To Whom it May Concern,

My name is Charlotte I am a student at Queen Mary University of London and I am currently doing a research project looking at the lexical differences in French, my research project is titled: Le Pain au Chocolat ou la Chocolatine: Exploration des Dialectes Régionaux Français.

For my research project, I must interview a specialist in this subject area, I was wondering if this would be possible. I will attach my questions to this request and if possible could you reply to them via email - in French is preferable. I will fully give credit in my research to whoever answers my questions.

SEND RESPONSES TO: [email protected]

Interview Questions (in French):

1.
Tout d'abord, je dois vous demander votre avis sur le débat : Pain au Chocolat ou Chocolatine ?

2. Pourquoi pensez-vous que ce débat est si important pour de nombreux Français ?

3. Pourquoi pensez-vous qu'une telle variation lexicale existe ?

4. En observant d'autres variations lexicales en France telles que " pot ", " cruche ", " broc " ou " carafe " et Crayon de papier vs. Crayon à papier vs. Crayon de bois vs. Crayon gris et Serpillière vs. Toile vs. Sinse vs. Wassingue. pourquoi pensez-vous qu'elles existent ?

5. Pourquoi pensez-vous que les gens se sentent si fortement concernés par ces différences ?

6. Quelle est, selon vous, la raison principale et singulière de ces différences ?

7. J'ai imaginé 4 raisons principales pour expliquer ces différences : les dialectes régionaux, les facteurs sociaux/économiques, l'immigration et la signification culturelle, êtes-vous d'accord ?

8. Pouvez-vous penser à d'autres différences lexicales ? sinon à des différences significatives de dialecte ?

9. Pourquoi pensez-vous qu'il existe une "norme lexicale et linguistique" que la plupart des gens considèrent comme la façon correcte de parler ?

10. Pensez-vous qu'une norme linguistique soit dangereuse pour les dialectes/langues régionaux ?

(in English)

1.
Firstly I must ask you your opinion on the debate is it Pain au Chocolat or Chocolatine?

2. why do you believe this debate is so important to many French people?

3. why do you think such a lexical variation exists?

4. looking at other lexical variations in France such as " pot ", " cruche ", " broc " ou " carafe " and Crayon de papier vs. Crayon à papier vs. Crayon de bois vs. Crayon gris et Serpillière vs. Toile vs. Sinse vs. Wassingue. why do you think they exist ?

5. why do you think people feel so strongly about these differences?

6. what do you think is the main and singular reason for these differences?

7. I have devised 4 main reasons for these differences: regional dialects, social/economic factors and cultural significance, would you agree?

8. can you think of any other lexical differences? if not any signifant differences in dialect?

9. why do you think there is one ‘lexical and language norm’ that most people believe is the correct way of speaking?

10. do you believe that a language norm is dangerous to regional dialectes/languages?

SEND RESPONSES TO: [email protected]

Thank you for your time,

Charlotte Young

Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics
Lexicography
Sociolinguistics

Subject Language(s): French (fra)

Language Family(ies): French based