy. For example, in the speech of speaker SF1 (speaker 1, a native speaker of the standard variety of French), a clear preference for the implementation of special questions with a falling tone at the end was noted. For all other speakers, the model with a falling tone from the beginning to the end of the utterance was not the most frequent. Thus, the study revealed no clear tendency for Quebec speakers to use a certain form of intonation contour in their speech. At the same time, the acoustic features of the implementation of the last syllable of special questions were identified. The analysis of intonation contours revealed that in the speech of standard French speakers, the duration of a syllable increased only in the presence of a lengthening consonant, i.e., according to the rules of positional vowel length. In the speech of Quebec French speakers, lengthening occurred in other phonetic positions as well.

Thus, the research into the melody of special questions has shown that in both standard and Quebec varieties of French, the appearance of contours with a gradual decrease in FF from the beginning toward the end of the utterance, as well as a contour with an additional rise on the last syllable of the utterance, described in the theoretical literature, is permissible. Besides, a variety with an intense rise in FF throughout the entire interrogative utterance has also been identified. This intonation contour is traditionally attributed to a general “intonation” question, which has the same structure as a narrative sentence and differs from the latter only in the intonation pattern. The results of the conducted acoustic analysis show that such melody is possible in the speech of both Parisian and Quebecois speakers. The distinguishing features of the intonation contour of special questions in the Quebec variety of French seem to be an increased range of melodic changes within the interrogative utterance, as well as the specific way of implementing the lengthening on the final syllable. The issue of the significance of the identified differences was addressed in the course of a perceptual experiment.

Ten respondents participated in the perceptual experiment. All of them were native speakers of standard French. For the assessment, interrogative utterances pronounced by speakers who were native speakers of the Quebec variety of French were proposed. The initial hypothesis was formulated as follows: the expansion of the range of FF in the Quebec variety can be perceived as a marker of additional emotional meaning. The results of the perceptual experiment generally confirmed this assumption. Indeed, in 40% of cases, respondents noted additional modal or emotional meaning. Thus, neutral interrogative utterances pronounced by Quebecers sound more emotional to speakers of standard French and contain the following additional meanings: “interest,” “surprise,” and “concern.”

Thus, Boudreault’s statement about the “monotony” of Quebec French intonation compared to the intonation pattern of standard French [10] was not confirmed by the results of this study. On the contrary, the intonation of special questions with inversion in the Quebec residents’ speech was evaluated as more emotional and conveying additional shades of meaning. The conducted experimental analysis revealed no significant differences in the choice of a melodic variant with a falling tone, rising tone, or flat melodic contour in speech depending on the speaker’s regional affiliation. Nevertheless, there may be subtler differences in the melodic patterns of individual sections of the interrogative utterance, as well as specifics of implementing other components of the intonation contour (intensity, timbre, etc.), which should be addressed in a specially organized study.

1. Baligand R., James E. The intonation of wh-questions in Franco-Ontarian // Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique, 1973. Vol. 18, Iss. 2, 1973. Pp. 89–101.
2. Boudreault, M. Rythme et melodie de la phrase parlée en France et au Québec. Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval; Paris: Klincksieck, 1968. 273 p.
3. Dagbaeva O.I., Dmitrieva E.G., Usmanova Z.A. New approaches to the typology of territorial variants of the French language // World of Science, Culture, Education, 2020. No. 6 (85). Pp. 669–672 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/novye-podhody-k-tipologii-territorialnyh-variantov-frantsuzskogo-yazyka?ysclid=mb6f100jty791046171 (accessed May 27, 2025).
4. Delattre P. Les Dix Intonations de base du français // The French Review, 1966. Vol. 40, No. 1. Pp. 1–14.
5. Gryllia S., Cheng L., Doetjes J. On the intonation of French wh-in-situ questions: What happens before the wh-word is reached? // Conference paper. Speech Prosody, 2016. 31 May – 3 Jun 2016, Boston, USA. Pp. 611–614 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/305684788_On_the_intonation_of_French_wh-in-situ_questions_What_happens_before_the_wh-word_is_reached (accessed May 29, 2025).
6. Kaminskaïa S., Intonational variability in French // Proceedings of the 33rd Forum of Linguistic Association of Canada and United States, ed. P. Reich, W. Sullivan, A. Lommel and T. Griffen, LACUS, 2007. Pp. 191–201 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304254052_Intonational_variability_in_French_In_Proceedings_of_the_33rd_Forum_of_Linguistic_Association_of_Canada_and_United_States_ed_P_Reich_W_Sullivan_A_Lommel_and_T_Griffen_LACUS_191-201_2007 (accessed May 27, 2025).
7. Kozhemyakina V.A. French in Quebec: basic characteristics // Sociolinguistics, 2020. No. 4(4). Pp. 61–74 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/frantsuzskiy-yazyk-v-kvebeke-osnovnye-harakteristiki?ysclid=mb6dmory34547250472
(accessed May 27, 2025).
8. Kozhemyakina V.A. Language situation and language policy in the Canadian province of Quebec // Bulletin of Udmurt University, 2020. Vol. 30, No. 6. Pp. 993–1000.
9. Léon P. Phonétisme et prononciations du français: avec des travaux pratiques d’application et leurs corrigés. Paris: Nathan Université, 1992. 192 p.
10. Marusenko M.A. Francophonie in North America. Publishing House of St. Petersburg University, 2007. 356 p.
11. Sidorov A.A. Territorial variety of the French language in the world and regional language formation // Science Journal of Volgograd State University. Series 2: Linguistics, 2009. No. 2(10). Pp. 215–218. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/territorialnaya-variativnost-frantsuzskogo-yazyka-v-mire-i-formirovanie-regiolektov?ysclid=mb6falqu5y500127391 (accessed May 27, 2025).
12. Ustinovich V.V. On the development and current state of the pronunciation norm of the French language // Bulletin of Polotsk State University. Series A. Humanities, 2024. No. 4(72). Pp. 88–91.
13. Vetchinova M.N. Prospects of the French language as a language of international communication // Theory of Language and Intercultural Communication, 2020. No. 4 (39). Pp. 12–21 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/perspektivy-frantsuzskogo-yazyka-kak-yazyka-mezhdunarodnogo-obscheniya?ysclid=mb6eswwn2i150595804 (accessed May 27, 2025).
14. Zakharova N.V., Makarova A.M. Peculiarities of Canadian French in terms of conservation of translation traditions // Electronic scientific journal “Science Diary,” Philological Sciences, 2023. No. 3. 12 p. [Electronic resource]. URL: https://dnevniknauki.ru/images/publications/2023/3/philology/Zakharova_Makarova.pdf (accessed May 27, 2025).