Acadian-Cajun Genealogy and History website

http://www.acadian-cajun.com/

Acadian French from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Maine

Southwest Nova Scotia
Northern Nova Scotia

New Brunswick:
Caraquet
Dieppe

Maine/Madawaska region

Maps of Acadian Villages

Interesting maps here under the title "Cartes de l'ancienne Acadie" on the right side of the page.

Words and Phrases 5: Location

around  otohr / awtohr
Ah vah ahlih otohr la mayzon
We will go around the house.


next to   a cotih duh
Ah vah sahseer a cotih duh luh tsee garso[n]
We will sit next to the little boy.

on the side soo cohtih / soo luh bard
Ah vah sahseer soo cohtih duhl cabeenet
We will sit on the side of the cabinets.

Mo[n] cohtih fih mal.
My side hurts.

above   ah hoh
below  o[n] bah
Ah see twah a hoh eh lawt vah sahseer o[n] bah.
You sit above, and he will sit below.

beneath/bottom  soo
Shih la gawm o[n] soo mo[n] sooyih.
I have a gum on the bottom of my shoe.

in front of    on ahvo[n]
Luh shar ih on avo[n] lah mayzo[n]
The car is in front of the house.

behind    on areeyahr
Uhrgard on areeyahr twah
Look behind you.


close ohrah
Plont pah twah ohrahd mo[n]
Don't stand close to me.

far lwan
Ee res lwan lah bah
He lives far over there.

Ee res
He lives

there   lah
Eel ih lah
He is there.

over there
Sih lwan lah bah
It's way over there.

here eeseet
Ee vahvneer eeseet tuh jwan.
He will come here to meet you.

Against the Tide: The Story of the Acadian People

Available on-line for a limited time here.

Verbs: Être = to be

Être (eht) to be

J'suis (Shuh) I am

J'suis asteur (Shuh ah stər) I am now 

J'étais (Shti) I was--J'étais aprés faire quelque chose (Shti ahprih fair kih shawz) I was doing something

J'vas été (Ʒvah eht) I will be 

je pourrais être (Shpurih et) I could be

T'es (ti) You are 

T'es asteur (ti ah stər) You are now

Tu  étais (Tsee ti) You were

Tu vas être (Tsee vah et) You will be

Tu pourras être (Tsee purih et) You could be

Il est (ee-lih) He is

Il est asteur (ee-lih ah stər) He is now

Il était (ee ti) He was

Il vas être (ee vah et) He will be

Il pourrait être (Ee purih et) He could be

Elle est (Ahl-ih) She is 

Elle est asteur (Ahl-ih ah stər) She is now

El était (Ah ti) She was

Elle vas être (Ah vah et) She will be 

Elle pourrait être (El purih et) (El, ah purih et) She could be

On est (On ih) We are

On est asteur (On ih ah stər) We are now

On étais (O[n] ti) We were

On vas être (O[n] vah et) We will be

Nous-autres pourrais être (Neezawt ah purih et)

Vous-autres est (Voozawt ih) Y'all are

Vous-autres est asteur (Voozawt ih ah stər) Y'all are now

Vous-autres étais (Voozawt ti) Y'all were

Vous-autres vas être (Voozawt vah et) Y'all will be  

Vous-autres pourrais être (Voozawt purih et) Y'all could be

Ils sont (ee so[n]) They are

Ils sont asteur (ee so[n] ah stər) They are now

Ils étaient (ee sto[n]) They were

Ça va être (sah vah et) They will be

Eux-autres pourrais être (Ozawt purih et) They could be

 

Cajun, American, or both?

As a result of living on land (the Acadians saw the land as belonging to no one, just as their Mi'kmaq neighbors did) that became British territory, and then in Louisiana, land that was Spanish, French, the United States, the Confederacy, and the United States again, the Cajuns did not see themselves as "Americans" until the rise in nationalism during World War II. Until WWII, Cajuns identified as Cajun--they had been in what would become South Louisiana before there was such a thing as an "American." (American as in citizen of the United States of America) "Les Americains" were people who lived north of Alexandria.

Words and Phrases 2.

