#offqc

hey so OFFQc is a pretty cool resource if you’re interested in learning more about the particularities of french spoken in quebec (and, to a certain extent, elsewhere in canada), especially since most language courses (in my experience) focus on “standard” french, even those taught in anglophone canada. the author covers everything from pronunciation to idioms to vocab and slang.

for instance, there’re entries like this about “tu” constructions used in asking yes-no questions

C’est cher. It’s expensive. C’est-tu cher? Is it expensive?

C’est bon. It’s good. C’est-tu bon? Is it good?

J’ai raison. I’m right. J’ai-tu raison? Am I right?

Tu m’aimes. You love me. Tu m’aimes-tu? Do you love me?

J’ai fait ça. I did that. J’ai-tu fait ça? Did I do that?

T’as appelé. You called. T’as-tu appelé? Did you call?

Tu is placed after the conjugated verb (c’est-tu bon?). In composed tenses (like the passé composé), the tu is placed after the auxiliary, not the past participle (j’ai-tufait ça?).

or entries like this about how quebec french turns alveolar stops into affricates before high front vowels (affectionately called “dzidu” and “tsitsu” by the author)

When the letter doccurs before the French i or usound, it’s pronounced dz.

Di and du are pronounced dzi and dzu.

When the letter t occurs before the French i or u sound, it’s pronounced ts.

Ti and tu are pronounced tsi and tsu.

To describe this phenomenon (and to help you remember), a word that contains the sounds dzi or dzuis called a dzidzu word. A word that contains the sounds tsi or tsu is called a tsitsu word.

For example, différent is a dzidzu word. It’s pronounced dzifférent in Québec. Tube is a tsitsu word. It’s pronounced tsube. On the other hand, doux is not dzidzuated and matin is not tsitsuated. That’s because the letters d and t in those words are not followed by the French i or u sounds.

In a lot of the pieces of media we saw in class, there was a definite theme of community. These works all featured varying forms of queer community, of people, brought together by their circumstances. Never are these communities portrayed as perfect or as model examples of what a queer community “should be”, but they are communities nonetheless. For queer viewers, seeing queer community on screen often evokes some kind of feeling from them.

Seeing queer community on screen fills me with a strange sense of longing. While I do consider myself to be part of communities both online and real life, I have a tendency to idealize the communities I see in media, even the pretty shitty ones. I see community in Boys in the Band and obviously the stuff going on there was super fucked up, but then I think about how much fun they seemed to be having at the beginning of the party. I look at Paris is Burning, and I know that it was a horrible time for all of them, but can’t help but admire the concept of community that it presents. I think “I wish I had that”, even though I have something like it.

Alternatively, the representation of queer community in media can give young queer people some comfort. Seeing people find others like them, forming bonds, could possibly give someone hope that they could find that too.