Lessons in Louisiana Creole Pronunciation, Orthography, & Daily Expressions
Christophe Landry-Hoegan Student, Modern Languages Department Université dè Louisiane à Lafayette L’autòn 2003
© 2003 Christophe Landry-Hoegan Tous droits réservés – All Rights Reserved
Table of Contents Louisiana Creole (p. 3)
Linguistic Movement L’espoi’
Chapter I. Grammatical Structure of Creole (p.4)
1A.
1B. 1C.
1D. 1E.
1F. 1G.
Chapter II.
2A. 2B.
2C.
Pronunciation 1AA. Sound Replacements Consonants Nouns & Articles (p. 5) 1CA. Demonstratives 1CB. Agglutination (p. 6) 1CC. Personal pronouns Adjectives & Adverbs (p. 8) Verb System/Conjugating 1EA. Dynamic & Stative Verbs (p. 9) 1EAA. One-Stem Verbs 1EAB. Two-Stem Verbs 1EB. Verbal Markers 1EBA. Progressive Marker 1EBB. Perfect/Anteriority Marker Marker (p. 10) 1EBC. Indefinite Future Marker (p. 11) 1EBD. Future Perfect Marker 1EBE. Definite Future Marker 1EBF. Conditional Marker Prepositions & Conjunctions 1FA. Prepositions (p. 12) 1FB. Conjunctions Putting It All Together (p. 13) 1GA. Sentence Structure 1GAA. Subject, Verb, Direct Objects 1GAB. Negating Verbs Vocabulary & Expressions
Interrogative Words Vocabulary (p. 14) 2BA. Fruits 2BB. Vegetables 2BC. Animals 2BD. Meats 2BE. Places in Louisiana 2BF. Louisiana Scenery 2BG. Human Body 2BH. Modes of Transportation Salutations (p. 15)
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Louisiana Creole Louisiana Creole is spoken by an estimated 20,000 – 30,000 people in the triangular Frenchspeaking region of Louisiana, known as Acadiana. Unlike Cajun and Colonial French, Creole is a language apart. It benefits from its own unique grammatical structure, but possesses a heavily influenced French (as opposed to Acadian) vocabulary. Created by Africans brought to Louisiana during its colonial years, today, Creole is spoken by a majority of people of African descent, but has become the mother tongue of some whites as well. Few remain monolingual speakers of the language. Four creole-speaking enclaves have been identified in Louisiana. First, the Bayou Têche Region, which includes St. Martin, Iberia, St. Mary and parts of St. Landry parishes. St. Martin Parish, especially in St. Martinville, Henderson, Breaux Bridge, Parks and Cécilia remain the most populated creole-speaking regions of the state today. Second, along False River in Pointe-Coupée parish, near New Roads, there still are significant amounts of Creole-speakers in the area. The third region identified is nestled along the Côte-des Allemands or Old German Coast, which includes St. James and St. John the Baptist parishes. The fourth and last identifiable region of creole-speakers lies just north of the city of New Orleans, along Bayou Lacombe in St. Tammany Parish. Linguistic Movements?
Currently, Louisiana Creole has not benefited from any “campaign to maintain or revitalize it, as has Cajun French under the CODOFIL program.” There are many reasons which possibly explain this disinterest in the preservation and safeguard of Louisiana Creole. One lies among creolophones themselves. For, never has the creole language in Louisiana been regarded as a prestigious one. More often than not, no t, it associates the language with wi th slavery (given that most speakers of Creole descend from slaves). To better illustrate the low prestige of the language, the following are common comm on terms often used in reference to the language: fransè nèg, gombo, nèg, nigger French, negro French and so on. Whereas CODOFIL and the State tourism department has found a way to revive pride in the Cajun identity and language, mostly by linking Cajuns with Acadians in Canada and thereby showing that Cajun is arguably French and not a patois, Creolophones have not experienced quite the same revitalization in identity, whether cultural or linguistic. Lespwah/L’espoi’
Actually, if Louisiana Creolophones knew just how many people spoke a French-based Creole language similar to theirs, perhaps they would take pride in speaking and passing it on to younger generations. In fact, Creole French is the official language or language of the people in the Caribbean; such as Haïti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, the Dominican Republic, Saint Lucy, Dominica; in South America (French Guyana) and in the Indian Ocean (Seychelles, Mauritius, Reunion Island). Linking Louisiana speakers of Creoles with the current international linguistic movement would, furthermore, provide a sense of belonging and of importance, considering the importance i mportance of the language worldwide.
