Cajun French Language Tutorials

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• Author: Jim Leger | Category: Learn Cajun French | Comments(0)

Quizlet set to Post #333 Depus, Aussitôt Que, Dès Que, Et D’Autres

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Review this quizlet set above and get familiar with words and phrases used by some Cajuns on the above words and word phrases. Merci

• Author: Jim Leger | Category: Learn Cajun French | Comments(0)

Depuis (depus). Aussitôt Que Dès Que Et D’Aut(res)

SO FAR I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO UPLOAD THE AUDIO TO MY POSTS. I AM STILL TRYING TO FIGURE A WAY TO DO SO. MERCI.

Where I grew up in Cajundom the word “depuis” (pronounced “depus”*) was used mainly to express the preposition /adv./conj./ “since” and “from.” Of course other forms of expressions by the combination of words were used as well.

*Remember that Cajuns learned their language by means of word of mouth and not in any literary fashion, therefore, it could be that to them “puis” in “depuis” would remind them of a well, “un puit.” Anyway, some may pronounce it “depuis,” but in our locale in everday conversations it was “depus.”

E.g. To express “from” or “since:” Depuis (depus) hier. (Since yesterday) (From yesterday)

“De” is also used for that same purpose. “Il deveint de loin.” (He comes from afar.)

However, “Il deveint depuis (depus) loin” was not used. “Depus ce temps là ” was heard as well as “de c(e) temps là ,” from this time (onward). We had the tendency to substitute “depus” with “de.”

“Ça donne depus longtemps qu’il a pas v(e)nu.”** (It gives since a long time that he has not come.)

**Remember that Cajuns like to “elide” or “drop letters or syllables” so I put in () that which is elided. “Venu,” the past tense for “venir” would be pronounced “v’nu” and the infinitive “v’nir.”

“Depus le début, il a montré qu’il été en vouloir de cette personne.” Cajuns would prefer, for “le début” (the beginning) , to use “le commenc(e)ment. (From the beginning or start he showed that he had it in (hatred) for this person.) Another way would be “D(e) le commenc(e)ment y haissait cette personne.”

“Depus des années, j’l”ai pas vu.” (Since some years I have not seen him.) More often though you would hear “ça donne des années que j’l'ai pas vu.” (It gives, has been, years since I have seen him.)

Another way to express “since” or “from” is by word phrases. “À partir de le jour qu’il a arrivé (est arrivé) (arriva), il a pas arrêter de faire le couillon.” (Literally, Since leaving from the day he arrived, he has not stopped making (of to make) the as a nut, funny one or joker.)

I more often than not heard “a arrivé” rather than “est arrivé” or “arriva” (simple past). We always preferred to use a form of “avoir” (to have) rather than “être” (to be).

“Il est arrivé” to me would signify that he has just arrived, whereas, “Il a arrivé” would mean an arrival in the past. Perhaps to some Cajuns that was not the case, but in my locale I heard it that way. That is why the Cajun language is so versatile and varied from place to place.

“Il arriva” was heard in more formal conversations. That is the use of simple past tense for “arriver” to arrive. As a Cajun speaker “arriva” seems to lack something, whereas, “il a arrivé, or “il est arrivé” express a more definite arrival. “Mais, j’peux pas m’aider à exprimer (expresser)*** mes pensers dans quelle d’aut(re) manière.”

***Yes, the English verb “express” was used (as “expresser”) instead of “exprimer,” the French verb. Why? Perhaps due to the English influence or since we heard “l’expression,” (the expression) in Cajun, we surmised it was o.k. to use “expresser.” “Moi, j’connais pas la raison, mais gards on se faisaist comprend(re) dans une manière ou l’aut(re).”

Now as to the adverb “aussitôt” and the phrase “aussitôt que” in Cajun we used these basically the same as in SF.

“Il a fait ses ouvrages aussitôt qu’il a v’nu (chez-lui) de son école.” (He did his chores as soon as he came home from his school.) In many Cajun conversations instead of using the adverb “aussitôt” alone we substitued “immédiat(e)ment, tout d(e) suite, direct(e)ment, droite à c’t'heure and carrément.

