Cajun French Language Tutorials

In my previous post I introduced the word “chuille” and explained its usage as a wooden peg.  The smaller “cork” used on some bottles is called “le liège.”  “Le liège est usé come ain bouchon pour boucher aine boutielle, par exemple “aine bouteille de vin.”  “Le bouchon” is used in Cajun for any stopper but when it is a “cork,” we say “bouchon au liège, or “bouchon d’liège.

 ”While we are on the verb “boucher,” all of you who spoke Cajun at one time or still do, you no doubt heard “bouche ta gueule.”  You may hear the “g” pronounced as a “j” or a hard “g.”  This is a very harsh way of saying, “ferme (fermez) ta (votre) bouche.”  Usually the word “gueule” is used for the mouth of an animal.  However, “il y a aine grande gueule” is used in SF to mean “a big mouth or loud mouth.”  The same is true in Cajun.  “Mais, ça c’est avoir aine grande gueule.”  (But, that, he, has a loud mouth.)

The verb “boucher” of course means “to stop up something.”  “Y faut qu’on va boucher le trou dans l’chemin, avant qu’aine personne coure son char par dessus ça et puis là peut-être aller  défaire quelque chose sur son char.”  (We need to go and stop up the hole in the road before a person runs his car over that and then maybe goes and breaks (undo) something on his car.)

Now to “cover” something, we would use the verb “couvrir.”  “L’homme qui travaille pour la pariosse, a venu covert le trou, qu’est très creux, sur le ch’min qu’est assigné à lui pour maintenir.”  (The man who works for the parish, has come and covered the hole, that is very deep, on the road that is assigned to him to maintain.)

“J’couvre mon p’tit avec aine couverte légère après j’le mets au lit, pour l’empêcher d’avoir froid (frette)* pendant la nuit.”  (I cover my little one with a light blanket after I put him to bed, to prevent him to be (have) cold during the night.)

“Froid” in SF and in Cajun is “cold.”  However, we use another word that is also used in the area of Québec where the “jouval” is spoken, and that is “frette.”  “Il a eu frette équand il a été déhors sans d’apporter son capot.”*  (He was cold when he had gone outside without wearing his coat.)

*”Capot” in Cajun is preferred to “manteau,” for “coat.”  “Le capot” no doubt comes from a hooded garment of the past.  In SF “le capot” is used for the “hood of a car.”  Interestinly, “chaperon” comes from an older woman wearing a hooded garment and who watches over a single girl.

Before I go to the words beginning with the letter “g” let me make mention of some other pronunciations that Cajuns have that are similar to the “jouval” spoken in Québec. 

For “here” “ici” many Cajuns will use “icitte,” it seems that in “joual” that is the case as well.  Cajuns use “çulà” for “that one.”  In “joual” “su’l” is heard for “sur la” or on it.  I may be mistaken on that one.  Cajuns use “frette” for cold, so does “joual” speakers.  “Je suis” become “j’sus” in Cajun, in “joual” I believe that it is “chu.”  “Puis” is pronounced “pis” by Cajuns for “then.”  It is the same in “joual.”  “Y” is used for “il” “he” in “joual” so it is in Cajun when it sounds right.  “Alle” for “she” is used in both Cajun and Joual.  Anyway, interesting, since many of our ancesters came from Canada.

It may not be in line with good etiquette to speak “joual” in Québec but in Cajundom, we say it and do not have “aine figure qui tourne rouge.”

Now to some words that begin with the letter “g.”

“Le grabot” in Cajun is “a bole of cotton in the unopened state.”  Once it opens up we call it “aine gosse de coton.”  “Équand que j’voyais les grabots se faire dans ain clos d’cotton, j’savais que dans pas trop longtemps y fallait mettre le sac sur l’épaul et puis là aller ramasser le coton de les grabot qui s’ouvriront.”

We now made up a verb “graboter” meaning to “eke out something” like an existance on non-productive land.  “Le pauvre monde qui restaient au près de nous-autres a eu besoin de graboter pour gagner la vie.”  (The poor people who stayed near or next to us had the need to eke out their existance.)  “T’es simplement après graboter dans ton jardin, puisque l’eau haute  l’a presque tous détruit.”  (You are simply eking something out of your garden, since the high water nearly destroyed all of it.)

