journal of language contact 7 (2014) 3-35 brill.com/jlc Introduction ∵ French Language(s) in Contact Worldwide History, Space, System, and other Ecological Parameters Françoise Gadet Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense & CNRS MoDyCo
[email protected] Ralph Ludwig Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
[email protected] Abstract The awareness of language that culminated in France with the French Revolution has remained dominant till the present day: a nation une et indivisible corresponds to a concept of the national language as a homogenous entity, self-sufficient and free from outside and dialectal influences. This conception is contradicted by two historical facts, however. Firstly, various waves of language contact were constitutive of the emergence and development of the French language from the very beginning. Secondly, a new structure of varieties developed through the colonial expansion of France outside Europe, in which many forms of language contact are of significant importance. The best way to capture this diversity adequately is to adhere to a broadly ecological approach (linguistic ecology) that takes into account various parameters, such as history, social context, competence, and universals. This is demonstrated with samples of transcribed speech from Togo, Guadeloupe and Nova Scotia. The linguistic ecology approach is the guiding principle of all the articles in this volume. * The authors would especially like to thank France Martineau and Steve Pagel for their in- sightful remarks and stimulating discussions. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2014 | doi 10.1163/19552629-00701002Downloaded from Brill.com09/27/2021 09:50:50AM via free access <UN> 4 Gadet and Ludwig Keywords francophonia discontinua – ecology – Togo – Guadeloupe – Nova Scotia – Ewe – Creole – English The often complex history of the French language worldwide has given rise to a great diversity of vernaculars all around the world, in what could be called (following the tradition for English) “colonial French” or “post-colonial French”, i.e.