ALLOPHONE (QUEBEC)

:''This article is about the term used in Canada, principally in Quebec. For the use of this term in linguistics, see allophone.''
In Quebec, an 'allophone' is an immigrant whose mother tongue or home language is neither English nor French. The term is also sometimes used in other parts of Canada. The term parallels ''Anglophone'' and ''Francophone'', which designate people whose mother tongues are English and French, respectively. Note that native speakers of aboriginal languages are not considered allophones.

Contents

Origin of term

Demographics

See also

External links

Origin of term

The word "'allophone'" is formed from the Greek roots ''allos'', meaning ''other'', and ''phone'', meaning ''sound'' or ''voice''. The term became popularized during the Quiet Revolution ] as French Canadian society in Quebec sought to integrate immigrants, who had traditionally integrated into the English-speaking community. As integrating immigrants was deemed essential to assure the survival of French-speaking Quebec in light of plummeting birth rates, demographers devised this category to monitor the integration of immigrants into French- and English-speaking communities. Because allophones often adopt English, French or both languages at home or learn one language before another, they can be grouped into English or French communities based on home language or first official language learned.

Demographics

Quebec allophone population by mother tongue 2001 [1]

Language	Single	Multiple
Total
1. Italian	124,695	6,065
2. Arabic	76,285	10,245
3. Spanish	70,100	4,825
4. Greek	41,980	1,755
5. Creole	34,885	5,710
5. Chinese	33,490	705
6. Portuguese	33,360	1,455
7. Vietnamese	21,635	1,125
8. German	17,690	995
9. Polish	17,160	685
10. Armenian	13,935	405
11. Russian	12,420	355
12. Tamil	11,095	860
13. Farsi	10,495	395

Allophones constitute an increasing share of the Quebec population and are the main source of population increase in the province , reflecting both increased levels of immigration, declining birthrates among established anglophone and francophone populations, and a shift in immigration from English-speaking countries to Asia and the Americas[2]. In 1971, allophones accounted for 6.6% of the population; by 2001, the numbers had increased to 10.0%. Language groups with Arabic, Spanish and Creole as mother tongues show the greatest growth from 1996 to 2001[3].
Increasing numbers of allophones choose to speak French at home: about 20.4% of allophones in the province reported that they spoke French most often at home in 2001, compared with 16.6% in 1996 and 15.4% in 1991[4]. Most allophones live in Montreal, Quebec's largest Metropolitain area, drawn by economic opportunities. They tend to migrate out of the province: between 1996 and 2001, over 19,170 migrated to other provinces, a value closely mirroring the 18,810 who migrated to Ontario[5].

See also

★ Bilingualism in Canada

External links

★ Government of Canada, Secretariat for Official Language Minority Communities

★ Vive a trilingual Quebec! UNESCO