This paper reviews the history of Cajun language and culture in the United
States of America and particularly in the state of Louisiana.
The Cajuns make up a significant portion of south Louisiana's population,
and have exerted an enormous impact on the state's culture. There are
198,784 Francophones in Louisiana according to the 2000 Census. They were
officially recognized by the U.S government as a national ethnic group in
1980 following a lawsuit filed in federal district court.
The word "Cajun" is the anglicized pronunciation of Cadien (the truncated
form of Acadian in French). There is some dispute over the origin of the
term Acadia; some suggest that it came from the name of the ancient Greek
region of Acadia others suggest that it is a derivation of the Mikmag
Indian word cadique, meaning "a good place to set up camp."
Cajun French is the term generally used to describe the variety of French
spoken in South Louisiana. It originates in the language spoken by the
French and Acadian people who settled in Louisiana from its early period
of European colonization in the 17th century. The Acadians were evicted
from their native land Acadia (the present New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and
Prince Edward Island, Canada) in the 1755-1763 period. This has become
known as the Great Upheaval or Le Grand Dérangement, because France had
lost the French and Indian war against England and the territory was now
in British hands.
Though linguists at one time distinguished between "colonial" French,
Acadian French and Creole French, the general consensus today is that
colonial and Acadian French have melded to a great degree into a "Cajun"
variety which can be distinguished from Creole.
However, even Cajun and Louisiana Creole have many lexical, phonological
and syntactical elements in common. Different dialects of Cajun French
exist in different communities in Louisiana. Though Cajuns from different
parts of the state can usually understand each other when communicating in
their local variety of French, certain words, features of pronunciation or
syntactical structures can sometimes lead to a bit of confusion.
Cajun French is Mainly a Spoken Language
Cajun French is a spoken language mainly. The old Cajun people who passed
the language to their descendants rarely went to school and when they did
they went to US school were they learnt English. In addition, at that time
speaking French was discouraged.
Further, because of the influence of factors such as cultural tourism,
easy access to French language media and modern transportation, more and
more Louisiana French speakers are exposed to European and Canadian French
through studies or human contact, and they often incorporate "foreign
French" terms into their usual language.
The vast majority of words and structures used in Cajun French would be
recognized and understood by fluent French speakers from other countries.
Where Cajun French differs from the standard, it is due to a variety of
influences similar to those which have caused regional variation in other
languages of the world.
Cajun language has evaluated from the original French from France. Some
words were kept from the 17th century whereas in France those words are no
longer used. Moreover, there is specific Cajun words which were borrowed
from Indian and African language to name food, animals and natural
phenomenon which were not known in France.
For instance, from English there is bifteck ("steak", from "beefsteak"),
from the Hindu and English, the word shampooing ("shampoo") can be found,
and from the Spanish word siesta comes sieste ("nap"). From the Choctaw
came chaoui to name a raccoon, a creature which did not exist in
Europe.
The French language was not "standardized" when the people who would
become Acadians left France in the early 17th century. A number of
different dialects were spoken in France at the time, and many of these
survive even today. Therefore, there existed pronunciations, spellings
and verb forms which varied among different speakers. After the creation
of the "Académie Francaise," certain forms came to be considered as
"correct," but the choice of one over another was as often as not
arbitrary. French speakers in Louisiana inherited some of these variable
forms, since they did not all come from the same regions of France nor did
they arrive at the same time.
Because members of younger generations in Louisiana don't hear French as
much as their parents or grandparents did, most of them cannot speak the
language.
YouTube Clips of Cajun Music
Cajun Radio
Examples of Cajun Vocabulary Translated into English:
Grand Beede'-----------Big clum
Saleau, Saloppe--------Sloppy, dirty man; sloppy,dirty woman
Peeshwank, pischouette (little girl)-------------runt, little person
Texians------------------all people who don't talk like us (a Grand Isle expression)
Mamere (or Maw maw)-----------------Grandma
Papere (or Paw Paw-------------------Grandpa
Nanan, Nanny---------Godmother
Parran--------------------Godfather
P'tit Boug, boug-----little boy,boy
Gaienne---girlfriend
podna--------------------friend,partner
Capon-------------------Coward
Couyon----------------A stupid person
Domion------------------a peeping Tom
Tahyo------------------a big hungry dog
Vieux---------------------old man
Defan---------------"sainted",demised,passed away,DEAD:What a dead person
is referred to as, for example, "Defan Pop" (Dear Sainted Dad "Pauvre
Defante (feminine form) Mom"--Poor Sainted Mom
Vielle---------------------old woman
Vielle fille----old maid
Neg........a term of endearment for a (male) person (Negresse is used for
females) Cajuns use it when talking to other Cajuns, it isn't used when
talking to black people.)
Bon rien---a good For nothing
Passe'-------------------------------Go away, dog!
Mashwarohn--------------------------Catfish
Faut carot--------------------------Big, black Grasshopper
boscoyo-----------------------------cypress knee
muspeulus---------------------------Japanese Pear trees
Leelahs-------------------Little balls from the Chinaball Tree-good object
to hit your friends with
Peekon-----------------------------thorn(the word"thorn"is rarely used)
Rocachah--------------------------burr on the beach that stick to your socks
gumbo------------------------------okra(African)
gratin---food stuck at the bottom of the pot
patate---------------------------------potato
rozoe--------------------------long thin reed used to make a duckblind
file'----------------------------------dried, powdered sassafras leaves
piss-au-lis-------------------------Goldenrods(it is believed that if one
picks goldenrods, one will urinate in bed, hence the name Piss au lis
un melon Francais----------------- canteloupe
scisseaux--------------------a type of insect that has pincers like
scissors
schneille---------------fuzzy caterpillar that bites and causes fever
castor----------like a schneille
pistaches--------------peanuts
moustique,maraguin------------mosquito
zirondelle--------------------dragonfly
peunez-----------------------stimugŠne