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And French leaders face more than just condescension. When Jean Castex, who has a notable south-western accent, became prime minister, reactions were predictably patronising. But such snobbery can have serious consequences, notes Jonathan Kasstan of Westminster University. The political editor of France’s national broadcaster said Mr Castex’s pandemic guidance seemed less credible when delivered in his “patelin”, or village, accent.
法國領導人面臨的不僅僅是高人一等的現象。有著明顯西南口音的讓·卡斯特克斯當上法國總理后，法國人民的反應不出所料，他們覺得自己高人一等。但威斯敏斯特大學的喬納森·卡斯坦指出，這種自以為優越的態度可能會產生嚴重后果。法國國家廣播公司的政治編輯表示，卡斯特克斯總理用鄉村口音傳達的疫情指導似乎不那么可信。
In truth, some other countries are more like France than they may think. Beyond the BBC, it remains common in Britain to hear public figures belittled for how they speak. The liberal left indulges these prejudices, too. Alastair Campbell, erstwhile press secretary to Labour’s Tony Blair, mocked the Conservative home secretary, Priti Patel, on Twitter: “I really would prefer it if we had a home secretary who could pronounce the G at the end of a word.” Here snobbery is dressed up as concern for correct enunciation.
事實上，其他一些國家在口音歧視方面比他們想象的更像法國。除了BBC之外，英國公眾人物因說話方式而被輕視的現象仍然很普遍。自由左派也縱容了這些偏見。前工黨托尼·布萊爾的新聞秘書阿拉斯泰爾·坎貝爾在推特上嘲笑保守黨內政大臣普里蒂·帕特爾：“我真的更希望我們的內政大臣能在詞的末尾發G音。”他在這里將自以為優越的態度粉飾成對正確發音的關注。
But is a ban on such gibes the answer, in France or elsewhere? The case for one is that it would send a powerful signal: there is no rational reason to withhold a job or a loan because of an applicant’s accent. But a specific ban on accent discrimination may not be necessary. Donald Dowling, a lawyer at Littler Mendelson in New York, points out that, in many countries, accent mockery is already used as evidence of other forms of illegal discrimination, such as the racial kind. If you deride a Frenchman for an accent suggesting African origins, you are already breaking the law. In theory that law could be extended to cover (say) Breton origins without specifically adding “accent” to protected categories.
但在法國或其他地方禁止口音嘲笑會是解決口音歧視問題的答案嗎？其一，這將發出一個強有力的信號：因為申請人的口音而拒絕提供工作或貸款的理由不合理。但針對口音歧視的具體禁令大可不必。紐約門德爾松律師事務所的律師唐納德·道林指出，在許多國家，口音嘲笑已經被用作種族歧視等其他形式的非法歧視的證據。如果你嘲笑帶有非洲血統的法國人的口音，那你已經觸犯了法律。從理論上講，可以拓展法律適用范圍，比如涵蓋布列塔尼語，而不必在受保護的類別中特別添加“口音”。
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