Cajun French Language Tutorials

“Les Mots Jointé” in English is “the combined words.” In Cajun there are a number of words that have been combined to make one word. Why? My theory is due to the fact that we were not educated in French, so when we heard, say like two words following each other, we made one word out of it. The older generation may have used both words, but as time went on, its like playing post office, you would have heard a combo of the two. Or perhaps it is just the nature of man to shorten his speech without losing meaning and at the same time, knowing or not, he creates a new saying used more often than the original form. This adds variety and color to any language.
Here are a few examples that I can recall:

Where? In SF the adverb for “where” is “où.” In Cajun that form of “where” is also used, however, we have two other forms which fall in the category of “les mots jointé” or “combos.”

“Ayeou” is used more often than “où.” It is a combo of “at where” (à où). Somewhere down the line, to make it sound right (euphony), the “y” was added. It does not sound right to say “à où.”

Ayeou se trouve le village de Lac Charles? (At where is found the city of Lake Charles?)

Ayeou que tu vas aller demain? (Where will you (thou) go tomorrow?)

Où ta tante, qu’est poitrinaire, va pour recevoir ses traitements? (Where does your aunt, who is consumptive, go to receive her medicines?)

Alle (Elle) est très reconnaisante d’où se trouve son fils au moment, plutôt d’être à nulle part d’autre est peut-être dans un tracas. (She is very thankful of where her son finds himself at the moment, rather than being nowhere else and perhaps in trouble.)

Aussitôt qu’alle s’a rappelé ayeou qu’alle avait (ait) mis son porte-monnaie, alle était entier dans un état de joie. (As soon as she remembered where she had put her purse, she was totally in a state of joy.)

Another combo is “and where” which in French is “et où.” Over the years it became “éyeou” to Cajuns. Again, dropping the “t” and inserting the “y” makes it more pleasant to the ear and easier for the tongue.

Réel(e)ment, Éyeou tu crois que tu pourras aller! ( Really, and where do you think you (thou) could go!)

Éyeou que t’as serré tes souliers, cher? (And where did you put up your shoes, dear?)

Ayeou, éyeou ou où, tu vas aller ach(e)ter du tac-tac? Where will you go and buy some popcorn? (All three forms could be used, of course separately. Note ou for or. In Cajun we sounded out ou and où basically the same.

Équand is another combo that we used a lot in our everyday Cajun conversations. It is a combo of et (and) and quand (when). Of course we did use quand which is the standard French for “when.”

Équand tu vas v(e)nir me voir, emmènes moi voir ta scie que j’peux (puisse) finir batir ma galerie d’en avant. (When you come to see me, please bring your saw that I can finish building my front porch.)

Quand ton frère v(a) aller à la pharmacie demand-lé donc de m’ach(e)ter une boutaille d’huile de foie d’morue. (When your brother will go to the pharmacy ask him please to buy me a bottle of cod liver oil.)

Another combo heard many times in a conversation was a word whiska épis. This is a combination of et (and) and puis (then). That little word whiska was employed beaucoup, cher.

Il a commencer a faire ça épis là il a oublié quoi c’est qu’il était en train de faire. (He started to do that and then he forgot what it was he was about to do.)

Épis was followed by another word, such as là (adverb, there or here), gardes or gardez ( form of the verb garder (to look or pay attention etc.) for you look, or pay attention).

J’te dis cher, cette chose ici épis aussi une aut(re) chose… (I tell you dear this thing here and then also another thing…)

Celui-là et celle-là vont prendre leurs places en avant de la classe épis après ça y vont réciter leur poème pour la classe. (That one (mas.) and that one (fem,) will take their places in front of the class and then after that they will recite their poem for the class.)

Here is a saying that I didn’t quite understand when I was growing up. “Comme deux et deux fait quat(re)!” Usually that was an exclamation rendered as a warning. (As sure as two and two makes four!) (We viewed deux et deux as something singular.)

Tu vas tomber et casser ton bras, mon enfant, aussi sûr comme “deux et deux fait quat(re)!” (You will fall and break your arm my child, as sure as two and two makes four!) When I heard “deux et deux fait quat(re)” I took it as one word, “deuxédeuxfaitquat.” It wasn’t until I started to study French that I fully understood the warning.

