I asked this guy I know who is from Quebec. People from France must see you as a real hick. He replied “yes, big time.” I then asked him about the cajun french in Louisiana. He replied, “I can’t understand them.” How different is cajun french from Quebec or French french? Can it be a different language? How does it compare to me trying to understand someont from say, rural Scotland? I can understand them if they talk slower and more deliberately. Give me a couple of weeks and I could pick it up. Any feedback?
I grew up in Louisiana, but not in Cajun territory; nevertheless, I can say that the dialects are very different. I once had the opportunity to observe a visiting teacher from Paris trying to have a conversation with a Cajun in their own dialects–each could catch about one word out of every three or four the other said, even though both were speaking slowly and carefully. They finally gave up and switched to standard English. Bear in mind that the Cajun dialect split off from the original French when the Acadians came to Canada. Then it split off from the Quebecois dialect when they began the long trek down to Louisiana–meeting and mingling with other languages and cultures along the way. I think (don’t hold me to this) that Quebecois is considerably closer to Parisian French than it is to Cajun. The difference is much greater than accent; I don’t know how long it would take a native speaker of Parisian French to learn to follow Cajun, but she’d have to pick up a lot of new vocabulary and give up a lot of old grammar. If you imagine a hypothetical pidgin of archaic German and Spanish, then compared it to English, you might get a better analogy–same roots, but different languages.
Last semester I took a French language and culture class. They tried to fit in as much history as possible (and actually pretty much covered everything) including Acadiana. Cajun French sounds so different because it is a very different language. The French spoken in France and Quebec, though somewhat different they are still very close, is Modern French. Acadian French is from the 17th century and is actually referred to as Middle French. Middle French came way before Napolean instituted the revolutionary school system in France and before the Academie De Francais was set up to standardize and preserve the French language (and they still do it today). The English took over Acadia (and renamed it New Scotland [later becoming Nova Scotia]) and then later forced the Acadians out if they didn’t become British (Le Grand Derangement). Many moved to Louisiana. As it was pointed out, since many different countries owned Louisiana (the Spanish, English, and French all owned pieces of it at one time) the Acadians were exposed to many different cultures and languages. So different words were incorporated into their language. “Cajun” is actually a derivative of the word “Acadian”. Many other French words were slurred or changed over the years as well. This happened especially after Cajun French was not allowed to be taught in schools and was actually looked down upon (you were lower class if you spoke it). So less people learned it and those that did only spoke it at home and quite often secretly. So the language also changed because it was not spoken regularly. I hope this answers your question.
Most of what you said was correct, except cajun-french is spoken regularly. I hear it all the time. My parents and grand parents, and most cajun people over 45 speak it. The problem is that the language is not/was not written. It was only a spoken language. So changes occur rapidly, but were not “corrected” by a public school based educaton system.
This is not that unusual. Think about many english speakers have trouble understand other english speakers. eg black-english or irish-english
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Most of what you said was correct, except cajun-french is spoken regularly. I hear it all the time. My parents and grand parents, and most cajun people over 45 speak it. The problem is that the language is not/was not written. It was only a spoken language. So changes occur rapidly, but were not “corrected” by a public school based educaton system.
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Sorry about that. But I forgot something in the end of my post. I realize that Cajun-French is spoken regularly now. In my post I said it “was not” spoken regularly. I realize it is spoken very regularly today. There was a revival of the language and culture in the mid-20th century. There was a similar resurgance of French and the culture in Quebec (known as the Silent Revolution). Since then the 22 Acadiana Parishes (parishes? I can’t remember if that’s the right word)in Louisiana. Sorry for not finishing my thought back there. I actually know people that speak Cajun. Have a good one.
You’re absolutely right labdude, the “problems” with Cajun French stem from the fact that it is a spoken only language.
The analogy I usually use (which you touched on) is that Cajun French is to French what Black English is to English.
Unfortunately, I’m an over 45 year old Cajun who speaks very little French. This is due mainly to the fact when I was growing up the school system was not pleased with so many Cajun children entering school speaking French and little or no English. Consequently, many Cajuns my age speak little or no French. (My parents would also use French as a means of speaking in “front” of the children without them understanding what was being said.)
Living in SW Louisiana, I get the impression that Cajun French is dying out. Most of my in-laws speak it - but only the older ones. Many of the local grammar schools have started “French immersion” programs, but they’re teaching textbook French. The local government here in Lafayette has started changing many of the street signs to French (e.g. Rue de Evangeline instead of Evangeline Thruway) but it kinda seems like too little, too late.
If you’re talking to a young person here, you’ll occasionally get thrown for a loop when they throw some random French word into their English sentences. That’s what Cajun French is fast turning into - twenty or thirty words that can be mixed with English.
My dad and his brothers still speak Cajun French to each other. In his family English is a second language, he didn’t learn it until he went to school. However, my mother does not speak Cajun, so it never got spoken regularly in the house, so I never learned it.
The same thing happened in my mom’s home. Her father grew up speaking Cajun, married someone who didn’t, and so their kids didn’t. It’s a shame really.
Anyway on the subject of differences, I took French in high school, and while it enabled me to piece together a few words Dad would say, everything from grammer to whole words seemed to be different. The biggest and simplest example I’ve seen is the French “Oui.” Of course you know that this is pronounced “Wee.” In Cajun it’s become more nasal - sort of a “Wah” sound, but pronounce way back in your sinuses. It’s hard to describe.
What ever any of you do, please don’t watch movies like “The Big Easy” and think that’s what a real accent sounds like. N’awlins people sound more like New Yorkers than anything!