101-787: Louisiana French (Louisiana French: Français louisianais ; Louisiana Creole : françé la lwizyàn ) is an umbrella term for the dialects and varieties of the French language spoken traditionally by French Louisianians in colonial Lower Louisiana . As of today Louisiana French is primarily used in the state of Louisiana , specifically in its southern parishes . Over the centuries, the language has incorporated some words of African , Spanish , Native American and English origin, sometimes giving it linguistic features found only in Louisiana. Louisiana French differs to varying extents from French dialects spoken in other regions, but Louisiana French
202-402: A French-based creole at home. As of 2023, The Advocate roughly estimated that there were 120,000 French speakers in Louisiana, including about 20,000 Cajun French, but noted that their ability to provide an accurate assessment was very limited. These numbers were down from roughly a million speakers in the 1960s. Distribution of these speakers is uneven, however, with the majority residing in
303-516: A Roman Catholic priest , published A Dictionary of the Cajun Language the first dictionary devoted to "Cajun French". Once considered an authority on the language, it is however not exhaustive; it omits alternate spellings and synonyms that Father Daigle deemed "perversions" of the language but are nonetheless popular among so-called Louisiana French speakers and writers. Though remaining useful today, Daigle's dictionary has been superseded by
404-427: A nasal palatal approximant when between vowels, which results in the preceding vowel becoming nasalized. At the end of a word, it typically is replaced by /n/ or /ŋ/ . The table above shows the oral and nasal vowels of Louisiana Creole as identified by linguists. Speakers of the language may use rounded vowels [y] , [ø] and [œ] where they occur in French. This is subject to a high degree of variation with
505-489: A contributor to Louisiana Creole's lexical base. Over the centuries, Louisiana Creole's negative associations with slavery stigmatized the language to the point where many speakers are reluctant to use it for fear of ridicule. In this way, the assignment of "high" variety (or H language) was allotted to standard Louisiana French and that of "low" variety (or L language) was given to Louisiana Creole and to Louisiana French. The social status of Louisiana Creole further declined as
606-593: A creole music festival in 2012 called the "Creole Renaissance Festival", which acts a celebration of Creole culture. A small number of community organizations focus on promoting Louisiana Creole, for example CREOLE, Inc. and the "Creole Table" founded by Velma Johnson. Northwestern State University developed the Creole Heritage Centre, designed to bring people of Louisiana Creole heritage together, as well as preserve Louisiana Creole through their Creole Language Documentation Project. In addition, there
707-558: A creole, the precursor was considered a pidgin language. The social situation that gave rise to the Louisiana Creole language was unique, in that the lexifier language was the language found at the contact site. More often the lexifier is the language that arrives at the contact site belonging to the substrate / adstrate languages. Neither the French, the French-Canadians, nor the enslaved Africans were native to
808-455: A dialect of the French language . Many Louisiana Creoles do not speak the Louisiana Creole language and may instead use French or English as their everyday languages. Due to the rapidly shrinking number of speakers, Louisiana Creole is considered an endangered language . Louisiana was colonized by the French beginning in 1699, as well as Acadians who were forced out of Acadia around
909-455: A distinct French-based creole language indigenous to Louisiana and spoken across racial lines. In Louisiana, language labels are often conflated with ethnic labels, and Cajun-identified speakers might therefore call their language "Cajun French" even when linguists would identify it as Louisiana Creole . Likewise, many Creoles of various backgrounds (including Cajuns) do not speak Louisiana Creole but rather Louisiana French. Parishes in which
1010-440: A document from a murder trial in the colonial period that acknowledges the existence of Louisiana Creole. The documentation does not include any examples of orthography or structure. In an 1807 document, a grammatical description of the language is included in the experiences of an enslaved woman recorded by C.C. Robin. This was prior to arrival in Louisiana of French-speaking colonists and enslaved Africans from Saint-Domingue;
1111-486: A multimedia platform; Charrer-Veiller, a podcast (defunct as of 2022); LaCréole, another podcast; and Le Bourdon de la Louisiane , a web gazette. Poetry remains the most popular medium of literary expression, with poets such as Kirby Jambon and Ashlee Michot receiving international attention. As with other cases of language revitalization (such as Irish ), young Louisianians may speak a more standardized French than their forebears, having learned French both at school and via
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#17327652787721212-497: A nasal consonant are nasalized, e.g. [kɔ̃nɛ̃] 'know'. Louisiana Creole exhibits subject-verb-object (SVO) word order. In 19th-century sources, determiners in Louisiana Creole appear related to specificity . Bare nouns are non-specific. As for specific nouns, if the noun is presupposed it took a definite determiner ( -la , singular; -la-ye , plural) or by an indefinite determiner ( en, singular; de or -ye , plural). Today, definite articles in Louisiana Creole vary between
1313-495: A provision that was extended in the 1898 and 1913 constitutions to include secondary schools. In 1921, the new Louisiana constitution reversed the previous language rights and banned the teaching of French in all public schools. The constitution established English as the official language of Louisiana, which pushed French out of New Orleans to its current location in southwestern parts of the state. The education and religious services of Louisiana eventually fell prey to English, and