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Chapter 1.
Grammatical Structure of Creole Formed from everyday communication in close networks, such as family or the workplace, Louisiana Creole possesses many variations. These variations in usage of the language evolved mainly as a result of contact with other linguistic groups, like different dialects of the French language (i.e. Cajun, Savoyard, Breton, Alsacien, Québécois) as well as with contacts with Hispanics and speakers of English. Section 1A.
PRONUNCIATION As for intonation and accent, Louisiana Louis iana Creole differs very little from standard French. In many cases, Creole is clearer to the ear than is Cajun (depending on geographic location). However, Creole does, in fact, take on its own sounds in some cases. Find examples of them below. According to Albert Valdman, one of the principal editors of the Dictionary of Louisiana Creole, Creole, Creole in Louisiana can have up to thirteen vowels. 1AA.
Sounds replaced from standard French
The following standard French vowel sounds have been, over the centuries, replaced by less difficult ones. From
To
Examples
e eu combination
often to short e (è) short e sound (è) long a sound (é) long ee sound (i) short i sound (pen) long a sound (pay) long ee sound (ee)
le > lè, de > dè peur > père, cœur > cère monsieur > misché, bleu > blé Eugène > Eejan, Eugénie > Eejaynee Caroline > Carolen, babine > baben vieux > vyay mulet > meelay, butte > beet
i ie combination u
Section 1B.
CONSONANTS For the most part, in Creole, the consonants remain the same as in standard French. Only a few vowel-consonant combinations and consonants take on different sounds. Find below a couple examples.
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From
To
Examples
Di Gn H (silent) R
J (jay) n, or y h (pronounced) (rolled or silent)
Tu
choo
Dieu > Jé/Jay beigne > bain, peignait > painyay haler > haler, hurler > hèlay parler > pa’lé L’heure > l’hère tuer > chooway
Section 1C.
NOUNS & ARTICLES In most cases, Louisiana Creole does not incorporate gender for nouns. There are exceptions, of course, to this rule. When counting a number of objects or people, we use whatever numbers, however. Find below some examples. From
To
Les bœufs Le chat La table/les tables Le cheval
bèf- yé yé or lèbèf chat-là latab-là, tab- yé yé (*exception) chval-ça
Nouns that begin with vowels usually are preceded by a consonant. These consonants combine with the noun to make one word, just as agglutinated elements you shall find in the section below. Un home or l’homme L’herbe or les herbes L’oreille or les oreilles L’arbre or les arbres L’haricot or les haricots 1CA.
A man or the man Grass or the grass Ear or the ears Tree or the trees Beans or the beans
N’homme or nom Z’hèb or Zèb Z’oréy or Zoré N’ab or Nab-yé Z’haricot or Zaricot
DEMONSTRATIVES
Demonstratives in Creole, as in English, affect the noun. They correspond, in English, to this, that, those, these . In creole, these demonstratives are ci-là (this), là (that), - yé (those), these (cilàyé) . Not that the demonstrative for that also can be used to mean the . See previous examples on nouns and gender. From
To
Ce cheval (this, that horse)
chval-ci-là (this horse) Chval-là or Chval-ça or Chval-là-là (that horse) 5
Ces chevaux (these horses)
Chval-ci-là-yé Chval-là-yé
Ce gars (this, that dude)
bougue-ci-là (this dude) bougue-là or bougue-ça or bougue-là-là (that dude) bougue-ci-là-yé bougue-ça-là-yé
“
(those horses)
Ces gars (these dudes)
“ (those dudes)
1CB.
