Les significations sociales de la palatalisation/affrication à Marseille : processus ségrégatifs et changement linguistique

Abstract

De précédents travaux ont permis de dégager différentes façons de parler le français à Marseille, caractérisées par plusieurs traits. Parmi ceux-ci, l’affrication/palatalisation des dentales /t/ et /d/ semble être un trait largement partagé, et n’être donc pas limitée au seul « accent des quartiers nord », qui serait l’apanage de jeunes des quartiers populaires de la ville. L’observation de la production et de la perception de ce trait auprès de locuteurs de milieux sociaux différenciés semble montrer que sa distribution est plus complexe que prévu – ce qui témoigne sans doute d’importants changements en cours – et que sa signification sociale, loin d’être univoque, dépend beaucoup de la légitimité des locuteurs. Grâce à une enquête de terrain, à l’analyse de productions et de discours épilinguistiques, cet article essaie de montrer en quoi ce trait phonétique a priori stigmatisé est en fait révélateur de processus de changements sociaux et linguistiques, liés aux changements de la ville elle-même.

Indexicalities in the Multilingual City

“…However, Hansen (2015) argues that it largely goes unnoticed in her study of Parisian listeners and that it is more likely to index 'cité/origine sociale modeste' ('tower block/low income') if co-occurring with other more marked banlieue features. In Marseille, this feature has a strong association with the banlieue (quartiers nord) both in terms of usage (Jamin et al, 2006) and perceptions (Spini and Trimaille, 2017). It is also attested and indeed stigmatized in the regional French of Marseille where, according to Spini and Trimaille (2017), its roots are in the Provençal substratum.…”

“…In Marseille, this feature has a strong association with the banlieue (quartiers nord) both in terms of usage (Jamin et al, 2006) and perceptions (Spini and Trimaille, 2017). It is also attested and indeed stigmatized in the regional French of Marseille where, according to Spini and Trimaille (2017), its roots are in the Provençal substratum.…”

“…Other researchers have found clear ethnic and social meanings for such strong occurrence of palatalization on the part of southern speakers and listeners (i.e. a Maghrebi influence or mention of the quartiers nord in Marseille), especially listeners from Marseille (Spini and Trimaille, 2017), although Hansen's (2015) research suggests that palatalization is not stigmatized in Paris.…”

“…Precisely how the indexicalities of individual features might relate to this type of interpretation for listeners is not discussed. Where listeners' perceptions have previously been interrogated, such as in Hansen (2015) and Spini and Trimaille (2017), the focus has been on the associations of individual CUV features in specific regions, or on the perceptions of speakers who are familiar with the varieties, usually because they are from the region or city in question. In short, with regard to listeners' perceptions of features or combinations of features, there is little research beyond the user group and where indexicality is invoked, it is not central to the analytical approach.…”

“…This feature is attested in the CUV French of Paris (Jamin, 2005), Perpignan (Pickles, 2011) and Grenoble (Trimaille, 2003) and has no particular other social meanings. (Jamin et al, 2006;Spini and Trimaille, 2017). For example, Jamin and Trimaille (2008) argue that in Paris it is attested more frequently in young speakers of north-African origins than other speakers.…”