1414-518: A reasonable amount of schooling. However, the hardships after being exiled from Nova Scotia , along with the difficult process of resettlement in Louisiana and the ensuing poverty made it difficult to establish schools in the early stages of the community's development. Eventually schools were established, as private academies whose faculty had recently arrived in Louisiana from France or who had been educated in France. Children were usually able to attend
1515-608: A result of the Louisiana Purchase . Americans and their government made it illegal for Francophones to speak their language. In 1921, the State of Louisiana mandated that public education take place in English only. Children and adults were often punished by corporal punishment, fines, and social degradation. By the 21st century, other methods were enforced. The promise of upward socioeconomic mobility and public shaming did
1616-676: A sentiment later criticized by the Québécois poet Michèle Lalonde's in her 1974 poem " Speak White " ("Speak white... be civilized"). The French schools worked to emphasize Standard French, which they considered to be the prestige dialect . When the government required all schools, public and parochial , to teach in English, new teachers, who could not speak French, were hired. Children could not understand their teachers and generally ignored them by continuing to speak French. Eventually, children were subjected to corporal punishment for speaking French on school grounds. The punishment system (which
1717-674: A study of Louisiana French in 1959 and published in 1963 the book Louisiana French Grammar , which has been regarded as "probably the first complete study of a Louisiana French dialect". Conwell focused on the French spoken in Lafayette, Louisiana , and evaluated what was then its current status. She pointed out that the gradual decline of French made it "relatively common" to find "grand-parents who speak only French, parents who speak both French and English, children who speak English and understand French, and grand-children who speak and understand only English." The decision to teach French to children
1818-450: Is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana . At the 2020 U.S. census , the population was 57,576. The parish seat and the most populous municipality is Crowley . The parish was founded from parts of St. Landry Parish in 1886, and later an election was held to determine the parish seat, ending when Crowley beat Rayne and Prairie Hayes. Acadia Parish is included in the Lafayette metropolitan statistical area . The name of
1919-401: Is a misconception that no one in Louisiana spoke or wrote Standard French. The resemblance that Louisiana French bears to Standard French varies depending on the dialect and register, with formal and urban variants in Louisiana more closely resembling Standard French. The United States Census ' 2007 American Community Survey estimated that 3.5% of Louisianans over the age of 5 spoke French or
2020-452: Is an active online community of language-learners and activists engaged in language revitalization, led by language activist Christophe Landry. These efforts have resulted in the creation of a popular orthography, a digitalized version of Valdman et al.'s Louisiana Creole Dictionary , and a free spaced repetition course for learning vocabulary hosted on Memrise created by a team led by Adrien Guillory-Chatman. A first language primer
2121-408: Is chosen by some authors since it more closely approximates speakers' pronunciation. Also, use of the pronoun ils has supplanted the third-person feminine pronoun elles as it is used to refer to both masculine and feminine subjects. Similarly, all of the other third-person plural pronouns are neutral. The usage of -autres with plural pronouns is widespread in the language. In order to demonstrate
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#17327652787722222-501: Is controversial. Some speakers of that variety display a highly variable system of number and gender agreement , as evidenced in possessive pronouns . Possession is shown by noun-noun possessum-possessor constructions (e.g. lamézon mô papa 'house (of) my grandfather') or with the preposition a (e.g. lamézon a mô papa 'house of my grandfather'). Older forms of Louisiana Creole featured only one form of each verb without any inflection , e.g. [mɑ̃ʒe] 'to eat'. Today,
2323-644: Is likely that no speakers remain in these areas. The phonology of Louisiana Creole has much in common with those of other French-based creole languages . In comparison to most of these languages, however, Louisiana Creole diverges less from the phonology of French in general and Louisiana French in particular. Affricate The table above shows the consonant sounds of Louisiana Creole, not including semivowels /j/ and /w/ . In common with Louisiana French , Louisiana Creole features postalveolar affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ , as in /tʃololo/ ‘weak coffee’ and /dʒɛl/ ‘mouth’. The nasal palatal /ɲ/ usually becomes
2424-529: Is mutually intelligible with other dialects and is most closely related to those of Missouri ( Upper Louisiana French ), New England , Canada and northwestern France. Historically, most works of media and literature produced in Louisiana—such as Les Cenelles , a poetry anthology compiled by a group of gens de couleur libres , and Creole -authored novels such as L'Habitation St-Ybars or Pouponne et Balthazar —were written in standard French. It
2525-403: Is rarely used 2. nous is only present in formal language 3. eusse/euse is confined to the southeastern parishes of Louisiana Immediately some distinct characteristics of Louisiana French can be gleaned from its personal pronouns. For example, the traditional third-person singular feminine pronoun elle of Standard French is present but also there is the alternative of alle which
