France's national linguistic watchdog, the Académie Française on Monday announced measures to ban the use of English loanwords commonly found in the world of gaming and esports.
According to a report by AFP, this is part of ongoing efforts to preserve the purity of the French language.
The term “pro-gamer” will now be translated to “joueur professionnel”, while “streamer” has been replaced with “joueur-animateur en direct”.
Other gaming terms that were given official French alternatives are “cloud gaming”, which becomes “jeu video en nuage”, and “eSports”, which now becomes “jeu video de competition”.
The changes, which were issued in the government’s official legal almanac Journal officiel, were made in coordination with the French Ministry of Culture.
This means the changes are only binding for government employees and not members of the public.
Académie Française acts as an official authority on the French language and is tasked with publishing an official dictionary of the language.
In a report published this year, the Académie said the growing usage of English and hybrid “Franglais” terms could have "disastrous effects on the French language", besides creating new barriers to communication.
“Many anglicisms are used in place of existing French words or expressions, inevitably leading to the gradual erasure of the French equivalents,” said the report.
“Aside from fashion and sport, the internet and digital field is unsurprisingly the most strongly and visibly ‘anglicised.’”
