(Que)-Deletion in Quebec and Europe

Abstract

Using the corpora Phonologie du Français Contemporain (PFC) and de français parlé au Québec, this study tests possible contributing factors to deletion as identified in previous studies (Connors 1975, Sankoff, Sarrasin, Cedergren 1971, Martineau 1985, 1988, 1993) and compares deletion rates in and Europe. The first-person forms of the verbs penser ‘think’, dire ‘say’ croire ‘believe’ were targeted for extraction from the corpora. The sociological of gender, age and geography were tested alongside the linguistic factors phonological and syntactic context following (que), intervening material and choice using logistic regression analysis in Rbrul. The results show a rate of (que)-deletion in Quebec similar to the rates observed previous studies and higher than in Europe. The overall rate of deletion in the sample is 23.9% (N=63/264) while it is 11% (N=15/136) in Europe. All with a significant P-value pattern similarly in Quebec and in Europe.

Proceedings of the 5th Annual Linguistics Conference at UGA: 49-66

Published April 15, 2020