2626-521: Is spoken by fewer than 6,000 people. Though national census data includes figures on language usage, these are often unreliable in Louisiana due to respondents' tendencies to identify their language in line with their ethnic identity. For example, speakers of Louisiana Creole who identify as Cajuns often label their language 'Cajun French', though on linguistic grounds their language would be considered Louisiana Creole. Efforts to revitalize French in Louisiana have placed emphasis on Cajun French , to
2727-504: Is still hope. Similarly, the state legislature passed the Louisiana French Language Services Act in 2011 with particular mention to cultural tourism, local culture, and heritage. The bill sets forth that each branch of the state government shall take necessary action to identify employees who are proficient in French. Each branch of the state government is to take necessary steps in producing services in
2828-614: Is the centerpiece of a communal supper and dance. Acadia Parish is served by Acadia Parish Schools . Acadia Parish is also served by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lafayette with five schools: Additionally, Acadia Parish is served by one unaffiliated private school: Acadia Parish is served by two institutions of higher education: Acadia Parish Library operates branches in the parish. C Company 3-156TH Infantry Battalion resides in Crowley, Louisiana. As part of
2929-459: Is typical for many language contact situations. Code-switching was once viewed as a sign of poor education, but it is now understood to be an indication of proficiency in the two different languages that a speaker uses. Fluent Louisiana French speakers frequently alternate between French, English, and Creole, but less proficient speakers usually do not. From a lexical perspective, Louisiana French differs little from other varieties of French spoken in
3030-618: Is used with such locations. This trend seems to vary by region since in Pierre Part and Lafayette elderly francophones have often been heard to say la Californie, le Texas, la Floride . In informal Louisiana French, most US states and countries are pronounced as in English and therefore require no article but in formal Louisiana French, prefixed articles are absent: Californie, Texas, Floride, Belgique, Liban , etc. Code-switching occurs frequently in Louisiana French but this
3131-503: The 2020 United States census , there were 57,576 people, 22,236 households, and 15,519 families residing in the parish. At the 2010 United States census , 61,773 people were residing in the parish, and 58,861 people at the 2000 United States census . In 2019, the American Community Survey estimated 62,045 people lived in the parish. According to the 2019 American Community Survey, the racial and ethnic makeup of
Louisiana French - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-512: The Dictionary of Louisiana French (2010), edited by Albert Valdman and other authorities on the language. Beginning in the 1990s, various signage, packaging, and documentation in French became present throughout the state. State and local tourism bureau commissions were influential in convincing city, parish and state officials to produce bilingual signage and documentation. French and English bilingual signage is, therefore, usually confined to
3333-612: The French colonial empire namely Canada , France , and the French West Indies . Eventually, with the consistent relations built between the Native American tribes and francophones, new vocabulary was adopted into the colonial language. For example, something of a "French-Choctaw patois" is said to have developed primarily among Louisiana's Afro-French population and métis Creoles with a large portion of its vocabulary said to be of Native American origin. Prior to
3434-698: The ISO basic Latin alphabet (not including c , q , or x ) and several special letters and diacritics . Catholic prayers are recited in French by speakers of Louisiana Creole. Today, some language activists and learners are leading efforts to translate the prayers. Nouzòt Popá, ki dan syèl-la Tokin nom, li sinkifyè, N'ap spéré pou to rwayonm arivé, é n'a fé ça t'olé dan syèl; parèy si latær Donné-nou jordi dipin tou-lé-jou, é pardon nouzòt péshé paréy nou pardon lê moun ki fé nouzòt sikombé tentasyon-la, Mé délivré nou depi mal. Acadia Parish, Louisiana Acadia Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Acadie )
3535-709: The International Rice Festival in Crowley, Frog Festival in Rayne, and Buggy Festival in Church Point. Cajun food and music , both specialties of the local population, feature prominently in these festivals. Several communities in Acadia Parish celebrate the tradition of Courir de Mardi Gras . Disguised with masks and costumes, Cajuns travel through their rural neighborhoods, making merry while begging for gumbo ingredients. The gumbo
3636-647: The Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie . Since Louisiana joined the Francophonie, new organizations have launched to help revitalize Louisiana French, including the Nous Foundation. Grassroots initiatives remain popular among francophone subsections of Louisianian society, often organized through online platforms such as Facebook. French-language initiatives founded in the late 2010s and early 2020s include Télé-Louisiane,
3737-506: The Université Laval argues that the state of Louisiana's shift, from an anti-French stance to one of soft promotion has been of great importance to the survival of the language. The article states that it is advantageous to invigorate the revival of the language, to better cherish the state's rich heritage, and to protect a francophone minority that has suffered greatly from negligence by political and religious leaders. Furthermore,
3838-527: The le , la and lê , placed before the noun as in Louisiana French , and post-positional definite determiners - la for the singular, and - yé for the plural. This variation is but one example of the influence of Louisiana French on Louisiana Creole, especially in the variety spoken along the Bayou Têche which has been characterized by some linguists as decreolized , though this notion