Animals:

un chat tigre (a[n] shah teeg) a bobcat
un chat (a[n] shah) a cat
un hibou (a[n] ēboo)  an owl  
un cabri (a[n] kah bree) a goat        
un cocodrie (a[n] kō kō dree) an alligator   
un taureau (tō rō) a bull
un ouaouaron (a[n] wah wah ro[n]) a bullfrog
un z-oiseau (a[n] zwah zō) a bird
une vache (an vahsh) a cow
une poule (an pool) a hen
une chouette (an shwet)  a screech owl  
une aigrette (an ēgreht) an egret
une z-oie (an zwah) a goose

Places:
(lah shom / lah salle) a room
(lah mayzo[n] / lah shahtō) house
(a[n] garaƷ) carport
(a[n] gahlree) porch
(lah shom ah sahsir / a[n] pahlwahr) living room
(lah shom ah cooshih / la shom ah dormih) bedroom
(lah keezin) kitchen
(lah shom a mo[n]Ʒih / la shom poo deenih) dining room (Cajuns didn't have dining rooms--the table was in the kitchen
(a[n] coreedawr) hall
(lah batsees) bathroom
(Vah lah cahmawd) Go to the toilet.
(lah clōzet) closet
(dih yawr) outside
(lah cor) yard
un parc (a[n] parc) park
(luh clō) field
(lih bwah) woods
(lih gra[n] bwah) forest
(lih bwah foorlih) thick woods
(a[n] lok) lake
(a[n] veevyeh / plahtan) pond
(a[n] reevyahr) river
(a[n] cahnahl) canal
(a[n] ree goe lih) stream / ditch
(an bootseek) store
(luh gran veelaj) city
(lah vihl) town
(luh veelaj) village
(lehcohl) school
(lah gran ehcohl) highschool
(lihgliz) church
(an mee ting) meeting
(loovraj) work

(Shoo gawn a... / Uhj vah ahlih...) I am going to...
(Ee lo[n] ihtih a...)They went to...
(Ah lih idvuhnoo d'lehcohl) She came back from school.
(Ee vah pihteht d'la ehcohl) He might go to school.

Words and Phrases 1.

Je m'ennuie (Shmawn wā) I'm lonesome
Beaucoup (boo koo) very much
plutôt (pee tō) instead
Vous-autres aller avec eux-autres. (Voozawt ahli ahvek ōzawt.) Y'all go with them.
Vous-autres vas avec eux-autres. (Voozawt vah ahvek ōzawt.)Y'all go with them.
Elle à est gone. (Ehl ah ā gawn.) She is gone.
El la fini (ah-lah feenee) She finished.
Arrête ta bouche. (ahreht tah boosh.) Stop your mouth (Shut up).
Je parle (Shpahl) I speak     
Ce livre icitte. (Suh liv ee seet) This book here.
Ce livre droit la. (Suh liv dreht lahl.) That book right there.  
gauche (gawsh) left
droit (dreht) right 

Deportation

Between 1/3 and 1/2 of all Acadians who were forced onto the British transport ships never set foot on land again.

Source:
John M. Faragher (2005) A Great and Noble Scheme: The Tragic Story of the Expulsion of the French Acadians from Their American Homeland. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company).

Cajun French--is it "proper"?

Also, supposedly Cajun French is more like the old French from the Poitou region of France (where our ancestors were from before they moved to Acadie), whereas standard French is more modernized and has undergone many changes. Acadian French is not a "bad" French or ungrammatical. It is an older version of French that was indigenous to Poitou. Obviously, Native American words were incorporated, and for Cajun French, Spanish, African, and words from other countries were also incorporated. Language is ever-evolving. What constitutes a "proper" language?

From the same website as below:
"'Real' French speakers will claim that words like asteur used by Cajuns for maintenant or "now" were made up and aren't 'French.' But my friend, Amanda LaFleur, who is professor of Cajun French at LSU, found the word (it's a contraction of a cette heure or "at this hour") in a French book from the 17th century."

Do Cajuns still speak French?

