Map of the Word for ‘Plastic Bag’ in the Dialects of France

Arika Okrent
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Mathieu Avanzi, Français de Nos Régions

We Americans love looking at dialect maps that show us how our language varies from region to region, for example, maps that show the soda/pop/Coke divide, or how crayon is pronounced. But we aren’t the only country with regional differences. Français de Nos Regions (francaisdenosregions.com) brings together research on regional variation in France (as well as Switzerland and Belgium) and maps a number of word and pronunciation differences. Above is their map of the word for plastic shopping bag, which can be cornet, nylon, poche, pochon, sac, or sachet, depending on where you are. The bags have recently been banned in France.

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