3939-474: The 'American way of life' had a massive impact on Cajun children: census data shows that the use of Cajun French as a first language dropped 17 percent for Cajuns born during US involvement in WW2, the single largest decrease since the beginning of the 20th century, and also resulted in the practice of punishing Cajun students for speaking French at school. Marilyn J. Conwell of Pennsylvania State University conducted
4040-458: The 1845 and 1852 constitutions required all laws to be written in both English and French. The 1864 Louisiana constitution abandoned the dual language requirement and directed public instruction to be conducted in English, although Article 128 prohibited the state from barring French speakers from public office. The post-Civil War constitution of 1868 further stated that "no laws shall require judicial process to be issued in any [language] other than
4141-482: The 19th century until the start of the American Civil War , bringing large numbers of francophones speaking something more similar to today's Metropolitan French. Over time, through contact between different ethnic groups, the various dialects converged to produce what we know as Louisiana French. The 1845 Louisiana constitution permitted any legislator to address the body in either English or French, and
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4242-1210: The Baptist parishes. There once were Creolophones in Natchitoches Parish on Cane River and sizable communities of Louisiana Creole-speakers in adjacent Southeast Texas ( Beaumont , Houston , Port Arthur , Galveston ) and the Chicago area. Natchitoches, being the oldest colonial settlement in Louisiana, proved to be predominantly creole since its inception. Native inhabitants of the local area Louisiana Creole speakers in California reside in Los Angeles , San Diego and San Bernardino counties and in Northern California ( San Francisco Bay Area , Sacramento County , Plumas County , Tehama County , Mono County , and Yuba County ). Historically, there were Creole-speaking communities in Mississippi and Alabama (on Mon Louis Island ); however, it
4343-632: The English language". However, French was still the most spoken language in many parishes of Louisiana, and the constitution of 1879 adjusted the previous restrictions to require that laws "be promulgated and preserved in the English language; but the General Assembly may provide for the publication of the laws in the French Language, and prescribe that judicial advertisements in certain designated cities and parishes…be made in that language." It also allowed primary school to teach in French,
4444-506: The European settlers, including those white Creoles born in the colony. In the case of Louisiana Creole, a diglossia resulted between Louisiana Creole and Louisiana French. Michael Picone, a lexicographer, proposed the term "Plantation Society French" to describe a version of French which he associated with plantation owners, plantation overseers, small landowners, military officers/soldiers and bilingual, free people of color , as being
4545-414: The French language for both locals and visitors. This bill is, however, an unfunded state mandate. The legislative act was drafted and presented by francophone and francophile senators and representatives as it asserts that the French language is vital to the economy of the state. In October 2018, through an initiative launched by Scott Tilton and Rudy Bazenet, Louisiana became the first U.S. state to join
4646-512: The French, then, in statehood after 1812, took on its modern form. By the time of the Louisiana Purchase by the U.S in 1803, the boundaries came to include most of the Central United States, ranging from present-day Montana; parts of North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado; all of South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas; part of Southeast Texas; all of Oklahoma; most of Missouri and Arkansas; as well as Louisiana. In 1978, researchers located
4747-566: The French-speaking inhabitants to France. From there, some joined others who had migrated directly to the French colony of La Louisiane (Louisiana) in what was known as the Great Upheaval . (see Cajuns ). The parish was formed from the southwestern portion of St. Landry Parish, Louisiana . On May 19, 1886, a bill was introduced in the Louisiana state house entitled "An act to create the parish of Nicholls, and to provide for
4848-469: The French-speaking population has shifted from 26,796 to 14,493 individuals. Louisiana French-speaking populations can also be found in southern Mississippi and Alabama, as well as pockets in other parts of the United States. Despite ample time for Louisiana French to diverge, the basic grammatical core of the language remains similar or the same as Standard French. Even so, it can be expected that
4949-526: The Louisiana French language would survive into another generation. Some residents of Acadiana are bilingual though, having learned French at home and English in school. Currently, Louisiana French is considered an endangered language . The war compelled many Cajun people to leave their home state of Louisiana for the first time and serve in the military. Cajun GIs most of whom could neither speak nor understand English encountered solely English-speaking Americans, but learned it in order to serve and survive in
5050-541: The Louisiana governor is granted the authorization "to establish the Council for the Development of Louisiana-French" and that the agency is to consist of no more than fifty members, including a chairman. The name was soon changed to CODOFIL and was granted the power to "do anything possible and necessary to encourage the development, usage and preservation of French as it exists in Louisiana". In 1984, Jules O. Daigle,
