Cajun English

Acadiana, the traditional Cajun homeland and the stronghold of both the Cajun French and Cajun English dialects.

Cajun English, or Cajun Vernacular English, is the dialect of English spoken by Cajuns living in southern Louisiana and, to a lesser degree, in eastern Texas. Cajun English is significantly influenced by Cajun French, the historical language of the Cajun people, who descended from Acadian settlers and others. It is derived from Acadian French and is on the list of dialects of the English language for North America. This differed markedly from Metropolitan or Parisian French in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary, particularly because of the long isolation of Acadians, and even more so of Cajuns, from the Francophone world.

English is now spoken by the vast majority of the Cajun population, but French influence remains strong in terms of inflection and vocabulary. Their accent is considerably distinct from the General American.^[1] Cajun French is considered by many to be an endangered language, mostly used by elderly generations.^[2] However it is now frequently spoken by even the youngest Cajuns, and is seeing something of a cultural renaissance. In recent years, due to influence from tourism and a resurgence of pride in their cultural identity, a new era of linguistic innovation for Cajun English has begun. Dramatic differences are developing along both gender and generational lines as for how Cajun English is used and what it means to be Cajun.^[3]

History

Cajun English is spoken throughout Mississippi and up through the gulf of Texas. Its speakers are descendants of Acadians from Nova Scotia, Canada who, in 1765 moved to French-owned Mississippi when the British took control of Nova Scotia. In 1803, however, Britain purchased Mississippi as well and, in 1812, declared English as the official language of the state. Despite this many Cajuns at the time, who lived in small towns and were poorly educated, continued to use French exclusively.^[2] This isolated them from British colonists, who often ridiculed them and treated them like second-class citizens. In the 1930s English was the only language taught in schools, but the Cajun communities still resisted the change, using French at home and in their communities. The combination of being native French speakers and the incomplete English Cajun children were learning during their inconsistent public education led to the advent of Cajun English, a fusion of both languages.^[2]

After World War II, however, Cajun English saw a severe decline in use, as young people entered the military and were consequently using English more and more in their daily lives. Meanwhile, Cajun children were beginning to receive better and more consistent education, which allowed them to become wealthier than the generation before them.^[2] At this time, there was still a lot of stigma associated with Cajun English and in order to achieve and maintain the new social status many young Cajuns now enjoyed, they abandoned French and Cajun English entirely in favor of more American cultural lifestyles and dialects. This shift caused Cajun English to become an endangered dialect. Many decades latter, the new Cajun generation perceived a loss of cultural identity and their efforts to recover it began the Cajun Renaissance.^[2] The corresponding upsurge of Cajun food, music, and festivities have been well received by tourists and are now supported by the local government. Although Cajun English has made a comeback, the bilingualism that originally created it, a knowledge of both French and English, has not. Cajun English speakers today typically do not speak French, and experts believe that it is unlikely that this part of the culture will be recovered.^[2] This shift away from bilingualism has changed the source of many of the phonological differences between Cajun English and Standard American English from interference caused by being a native French speaker to markers of Cajun identity.^[3]

Phonology

Cajun English is distinguished by some of the following phonological features:

• The deletion of any word's final consonant (or consonant cluster), and nasal vowels, are common, both features being found in French. Therefore, hand becomes [hæ̃], food becomes [fuː], rent becomes [ɹɪ̃], New York becomes [nuˈjɔə], and so on.^[4]
• As a consequence of the removal of a word's final consonant the third person singular (-S) and the past tense morpheme (-ED) tend to be dropped. So, 'He give me six' and 'She go with it' rather than 'gives' and 'goes'. And 'I stay two months' and 'She wash my face' rather than 'stayed' and 'washed'.^[2]
• Cajun English also has the tendency to drop the auxiliary verb 'to be' in the third person singular (IS) and the second person singular and plurals. For example, 'She pretty' and 'What we doing'.
• The typical American gliding vowels [oʊ] (as in boat), [eɪ] (as in bait), [ʊu] (as in boot), [aʊ~æʊ] (as in bout), [äɪ] (as in bite), and [ɔɪ] (as in boy) have reduced glides or none at all: respectively, [oː], [eː], [uː], [aː~æː], [äː], and [ɔː]. ^[4]
• Many vowels which are distinct in General American English are pronounced the same way due to a merger; for example, the words hill and heel are homophones, both being pronounced /hɪɹl/.
• [h'] dropping, wherein words that begin with the letter /h/ are pronounced without it, so that hair sounds like air, and so on.^[2]
• Stress is generally placed on the second or last syllable of a word, a feature inherited directly from French.
• The voiceless and voiced alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ often replace dental fricatives, a feature used by both Cajun English speakers and speakers of Louisiana Creole French (Standard French speakers generally produce alveolar fricatives in the place of dental fricatives). Examples include "bath" being pronounced as "bat" and "they" as "day." This feature leads to a common Louisianian paradigm 'dis, dat, dese, dose' rather than 'this, that, these, those' as a method of describing how Cajuns speak.^[2]
• Cajun English speakers generally do not aspirate the consonants /p/, /t/, or /k/. As a result, the words "par" and "bar" can sound very similar to speakers of other English varieties. It is notable that after the Cajun Renaissance, this feature became more common in men than women, with women largely or entirely dropping this phonological feature.^[3]
• The inclusion of many loanwords, calques, and phrases from French, such as "nonc" (uncle, from the French oncle), "chèr" (dear, pronounced /ʃæ/, from the French cher), and "making groceries" (to shop for groceries, a calque of the Cajun French faire des groceries (épicerie)).

These are a few other examples.

French-influenced Cajun vocabulary

• Allons! : Let's go!
• Alors pas : Of course not
• Fais do-do : Refers to a dance party, a Cajun version of a square dance.
• Dis-moi la vérité ! : Tell me the truth!
• Quoi faire ? : Why?
• Un magasin : A store
• Être en colère : To be angry
• Mo chagren : I'm sorry
• Une sucette : A pacifier
• Une piastre : A dollar
• Un caleçon : Boxers
• Sha/chèr (a is pronounced like a in apple) : Dear or darling - also used as "buddy" or "pal"
• Mais non, chèr ! : Of course not, dear!

Some variations from Standard English

There are several phrases used by Cajuns that are completely unknown to non-Cajun speakers. When outside of Acadiana, Cajuns tend to be made fun of for using these phrases. Young Cajuns are often jokingly discouraged from marrying non-Cajuns for this simple fact. Some common phrases are listed below:

In popular culture

Resources

• PBS American Accent series - Cajun

References

Bibliography

• Dubois, Sylvia; Horvath, Barbara (2004). Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W., eds. "Cajun Vernacular English: phonology". A Handbook of Varieties of English: A Multimedia Reference Tool. New York: Mouton de Gruyter.
• Valdman, Albert (2009). Dictionary of Louisiana French. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781604734034.

See also

• Acadia, former home of the Cajuns, located in what is now eastern Canada
• Acadiana, A 22-parish region in southern Louisiana
• Acadian French, the dialect of French from which Cajun French derives
• American English
• Cajun
• Cajun French
• Dialects of the English Language
• Franglais, a term sometimes used to describe a mixed vernacular of French and English
• Louisiana Creole French, a French-based creole which has had some influence on Cajun French and English
• Yat, another Louisiana dialect of English