You have done a good job introducing Dusa to Creoles and Cajuns....now the masters level course, Coonasses.
Lol. Okay Class,
bienvenue à "
Coonassery 101: Makin' Groceries, Savin' Dishes, an' tings comme ça":
So is it plain French or mix with English? I know that probably isn't same as French in France today. Could they communicate with French People?
Louisiana French (LF) –
often called Cajun – is a dialect of French, not a separate language. LF speakers who are bilingual will sometimes throw in a bit of English here and there, but the dialect is not a mix of English and standard French. Remember, USMCRET's Great-Grandmother spoke but a few words of English; his father had to learn English in school. Neither of those things would be true had they been native speakers of some sort of
Franglais.
You're correct, Louisiana French is not the same as standard French. Our pronunciation, spelling, and grammar are a couple of centuries out of date and we've incorporated more than a few Amerindian and West African words into our dialect. We've also repurposed some words to denote certain modern inventions-- for example, we don't use
“voiture” for “car”. We say instead
“char”, which used to just mean “cart” or “chariot” in standard French and now can means (battle) “tank”.
But can we communicate?
Mais, oui.
You didn't answer my question. So what is Creole? More French, more English or combination of two?
Louisiana Creole (
Kreyòl Lwyzien)--sometimes called
Kouri-Vini-- is a separate language, not a dialect of French. It's similar to Haitian Creole in that its vocabulary is based on French, but its grammatical structure, spelling, and pronunciation have been heavily influenced by West African languages. To the point that it's no longer mutually intelligible with standard French. Here's an example of the same sentence in all 3:
• Standard French:
Je ne le vois pas.( I don't see it.)
• Louisiana/Cajun French:
Moi'j le vois pas.
• Louisiana Creole:
Mo wa pa li.
Note that neither of the two have been influenced by English, and here's why: Louisiana French began developing as a dialect by 1699 (The year Biloxi, Mississippi, the first permanent French settlement in
la Louisiane was founded); Louisiana Creole begins to develop as a language in 1722, when the first slave ship docks at Biloxi and deposits its cargo of Africans (largely from the Congo, Senegal, and Ghana) at Mobile, Alabama, and New Orleans. The first
Acadiens – who will become the Cajuns – start arriving in south Louisiana in the early 1760's, and refugees fleeing the Haitian revolution start arriving at New Orleans around 1800, which gives further Afro-Caribbean influence to the Louisiana Creole language. The United States will gain parts of the former Louisiana colony in 1783, 1803, and 1811; but will not fully possess
la Louisiane until 1819. The inhabitants of the most rural parts of this territory weren't even being forced to start learning English until after the Great War; in 1921, an amendment to the state constitution of Louisiana is passed prohibiting the use of French in schools (except to be taught as a “foreign” language).
There is such a thing as Cajun English, which is the mix of English and French (and other things) you've correctly assumed exists. That one is spoken as far west as Houston, Texas and as far east as coastal Alabama, but like Cajun French, it's centered around Lafayette, LA. It's still a dialect of English, but it's heavily influenced by French--- the grammar is non-standard, so it's not just an accent.
I wouldn't translate “black pot” as “chaudière noire”, but rather as “marmite noire”. Chaudière is more a boiler. Funnily enough in French slang a “chaudière” is also a “hot” girl (meaning a tart...).
