Friday, November 25, 2011

STAYING CONNECTED

Me and my cybercarnet
In the officialdom of the French language, cybercarnet, rather than blogue for blog or Web log, is the desired term to use; just as carnettiste is what preservationists of the language exact as a translation of blogger, rather than the Frenchified blogueur or bloguiste. Need I mention the official term courriel? Its popular shorthand alternative, mél (imagine "mail" said with a marked French accent), however,  is what most people in these parts calls an e-mail.
Vocabulary
en ligne:  online
faire un petit somme:  to catnap
un somme:  familiar for sommeil, or sleep

Language as a national treasure
The French take protection and preservation of their language seriously, so seriously that a commission specialized in terminology and neologisms maintains an inventory of and oversees the introduction of new words officially admitted into the language. Terms the commission decides to be the French equivalents to new words and phrases coming from foreign languages are required to be used, rather than any other, in all documents emanating from state services and public institutions. See articles 7 and 11 of Decret no 96-602 du 3 juillet 1996.

©2011 P.B. Lecron

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