[1][2] The term parallels anglophone and francophone, which designate people whose mother tongues are English and French, respectively.
[3] The word "allophone" (from Greek ἀλλόφωνος allóphōnos "speaking a foreign tongue")[4] is formed from the Greek roots ἄλλος (állos), meaning "other", and φωνή (phōnḗ), meaning "sound" or "voice".
As integrating immigrants was deemed essential to assure the survival of French-speaking Quebec in light of plummeting birth rates, demographers devised this category to monitor the integration of immigrants into French- and English-speaking communities.
[6] Allophones constitute an increasing share of the Quebec population and are the main source of population increase in the province, reflecting both increased levels of immigration, declining birthrates among established anglophone and francophone populations, and a shift in immigration from English-speaking countries to Asia and the Americas.
Speakers of Arabic, Spanish, and Haitian Creole experienced the greatest growth from 1996 to 2001.