Talk:Cajun French
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[edit] cajun french audio language course
i'm looking for a cajun french audio language course that costs $30 or less. i can't really afford to pay several hundred dollars for one. Gringo300 20:45, 10 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "Je suis pris"
Past tense constructions are almost all made using the verb avoir (to have) in Cajun French whereas there are a few important verbs whose compound past tense is made using être (to be) in standard French. Thus, Cajuns may say "j'ai pris" (lit. "I have taken") where standard French would require "je suis pris," (lit. "I am taken"), or "il a parti" (lit. "he has departed/left") instead of the standard "il est parti" (lit. "he is departed/left").
Looking at past versions of the page, User:CharlesMartel and an anon at 194.82.145.2 made several changes to the first example. The point in the article is that Cajun French may allow an intransitive verb to be conjugated with avoir, rather than être. "Passer" can be either transitive or intransitive depending on context, and can be translated in different ways, also depending on context. In the sentence, "J'ai passé un examen," "passer" is appropriately translated as "to take," but in the original example, the intended meaning was "to pass by." I have included an unambiguous example in the article. --72.195.134.10 02:38, 17 July 2006 (UTC)Joe
Although the word "Cajun" is found in many French dictionaries as a French word, it is not accepted as a French word by Cajun academics because it leads to bizarre pronunciations of the group name in French (Cajun, Cajune). It is generally believed that the name in French should either reflect the Cajun French pronunciation of “Cadjin, Cadjinne” or reflect the accepted French spelling of “Acadien” (Cadien, Cadienne). The consensus among Cajun academics is to use the spelling “Cadien, Cadienne” but to retain the pronunciation “Cadjin, Cadjinne.”
- The version of French I am being currently tought is does not rely on "etre" for past tence. The version I am tought relies on "avoir". So that section makes no sense to me.-Rex Imperator
That's impossible. No offense, but I suggest you find a more competent teacher. 24.201.253.66 01:56, 21 March 2007 (UTC)
- About the past tense being made with either "avoir" or "être": It depends on who you speak with whether or not you'll hear the past tense of certain verbs formed with "être." Some areas of Acadiana have more speakers who use "être" and some areas of Acadiana use "avoir" exclusively. Either way, this is trivial information.
- I have no idea where y'all get this "je suis pris" business. Cajun French speakers don't use the detracted form "je suis." We use the contracted forms "j'sus" or "j'suis." "J'ai pris..." (I took... [something]) / "J'sus pris" (I'm stuck) / "Tu m'as pris" (You got me (stuck, stumped, etc.). RoyAlcatraz 00:28, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Influences into English?
How much has Cajun affected regional varieties of English? For example, I know that in the Southern US, some areas use the word "poke" to mean "bag" or "sack"—this is almost certainly from Cajun, on par with Jèrriais (Norman) "pouque", of the same meaning. Also, do we have any speakership statistics on Cajun? The Jade Knight 06:29, 12 August 2006 (UTC)
Actually, poke was used in 15th century England to mean "bag" or "sack." The OED mentions Icelandic poki, Gaelic poc, and French poche as possible roots. GenericGabriel 23:50, 5 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Wikipedia in Cajun French?
Why isn't there any Wikipedia in Cajun French yet? It's time to start one, isn't it? Aaker 18:58, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
I would really like to see a Louisiana French version of Wikipedia with articles written in Louisiana French. However, this brings up the question of who will write articles for the Louisiana French version of Wikipedia? This would also invite vandalism from International French speakers who want to "correct" Louisiana French because it's different from their own French or they see Louisiana French as "bad" French. If you can create it, I'd be glad to write articles for it just to give it a try. It's worth a shot. I'm a native speaker from Terrebonne Parish and I know other people who would also like to help with a Louisiana French Wikipedia project. RoyAlcatraz 19:00, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
I agree that a project for Cajun French should be started. There is already a very active community so it would be easy to promote the Wiki among them.--Billiot 13:07, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Done, Anyone wishing to voice an opinion about starting a Wikipedia in Cajun French please follow this link
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_new_languages/Wikipedia_Cajun_French
--Billiot 17:04, 5 June 2007 (UTC)
Awesome! Here's a link to the Cajun French Test Wikipedia Cajun French Wikipedia
[edit] Differences from Standard French?
I would like to see this section deleted and new sections like "dialects," "sounds," "orthography," "grammar" and "vocabulary" created so that this article can equal the french language article. There's no reason that "differences from standard French" should even be in an article about Cajun French since the French language article doesn't mention "differences from Cajun French." RoyAlcatraz 04:47, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
This section is incoherent even to me, a Cajun French speaker. RoyAlcatraz 15:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Total Speakers
Can we really trust statistics that come from an organization whose mission is to make English the official language of America? Only 18,000 speakers? They must have missed a few hundred thousand people during their research. Something also must be said about the large population of people who are fluent Cajun French listeners who don't speak the language, but understand every word. RoyAlcatraz 02:57, 23 August 2007 (UTC)