5151-539: The area; this fact categorizes Louisiana Creole as a contact language that arose between exogenous ethnicities. Once the pidgin tongue was transmitted to the next generation as a lingua franca (who were considered the first native speakers of the new grammar), it could effectively be classified as a creole language . No standard name for the language has existed historically. In the language, community members in various areas of Louisiana and elsewhere have referred to it by many expressions, though Kréyol/Kréyòl has been
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#17327652787725252-581: The chicken's neck. And on Sunday, well, Sunday, that was our best day for eating well. My mother would freeze some chicken and we would have some poutine of croquettes. Louisiana Creole language Louisiana Creole is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the U.S. state of Louisiana . Also known as Kouri-Vini , it is spoken today by people who may racially identify as white , black , mixed , and Native American , as well as Cajun and Creole . It should not be confused with its sister language, Louisiana French ,
5353-429: The children would have a better life in an English-speaking nation. As of 2011, there were an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people in Louisiana who spoke French. By comparison, there were an estimated one million native French-speakers in Louisiana in about 1968. While French is now taught in schools, the local dialect is now at risk of extinction as children are no longer taught it. As of 2007, there were questions whether
5454-489: The colonial era to the early twentieth century, it would be unusual to see de le used in place of du , or de les in place of des. Place names in Louisiana French may differ from those in Standard French. For instance, locales named for American Indian tribes usually use the plural article les instead of the masculine or feminine singular articles le or la . Likewise, the contraction aux ( à and les )
5555-411: The creation of the parish, with 2,516 votes for and 1,521 votes against the creation. The population of the new parish was from 10,000 to 12,000. Acadia Parish population in 1890 was 13,231. After a close election held on March 1, 1887, Crowley was chosen as the parish seat , gathering 698 votes to Rayne's and Prairie Hayes' 560 and 519, respectively. The election also determined the first officers in
5656-573: The dialect is still found include Acadia , Allen , Ascension , Assumption , Avoyelles , Cameron , Evangeline , Iberia , Jefferson Davis , Lafayette , Lafourche , St. Landry , St. Martin , St. Mary , Terrebonne , Pointe Coupée , Vermilion , and other parishes of southern Louisiana. Starting in the second half of the 17th century, several trading posts were established in Lower Louisiana ( French : Basse-Louisiane ) eventually giving way to greater French colonial aspirations with
5757-406: The domains folklore and Voodoo , the language has a small number of vocabulary items from west and central African languages. Much of this non-French vocabulary is shared with other French-based creole languages of North America, and Louisiana Creole shares all but a handful of its vocabulary with Louisiana French . The current Louisiana Creole alphabet consists of twenty-three letters of
5858-531: The eventual consequence of speaking French was that speaking French became a sign of cultural illegitimacy. Parents viewed the practice of teaching their children English as the intrusion of a foreign culture, and many refused to send their children to school. When the government required them to do so, they selected private French Catholic schools in which class was conducted in French. Derogatory terms and phrases were used by English speakers to put social pressure on French speakers ("Don't speak Cajun. Speak White!"),
5959-543: The exclusion of Creole. Zydeco musician Keith Frank has made efforts through the use of social media not only to promote his music, but preserve his Creole heritage and language as well, most notably through the use of Twitter. Additionally, Frank developed a mobile application in 2012 titled the "ZydecoBoss App", which acts as a miniature social network linked to a user's Facebook and Twitter accounts, allowing users to provide commentary in real time amongst multiple platforms. Aside from social media activism, Frank also created
6060-549: The family began conversing in "French and Choctaw." Additional witness to this variety of French comes from J.F.H. Claiborne, a cousin of Louisiana's first American governor, who also noted the "unusual patois of provincial French and Choctaw." Starting in 1755, large populations of the French-speaking Acadians began to arrive en masse along the Mississippi River as well as eventually arriving all
6161-500: The form identical to Standard French and the use of -ont in for all verbs. The elision that is common in many aspects of French is accelerated in Louisiana French with the schwa in je often omitted regardless of the presence of a following vowel as well as the regular use of t'es (tu es) and t'as (tu as) as opposed to such avoidance in Standard French. The present progressive tense of Louisiana French initially appears alien as compared to Standard French but après/apé possesses
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#17327652787726262-472: The future of French in Louisiana is not merely a symbolic one. According to statistics gathered by CODOFIL, the past twenty years has seen widespread acceptance of French-immersion programs. He goes further to write that the official recognition, appreciation by parents, and inclusion of French in schools reflects growing regard of the language. Ultimately the survival of French in Louisiana can only be guaranteed by Louisianan parents and politicians, but that there
6363-405: The greater community. Among such youths, the influence of vernacular Louisiana French on their speech patterns varies from speaker to speaker, depending on such factors as ethnic background, socioeconomic class, exposure to francophones of the elder generation, educational level, political beliefs and personal preference. Given increased levels of education in Standard French and greater exposure to
