Acadian French
Encyclopedia
Acadian French is a regionalized dialect of Canadian French
Canadian French
Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...

. It is spoken by the francophone population of the Canadian province of New Brunswick
New Brunswick
New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

, by small minorities in areas in the Gaspé region of eastern Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, by small groups of francophones in Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island
Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

, in several tiny pockets of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

 and Cape Breton
Cape Breton
-Geographic locations:*Cape Breton Island, a Canadian island on the Atlantic Ocean coast*Cape Breton, a cape located at the eastern tip of Nova Scotia's Cape Breton Island*Cape Breton Highlands, a mountain range in northern Cape Breton Island...

, in the Magdalen Islands
Magdalen Islands
The Magdalen Islands form a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of . Though closer to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, the islands form part of the Canadian province of Quebec....

 in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and a small swath of the northernmost portion of the U.S state of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

. The remaining majority of predominately-francophone Quebec speaks Quebec French
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....

.

Characteristics

Since there was no linguistic contact with France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 from the late eighteenth century until the twentieth century, Acadian French retained features that died out during the French standardization
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....

 efforts of the nineteenth century.
That can be seen in examples like:
  • While other dialects (such as Metropolitan French) have a uvular rhotic
    Guttural R
    In linguistics, guttural R refers to pronunciation of a rhotic consonant as a guttural consonant. These consonants are usually uvular, but can also be realized as a velar, pharyngeal, or glottal rhotic...

    , Acadian French has an alveolar one
    Alveolar trill
    The alveolar trill is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents dental, alveolar, and postalveolar trills is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is r. It is commonly called the rolled R, rolling R, or trilled R...

     so that rouge ('red') is pronounced [ruʒ]

  • The third-person plural ending of verbs -ont, e.g. ils mangeont imɑ̃ʒɔ̃ ('they eat') as compared to Metropolitan French ils mangent [ilmɑ̃ʒ], which does not have an ending that is pronounced.

  • The use of -ions (now only plural first-person ending of verbs) instead of -ais as the singular first-person ending, in the "imparfait" tense: e.g. j'avions, j'aimions, j'étions... instead of j'avais, j'aimais, j'étais... (meaning: I had, I loved, I was...). This was most likely due to the old pronunciation of -ais endings in France before Louis XIV came to power, which sounded like -ois in most cases (ex: françois for français, j'avois for j'avais, 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
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 and even of other Canadian dialects sometimes have minor difficulties understanding Acadian French.

See also Chiac, a variety with strong English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 influence, and Saint Mary's Bay French, a distinct variety of Acadian French spoken around Clare
Clare, Nova Scotia
Clare is a municipal district in western Nova Scotia, Canada.Primarily an Acadian region, Clare occupies the western half of Digby County. Most of the municipality's settled areas are located along St. Marys Bay, a sub-basin of the Gulf of Maine...

, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

.

Palatalization

and /tj/ is commonly replaced by [tʃ] before a front vowel
Front vowel
A front vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far in front as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also...

. For example, quel, queue, cuillère, quelqu'un and cul are usually pronounced tchel, tcheue, tchuillère, tchequ'un and tchu. Tiens is pronounced tchin [tʃɛ̃].
and /dj/ often become [dʒ] (sometimes [ʒ]) before a front vowel. For example, bon dieu and gueule become bon djeu and djeule in Acadian French. Braguette becomes brajette. (This pronunciation led to the word Cajun, from Acadian.)

Metathesis

Metathesis
Metathesis (linguistics)
Metathesis is the re-arranging of sounds or syllables in a word, or of words in a sentence. Most commonly it refers to the switching of two or more contiguous sounds, known as adjacent metathesis or local metathesis:...

 is quite common. For example, mercredi (Wednesday) is mécordi, and grenouille (frog) is guernouille. Je (the pronoun "I") is frequently pronounced euj.

In words, "re" is often pronounced "er". For instance :
  • berloque for "breloque", berouette for "brouette" (wheel-barrow), ferdaine for "fredaine", guerlot for "grelot", s'entertenir for "s'entretenir".

Pronunciation of oi

  • oui, (yes) sounds like ouaille or Modern French ouais meaning yeah (oua is also used).

  • trois, (three) can sometimes sound like tro (originally troé).

Elision of final r

  • The r in words ending in -bre is often not pronounced. For example, libre (free), arbre (tree), timbre (stamp) would become lib', arb' and timb'

Numerals

  • In the Nova Scotia
    Nova Scotia
    Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...

    n communities of Wedgeport and Pubnico
    Pubnico (village), Nova Scotia
    Pubnico is a small French Acadian community located in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia on Nova Scotia Trunk 3 . It was founded in 1653 by Philippe Mius d’Entremont...

     the numbers soixante-dix (seventy), quatre-vingts (eighty) and quatre-vingt-dix (ninety) are instead called septante, huitante and nonante respectively.

Other

  • The /ɛr/ sequence followed by another consonant sometimes becomes [ar] or [ɑʁ]. For example, merde and perdre become màrde and pàrdre. This rule is also abundantly consistent in the Quebec French
    Quebec French
    Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....

    , however the a is nasal (â).

  • deux, (two) can sometimes sound like doy.

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
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....