AGGLUTINATION
Lots of nouns in Louisiana Creole possess all or some of the nouns from which they derive in standard French. Such as eine lamayzon (from la maison ), so dézèfs (from des œufs), mo lamain (from la main ). These agglutinated elements, in Creole, do not , have meaning of their own, but become part of one word (i.e. lamayzon is one word). These occur often in Creole French. Other examples are: Latab (from la table ) Dolo/Dèlo (from de l’eau ) Diri (from du riz ) Lasanté (from la santé ) 1CC.
Dipain (from ) du pain du du vin Divain (from ) Dibwah du (from bois , which means wood in creole) la bouche Labouch (from )
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
Pronouns are perhaps the most obvious element of Creole language. They differ significantly from those of the original European tongue. In possessive pronouns, only in the third person Subject Pronouns
Standard French Tu Il/elle/on Nous Vous Ils/elles
English Je
Louisiana Creole
Haitian Creole
I mo (moi) mwen (moi) You (informal) ou to (toi) li/ça (lui) He/she/it li We nou nous/nou-zòt Vous/vou-zòt/zòt vou You plural/fml. They yé Yé/ça
In Creole, we generally like to make m ake contractions wherever possible. Pronouns are no exception to this rule, especially with verbs following.
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From
To
Mo + alé Li + apé Nous + va
m’alé l’apé n’a Possessive Pronouns
When followed by an object, the following system is used to show possession in Louisiana Creole (i.e. my book > mo liv). Standard French
English
Louisiana Creole
Mon (masc.), ma (fem.)
my
mo (*remember, no gender)
Ton (masc.), ta (fem.) Votre (masc. & fem.)
your your (formal)
to vous/vo
Son (masc.), sa (fem.)
his/hers
so
Notre (masc. & fem.)
our
nòt, no, nous, nous-zòt
Votre (masc. & fem.) Leur/leurs (masc. & fem.)
your (plural)
zo (informal), vous, vo (formal)
their
yé + noun + yé (yé garcon yé)
When possessive pronouns reflect simply possession of an object or person, without that element being expressed in the sentence, possession is expression in the following way. Standard French
English
Louisiana Creole
Le mien, la mienne
mine
motchain or moquainn
Le tien, la tienne
yours
totchain or toquainn
Le sien, la sienne
his/hers/its
sotchain or soquainn
Le nôtre (masc. & fem.)
ours
noutchain or noquainn
Le vôtre (masc. & fem.)
yours (inf. or form.) voutchain or vouquainn
Le leur, la leur
theirs
yétchain
Examples: Pou qui liv-ça? C’est moquainn. (For whom is this book? It’s mine.) To té wah nouveau char là-bas? Mè wè, c’est noutchain. (Did you see 7
the new car over there? Of course, it belongs to us.) Mo gain moquainn récòt. (I have my own crop.) Section 1D.
ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS Adjectives and adverbs in Creole are no different from those in standard French. They follow the same rules in Creole as they do in standard French (adjectives follow the noun the modify). Example: Nèg jònn-là, so pape c’est ein blanc. That light-skinned guy, his father’s white. One exception to this rule are with special feminine forms of the words bon/bonne and mauvais/mauvaise . Examples: Mo popa té ein bon n’homme. Li c’est eine mauvaise fômme.
My father was a good man. She’s a wicked woman.
Adverb examples: Rar (rare) > rar’ment (rarely) Complè (complete) > complèt’ment (completely) Enché (entire) > enchyè’ment (entirely) Section 1E.
VERB SYSTEM/CONJUGATING Creoles usually possess the simplest conjugation of verbs from the mother tongues. This aspect of the language makes things much easier to grasp on. For its conjugation remains the same throughout all forms. This conjugation derives from the third person singular form of standard regular French verbs (i.e. –er verbs). Find examples below.
