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Essay: Assess the depth in which Geneva is a francophone city

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  • Published: 15 September 2019*
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When one considers the world in which we live in today, we come to recognize the impressive multilingualism of different populations across the globe. At present, the French language appears to be one of the fastest growing in the world, with 29 countries having adopted it as an official language. Switzerland in actual fact has four national languages in total which consist of German, French, Italian, and Romansch. French has been considered as a de facto language in Switzerland, without being officially promulgated. The language is mostly spoken in Romandy, a territory of western Switzerland (Grin, F., 1998). The aim of this essay is to assess the depth in which Geneva is actually a francophone city, taking into consideration its history, its demo linguistic profile and its language status in various domains such as the government and judiciary system, it’s education system and media distribution. Unless indicated otherwise, this essay draws on material contained on the L'aménagement linguistique dans le monde website for Geneva (Leclerc, 2015)

Finding a specific date in history would be simply impossible to uncover in order to explain why the French language came about to be spoken in Switzerland. It dates back to August 1291, when three small cantons made an arrangement to create a Swiss Confederation. From the beginning, the main language of these cantons was German, however, over time other regions began to join the Confederation, sometimes against their own will.  It is important to note, however, that some Swiss regions which border with France have always spoken the French language, maintaining it even after officially becoming part of Switzerland. A city in particular which joined the confederation was Geneva. The process through which this happened is explained by Karl Baedeker, a famous German publisher. In his book Switzerland, he writes, “On the 15th April 1798, the French entered Geneva, annexed the town to the French Republic and made it the capital of the Département du Léman. The events of 1814 restored its liberty and incorporated it in the Swiss Confederation of which it became the 22nd canton” (226: 1863).  Looking at a map of Switzerland, we can see that the language distribution across the country tends to depend more on geographical location rather than on its historical past. We notice that Romandy, where French is spoken, shares borders with mainland France. German, another national language is spoken in the majority of regions of Switzerland, however particularly in those which border with Germany and Austria; and lastly, Italian and Romansh are commonly shared in the regions which border with Italy. It illustrates that perhaps it is the proximity of the neighboring countries which influence the language spoken in these regions and by default explains why the French language is spoken primarily in the regions which border with mainland France.

In order to examine the extent to which the French language is used in Geneva, it is essential that we also study the demo linguistic portrait of the city. In 2016 it was recorded that Geneva consisted of 198,979 inhabitants, 48.1% of which were male and 51.9% were female. Of this, 52.2% were Swiss citizens, and 47.8% were foreigners (FSO, 2015). Among 258,000 monolingual residents in Geneva, it has been calculated that 3 in 4 people indicate French as their main language which they utilize in their day to day life. After French, the other spoken languages are Portuguese, English, Spanish and Italian which correspond to the most common foreign nationalities that are currently present in the canton of Geneva. It is interesting to notice that German is the most popular language in Switzerland with 74% of inhabitants speaking it, however, in Geneva, it ranks fifth place in terms of languages spoken. This may be due to the fact that being monolingual only in German, inhabitants may tend to settle in German-speaking regions in Switzerland rather than the French or Italian.

Another useful study carried out by the OFS/ OCSTAT (Office Statistique Genève, 2013) has demonstrated the significance of the French language in the work environment in Geneva. It has shown that at work, French is the most used national language regardless of profession or industry, however, 84% of registered workers who use French as their main working language remain in the category “Directors, Executives, and Managers”. The second most frequently mentioned language in the survey is English, however, it is not used as homogeneously as French between the different occupations. The proportion of Anglophones is important among “managers, executives, and directors”, “intellectual and scientific professions”, “intermediate professions” and “administrative employees”. In other occupational categories, the use of the English language at work is rather insignificant. The last thing that the study showed was that half of those who speak Portuguese at work are professionals in the category of “direct service to retail, sales and professional service” or “skilled trades and crafts”. To sum up all the information gathered from this survey, it could be argued that the French language is used in higher class professions such as managerial positions and leadership roles. It suggests that there is a correlation between class and language, despite the fact that Switzerland is known to be a multilingual nation at the same time as a “model of coexistence” (Rutherford A, 2014).