The adverb “carrément” in French is used by Cajun folks above all others to express “straight forward,” “right now” and “immediately.” “J’l'ai dit d’aller prend(re) un bain carrément!” (I told him or her to take a bath right now! Of course “toute d’suite” would put haste into an action also.

For you who know SF you will recognize the noun “le carré,” (the square) in the above adverb, “carrément.” So, what Cajuns mean when they use “carrément” is related to doing it “squarely” without any hesitation.

“Tu vas aller immédiat(e)ment aider ton père pour arranger son char?” (”Will you go immediately to help your father fix his car?) Remember, Cajuns simply make a statement but in the voice you can detect it is a question. We do not invert the verb.

Of course “toute d’suite” really told us to scamper out of a situation when used by our parents. “Hales tes canniques (ton camp) d’ici toute d’suite mon enfant avant que j’te donne une raclée!” (Haul out of here right away my child before I give you a thrashing!) I am sure that all Cajuns use that adverbial form. There was no hesitation on our part when that phrase was used.

“Diréct(e)ment” was also heard in our conversations. “J’vas aller diréct(e)ment après que j’vas finir mon souper.” (I will go directly after having finished my supper.) At times, that adverb was used in a one word answer to a question as to when. “Équand que tu vas v’nir, cher?” Réponse, “diréct(e)ment.” (When will you come dear? Answer, directly.) So that adverb could be used when it was not as urgent to do something.

As to the adverbial phrase “dès que,” meaning, as soon as, I heard it very little. My step-grandfather who was influenced by SF used it and his immediate family. In formal conversations no doubt it was used. “É va aller dès qu’é va arranger son lit.” (She will go as soon as she has fixed (made-up) her bed.) Remember “é” is another way to say “elle” or “she” in Cajun when it is put before a consonant.

Cajuns in my area were more apt to use “après” (after) or the other adverbs rather than “dès que.”

I wanted to interject here a saying that I heard often while growing up in the dusty areas of SW Louisiana. When it was really dry weather, dust was prevalent. The cultivated fields and the gravel roads and dirt roads provided a lot of dusty atmospheres. We would play in these and perspire at the same time, so we would come home and our mothers would tell us, “Allez laver le collier d’crasse que vous-aut(res) a alentour vos cous.” (Go wash the dirty necklace that you have around your necks.)

“La crasse” to Cajuns means “the dirty,” “low-class,” “the filth” or “the crud.” So one who was “crasseux (se) was such. You see when you mix human perspiration with dust, you get “crud.” So we had to go and get rid of those “colliers de crasses” before we could do anything else. It was abominable to see a person with such! Of course, back of the ear was also checked for such “la crasse.”

“À c’t'heure j’aimrai vous montrer comment qu’on use l’expression “au lieu” et “plutôt que.” (I would like now to show you how we use the expression “instead of” and “rather than.”

“Au lieu” was generally pronounced as “au lieur” in our area. I would surmise that is another Cajun preference. “Au lieur d’aller manger, le tit garçon a été jouer dehors.” (Instead of going to eat, the little boy went and played outside.)

We used “plutôt que” or “plutôt”(pronounced at times “putôt” in basically the same way as “au lieur.” “Il a décidé de prend(re) sa vacance (vacation) pendant l’hiver p(l)utôt que dans le printemps.” (He decided to take his vacation during the winter rather than in the spring time.)

“Vacance” was heard for “vacation” rather than “vacation.”

English words were used in our Cajun conversations as I stated before, however, here is one that was used often, “drive.” The French verb “conduire” was used, but at times it was not used to denote driving a vehicle but as to how one would behave, or conduct himself.

“Moi, j’peux drive mon char à c’t'heure que j’ai une license ou un permis pour drive (conduire) mon char.” (Me, I can drive my car now that I have a driver’s license or a permit to drive.)

We also used the present participle and other tenses of the verb “courir,” which means “to run” when speaking about running a car in a sense of driving it. “Il court son char trop vite sur le vieux ch(e)min d’gravois.” (He runs his car too fast on the old gravel road.) Of course “courir” was used as “to run” per se as well. “Y va courir son ch(e)val dans les courses dans l’avenir bientôt.” (He will race his hosrse in the races in the near future.)

