[Lexicog] The Irony of Thou

[Marc Fryd]

I am not familiar with /z/ linking in Algerian French. I've asked around and
none of my (younger) Algerian friends can say to be familiar with it either.
Perhaps my memory needs to be jogged on this, and I could also ask older
Algerians.
Now, the use of "tu" would be perfectly normal on the part of the French doctor
(we are talking here of a situation occurring in France, as there no longer are
any French doctors practicing in Algeria, or in any case not in any significant
numbers), and he/she would expect a reciprocal "tu". Now the case would of
course not apply if the addressee was someone from the "upper classes" (I
hastily bundle the academic community, the commercially successful new
entrepreneurs, and all higher placed government officials, whether from the
army, the police, etc.). In such a situation, mutual use of "vous" would be in
order.
Now, a Frenchman (tourist, businessman) travelling in Algeria and addressed as
"tu" by an Algerian doctor would quite likely find it odd, and I have serious
doubts that this could happen. Class and status consciousness would certainly
prevent the use of "tu" by an Algerian doctor, undoubtedly perfectly "au fait"
with such linguistic subtleties. The same Algerian doctor would of course
likely use Arabic when speaking to a compatriot, but if any French came to be
used, the "tu" pronoun would be used both ways, unless this doctor were
adressing someone markedly from the upper classes.

Marc FRYD


Selon Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling at sil.org>:

> Talking about that mock camaraderie, I wonder how an educated Algerian would
> react when addressed by an French doctor whom he has never consulted before
> by the question "mon zami, qu'est-ce que je peux faire pour toi? Où est-ce
> que ça te fait mal?" (not "mon ami" but "mon zami")
> (translation "my friend, what can I do for you/tu? Where does it hurt
> you/tu?)
> Now the other way round: How might a Frenchman (say an educated one) react
> if addressed in such a way by an Algerian doctor?
> In West African French (as spoken in Mali, Burkina-Faso, Côte d'Ivoire,
> Sénégal)
> one might address almost any stranger by "chef" (chief) and "tu", when
> asking for a service, like talking to a gas station attendant. "chef" is
> deprived of any formal traits in such situations, but you better address a
> policeman by "chef" and "vous."
>
> Fritz Goerling
>
> The fact that in Algerian French as used by non educated speakers one can
> combine the formal form of address "Monsieur" with the informal pronoun "tu"
> surely means that "tu" is deprived there any informal traits.
> In Parisian French, however, I can certify that the use of "tu" by a
> complete
> stranger is in no way neutral.
> A whole range of contexts may come to mind, from the vagrant street
> person pretending to erase with the use of this pronoun any trace of social
> division in order to gain access to that deeper level where all men are born
> equal, etc., to the mock familiarity of the market stall vendor who is so
> confident that his putative customer shares his own passion for the intrisic
> value of the goods he is peddling that this creates a level of complicit
> familiarity which transcends social barriers.
> If one is led, accidentally no doubt, to turn on the television these days
> and
> manages to sit through only a few minutes of one of those programmes where a
> glitzy TV presenter welcomes a well-known politician, say someone known for
> his
> burly character, for instance, one will note with linguistic curiosity how
> the
> presenter brings the politician to eat in his hand, so to speak, by the mere
> use of that "tu" pronoun. The said politician will of course play ball,
> only too pleased to show that beyond all previous appearances to the
> contrary,
> he really is a very human person.
> But how resilient, really, is that mock camaraderie? Only recently on a
> forum I
> found myself drawn to use "tu" with fellow members and with one of the
> administrators, with whom I had a lengthy technical exchange of emails. I
> was
> then led to call that lady on the phone, whereupon I noted with interest how
> insistent her use of "vous" was, throughout our conversation. The switch
> from
> the noncommittal website exchanges to the person to person oral
> conversation,
> clearly explained here the demise of our former camaraderie.
> Just one last anecdote. It is a known fact that traditional usage in upper
> class
> families required husband and wife to use "vous" when adressing each other.
> Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir, for instance, made a point of
> adhering
> to this formal usage, no doubt in order to place their own relationship on a
> par with their literay ambitons. However, I keep a distinct memory of a
> couple
> of Bohemian Parisian aristocrats who used unreservedly the democratic "tu"
> in
> everyday situations and who, or so they confided in me..., only shifted to
> "vous" in situations of more meaningful intimacy!
> Marc FRYD
>
> Selon Fritz Goerling <Fritz_Goerling at sil.org>:
>
> > Which French of Algiers? Street French probably. (...)>
> >
> > Fritz Goerling
> >
> >
>
>


-- 



 
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