The Swiss federal structure has 3 different political levels including the Confederation, the Cantons, and lastly the Municipalities (Bovey, G.M, 2006). The two chambers of the parliament in Switzerland currently consist of 71% German-speaking members, 23% French-speaking members, 5% Italian speaking members and only 1% Romansh speaking members. Nonetheless, it allows each member to use a national language of their own choice whilst communicating in the chambers. The Swiss constitution promises to provide linguistic freedom for speakers of the four national languages, especially in their respective regions. The way in which it does this is the Federal government gives each canton the right to chose its own official language that will apply to all facilities and domains within in. Sometimes, if the canton is bilingual, it will grant each municipality the right to choose their own official language, meaning that one town in the canton may be French-speaking however, the neighboring town in the canton may choose German as their official language. As a result, all domains will run in the corresponding language including the judiciary system, education system, and media. Given that there are several official languages in the country, the Swiss federal legislation must be published in each official language which is then used in the corresponding regions holding equal authority. Therefore, in the canton of Geneva, all legislation is published in the French language with equal authoritative power as would be in other cantons. The same applies to civil litigation and court procedures in Geneva.

In Geneva, the education system is also carried out in the French language, however, students are encouraged to study one other national language as a second language at the secondary level of education. Non-French speakers are encouraged to study the language by attending the "classes d'accueil of the cycle d’orientation" (CAGI, 2013) which provide French classes in order to improve their knowledge. Given that there are several national languages in Switzerland, it is not essential to know each one of them. It does nonetheless act as a barrier in terms of communication between the cantons, especially in the Röstigraben which is essentially an invisible barrier between the French-speaking and German-speaking cantons. Most cantons also have multiple educational establishments which tend to teach largely in French, however near the border between regions, it is common to find schools which offer education in German and Italian too. It should be also noted that while standard French is taught in schools, there is no uniform vernacular form of the French language among the variant cantons. The Swiss variant of French is characterized by some words adopted from Franco-Provençal, the language which was formerly spoken across the alpine communities of Romandy and maintained by a very small minority today. An example of minor differences between Swiss French and mainland French would be the word for seventy, which in France is said to be “soixante-dix” and “septante” in Switzerland.

The similarities of Swiss-French to mainland French mean that there is a more fluid international integration of Switzerland with other countries. For example, Geneva is home to a multitude of international agencies such as the United Nations, The Red Cross, and the World Health Organization. Incidentally, the general population of Geneva began to accumulate after 1945, since people became attracted by the international institutions and financial, construction and chemical industries which began to develop at the time. These institutions mentioned above also operate in the French language, as well as other foreign languages. For instance, the UN has six official languages which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish which represent the original member nations. When a representative of a specific country speaks at the United Nations, they must speak in one of the six languages or provide an interpreter which will translate for them. That is to say that general business affairs in Geneva also operate using the French language unless stated otherwise. Businesses and international organizations play a principal role in the development and functioning of a city, so given that the majority of business affairs in Geneva operate using French, it would be sensible to assume that the French language is generally dominant in the city as a whole.

The last domain which will be discussed in this essay is media broadcasting in Geneva. In order to understand what the most dominant language of a city is, one must assess the most popular TV channels, newspaper companies and radio stations in the city. Geneva is in fact known to be the main media center for the French-speaking regions of Switzerland with multiple sources of broadcasting and publication. In Geneva, the main newspaper is called “Tribune de Genève” which was founded in February 1879. Other common newspapers include “Le Temps”, “Le Courrier” and “Le Matin” which are all published in the French language (Jost, C. 2011). For example, “Le Matin” is read by approximately 331,000 people, followed by Tribune de Genève with 175,000 and lastly “Le Temps” which is read by 142,000 people. This shows that people mostly tend to read daily newspapers which are published in the French language in order to get the most up to date news in regards to various domains such as business, economy, politics, science, and entertainment. It also suggests that the knowledge of the French language is an essential factor in order to get by simple daily routines such as reading a newspaper, or for the purposes of basic communication. Another form of media which is very popular is a local French TV channel called “Léman Bleu”. A reason for which it is so mainstream in Geneva is due to the close proximity of France to the Swiss territory, thus, many French television channels can be broadcasted across to Romandy. Not only does this promote the French language to be the official one in Geneva, but it also causes inhabitants to instinctively abide to the use of the French language, given that it is largely monopolized in the city.

Taking into consideration the status of the French language in various domains in Geneva, it is my unequivocal opinion that French is a rather dominant language in the Swiss metropolis. The language is used in the legal system; including legislation and provision, in the education system; in the media, and lastly in the majority of the administrative fields of the city. The knowledge of the French language is essential in Geneva in order to subsist in the day to day life and it hardly differentiated from the French which is spoken in mainland France which proves that in actual fact, Geneva is ultimately a francophone city.

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