France Bans the Term 'E-Mail'

PARIS - Goodbye "e-mail", the French government says, and hello
"courriel" — the term that linguistically sensitive France is now using
to refer to electronic mail in official documents.

The Culture Ministry has announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all
government ministries, documents, publications or Web sites, the latest
step to stem an incursion of English words into the French lexicon.

The ministry's General Commission on Terminology and Neology insists
Internet surfers in France are broadly using the term "courrier
electronique" (electronic mail) instead of e-mail — a claim some
industry experts dispute. "Courriel" is a fusion of the two words.

"Evocative, with a very French sound, the word 'courriel' is broadly
used in the press and competes advantageously with the borrowed 'mail'
in English," the commission has ruled.

The move to ban "e-mail" was announced last week after the decision was
published in the official government register on June 20. Courriel is a
term that has often been used in French-speaking Quebec, the commission
said.

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