Most “e’s” in the middle of a word are elided in Cajun (e.g’s., ach(e)ter, ch(e)val) However, there are some particularly in adverbs, that are not elided. Like in “simplement.” Why? Due to sound. To say “simpl” or “simp” with “ment” would not sound right. So the first “e” is enunciated. The same is true of “autrement.” The first “e” is sounded.

Il m’a simplement dit assez que j’pouvait (puisse) connaître quoi c’est qu’il voulait que j’fais (fasse). (He told me simply enough that I could know what it is he wanted me to do.)

Autrement d’aller carrément à la boutique il a esperé un bon bout d’temps avant d’aller. (Otherwise than going right away (squarely) to the store he waited a good while before going.) Some may disagree with me of the usage here, but we did use autrement in this manner also. Of course plutôt was also used for “rather.”

“Plutôt” was often pronounced without the “l.” So we sounded it out as “peetoe.”

Y vont perd(re) leur place autrement qu’ils arriveront toute d’suite. (They will lose their place if they do not come soon otherwise.)

“Justement” is another adverb that has that middle “e” and it is sounded by Cajuns. If you were to elide the “e” it would sound like “justment,” which would give it an incomplete sound.

Justement après j’ai manger, un mal de tête m’a frappé. ( Right after, justly, I had eaten, a headache hit me.)

I insert this to emphasize that even though most Cajuns were not educated in the French language, they could naturally say it in a way that was “euphonically” correct.

If you heard a man speaking of his wife as “la vieille,” “ma vieille,” or “vieille” and a wife referring to her husband as “le vieux,” “mon vieux” or “vieux” that would not be derogatory. My father referred to my mother as “vieille” very often and she referred to him as “vieux” often also. Of course it was not limited to just a husband and wife, but also these two terms were used when addressing other persons of the same age or older.

“Hé vielle, attrape moi voir une tasse de café. (Hey, old lady , please get me a cup of coffee.) (Nothing is meant disrespectfully here.)

“La vieille v’aller visiter sa mère sur le lendemain.” (The old lady will go visit her mother on the morrow.)

“Ma vieille va pas aller avant après demain.” (My old lady will not go before the day after tomorrow.)

“Vieux j’ai visité ma mère avant hier, j’ai pas besoin d’aller aussi vite encore.” (Old man, I have visited my mother day before yesterday, I have no need of going so soon again.)

“Vieux, vous voulez rentrer pour se reposer pour un bout d’temps? (Old man, do you want to come in to rest up for a little bit (piece of time.) (This question could be asked of an older person by a man or woman not necessarily one’s mate.)

Dis donc* voir à ma vieille de mett(re) le diner au feu plus d’bon heure aujourd’hui que hier. (Please tell my old lady to start cooking dinner earlier today than yesterday.)

*Donc is used in Cajun as in SF to mean, “therefore,” “hence,” or “then.”

Remember how Cajuns say “please” besides “s’i(l) vous plait?” “Donc” is used in propounding a question, and when you add “voir” it is reinforced with “see to it.”

“Viens donc voir ici.” (Please come see here.)

“Dis moi donc si tu viendrais talheure.” (Please tell me if you will come in a little while.) Here “talheure” is a “combo” for “tout à l’heure.”

On v(a) aller jouer l’accordéon chez Monsieur Comeaux talheure. (We will go and play the accordion at Mr. Comeaux’s in a little while.)

Talheure, y va ët(re) surpris combien ça va le coûter si y arrêterait pas viv(re) comme un “big shot.” (Soon, he will be surprised how much it will cost him if he doesn’t stop living like a big shot.)

So you can see that the Cajun language is a varied language that can be used very well to communicate. It is interesting how that my grandparents and parents, etc., would carry on daily conversations without skipping a beat. I use to love to sit outside on my father’s lap when we went visiting the neighbors to hear the men folk relate stories and how they played tricks (des niches) on one another. (This was done especially if they went to visit and no one was home!)

Assez pour a’c't’heure. J’vas publier plus plus tard. Merci, Jim Léger

My next post will be a quizlet set for this current post. Merci.