Verb
Conjugation in Creole
‘Oir/Voir (to see)
mo to li nous vous yé/ça
wah/’oit wah/’oit wah/’oit wah/’oit wah/’oit wah/’oit
Conjugation in standard French je vois tu vois il voit nous voyons vous voyez ils voient
Manger (to eat)
mo
mange
je mange 8
to li nous vous yé/ça 1EA.
tu manges il mange nous mangeons vous mangez ils mangent
mange mange mange mange mange
DYNAMIC & STATIVE VERBS
In Louisiana Creole, verbs are classified into two sections: one-stem and two-stem verbs. Common two-stem verbs are –re verbs in standard French, such as manger (mange/mangé) and in –ir verbs like sortir (sòr/sorti). The use of these forms depends on whether the verb describes an action that has taken place or a verb that describes an habitual action . 1EAA. One-stem verb examples Fini (to finish), doublé (to double), tracassé (to bother), connaît/connè (to know a person or thing), vini (to come), voit/’oit (to see), couri (to run), gain (to have), doit/dwah (to owe), tiens (to have/hold), bourré (to stuff), amarré/maré (to tie, attach), démarré (to start), allumé (to turn on), comprenn (to understand) 1EAB. Two-stem verb examples Lave/lavé (to wash), travaille/travaillé (to work), chante/chanté (to sing), hale/halé (to pull/haul), jongle/jonglé (to think), lève/levé (to lift, wake up), Braille/braillé (to cry), galope/galopé (to run, manage), crie/crié (to yell after), noye/noyé (to drown)
Examples: Mo lavé mo char eeyè équand li té fè beau.
I washed my car yesterday when the weather was nice. (completed action) I wash my car at Sosthène’s carwash. (habitual action, no reference to when exactly)
Mo lave mo char côté Sosthène carwash.
1EB.
VERBAL MARKERS
The following are the most important verbal markers m arkers in Louisiana Creole: apé (progressive), té (perfect), va (indefinite future), sa (future perfect), alé (definite future), sè (conditional), fait que/ça fait (que) 1EBA. Progressive Marker
The progressive marker denotes action presently taking place (i.e. I am eating, she is sleeping). In Louisiana Creole, these markers are expressed by the word apé (contracted to ap’ where applicable, é, and often ap (not a contraction)). 9
Examples: Ça fait presquè trwah s’maines m’apé travaille côté Télesphore.
I’ve been working with Télesphore
M’é couri travail aprèmidi-là.
I’m going to work this afternoon.
N’ap vini back dans clo(s).
They ’re ’re coming back to the fields.
going on three weeks now.
*In the past tense, the progressive marker usually contracts with the past marker té to form tépé (I was eating, he was yelling). Example: Quand mo té pélé li eeyèr, li tépé lave li.
When I called her yesterday, she was taking a bath.
1EBB. Perfect/Anteriority Marker
This marker indicates a past event and is expressed by the word té, a deformation of the word était or été. It often indicates an even occurring before another event in the past. Examples: Li té prenn so sèr ‘vec li en-ville.
He took his sister with him to N. Orleans. After they had arrived, we ate snap beans.
Apé yé té vini, nou mangé zaricots.
*When combined with apé, the sentence expresses ongoing events in the past. Often it contracts into tépé.* Example: Li t’ap joué en-dans laboue quand mo rivé.
He was playing was playing in mud when arrived.
Yé tépé tané yé garçon quand mame té pélé.
were whipping their son They were when mom called.
1EBC. Indefinite Future Marker
This marker is often expressed as a and derives from the conjugated form va (from the verb aller ). ). It indicates hypothetical events.
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Examples: N’a gain ein ti chien. Mo va dit li ça.
We’re going to get a puppy (indefinite when) I’ll tell him ( when when I see him).
1EBD. Future Perfect Marker
Also said to be indefinite often with stative verbs. Examples: To sa ka donné li ein kiss pou moi? Quand t’a vini démain, mo sa déjà parti.
You’ll give her a kiss for me? When you come tomorrow, I will have already left.
