Covid est l’acronyme de corona virus disease, mais comment a-t-on decidé le genre du mot? C’est simple. Les acronymes prennent le genre du nom qui constitue le noyau du syntagme dont ils sont une abréviation. Donc on dit la SNCF (la Société nationale des chemins de fer français) parce que le mot ‘la Société’ est un nom féminin. Si on parle de ‘Corona virus disease’ qui signifie ‘maladie provoquée par le corona virus’, on doit également dire 'la covid 19', puisque le noyau est un équivalent du nom français féminin ‘maladie’. Translation Covid is the acronym of corona virus disease, but how was the gender of the word decided? It’s simple. ‘Acronyms take the gender of the noun which forms the core of the phrase from which they are an abbreviation,’ according to the ruling of the Académie française. So you say la SNCF (la Société nationale des chemins de fer français - the French National Railways) because the word ‘la Société’ is a feminine noun. If you say ‘Corona virus disease’ which means ‘illness caused by the corona virus', you must also say 'la covid 19', because the main noun is the equivalent of the French feminine noun ‘maladie’ - 'illness'. If you have followed any of the francophone press over the last few months you will have heard or seen le Covid because it was being linked to the word 'virus' which is a masculine word in French, 'le virus’. Of course the word hasn’t reached many or even any of the mono or bilingual dictionaries yet, so there is plenty of time to instill the correct usage into the minds of French speakers and learners. However, the WHO has a useful link for the moment. https://www.who.int/fr/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/q-a-coronaviruses
0 Comments
|