Abstract: A person’s skin colour is a physical characteristic used to refer to this person.
This simple observation of fact is the starting point for our study of the word black
as it is used in French. This term, which only recently appeared in French, is
examined from the points of view of discourse analysis and sociolinguistics, and at
the same time, its mode of appearance, by borrowing, is analysed, as is the way it is
actually used in discourse (real attested usages). A brief metalexicographical study
was then carried out before analysing a corpus of seven years of the French press, to
prepare for a field survey made among high-level sports men and women. The aim
of this survey was to bring out the real language practices of the target group. The
important point was to grasp that to refer to a person implies that the speaker takes a
certain stance and expresses a viewpoint. Our attitudes, even the most trivial ones,
are coordinated by the choice of terms we use. Although both noir and black now
undeniably exist in French, the speaker should be aware of the usage attached to each of these words, as the respect for the other often starts by the way we refer to
him or her.
