Acadian French

Acadian French (French: français acadien) is a variety of French originally associated with the Acadians of what is now the Maritimes in Canada. It is spoken by the Acadian Francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, by small minorities on the Gaspé Peninsula and the Magdalen Islands of Quebec as well as in pockets of Francophones in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. In the United States, it is spoken in the Saint John Valley of northern Aroostook County, Maine. Besides standard French, New England French is the predominant form of French spoken elsewhere in Maine.

Not to be confused with Akkadian language or Louisiana French.
Acadian French
français acadien
Native toCanada, United States
RegionNew Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire
Native speakers
370,000 (1996, 2006)[1]
Early forms
Official status
Official language in
 New Brunswick
Recognised minority
language in
 Nova Scotia
 Prince Edward Island
(Both regionally spoken)
Language codes
ISO 639-3–
Glottologacad1238[2]
Linguasphere51-AAA-ho
Acadian French

Phonology
See also: Saintongeais dialect, Gascon language, and Mi'kmaq language

Since there was relatively little linguistic contact with France from the late 18th century to the 20th century, Acadian French retained features that died out during the French standardization efforts of the 19th century such as these:

  • The /ʁ/ phoneme, Acadian French has retained an alveolar trill or an alveolar flap, but modern speakers pronounced it as in Parisian French: rouge (red) can be pronounced [ruːʒ], [ɾuːʒ] or [ʁuːʒ].
  • In nonstandard Acadian French, the third-person plural ending of verbs ‹-ont›, such as ils mangeont [i(l) mɑ̃ˈʒɔ̃] (they eat), is still pronounced, unlike standard French (France and Quebec) ils mangent ([i(l) ˈmɒ̃ːʒ(ə)] (France)/[ɪl ˈmãːʒ(ə)] or [i ˈmãːʒ(ə)] (Quebec)), the ‹e› can be pronounced or not, but ‹-nt› is always silent.

According to Wiesmath (2006),[3] some characteristics of Acadian are:

  • The verbal ending -ont in the third person plural
  • Palatalization of /k/ and /ɡ/ to [tʃ] and [dʒ], respectively
  • A featured called "l'ouisme" where bonne is pronounced [bun]

These features typically occur in older speech.

Many aspects of Acadian French (vocabulary and "trill r", etc.) are still common in rural areas in the South West of France. Speakers of Metropolitan French and even of other Canadian varieties of French sometimes have difficulty understanding Acadian French. Within North America, its closest relative is the Cajun French spoken in Southern Louisiana since both were born out of the same population that were affected during the Expulsion of the Acadians.

See also Chiac, a variety with strong English influence, and St. Marys Bay French, a distinct variety of Acadian French spoken around Clare, Tusket, Nova Scotia and also Moncton, New Brunswick.

Affrication
  • /k/ and /tj/ is commonly replaced by [tʃ] before a front vowel. For example, quel, queue, cuillère and quelqu'un are usually pronounced tchel, tcheue, tchuillère and tchelqu'un. Tiens is pronounced tchin [t͡ʃɛ̃].
  • /ɡ/ and /dj/ often become [d͡ʒ] (sometimes [ʒ]) before a front vowel. For example, bon dieu and gueule become [bɔ̃ ˈdʒø] and [d͡ʒœl] in informal Acadian French. Braguette becomes [bɾaˈd͡ʒɛt]. (This pronunciation led to the word Cajun, from Acadien.)

Metathesis

Metathesis is quite common. For example, mercredi (Wednesday) is mercordi, and pauvreté (poverty) is pauveurté. Je (the pronoun "I") is frequently pronounced euj and Le is frequently pronounced eul.

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

  • erçu for "reçu", ertourner for "retourner", erpas for "repas", ergret for "regret", s'entertenir for "s'entretenir".

