Celf’s official publication noted that “fake news” referred to various behaviours contributing to the misinformation of the public, and that it had rapidly taken hold in French.
The organisation viewed this as a golden opportunity to “draw on the resources of the language to find French equivalents.” In addition to suggesting the existing expressions “information fallacieuse”, “information fausse” or “nouvelle fausse” the Commission presented the newly minted “infox”, formed from the words “information” and “intoxication.”
The body’s official website confirms that these expressions can serve as a reference for technical writers and translators.
Celf prides itself on coining new words for French government and administrative bodies to use in a world where language constantly evolves and English is ubiquitous. Created in 1996, the language authority recruits its members among academics and important cultural icons, and much like the 400-year-old Académie Française, is a gatekeeper of accepted language use in the Francophone world.
France has long been resistant to the use of anglicisms, which are often introduced into French as slang.
For Pierrette Crouzet-Daurat, head of a taskforce within the General Delegation of the French Language and Languages of France (DGLFLF), inventing neologisms is all about giving people the means to express themselves in French.
This policy can be traced back to the Villers-Cotterêt decree of 1539 which privileged French, rather than Latin, as the medium of official communication.
Such a fundamental change ensured that communication occurred in a language that everyone understood. Noble objectives aside, the question is: will infox be adopted by French speakers, or not?
The reality is that French words vetted by linguistic gatekeepers often meet with mixed success. The word “courriel” or “email” is perhaps the exception that proves the rule.
Crouzet-Daurat is enthusiastic about “infox” at least, describing it as “very cool.” One point in its favour is that it does roll off the tongue, unlike other Frenchified expressions, such as “nouveau terminal mobile de poche” for “smartphone” or “l’accès sans fil à internet” for “wifi.”
To date, Celf has invented over 7,900 alternatives for English expressions, and each year about 20 suggestions submitted by Internet users are adopted. Only time will tell if “infox” is here to stay...
