AFRICANISMS IN FRENCH AND FRENCH IN AFRICA: TO THE QUESTION OF MUTUAL PENETRATION OF LANGUAGES AND CULTURES

This article is devoted to the study of the role of the Africanisms in the standard language of France. Currently, the majority of the French language speakers live in Africa, and this trend is only increasing over time. The French language was not always native to the Africans. First of all, it was the language of education, documentation, business and interethnic communication for them. However, today it is also a spoken language, with its inherent spontaneity and emotionality, and at the same time it absorbs elements of African languages and cultures. This ambiguous position of the French language cannot but affect word formation. As soon as the specificity of the usage of the most productive word-formation models reflects not only the linguistic trends, but also the cultural peculiarity expressed in the language, the word-formation analysis of the Africanisms makes it possible to highlight the cultural aspects of the French language in Africa, on the one hand, and the Africanisms in the French language of France, on the other. While using the continuous sampling method for the evaluation of modern dictionaries of the Africanisms, explanatory dictionaries of the French language, as well as the lists of neologisms over the past five years, we have compiled a corpus of lexemes that came into the standard French from the African French. By means of the morphological, etymological and comparative analysis of these lexical units, we have identified the main word-forming tendencies of Africanisms adopted in standard French and the specificity of their use. Of special note is the active formation of simple verb forms, the characteristic of the French language of Africa, the simplification of grammar, the use of a large number of slang words. The words that came from the French language of Africa are mostly related to the vocabulary of everyday communication, reflect the cultural traditions of peoples (religious rites, family traditions). Borrowed calques of set expressions from different African languages testify to the special role of the human body in national cultures and interpersonal relationships. A large number of metaphorical reinterpretations and slang words unusual for the standard French language gives new imagery and emotionality to speech.