Acadian French

Not to be confused with Akkadian language.

Acadian French
français acadien
Native to	Canada, United States
Region	New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Magdalen Islands, Maine
Native speakers	(370,000 cited 1996, 2006)
Language family	Indo-European Italic Romance Western Gallo-Romance Oïl French Canadian French Acadian French
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	acad1238
Linguasphere	51-AAA-ho
Acadian French

Acadian French (French: français acadien) is a dialect of Canadian French. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec, by small groups of francophones in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, in the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a small swath of the northernmost portion (St. John Valley) of the U.S state of Maine.

Characteristics

See also: Saintongeais and Colonial French

Since there was relatively little linguistic contact with France from the late eighteenth century until the twentieth century, Acadian French retained features that died out during the French standardization efforts of the nineteenth century. That can be seen in examples like:

• While other dialects (such as Metropolitan French) have a uvular rhotic, Acadian French has an alveolar one so that [rouge] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) ('red') is pronounced [ruʒ]

• The third-person plural ending of verbs [-ont] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), e.g. [ils mangeont] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [imɑ̃ˈʒɔ̃] ('they eat') as compared to Metropolitan French [ils mangent] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ilˈmɑ̃ʒ], which does not have an ending that is pronounced.

• The use of [-ions] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (now only plural first-person ending of verbs) instead of [-ais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) as the singular first-person ending, in the [imparfait] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) tense: e.g. [j'avions] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [j'aimions] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [j'étions] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)... instead of [j'avais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [j'aimais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [j'étais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)... (meaning: I had, I loved, I was...). This was most likely due to the old pronunciation of [-ais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) endings in France before Louis XIV came to power, which sounded like [-ois] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in most cases (ex: [françois] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for [français] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [j'avois] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for [j'avais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), etc.).

Many aspects of Acadian French (vocabulary, alveolar "r", etc.) are still common in rural areas in the West of France. Speakers of Metropolitan French and even of other Canadian dialects sometimes have minor difficulties understanding Acadian French. Within North America, its closest relative is the Cajun French spoken in Southern Louisiana as the two were born out of the same population that were affected during the Grand Derangement.

See also Chiac, a variety with strong English influence, and Saint Mary's Bay French, a distinct variety of Acadian French spoken around Clare and also Tusket, Nova Scotia.

Phonology

Palatalization

• /k/ and /tj/ is commonly replaced by [tʃ] before a front vowel. For example, [quel, queue, cuillère, quelqu'un] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [cul] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) are usually pronounced [tchel, tcheue, tchuillère, tchelqu'un] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [tchu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). [Tiens] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is pronounced [tchin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [tʃɛ̃].
• /ɡ/ and /dj/ often become [dʒ] (sometimes [ʒ]) before a front vowel. For example, [bon dieu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [gueule] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) become [bon djeu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [djeule] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) in Acadian French. [Braguette] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) becomes [brajette] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). (This pronunciation led to the word Cajun, from Acadien.)

Metathesis

Metathesis is quite common. For example, [mercredi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (Wednesday) is [mécordi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), and [grenouille] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (frog) is [guernouille] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). [Je] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (the pronoun "I") is frequently pronounced [euj] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).

In words, "re" is often pronounced "er". For instance :

• [berloque] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for "[breloque] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", [berouette] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for "[brouette] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)" (wheel-barrow), [ferdaine] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for "[fredaine] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", [guerlot] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for "[grelot] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)", [s'entertenir] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) for "[s'entretenir] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)".

Pronunciation of oi

• [oui] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (yes) sounds like [ouaille] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) or Modern French [ouais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) meaning yeah ([oua] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is also used).
• [trois] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (three) can sometimes sound like [trouo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (originally [troé] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)).

Elision of final r

• The r in words ending in [-bre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) is often not pronounced. For example, [libre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (free), [arbre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (tree), [timbre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (stamp) would become [lib'] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), [arb'] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [timb'] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)

Numerals

• In the Nova Scotian communities of Wedgeport and Pubnico the numbers [soixante-dix] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (seventy), [quatre-vingts] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (eighty) and [quatre-vingt-dix] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (ninety) are instead called [septante, huitante] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [nonante] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) respectively, a phenomenon also observed in Swiss French.

Other

• The /ɛr/ sequence followed by another consonant sometimes becomes [ar] or [ɑr]. For example, [merde] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [perdre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) become [marde] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) and [pardre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help). This rule is also abundantly consistent in the Quebec French, however the a is a back vowel (â).
• [deux] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) (two) can sometimes sound like [doy] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help).

Examples of Acadian words

The following words and expressions are most commonly restricted to Acadian French, though some can also be found in Quebec French.