6464-503: The international francophonie , it is likely Louisiana French will continue to evolve in this manner, with some traditionally Louisianian words and linguistic features being retained while others slowly fade. Reliable counts of speakers of Louisiana French are difficult to obtain as distinct from other varieties of French. However, the vast majority of native residents of Louisiana and east and southeast Texas who speak French are likely speakers of Louisiana French. In Louisiana, as of 2010,
6565-551: The language stated that it was used among enslaved people and whites. The importation of enslaved Africans increased after France ceded the colony to Spain, in 1763, following France's defeat by Great Britain in the Seven Years' War in Europe. Some Spaniards immigrated to the colony, but it was dominated by French language and culture. Like South Carolina, Louisiana had a "minority" population of Africans that greatly outnumbered
6666-504: The language typically features two verb classes: verbs with only a single form ( [bwɑ] 'to drink') and verbs with a 'long' or 'short' form ( [mɑ̃ʒe] , [mɑ̃ʒ] 'to eat'). Like other creole languages, Louisiana Creole features preverbal markers of tense, aspect and mood as listed in the table below The vocabulary of Louisiana Creole is primarily of French origin, as French is the language's lexifier . Some local vocabulary, such as topography, animals, plants are of Amerindian origin. In
6767-456: The language would begin to diverge due to the various influences of neighboring languages, changing francophone demographics, and unstable opportunities for education. Furthermore, Louisiana French lacks any official regulating body unlike the Académie française or Office québécois de la langue française to take part in standardizing the language. 1. the formal second-person singular form
6868-629: The late arrival of the Acadian people in Louisiana, the French of Louisiana had already begun to undergo changes as noted by Captain Jean-Bernard Bossu who traveled with and witnessed Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne speaking this "common language." This unusual blend of French was also noticed by Pierre-Clement de Laussat during a lunch visit with the Creole-French Canterelle family. Upon the arrival of their Houma relatives,
6969-510: The mid-18th century. Colonists were large-scale planters, small-scale homesteaders, and cattle ranchers; the French needed laborers, as they found the climate very harsh. They began to import enslaved Africans, as they had done in their Caribbean island colonies. Two-thirds of the slaves brought to Louisiana originated in the Senegambian region, speaking Malinke , Sereer , Wolof , Pulaar , and Bambara . The largest group from Senegambia
7070-509: The military. Back on the home front, many Cajun civilians united with other Anglo-Americans to support the war effort by volunteering as air raid wardens, plane spotters, firefighters, auxiliary policemen, nursing aides, as well as participating in bond, stamp, and scrap drives. These activities which the Cajuns participated in promoted feelings of national unity, and drew the Cajuns closer to Mainstream America. During this time period, emphasis on
7171-536: The most widespread. Until the rise of Cajunism in the 1970s and 1980s, many Louisiana Francophones also identified their language as Créole, since they self-identified as Louisiana Creoles. In Louisiana's case, self-identity has determined how locals identify the language they speak. This leads to linguistic confusion. To remedy this, language activists beginning in the 2010s began promoting the term Kouri-Vini, to avoid any linguistic ambiguity with Louisiana French. The boundaries of historical Louisiana were first shaped by
7272-543: The old districts of cities, like the French Quarter in New Orleans , downtown Lafayette and New Iberia (trilingual with Spanish), St. Martinville , Breaux Bridge , as well as several other cities. Locals continue to refer to the place names in English and for postal services, English is generally preferred. To meet the demands of a growing francophone tourist market, tourism bureaus and commissions throughout
7373-477: The organization thereof." The title was later changed to read: "An act to create the parish of Acadia." Father Joseph Anthonioz, the first pastor of the Catholic Church at Rayne , is credited with having suggested the name, Acadia Parish. The bill passed the house on June 11, the senate on June 28, and was approved by Governor Samuel D. McEnery on June 30. On October 6, an election was held to affirm
7474-576: The parish is derived from the former French colony of Acadia in Canada (which consisted of the modern provinces of Nova Scotia , Prince Edward Island , New Brunswick , and much of Maine ). After Britain defeated France in the Seven Years War, they took control of their North American colonies east of the Mississippi River. They required ethnic French Acadians to take a loyalty oath and never got over their suspicions of them. They deported many of
7575-420: The parish spoke a language other than English at home. There were 22,236 households spread among 26,435 housing units. There was a home-ownership rate of 71.1% with an average of 3.31 people per household; an estimated 32% of the population living in the parish were never married, and 26.2% of households had children under the age of 18 living in them. The median gross rent was $ 662, and the median household value
7676-519: The parish was 77.4% non-Hispanic white , 17.4% Black and African American , 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native , 0.1% Asian alone , 0.3% some other race, 2.8% two or more races , and 2.6% Hispanic and Latin American of any race. In 2010, 79.5% were White American , 18.1% Black and African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% some other race, and 1.3% of two or more races; 1.7% were Hispanic or Latin American of any race. Among