Vowels
  • Acadian French has maintained phonemic distinctions between /a/ and /ɑ/, /ɛ/ and /ɛː/, /ø/ and /ə/, /ɛ̃/ and /œ̃/.
  • In informal speech, the /ɑ/ vowel is realized as [ɔ]: pas (step) /pɑ/ → [pɔ] and bras (arm) /bʁɑ/ → [bʁɔ], etc.
  • The short /ɛ/ is realized as [ɛ] and it's the same as Parisian French.
  • /ɛː/ is open to [æː]: fête (party) /fɛːt/ → [fæːt] and caisse (case) /kɛːs/ → [kæːs], etc.
  • The ⟨oi⟩ spelling have different pronunciations. Old speakers pronounce it [wɛ], because the traditional Parisian pronunciation was like this: roi (king) [rwɛ]. But in modern standard Acadian French, it is pronounced [wa]. Even there is no circumflex, there are some words which are phonemically pronounced /wɑ/ and the phoneme is pronounced as [wɑ] in formal speech but [wɔ] in informal speech: trois (three) [tʁ̥wɑ] or [tʁ̥wɔ] and noix (nut) [nwɑ] or [nwɔ]. The ⟨oî⟩ spelling is phonemically /wɑ/, but old speakers pronounce it [weː], modern speakers pronounce it [wɑː]: boîte (box) [bweːt] or [bwɑːt] and croître (grow) [kɾweːt(ɾ)] or [kʁ̥wɑːt(ʁ̥)], etc.

Elision of final consonants
  • Consonant clusters finishing a word are reduced, often losing altogether the last or two last consonants in informal speech: table (table) /tabl/ → [tab] and livre (book/pound) /livʁ/ → [liːv],[4] etc.

Vocabulary

Yves Cormier's Dictionnaire du français acadien (ComiersAcad)[5] includes the majority of Acadian regionalisms. From a syntactic point of view, a major feature is the use of je both for the first person singular and for the third plural; the same phenomenon takes place with i for the third persons. Acadian still differentiates the vous form from the tu form.

Numerals

Others

The following words and expressions are most commonly restricted to Acadian French, though some are also used in Quebec French (also known as Québécois) or Joual.