• [baratte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): a piece of machinery or tool of sorts that doesn't work properly anymore. My car is a lemon so it is a baratte (very common in New Brunswick)
• [achaler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to bother (Fr: [ ennuyer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [ajeuve] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (variation of [achèver] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help), literally "to complete") a while ago (Fr: [ récemment, tout juste] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [amanchure] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): thing, thingy, also the way things join together: the joint or union of two things (Fr: [ chose, truc, machin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [amarrer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (literally, to moor) to tie (Fr: [ attacher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [amoureux] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (lit. lover) burdock (Fr: [ (capitule de la) bardane; Quebec: toque, grakia) (also very common in Quebec French] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [asteur] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): now (Fr: [ maintenant, à cette heure, désormais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [attoquer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to lean (Fr: [ appuyer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [avoir de la misère] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to have difficulty (Fr: [ avoir de la difficulté, avoir du mal] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [bailler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to give (Fr: [ donner] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [besson] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): twin (Fr: [ jumeau/jumelle)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [boloxer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to confuse, disrupt, unsettle (Fr: [ causer une confusion, déranger l'ordre régulier et établi] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [boucane] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): smoke, steam (Fr: [ fumée, vapeur] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [bouchure] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): fence (Fr: [ clôture] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [brâiller] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to cry, weep (Fr: [ pleurer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [brogane] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): work shoe, old or used shoe (Fr: [ chaussure de travail, chaussure d'occasion] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [brosse] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): drinking binge (Fr: [ beuverie] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (common in Quebec French)
• [caler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to sink (Fr: [ sombrer, couler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (also "to drink fast in one shot", [caler une bière] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [char] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): car (fr:voiture) (very common in Quebec French)
• [chassis] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): window (Fr: [ fenêtre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [chavirer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to go crazy (Fr: [ devenir fou, folle] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [chu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): I am (Fr: [ je suis, or, colloquially chui] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [cotchiner] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to cheat (Fr: [ tricher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [de service] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): proper, properly (Fr: [ adéquat, comme il faut] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [ej] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): I (Fr: [ je] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (common in Quebec French)
• [élan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): moment, while (Fr: [ instant, moment] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [erj] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): and I (Fr: [ et je suis] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [espèrer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to say welcome, to invite (Fr: [ attendre, inviter] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [faire zire] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to gross out (Fr: [ dégouter] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [farlaque] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): loose, wild, of easy virtue (Fr: [ dévergondée, au moeurs légères] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [frette] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): cold (Fr: [ froid] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [fricot] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): traditional Acadian stew prepared with chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, dumplings (lumps of dough), and seasoned with savoury
• [garrocher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to throw, chuck (Fr: [ lancer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [hardes] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): clothes, clothing (Fr: [ vêtements] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [harrer ] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to beat, maltreat (Fr: [ battre ou traiter pauvrement, maltraîter] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [hucher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to cry out (Fr: [ appeler (qqn) à haute voix] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [innocent] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): simple, foolish or stupid (Fr: [ simple d'esprit, bête, qui manque de jugement] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [itou] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): also, too (Fr: [ aussi, de même, également] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (common in Quebec French)
• [maganer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to overwork, wear out, tire, weaken (Fr: [ traiter durement, malmener, fatiguer, affaiblir, endommager, détériorer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (very common in Quebec French)
• [mais que] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): when + future tense (Fr: [ lorsque, quand (suivi d'un futur)] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [mitan] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): middle, centre (Fr: [ milieu, centre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [païen] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (lit. pagan) hick, uneducated person, peasant (Fr: [ '] Error: {{Lang}}: text has malformed markup (help))
• [parker] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): park (Fr: [ stationner] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [pire à yaller/au pire à yaller] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): at worst (Fr: [ au pire] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [plaise] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): plaice (Fr: [ plie] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [ploye] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): buckwheat pancake, a tradition of Edmundston, New Brunswick (Fr: [ crêpe au sarrasin] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [pomme de pré] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (lit. meadow apple) American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (Fr: [ canneberge; Quebec: atoca] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [poutine râpée] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): a ball made of grated potato with pork in the centre, a traditional Acadian dish
• [qu'ri] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (from quérir) to fetch, go get (Fr: [ aller chercher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [se haler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (lit. to haul oneself) to hurry (Fr: [ se dépêcher] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [se badgeuler] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): to argue (Fr: [ se disputer] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [j'étions] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): I was (Fr: [ j'étais] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [ils étiont] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): they were (Fr: [ ils étaient] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [taweille] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): Mikmaq woman, traditionally associated with sorcery. Has become considered vulgar. (Fr: [ Amérindienne] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [tchequ'affaire, tchequ'chouse, quètchose, quotchose] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): something (Fr: [ quelque chose] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (quètchose is common in Quebec French)
• [tête de violon] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): ostrich fern fiddlehead (Matteuccia struthiopteris) (Fr: [ ] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [tétine-de-souris] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): (lit. mouse tit) slender glasswort, an edible green plant that grows in salt marshes (Salicornia europaea) (Fr: [ salicorne d'Europe] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [tintamarre] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): din (also used to refer to an Acadian noisemaking tradition) (Fr:[ ] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
• [vaillant, vaillante] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help): active, hard-working, brave (Fr: [ actif, laborieux, courageux] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) (common in Quebec French)

References

• Le Glossaire acadien by Pascal Poirier French language page.

External links

• Acadian English Wordlist from Webster's Online Dictionary - The Rosetta Edition
• Les Éditions de la Piquine Online Acadian Glossary with audio - (Website is only in French)