1EBE. Definite Future Marker
Used with the marker alé, this tense indicates actions that will definitely take place in the future. Examples: Li t’alé voyer li un coup! Yé p’alé laisser nègs-là. M’alé lave mo à-soir.
He was going to smack him one! won’t They let those boys in. I’m going to bathe tonight.
1EBF. Conditional Marker
Conditional in English are commonly expressed through words such as would, could and should . In Creole, this marker is sè and derives from the French word serait . Mo sè l’aimer connè li. Ça sè bon si t’alé couri-vini wah yé.
I surely would would like to meet her. It’d be nice for you to go to see them.
Section 1F.
PREPOSITIONS & CONJUCTIONS The following section lists the most common prepositions and conjunctions employed in Louisiana Creole. You will note only minor differences here between Creole and standard French.
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1FA.
1FB.
Prepositions
Creole
English
Standard French
Example in sentence
avant
before
avant
Mo té wah li avant li parti.
aprè/apé
after
après
ichquà/jishka
until
jusque/jusqu’à
dépi/dipi
for, since
depuis
à-travèr
through
à travers
sous
under
sous
sur/sir
on, over
sur
audéssi/déssi
over, above
au-dessus/dessus
au-ras/côté
beside, next to à côté de/au ras de
I saw her before she left. L’un apé l’òt yé couri travaillé. One after the other went work. Nous té là ichquà dè zèr. We were there until two o’clock. Mo já marié dipi vaint-an. I’ve been married twenty years. Nous wah li à-travèr nuages. We [can] see it through the clouds. Li sous latab. It’s under the table. Mame té quitté li sir to char. Mom left it (for you) on your car. L’avion passe déssi ici. The plane passes over here. L’ap resté au-ras nous-zòt. He lives next to [near] us.
CONJUCTIONS
Creole
English
Standard French
Examples in sentences
et/etpis
and
et
Yé mandé etpis mo té répand.
ou
or
ou
mè/mais
well, but
mais
quand/équand when, while
si pâsqué quand-même quoiquè
if because although, anyways
quand/lorsque pendant que
They asked and I answered. To fini ou t’ap toujou causé? Have you finished or not? Li pélé mè mo pa toujou là. He calls but I’m not always here.
Équand n’a sò’ti ensem?
So when are we going to go out?
Ça t’olé gain n’affaire quand mo té gone. They wanted to come make business while I was gone.
si
Si to vini astèr, n’alé courri.
parce que quoique, bien que quand-même
If you come now, we’ll go.
Mo mandé pâsqué mo pas sûr.
I asked because I’m not sure.
Yé dit li pa vini ojòdi, mè li vini quand-même.
They asked him not to come, but he came along anyways.
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Section 1G.
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 1GA.
SENTENCE STRUCTURE
Fortunately, for those who are already proficient or fluent in English, the sentence structure of Louisiana Creole is exactly the same. 1GAA. Subjects, Verbs & Direct Objects
Creole follows the same conventional subject-verb-direct object structure as in English. Unlike in standard French, in Creole, direct objects. See examples below and compare. Louisiana Creole Mo té mangé li hier au-soir. Commen to connais li?
English I ate it last night. How do you know her?
Standard French Je l’ai mangé hier soir. Comment tu la connais?
1GAB. Negating
Once again, this grammatical feature resembles that of English. Unlike in French where ne and pas envelope the conjugated verb, Creole completely removes the ne and places the pas before the conjugated verb, same as in English. Mo pas gain moula.
I don’t have money.
Chapter 2.
Vocabulary & Expressions The following section shall be useful in common vocabulary and everyday expressions in Louisiana Creole. 2A.
INTERROGATIVE WORDS what (Ça, quoi, qui), when (quand, équand), where (àoù, àyoù, éyoù, éoù), from where (d’àoù, d’àyoù, d’éyoù), how (comment), how much/many (commien), which (qui).
Examples: Équand to té wah li? Comment t’apé fait pou étidié? D’àoù vous sort?