  • achaler: to bother (Fr: ennuyer) (very common in Quebec French)
  • ajeuve: (variation of achever, literally "to complete") a while ago (Fr: récemment, tout juste)
  • amanchure: thing, thingy, also the way things join together: the joint or union of two things (Fr: chose, truc, machin)
  • amarrer: (literally, to moor) to tie (Fr: attacher)[6]
  • amoureux: (lit. lover) burdock (Fr: (capitule de la) bardane; Quebec: toque, grakia) (also very common in Quebec French)
  • asteur: (contraction of à cette heure) now (Fr: maintenant, à cette heure, désormais) (very common in Quebec French)
  • attoquer: to lean (Fr: appuyer)
  • avoir de la misère: to have difficulty (Fr: avoir de la difficulté, avoir du mal) (very common in Quebec French)
  • bailler: to give (Fr: donner) (Usually "to yawn") (very common in Quebec French)
  • baratte: 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)
  • batterie: the central passage through a barn (granges acadiennes) flanked by two storage bays adjacent to the eaves.[6]
  • besson: twin (Fr: jumeau/jumelle)
  • boloxer: to confuse, disrupt, unsettle (Fr: causer une confusion, déranger l'ordre régulier et établi)
  • Bonhomme Sept-heures: a fearful character of fairy tales who would visit unpleasant deeds upon young children if they did not go to bed at the designated hour.[6]
  • bord: (literally the side of a ship) l'autre bord meaning the other side (of a street, river, etc.); changer de bord meaning changing sides (in a team competition); virer de bord meaning turning back or retracing one's steps.[6]
  • boucane: smoke, steam (Fr: fumée, vapeur) (very common in Quebec French)
  • bouchure: fence (Fr: clôture)
  • brâiller: to cry, weep (Fr: pleurer) (very common in Quebec French)
  • brogane: work shoe, old or used shoe (Fr: chaussure de travail, chaussure d'occasion)
  • brosse: drinking binge (Fr: beuverie) (common in Quebec French)
  • caler: to sink (Fr: sombrer, couler) (also "to drink fast in one shot", caler une bière) (very common in Quebec French)
  • char: car (fr:voiture) (very common in Quebec French)
  • chassis: window (Fr: fenêtre)
  • chavirer: to go crazy (Fr: devenir fou, folle)
  • chu: I am (Fr: je suis, or, colloquially chui) (very common in Quebec French)
  • cotchiner: to cheat (Fr: tricher)
  • coude: ship's knees that are a distinctive and unusual structural feature of early Acadian houses.[6]
  • Djâbe: Devil (Fr: Diable)
  • de service: proper, properly (Fr: adéquat, comme il faut)
  • èchell: (literally a ship's ladder) stairway (Fr: échelle)[6]
  • ej: I (Fr: je) (common in Quebec French)
  • élan: moment, while (Fr: instant, moment)
  • erj: and I (Fr: et je suis)
  • espèrer: to wait; say welcome, to invite (Fr: attendre, inviter)
  • faire zire: to gross out (Fr: dégouter)
  • farlaque: loose, wild, of easy virtue (Fr: dévergondée, au moeurs légères)
  • frette: cold (Fr: froid) (very common in Quebec French)
  • fricot: traditional Acadian stew prepared with chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, dumplings (lumps of dough), and seasoned with savoury
  • garrocher: to throw, chuck (Fr: lancer) (very common in Quebec French)
  • le grand mènage: spring cleaning, often more comprehensive than in other cultures.[6]
  • greer: (literally, rigging of a ship's masts) to describe a woman's attire or decoration of a youngster's bicycle.[6]
  • grenier: a sleeping loft.[6]
  • hardes: clothes, clothing (Fr: vêtements)
  • harrer: to beat, maltreat (Fr: battre ou traiter pauvrement, maltraîter)
  • hucher: to cry out (Fr: appeler (qqn) à haute voix)
  • innocent: simple, foolish or stupid (Fr: simple d'esprit, bête, qui manque de jugement) (very common in Quebec French)
  • itou: also, too (Fr: aussi, de même, également) (common in Quebec French)
  • larguer: (literally loosening a ship's mooring lines) to let go of any object[6]
  • maganer: to overwork, wear out, tire, weaken (Fr: traiter durement, malmener, fatiguer, affaiblir, endommager, détériorer) (very common in Quebec French)
  • mais que: when + future tense (Fr: lorsque, quand (suivi d'un futur))
  • malin/maline: mean or angry (lit. malignant)
  • marabout: to be irritated or angry
  • mitan: middle, centre (Fr: milieu, centre)
  • original: moose
  • païen: (lit. pagan) hick, uneducated person, peasant (Fr: )
  • palote: clumsy (Fr: maladroit)
  • parker: park (Fr: stationner)
  • pâté chinois: a "shepherd's pie" casserole of mashed potatoes, ground meat, and corn.[6]
  • peste: bad odor (Fr: puenteur)
  • pire à yaller/au pire à yaller: at worst (Fr: au pire)
  • plaise: plaice (Fr: plie)
  • ploye: buckwheat pancake, a tradition of Edmundston, New Brunswick, also common in Acadian communities in Maine (Fr: crêpe au sarrasin)
  • pomme de pré: (lit. meadow apple) American cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (Fr: canneberge; Quebec: atoca)
  • pot-en-pot: a meat pie of venison, rabbits, and game birds.[6]
  • poutine râpée: a ball made of grated potato with pork in the centre, a traditional Acadian dish
  • quai: a portable wheeled boating pier pulled out of the water to avoid ice damage.[6]
  • qu'ri: (from quérir) to fetch, go get (Fr: aller chercher)
  • se haler: (lit. to haul oneself) to hurry (Fr: se dépêcher)
  • se badjeuler: to argue (Fr: se disputer)
  • soira: see you later (Fr: au revoir)
  • j'étions: I was (Fr: j'étais)
  • ils étiont: they were (Fr: ils étaient)
  • taweille: Mikmaq woman, traditionally associated with medicine or Midewiwin (Fr: Amérindienne)
  • tchequ'affaire, tchequ'chouse, quètchose, quotchose: something (Fr: quelque chose) (quètchose and "quechose" is common in Quebec French)
  • tête de violon: ostrich fern fiddlehead (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
  • tétine-de-souris: (lit. mouse tit) slender glasswort, an edible green plant that grows in salt marshes (Salicornia europaea) (Fr: salicorne d'Europe)
  • tintamarre: din (also refers to an Acadian noisemaking tradition whereby people gather in the streets and parade through town)
  • tourtiéres: meat pies, sometimes with potatoes.[6]
  • vaillant, vaillante: active, hard-working, brave (Fr: actif, laborieux, courageux) (common in Quebec French)

Notes
  1. Canadian census, ethnic data Archived July 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Acadian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  3. Wiesmath, Raphaële (2006). Le français acadien: analyse syntaxique d'un corpus oral recueilli au Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada. l'Hamalthan.. Accessed 5 May 2011.
  4. http://phono.uqac.ca/index.php?article=rubrique35
  5. [https://books.google.com/books?id=nJGvPwAACAAJ&dq=dictionnaire+du+fran%C3%A7ais+acadien&hl=en&ei=XXjCTci3LIKWOvn5xZ0I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAACormier, Yves (2009). Dictionnaire du français acadien. Fides, Editions.]. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  6. Brassieur, C. Ray. "Acadian Culture in Maine" (PDF). National Park Service. United States Department of the Interior. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
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References
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