"As an example, Cajuns might use the word espoir (to hope) in expressions that in standard French use attendre (to wait). An elderly former nun who taught Cajun French told me that you might hear a Cajun mama cautioning her child while crossing a busy street by saying, "Espois!" Hearing someone tell a child "Hope!" instead of "Wait!" might seem strange, but think of it. If you are waiting, you're hoping for something to happen - in this case to cross the street safely, and when you hope for something, you are also waiting for it. To me this exemplifies the beauty and nuance of Cajun French."

 Source

Cajun names for boys

Common Cajun names for boys:
ʒ will be used to represent the French j sound.
Auguste (ō guhst)
Augustin (ō guhst a[n])
Octave (ōk tahv)
Joseph (ʒō zef)

Camille (kah mil)
Rémy (Ray mee)
René (ruh nay)
Basile (Ba[a as in apple] zeel)
Ignace (ee-nyas)
Jean (ʒa[n])
Jacques (ʒahk)
Pierre (pee air)
Jean-Pierre
Louis (loo ee)
Jean-Louis
Jean-Baptiste (ʒa[n] bah tees) *probably the most common name
Gaspard (gahs pah)
Solastie (???) *Often shortened to "Lastie / Lasty"
Sébastien (say bass tye[n])
Phillippe (fee leep)
Phileos (fee lee ōs)
Ambroise (am brahz)
Honoré (ō nō ray)
Virgil (probably pronounced the same way as in English, but with a Cajun accent)
Alphonse (al fo[n]s)
Adolphe (a[as in apple] dolf)
Alexandre (ah lex an druh)
Lucien (loosye[n])
Armand (ar mo[n])

Eustache (oostash)

Olivier (ō liv ee ay)

Martin (mar ta[n])

Placide (plah sid) 

Francois (Fro[n] swah)

Felix (fee leeks) 

Hippolyte (ee pō leet)

Eloi (Aylwah)

Clovis (klō veece)

Charles (Sharl)

Oscar (Aw skehr)

Théodule (tee ō dyool)

Léon (lay o[n])

Théophile (tee ō fil)

KVPI news in Cajun French

KVPI
Here you can listen to the news in Cajun French at 7:30am (Central).

“Hippy-Ti-Yo”

Taïaut / Taiyo (Tī yō) hound dog

Thought to have influenced the English “Tallyho,” which is a cry used to excite hound dogs when fox hunting.

The geneology of the phrase “Hippy-Ti-Yo” is complex. “Hippy-Ty-Yo,” “Hippy-Ti-Yo,” “Hippy-Tai-Yo,” “Hippitiyo,” “Les huppés taïauts,” “Tayeaux Dog Tayeaux,” and “Hip et Taïauts” are among some of the variations of the phrase and song. Origin of the phrase is suggested to belong to the Cajun and Black Creole cowboys of the Cajun Prairies, which extend west from Bayou Teche and the Vermillion river to the Calcasieu river. Lafayette is the largest city on the eastern border of the prairie, while Lake Charles is the largest city on the western border. East of Bayou Mermentau was corn and cotton land (due to soil type), while west of the bayou was ric

e and cattle land. Growing up in Evangeline parish, within the watershed area of Bayou Mermentau, I was surrounded by rice fields and cattle, however, when my parents were growing up, the land was used to raise cotton. The town of Ville Platte, county seat of Evangeline parish, has a cotton festival every October. So, land that was formerly used to grow cotton is now used to grow rice and raise cattle. Since the land is within the watershed, this would make sense, since it is sort of a transition zone from the land in the East to the land in the West.

Anyway, it is suspected that cowboys from Texas heard the phrase being used as they drove their cattle across the Cajun prairies to be sold in New Orleans (Kansas stockyards eventually became more popular). It is thought that such phrases as “Whoopie Ti Yi Yo!” found in the Western classic “Git Along Little Dogies (doggies?)” is derived from the exclamation “Hip et Taïaut” and its variations that were heard in the Cajun prairies.

Sources:
Bernard, S. K. (1996). Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues. University Press of Mississippi, MS.

Vidrine, M. F., Fontenot, W. R., Allen, C. M., Bosari, B., and Alain, M. (2001). Prairie Cajuns and the Cajun Prairie: A history. Proc. 17th N. A. Prairie Conference: 220-224, 2001.