When was the last time you saw him? How do you study? (circumstances) Where are you from?
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2B.
VOCABULARY
2BA. Fruits
2BB. Vegetables
Apple(s) dèpòmm ein Orange(s) ein z’orange Banana(s) ein banan Grape(s) ein raisin Lemon ein lémon Cherry/Cherries miriz tomate Tomato(es) eine Mango(s) ein mango Plum(s) eine prun Muscadine ein soco Persimmon(s) eine plaqu’mine Strawberries dè fraise z’anana Pineapple Canelope ein mèlon d’eau Watermelon mèlonein Pear ein poi’ (Blue) Berries dè mur, kanko Figue(s) eine figue coco Cocount Grapefruit eine schadèque
Cucumber(s) Squash Pumpkin Broccoli Celery Onion(s) Bell pepper carrots Okra Spinach Vegetable pear Beets Potatoes Beans (White) Beans (Red) Corn Sweet Peas Snap beans Garlic Sauerkraut Butterbeans
2BC. Animals
2BD. Meats
Bear Rat Possum Raccoon Deer Chicken Goat(s) Duck(s) Cow(s) Crow Fish Bobcat Bird
ein l’ours Beef ein rat Pork ein rat d’bois Chicken ein coon, chawee Steak eine chèvrèye Pork Chops eine poule, ein coq Meat (in general) ein cabri, belyè Pork Bone ein canar’ Salt meat eine vache Saussage ein carencro Ham di pwasson Roast ein pitou, chat marron ein zozo, zwahzo
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ein concomb eine ciblème eine giromon di brocoli di céléri z’ognion ein piment doux décarrot di gombo l’épina’/z’épinar’ eine mè’liton dè bétrave patate, pomme dè tèr dépois blancs zaricots rouges maï(s) pitipois zaricots (vèrts) l’aile/lay lachoukrout dè fèv platte
laviande dè bèf laviande-cochon poulet di steak dè chop cochon laviande l’os cochon viande salée dèsaussises di jambon ein dob, rôti
2BE. Places (in Louisiana)
2BF.
New Orleans Baton Rouge Carencro New Iberia St. Martinville Iota False River German Coast Lake Charles
River Stream Swamps Marsh Cypress tree Cypress Swamp Oak tree Pine tree
en-ville, laville au bâton-rouge Saint-Pierre (Nouvelle)-Ibérie Saint-Ma’tin Pointe-aux-Loups Fausse-Rivière Côte-des-Allemands au lac-Charles
Louisiana Scenery
ein flèv , eine rivyèr eine coulée dè marais lamèche ein Cip’ eine Ciprière ein chêne ein pin, bois-gras
2BG. Parts of the Human Body
2BH. Modes of Transportation
Eye(s) Nose Hair Lip(s) Arm(s) Ear(s) Foot/feet Finger(s) Toe(s) Leg(s) Thigh(s) Hip Breast Back Neck Rear end Elbow
Car ein char Little boat eine pirogue School Bus transfè d’écòle Airplane avion, aéroplèn ein
2C.
zyè/zyeux nè/nez chvé lèv bra(s) z’orèy pied/pyay doigt/dwah z’ortèy jamb’ cuisse/kwiss hanche poitrine/pwahtrin do(s) cou chi, cheu, dèriyèr coude
bâtiment d’air Train char ein Pick-up/Truck ein tròk Bicycle eine bicyc
SALUTATIONS
Hi/hello Bye/So long See you later
Bonjou Aurévwah/N’a wah Wah pli tar/Wah pi tar
Have to make do. Ça gain pou couri. What time you have? Qui l’hèr to gain? What do you know? Ça to connè? What’s up? Ça t’ap fait aster? Take care. Soigne-toi.
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How do you do? Comment t’es? Comment vous y’est? Comment c’est? Comment ça va? I’m fine. C’est bon et toi/vous? Mo bon and you ? Bien et toi? It’s going (ok). Ô, ç’apé couri. Thanks, you too. Mèsi, toi itou.