I would say that at times we may have used “courir” and “conduire,” “to run”and “to conduct,” for either meaning.

“Le jeune homme s’a conduit dans une manière mal apropos devant la compagnie.” (The young man conducted himself in an inappropirate manner in front of the company.)

“J’souhaite que vous-aut(res) a appris qu(el)que choses après avoir passé en revue ça que j’ai écrit en haut.” (I hope that you have learned something after having passed in review (reviewed) that which I have written above.)

Again, Cajuns have their own speech in different locales, so I am not laying a rule here, merely one way of expressing the language.

I HOPE TO POST A QUIZLET SET FOR THIS POST IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

• Author: Jim Leger | Category: Learn Cajun French | Comments(0)

Qiuizlet Sets To Post #326,329 And 331 CAJUN LANGUAGE.NET

CLICK HERE TO VIEW QUIZLET SET TO “AYEOU SE TROUVE BAYOU POM POM” #326 POST

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CLICK HERE TO VIEW QUIZLET SET TO “L’ESPÈCE DE COCODRIE” #329 POST

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CLICK HERE TO VIEW QUIZLET SET TO “ALLONS GRIMPER L’ARBRE À LILAS, PARASOL

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• Author: Jim Leger | Category: Learn Cajun French | Comments(0)

Allons Grimper L’Arbre À Lilas, Parasol

L’arbre à lilas, ou le parasol, nous donnait un tas d’plaisir

The Chinaball Tree or Parasol, gave us a lot of pleasure

Pourquoi qu’on l’appelait (appelât) “parasol?”

Why did we call it “Parasol?”

Pour nous-autres, l’arbre nous donnait une apparence d’un parasol

For us, the tree gave us an appearance of a parasol

Souvent on allait grimper cet arbre pour nous cacher d’une et l’autre

Often we would scamper (climb) that tree to hide ourselves from one another

Les branches et les feuilles étaient très épais, tous près à près

The branches and leaves were very thick, all close to each other

Beaucoup des fourches, on pouvait couper pour nous faire des tireurs de caillous

Many forks we could cut to make ourselves some slingshots

Les grains à lilas on usait dans nos pistolets à la pompe

The chinaballs we would use in our pump guns

Les belles tites fleurs, les jeunes filles usaient pour faire des colliers

The beautiful little flowers, the young girls would use to make some necklaces

Y les mettaient sur un fil avec une aiguille, et vois-là un jolie tit collier

They would put them on a thread with a needle, and see there, a pretty little necklace

Leur couleur de mauve (manière violet) et leur essence étaient agréable

Their mauve (purplish) color and their fragrance were pleasant (agreeable)

D’l'ombre, le parasol donnait à les bêtes et à nous-autres aussi pendant l’été

Some shade, the parasol would give the animals and to us also during summer

Aujourd’hui j’peux voir temps en temps des lilas ici et là -bas

Today I can see from time to time some chinaball trees here and there

Y me faisent me souvenir de les jours de ma jeunesse équand qu’on les grimpait (grimpât)

They make me recollect the days of my youth when that we would scamper (climb) them

Les lilas (parasols) étaient très facile à grimper avec leurs branches bien bas

The chinaball trees were very easy to scamper (climb) with their branches very low

Les oiseaux nous quittaient connaître qu’ils avaient (eussent) leurs niques au près

The birds would let us know that they had their nests near by

Enfin, des fois y nous picochaient* sur la tête à cause de leurs p’tits

Lastly, they would at times peck us on the head due to their little ones

Ô oui, j’me rappelle équand on allait grimper l’arbre à lilas (parasol)

Oh yes, I remember when we would go and climb (scamper) the chinaball tree (parasol)

Je vous invite d’aller trouver un parasol, épis-là, aller le grimper pour voir pour vous-même

I invite you to find a parasol, and then go and scamper (climb) it to see for yourselves

Le bon temps qu’on passait (passât) dans c’t arbre, pouvait être le vôtre aussi

The good times that we passed in that tree, could be yours also

*Cajuns use the verb “picocher” to mean to peck, to nag, to pick at and to tease. Standard French uses the verb “picorer” to express that action.

• Author: Jim Leger | Category: Learn Cajun French | Comments(0)