“Les cuisinères étaient après goûter, de chaque chaudières du manger ils cuisaient, alors, équand l’heure a arrivé pour le repas, ils avaient pas faim.”  (The cooks were tasting the food from each pot the food they were cooking, then in that case, when the time arrived to eat the repast they were not hungry (had no hunger).

Now when we simply taste food, we use the feminine noun “la goutée.”  “Le tit garçon était après chamonder assez que sa maman l’a donné aine goutée de l’ douceur pour le faire taire jusqu’a é pouvait le donner à manger complètement.”  (The little boy was begging so much that his mother gave him a taste of the dessert, until she could completely feed him.)

Now for a simple taste of a liquid, the feminine noun “goutte” would be used.  “J’ai mandé pour ain goutte de café, mais plutôt de ça, la servante qui travaillait dans la restaurant m’a amené aine pleine tasse.”  (I asked for a sip or little taste of coffee, but rather than that, the waitress who was working in the restaurant brought me a full cup of coffee.)

We could also say, “j’ai mandé pour aine gorgée d’l'eau.”  (I asked for a draft, swallow etc. of water.)

Here’s another form of the word “gouter,” “le gout.”  That stands for “the taste, the flavor.”  “Le manger qu’est  pas cuit chez-nous,  mais plutôt, étant cuit ailleurs, comme dans ain restaurant, est pas mangeable (ou y manque du goute) très souvant.”  (The food that is not cooked at home, but rather being cooked elsewhere, like in a restaurant, is very often not edible or lacks taste.)

“Celle-là a pas d’goût quand ça vient pour s’habiller.” (This one has no taste when it comes to dress himself (herself).) “Alle a ain bon goût équand alle va choisir ses habillements.”  (She has good taste when she goes to choose her habits or clothing.)

“Endurer, que le jus d’orange servi à c’matin a ain mauvais goût.”  (It seems (prevails in taste) that the orange juice served this morning has a bad taste.)

“Moi, j’vas réengager çula pour peinturer ma maison dans l’année qui vient puisque il a fait ain bon job équand j’l'ai usé pour bâtir mon lavoir (wash house) dans la semaine passé.”  (I will rehire that one to paint my house next year (in the year that comes) since he has done a good job when I used him to build my wash house last week (in the week gone by).)

We have to have a noun, now, for a “drip.”  “Gouttière,” a feminine noun for “a drip, a leak, a gutter or the eaves of a building is used by Cajuns.  “Il y avait aine gouttière dans son basin, (baquet) alors, il a égouté d’huile tous partout dans la maison.”  (He had a drip in his bucket, in that case, he dripped oil everywhere in the house.)

“Les goutières qu’on mettait tous allentour de la maison sont très utile pour attraper d’l'eau de pluie pour user à laver le linge et les cheveux.”  (The gutters that we would put all around the house are very useful to catch rain water to use to wash clothes and the hair.)

“Moi, j’aimais les jours de l’hiver équand qu’il était impossible d’aller déhors pour jouer, parce que là on gralait du “tac-tac,” et on faisait des boules de tac-tac adouci avec du sirop d’canne.”  (Me, I loved the days of winter when it was impossible to go outside to play, because then we would pop some pop-corn, and we would make pop-corn balls sweetened with cane syrup.”  The verb “graller” “to pop” was used when popping corn.  (Note the “ll’s” are pronounced as “l’s” not as “y” (grayay).

  We could also hear, “faire fleurir du tac-tac.”  Now stop and think.  “Fleur” is “flower” in French, so when the kernel of corn pops it resembles an opened flower.  “Voilà, c’est aisé à comprendre!”  (See there it is easy to comprehend (understand).

“Mon chien avait d’la gratelle assez mauvais, qu’y fallait le baigner souvant.”  (My dog had the “itch” “la gale” so bad, that it was necessary to bathe him often.)