7777-515: The parish: Elridge W. Lyons, first sheriff of Acadia; and R. T. Clark, first clerk of court. The first courthouse was constructed in Crowley and completed on June 30, 1888. It continued to be used until May 1, 1902, when it was destroyed to make way for the second building. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the parish has a total area of 657 square miles (1,700 km ), of which 655 sq mi (1,700 km ) are land and 2.3 sq mi (6.0 km ) (0.4%) are covered by water. As of
7878-464: The population in 2019, 73.8% were aged 18 and older, and 14.9% aged 65 and older; 7.0% were aged 5 and under. The median age was 36.7, and 27.4% were of French heritage; 9.3% were German, 4.2% English , 4.1% Irish , 0.5% sub-Saharan African , 0.4% Scottish , 0.1% Norwegian , and 0.1% Polish in ancestry. Among the population in 2010, 43.7% were of French , French Canadian or Cajun , 10.8% American , and 8.0% German ancestry. Approximately 10% of
7979-812: The population of Creolophones is distributed across the region. St. Martin Parish forms the heart of the Creole-speaking region. Other sizeable communities exist along Bayou Têche in St. Landry , Avoyelles , Iberia , and St. Mary Parishes. There are smaller communities on False River in Pointe-Coupée Parish , in Terrebonne Parish , and along the lower Mississippi River in Ascension , St. Charles Parish , and St. James and St. John
8080-661: The population of French speakers was approximately 115,183. These populations were concentrated most heavily in the southern, coastal parishes. In Texas, as of 2010, the French-speaking population was 55,773, though many of these were likely to be immigrants from France or other French-speaking countries who moved to cities and suburbs all over the state. Nevertheless, in the rural eastern-southeastern Texas counties of Orange , Jefferson , Chambers , Newton , Jasper , Tyler , Liberty , and Hardin alone—areas where it can be reasonably presumed that almost all French speakers are Louisiana French speakers—the total French-speaking population
8181-514: The relatively small influence Acadian French has had on the region, the label Louisiana French or Louisiana Regional French ( French : français régional louisianais ) is generally regarded as more accurate and inclusive than "Cajun French" and is the preferred term by linguists and anthropologists . However, "Cajun French" is commonly used in lay discourse by speakers of the language and other inhabitants of Louisiana. Louisiana French should further not be confused with Louisiana Creole ,
8282-542: The rest of the work, prompting many speakers of Louisiana Creole to abandon their stigmatised language in favor of English. Additionally, the development of industry, technology and infrastructure in Louisiana reduced the isolation of Louisiana Creolophone communities and resulted in the arrival of more English-speakers, resulting in further exposure to English. Because of this, Louisiana Creole exhibits more recent influence from English, including loanwords , code-switching and syntactic calquing . Today, Louisiana Creole
8383-400: The same function signified by en train de . Unlike Standard French, vernacular Louisiana French may avoid article-preposition contractions involving the prepositions de or des : Such contraction avoidance is a purely oral phenomenon, and written registers in Louisiana do not highly differ from Standard French. In novels, newspapers, government documents, plays, letters, etc., written from
8484-511: The same region, sociolinguistic group, and even within the same speaker. Examples of this process include: The open-mid vowel [ɛ] may lowered to the near-open vowel [æ] when followed by [ɾ] , e.g. [fɾɛ]~[fɾæɾ] 'brother'. In common with Louisiana French , Louisiana Creole vowels are nasalized where they precede a nasal consonant , e.g. [ʒɛ̃n] 'young', [pɔ̃m] 'apple'. Unlike most varieties of Louisiana French, Louisiana Creole also exhibits progressive nasalization: vowels following
8585-605: The schools only long enough to learn counting and reading. At the time, a standard part of a child's education in the Cajun community was also the Catholic catechism , which was taught in French by an older member of the community. The educational system did not allow for much contact with Standard French . It has often been said that Acadian French has had a large impact on the development of Louisiana French but this has generally been over-estimated. French immigration continued in
8686-580: The south-central region known as Acadiana . Some of the Acadiana parishes register francophone populations of 10% or more of the total, with a select few (such as Vermilion, Evangeline and St. Martin Parishes) exceeding 15%. French is spoken across ethnic and racial lines by people who may identify as Cajuns , Creoles as well as Chitimacha , Houma , Biloxi , Tunica , Choctaw , Acadians , and French Indians among others. For these reasons, as well as
8787-509: The state, particularly in southern Louisiana, have information on tourist sites in both French and English as well as in other major languages spoken by tourists. Many young adults are learning enough French to understand French music lyrics. Also, there is now a trend to use French-language websites to learn the dialect. Culinary words and terms of endearment such as "cher" [ʃæ] (dear) and "nonc" (uncle) are still heard among otherwise English-speaking Louisianians . An article written online by
8888-452: The turn of the century. French immigration was at its peak during the 17th and 18th centuries which firmly established the Creole culture and language there. One important distinction to make is that the term "créole" at the time was consistently used to signify native, or "locally-born" in contrast to "foreign-born". In general the core of the population was rather diverse, coming from all over
8989-493: The university's article claims that it is CODOFIL rather than the state itself which sets language policy ; the only political stance the state of Louisiana makes is that of noninterference. All of this culminates in the fact that outside the extremely southern portions of the state, French remains a secondary language that retains heavy cultural and identity values. According to Jacques Henry, former executive director of CODOFIL, much progress has been made for francophones and that
