6 - Cajun Flashcards
Cajun English : origin etc
Cajun English is the dialect of English spoken by Cajuns in Southern
Louisiana.
- Cajun English is significantly influenced by (Louisiana) French.
- Various waves of immigration from
France and Canada - They brought with them a dialect descended largely from that spoken in
Poitou, in western France, with
Canadian influences → all classified
as a northern oïl dialects. - Including the Acadian people expelled
from present-day Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick during Le Grand
Dérangement (c. 1755-1763). Many
settled in Southern Louisiana.
The Cajuns: a short history
- The French-Speaking population came to be referred to as Cajuns No single definition of the ‘Cajun community’: rather subjective.
- Dubois and Melançon (1997: 65) insist on the separation from mainstream
American culture: - a different religion (Catholicism)
- A different language (French)
- A different cuisine (“Acadian cuisine adapted to the environment in
Louisiana”) - Different pastimes
- The name Cajun comes from the French word acadien → shortened to cadien in Louisiana, pronounced [kadʒɛ̃] in Louisiana
French, through yod palatalization (cf. [kadjɛ̃] in standard French)
- the spelling and the pronunciation of the word were anglicized and became respectively <cajun> and [ˈkeɪdʒən] in English.</cajun>
The Cajuns: Americanization and loss of French
They came to be stereotypically considered as “lazy, ignorant, illiterate, and
simple” (Hebert, 2000) after the Southern Reconstruction period (1865-1877).
One of the main reasons: the vast majority didn’t speak English or had poor
English
→ Early 20th century: original speakers of Cajun English, who had to adapt from a
monolingual French culture to English-speaking surroundings.
- Being either a monolingual French speaker or a bilingual French-English speaker
was long at the heart of what it meant linguistically to be Cajun
English became the sole language of education in 1929, French gradually ceased
to be transmitted to new generations because of the stigma attached to it.
- After WW2 : “many young Cajun men drafted into the armed
services began to be acculturated into mainstream Anglo-American values
[.They] believed in the inferiority of their culture and impressed their opinions
upon their wives and children
Revival of Cajun culture (and, to a certain extent, language) through “the Cajun
Renaissance” in the 1960s.
Date Cajun Renaissance
1960s
Revival of Cajun culture (and, to a certain extent, language) through “the Cajun
Renaissance” in the 1960s.
What stopped the Cajun culture from dying was the Cajun Renaissance (or Cajun Revival) that began in the 1960s within a socio-historical context that was
favorable to the expression of ethnicity and the promotion of ethnic heritage
(cf. the civil rights movement).
- “As part of this national trend, Cajuns launched their own pride and
empowerment movement” - In 1971, the Louisiana State legislature recognized that 22 Louisiana parishes
and “other parishes of similar cultural environment” had “strong French
Acadian cultural aspects”
The Heart of Acadiana was made the official name of the region.The
name used by the general public is simply Acadiana
- An effort to revive the French language, even officially
→ in 1968, the Louisiana state legislature created the Council for the
Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) = An institution that aims at fostering “the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language as found in the State of Louisiana for the
cultural, economic, and tourist benefit of the State”
An institution that aims at fostering “the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language as found in the State of Louisiana for the
cultural, economic, and tourist benefit of the State” ?
Council for the
Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL)
Cajun English as an identity-driven variety
Despite some success, command of spoken French has continued to dwindle in Southern
Louisiana, and “nearly everyone is illiterate in French”
→ the renewal of Cajun ethnic pride has had to manifest itself through other linguistic
manifestations in the past twenty years.
“The dilemma for Cajuns is that they no longer have the linguistic distinctiveness they
once had; those who want to mark their Cajun identity linguistically have only English as a
vehicle”
As a result, young Cajuns have started to use some features of the Cajun Vernacular
English of their grandparents, the variety of English that had been rejected and
stigmatized by previous generations, especially men.
A few words about Cajun English lexis and
grammar
The core of the distinctive CE lexicon is composed of French-influenced words and
phrases.
- However, given the history of Louisiana, CE has been influenced by other languages as
well. - For example, African languages : voodoo or voudou “a form of religion involving magic”.
→ The word coonass, “which has come to mean something like an authentic Cajun who does
not care what others think of his or her lifestyle”
→ Padna, regional slang for “buddy, friend” and is derived from partner
One of the most striking features of CE ?
the number of French-influenced words and
phrases that can be regularly heard in the Cajun community, even among monolingual speakers of
English.
- Some common words and phrases:
lagniappe “something extra provided by a shop owner to a customer”
fais do-do “a family dance party”
piastre “a dollar”
envie “a desire”
lâche pas la patate “don’t give up”
Mais and cher
Two particular discourse markers are frequently used in CE: mais “but” (usually
pronounced with a diphthong) and cher “dear” (pronounced with [æ] or [a] as in
Louisiana French).