It you wanted sliced fried potatoes, how would you ask for them?  “Mais c’est pas difficile à dire, ça.”  (But, that is not difficult to say, that.”)  “On fait aine demande pour des grillades de pommes de terres.”  “Aujourd’hui le jeune monde mangent trop des pommes de terre frites.”  (Today the young folks eat too many french fries.)

“À mon âge, mes cheveux sont après grissoner.  Enfin,* équand j’m'ai gardé dans le miroir ma tête était bien gris.”  (At my age, my hair is greying.  In fact* when I looked at myself in the mirror (I saw that) my head was very grey.)

*”Enfin in SF can mean a number of things.  (after all, at last, in brief, in a word, finally, in short, get it over with, and finally)  In Cajun we used it to mean “finally” and “after all.”  It was an expression that was used often.  At times it was used by itself.  E.g.  “Il est jamais contend, ça ersemble.  Enfin.  (the person speaking would shrug the shoulders to denote “well” or ”that is my opinion of things.”)

“Grogneur” meant “a grumbler” or “a complainer.”  “J’haissais de voir mon voisin venir chez-moi, parce qu’il était ain grogneur à jamais finir.  (I hated to see my neighbor come to my house to visit  because he was a grumbler (complainer) without an end.)

To guide someone or thing we use the verb “guider.”  “Mon père m’a laissé guider les mulets pour la première fois hier quand c’était l’heure pour lâcher du clos.”  (My father let me guide (drive) the mules for the first time yesterday when it was time to quit work (to let go of work in the fields).)

“Ma mère avait ain tas des chaudières en granite.  Il fallait faire attention de pas les cogner fort autrement on pouvait les ébrêcher.” (My mother had a lot of pots lined with granite.  It was necessary to pay attention not to hit them hard, otherwise we could chip them.) The masculine word for “granite” is “le granite.”  So pots lined with “granite” were “chaudières au granite.”  They were easy to “chip” (ébrêcher).

A word used in cooking is “gratin” or “au gratin.”  Now to some Cajuns that meant food at the bottom of the pot that had burned a little.  Now in English, wow, “au gratin” is a fancy thing!  I laugh everytime I hear that expression, because I envision the “rice gratins” that we used to eat as cereal in the morning.  We would at times pour milk over the rice in the pot and cook it and then add sugar to it and “mais gardez cher c’est aussi bon!”  (but look dear, it is oh so good!)

“Graisser” the verb “to grease” was used in different ways.  “Il est après graisser ces charrues.”  (He is greasing his plows.  That was to keep the blades from rusting.) 

Now to fatten up just add “en” in front of it and you have “engraisser” which means to fatten up or put some weight on yourself or on an animal.  “Avant de faire la boucherie il était nécessaire de engraisser les cochons.”  (Before making a butchering it was necessary to fatten up the pigs.)

“Après ma soeur a eu son premier bébé alle a engraissé ain peu, et alle a pas pu perdre le poids qu’alle a gagné pendant sa grossesse.”  (After my sister had her first baby she gained weight some, and she was not able to lose the weight that she gained during her pregnancy.)

Another verb “grioter” (grinoter) meaning to “eke out” or simply to eat very little or being picky is unique.  “La tite fille qu’est très maigrichine est comme ça parce qu’alle est tous l’temps après grioter, plutôt de manger comme il faut.”  (That little girl that is very skinny is that way because she is all the time eating small portions (without desire to do so) instead of eating the way she should eat.)

“Grimper” a verb that has the action of “climbing” perhaps in a cat-like manner is a popular one among Cajuns.  “Les lunettes du tit bougre ont tombé parterre quand il était après grimper l’arbre, et ils étaient brisé on mille morceux quand ils ont frappé ain morceux d’ciment qui se trouvait sous l’abre.”  (The little boy’s glasses fell down when he was climbing the tree and they were shattered in a thousand pieces when they hit a piece of concrete that was found under the tree.)

“Mon premier cousin peut jouer le guitare avec expertise.”  Cajuns have incorporated the “guitar” in their music both the “acoustic” and “electric.” 

“Mon premier cousin peut jouer le guitare avec expertise.”  (My first cousin can play the guitar with expertise.)