.
  • achaler: to bother (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • ajeuve: (variation of , literally to complete) a while ago (Fr: )
  • amanchure: thing, thingy, also the way things join together: the joint or union of two things(Fr: )
  • amarrer: (literally, to moor) to tie (Fr: )
  • amoureux: (lit. lover) burdock
    Burdock
    Burdock is any of a group of biennial thistles in the genus Arctium, family Asteraceae. Native to the Old World, several species have been widely introduced worldwide....

     (Fr: )
  • asteur: now (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • attoquer: to lean (Fr: )
  • avoir de la misère: to have difficulty (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • bailler: to give (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • boloxer: to confuse, disrupt, unsettle (Fr: )
  • boucane: smoke, steam (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • bouchure: fence (Fr: )
  • brâiller: to cry, weep (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • brogane: work shoe, old or used shoe (Fr: )
  • brosse: drinking binge (Fr: )
  • caler: to sink (Fr: ) (also "to drink fast in one shot")(very common in Quebec French)
  • chassis: window (Fr: )
  • chavirer: to go crazy (Fr: )
  • chu: I am (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • cotchiner: to cheat (Fr: )
  • de service: proper, properly (Fr: )
  • ej: I (Fr: )
  • élan: moment, while (Fr: )
  • erj: and I (Fr: )
  • espèrer: to say welcome, to invite (Fr: )
  • faire zire: to gross out (Fr: )
  • farlaque: loose, wild, of easy virtue (Fr: )
  • frette: cold (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • fricot: traditional Acadian stew prepared with chicken, potatoes, onions, carrots, dumplings (lumps of dough), and seasoned with savoury
    Savory (herb)
    Satureja is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. There are about 30 species called savories, of which Summer savory and Winter savory are the most important in cultivation.-Description:...

  • garrocher: to throw, chuck (Fr: )
  • hardes: clothes, clothing (Fr: )
  • harrer : Battre ou traiter pauvrement, maltraîter
  • hucher: to cry out (Fr: )
  • innocent: simple, foolish or stupid (Fr: )(very common in Quebec French)
  • itou: also, too (Fr: )(common in Quebec French)
  • maganer: to overwork, wear out, tire, weaken (Fr: )
  • mais que: when + future tense (Fr: )
  • mitan: middle, centre (Fr: )
  • païen: (lit. pagan) hick, uneducated person, peasant
  • pire à yaller/au pire à yaller: at worst (au pire)
  • plaise: plaice
    American plaice
    The American plaice or sole, Hippoglossoides platessoides, is a flatfish that belongs, along with other right-eyed flounders, to the Pleuronectidae family. American plaice are an Atlantic species. Their range is from southern Labrador to Rhode Island. They spawn in the Gulf of Maine, with peak...

     (FR: plie)
  • ploye: buckwheat
    Buckwheat
    Buckwheat refers to a variety of plants in the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, the North American genus Eriogonum, and the Northern Hemisphere genus Fallopia. Either of the latter two may be referred to as "wild buckwheat"...

     pancake, a tradition of Edmundston, New Brunswick
    New Brunswick
    New Brunswick is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the only province in the federation that is constitutionally bilingual . The provincial capital is Fredericton and Saint John is the most populous city. Greater Moncton is the largest Census Metropolitan Area...

     (Fr: )
  • pomme de pré: (lit. meadow apple) American cranberry
    Cranberry
    Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...

     (Vaccinium macrocarpon) (Fr: )
  • poutine râpée
    Poutine râpée
    Poutine râpée, not to be confused with the Québécois fast food poutine, is a traditional Acadian dish that in its most common form consists of a boiled potato dumpling with a pork filling; it is usually prepared with a mixture of grated and mashed potato....

    : a ball made of grated potato with pork in the centre, a traditional Acadian dish
  • qu'ri: (from quérir) to fetch, go get (Fr: )
  • se haler: (lit. to haul oneself) to hurry (Fr: )
  • se badgeuler: to argue (Fr: )
  • j'étions: we are
  • ils étiont: they were
  • taweille: Native American
    Native Americans in the United States
    Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

     woman, traditionally associated with sorcery (Fr: )
  • tchequ'affaire, tchequ'chouse, quètchose, quotchose: something (Fr: )("quètchose" is common in Quebec French)
  • tête de violon: ostrich fern
    Ostrich fern
    The ostrich fern or shuttlecock fern is a crown-forming, colony-forming fern, occurring in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in eastern and northern Europe, northern Asia and northern North America....

     fiddlehead
    Fiddlehead
    Fiddleheads or Fiddlehead greens are the furled fronds of a young fern, harvested for use as a vegetable. Left on the plant, each fiddlehead would unroll into a new frond...

     (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
  • tétine-de-souris: (lit. mouse tit) slender glasswort
    Glasswort
    Salicornia is a genus of succulent, halophyte plants that grow in salt marshes, on beaches, and among mangroves. Salicornia species are native to North America, Europe, South Africa, and South Asia...

    , an edible green plant that grows in salt marshes (Salicornia europaea) (Fr: )
  • tintamarre
    Tintamarre
    Tintamarre is an Acadian tradition of marching through one's community making noise with improvised instruments and other noisemakers, usually in celebration of National Acadian Day. The term originates from the Acadian French word meaning "clangour" or "din"...

    : din (also used to refer to an Acadian noisemaking tradition)
  • vaillant, vaillante: active, hard-working, brave (Fr: )

External links

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