9090-418: The use of some of the indicative verb tenses in Louisiana French, take the example of manger , meaning "to eat": Some minor simplification of tenses is exhibited in the conjugation of the verb manger , namely of the plural first and second person conjugations which are inflected identically to the third person singular. Not only this, but the inflection of the third person plural verb form has diverged between
9191-526: The way to south to the modern-day state of Louisiana following the Great Upheaval . In 1762, France relinquished their territorial claims to Spain just as Acadians had begun to arrive; despite this, Spanish governor Bernardo de Gálvez , permitted the Acadians to continue to speak their language as well as observe their other cultural practices. The original Acadian community was composed mainly of farmers and fishermen who were able to provide their children with
9292-539: The whites and free people of color (also French speaking) were refugees from the Haitian Revolution , which had established the first empire in the western hemisphere. The statements collected from Robin showed linguistic features that are now known to be typical of Louisiana Creole. The term "Criollo" appears in legal court documents during the Spanish colonial period (1762–1803); the Spanish reference to
9393-792: The world. However, due to the unique history and development of the language, Louisiana French has many words that are unique to it or to select French varieties. † The Louisiana French expression is also used at times in Canadian French , with "un soulier" used formally and other expressions used informally. Il y avait une fois il driv ait, il travaillait huit jours on et six jours off . Et il driv ait, tu sais, six jours off . Ça le prendrait vingt-quatre heures straight through . Et là il restait quatre jours ici et il retournait. So quand la seconde fois ç'a venu, well , il dit, "Moi, si tu viens pas," il dit, "je vas pas." Ça fait que là j'ai été. Boy! Sa pauvre mère. "Vas pas!" One time he
9494-433: Was $ 118,000. The median monthly cost with a mortgage was $ 1,083, and $ 312 without a mortgage. An estimated 1,120 businesses operated in the parish, and the median household income was $ 43,396; the mean income was $ 61,465. The parish had a 52.6% employment rate, and 24.2% of the total population lived at or below the poverty line in 2019. Many festivals and cultural celebrations are held annually in Acadia Parish, including
9595-617: Was composed of 3,400 individuals. It is likely a substantial portion of the 14,493 speakers in Houston's Harris County are also Louisiana French speakers. With this in mind, a marked decline in the number of French speakers in Texas has been noticed in the last half of the twentieth century. For example, at one point the French-speaking population of Jefferson County was 24,049 as compared to the mere 1,922 today. Likewise, in Harris County
9696-662: Was driving, he was working eight days on and six days off. And he was driving, y'know, six days off. It would take him twenty-four hours straight through. And he would stay here four days and then go back. So when the second time came, well, he said, "If you don't come," he said, "I'm not going." So I went. Boy! His poor mother. "Don't go!" she said. "Don't go!" Le samedi après-midi on allait puis ... wring er le cou de la volaille. Et le dimanche, well , dimanche ça c'était notre meilleure journée qu'on avait plus de bon manger. Ma mère freez ait de la volaille et on avait de la poutine aux craquettes. Saturday afternoon we would go ... wring
9797-517: Was not dissimilar to the manner in which children attempting to speak both immigrant and indigenous languages other than English were dealt with in schools elsewhere in North America) seems to have been responsible for much of the decay that Louisiana French experienced in the 20th century since, in turn, people who could not speak English were perceived as uneducated. Therefore, parents became hesitant to teach French to their children, hoping that
9898-579: Was organized by the Bambara who were purportedly speaking their ancestral languages to plan the coup. Ultimately, Louisiana Creole did develop, with West African languages becoming the substrates to a varied French lexifier. The importation of enslaved people by the French regime continued until 1743. The language developed in 18th-century Louisiana from interactions among speakers of the lexifier language of Standard French and several substrate or adstrate languages from Africa. Prior to its establishment as
9999-636: Was released in 2017 and revised into a full-length language guide and accompanying website in 2020. 2022 saw the publication of an anthology of contemporary poetry in Louisiana Creole, the first book written completely in the language. A December 2023 article in The Economist highlighted revitalization efforts with the headline "Louisiana Creole is enjoying a modest revival," focusing in particular on language activists Jourdan Thibodeaux and Taalib Pierre-Auguste. Speakers of Louisiana Creole are mainly concentrated in south and southwest Louisiana, where
10100-706: Was the Bambara , who spoke mutually intelligible dialects of the Malinke . Also, the monopoly held by the Company of Indies in both Senegal and Louisiana may also have contributed to the Africans' relative ancestral homogeneity. Because of this homogeneity, retention of the Africans' indigenous languages may have hindered the development of a Creole in Louisiana. In fact, the Pointe Coupee slave revolt in 1731
10201-418: Was well-received since grandparents hoped for better opportunities for communicating with their grandchildren. The Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) was established in 1968 to promote the preservation of French language and culture in Louisiana. The Louisiana state legislature has greatly shifted its stance on the status of French. Since the passage of Legislative Act No. 409 in 1968,
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