Archive for June, 2008
N’Importe De Quoi…Et Cetera
Friday, June 27th, 2008Letters in ( ) are generally not pronounced in informal Cajun.
In this post I will be using the French familiar expression “n’importe,” which means “it doesn’t matter” (or of no importance).
In this expression is found the French “ne,” (negative) which is one of the few places in which Cajuns used and pronounced in my locale.
“N’importe de quoi” (it doesn’t matter what)
“Ça fait pas d’difference, n’importe de quoi qui v’aller manquer, l’homme connu comme un coquin va êt(re) blamé.” (It makes no difference, it doesn’t matter, what will come up missing, a man known as a rascal of a thief will be blamed.)
“N’importe d’quoi que tu va’me dire, j’vas pas t’croire.” (It doesn’t matter what you (thou) will tell me, I will not believe you (thou).
“N’import d’éyeou [ayeou, où] que j’vas [j'aille] j’entends (attends)* parler de ton bon charactère.” (It doesn’t matter where [that] I go, I hear talking of your good personality [character].)
*”Entend(re)” (to hear) was pronounced “attend(re).” “Entend(re)” was used but I heard “attend(re)” more often.
“N’importe de qui peut user les liv(re)s dans la bibliothèque après avoir signé pour eux.” (It doesn’t matter [makes no difference] anyone can use the books in the library after having signed for them.)
“J’vas êt(re) satisfait avec n’importe quelle heure que vous-autres va choisir pour aller visiter les malades à la maison de vieux monde.” I will be satisfied with any (no matter) which time that you will choose to go to visit the sick at the old folks home.)
“On peut pas se comporter dans n’importe quelle manière qu’on aime en publique. Y faut obeir les lois.” (We cannot behave [comport] ourselves in just any manner that we like in public. We must obey the laws.)
“N’importe quel sort de gumbo que maman fait (fasse), j’l'aime assez pour me servir deux ou trois fois avant d’arrêter [d'arrêtant] d’l'manger.” (It makes no different what sort of gumbo that momma makes, I like it so much to serve myself two or three times before of to stop of to eat it [stopping of to eat it].)
“N’importe quand pendant la journée que t’aimes v(e)nir chez-moi j’vas êt(re) ici [icit].”** (It makes no matter when (at any time) during the day that you would like to come to my home, I will be here.)
**”Ici” is pronounced in many cases as “icit.” An interesting feature of Cajun.
“N’importe comment mon enfant, équand la pendule va sonner midi, y faut que tu sois revenu [ervenu-at times we invert the "re."] à la maison.” (Hit or miss, or whatever, when the clock will strike noon, it is a must that you be back at the house.)
“Dans n’importe quel jour de la s(e)maine, si la pluie commencerait (va commencer), j’vas planter mes patates douces.) (In or during any day of the week, if the rain starts, I will plant my sweet potatoes.)
“Dans n’importe façon (manière) que vous arrangiez (allez arranger) ce plat d’pomme de terre, j’connais que j’vas l’apprécier.” (It makes no difference in whatever fashion that you will fix this dish of potatoes (Irish), I know that I will appreciate it.)
“Y faut pas que t’amènes*** du bruit (train) dans n’importe quelle manière, parce que tu vas réveiller ton tit frère.” (You must not make or bring about noise in any manner, because you will wake up your little brother.)
***In Cajun “to bring” (am(e)ner, pronounced “am’ner” in Cajun) is interchanged with (apporter) which can also mean “to take away from one place to another, to bring about etc.) “Apportes-moi donc voir cette ch(e)mise que j’peux (puisse) la raccommoder.” (Please bring me this shirt so that I can mend it.) “Il a apporté du déshonneur à sa famille à cause de sa mauvaise conduite.” (He brought about dishonor on his family due to his bad behavior.)
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Soyez Sur Le Qui Vive Pour Les Accents Français Dans Mes Posts
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008Until the matter of French accents is resolved, please be on the watch for missing accent marks or “scribbles.”
So far I have not been able to go back and correct all of my previous posts with regard to the accent marks. I am in hopes that it can be done in the future.
An example to the above warning is found in my last post. The verb “gargoter,” in Cajun, in the past tense, is missing the (é) at the end. I will have to be very careful and keep “sur le qui vive” with regard to “les fautes.”
“Sur le qui vive” is I believe in SF an expression meaning “being on the alert.” A military guard may say (”qui vive?” or “who goes there?) Literally, “who lives there.”
“J’sus pas une personne avec le capacité ou d’la connaisance de corriger (correcter, Cajun) les fautes qui se presentent sur mon site. Y faut que j’dépend sur l’aide de mes fils équand du tracas s’en lève appartenant à les problèmes de faire courir mon site correctement.” (I am not a person with the capacity or knowledge to correct errors that present themsleves on my site. I must rely on the aid or help of my sons when some trouble arises pertaining to the problems of making my site run correctly.)
“J’sus après apprendre, quand même, un tit brin à la fois en regard du sujet d’en haut.” (I am learning, nevertheless, a little bit at a time in regard to the above subject.)
“Les changements qui se trouvent sur le web sont aperçu souvent. Alors, un personne à besoin d’être ’sur ses orteils’ pour être capable de faire les choses aller sur son ordinateur (computer).” Moi, enduré, mon idée (esprit) est planté fermement dans la connaisance des choses qui courent dans une manière méchaniquement (machinalement). (The changes that find themselves on the web are often perceived. Therefore, a person has the need of being ‘on his toes’ to be able to make computer related things run. Me, it seems, my mind is firmly planted in the knowledge of things that run in a mechanical manner.)
“Équand que moi j’étais (sois) jeune, il y avait pas des ordinateurs (computers).” Les machines à écrires etaient courru à la main. On avait pas un tas des choses courru électroniquement. Eh bien, il a fallut de changer notre idée, et essayer d’apprendre des nouvelles choses.” (When I was young, there were no computers. The typewriters were operated by hand. We did not have many things that were operated electronically. Oh well, it became necessary to change our mind and to try to learn new things.)
“Une personne est jamais trop vieux (vieille) pour apprendre des nouvelles choses, ain? Y faut continuer à user notre esprit (idée) est jamais croire qu’on est trop vieux (vieille) pour apprendre d’autres choses. Si on arrêterait d’essayer d’apprendre des choses de nouveau la vieille cervelle va justement végéter, et j’connais qu’on veut pas ça.” (A person is never too old to learn new things, huh? It is necessary to continue to use our mind and never think that we are too old to learn other things. If we were to stop trying to learn things of new the brain will simply vegetate, and I know that we (I) do not want that.)
Reculer, Culer, Appuyer, Presser, Gargariser, Gargoler, Couloir, Corridor, Remise
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008Revised post with correct accents for subscribers from feedblitz.
I am going to comment on the above verbs and nouns and how they were used in my Cajun Locale, as I was growing up, in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana. Again, I reiterate, I am not setting down a norm or rule, because the Cajun language is spoken based on local usages.
“J’compte sur ma memoire pour essayer de vous donner la manière qu’on parlait (parle) le Cajun pendant ma jeunesse, eh bien, il y a des fois que j’peux (puisse) faire des erreurs.” (I rely or count on my memory to try and give you the way we spoke the Cajun during my youth, so, there are times it could be that I do make errors.) “Si vous plait pardonnez-moi de ça!”
(Please pardon me of that!)
Remember, Cajun was not written in those days, so I go by what my brain remembers.
“Reculer” to us meant “to back up, to back, to retreat, to fall back and to draw back”. However, we also used the verb “culer” for such action. In fact, in my area, I was more apt to hear “culer” than “reculer.” When driving “une voiture” (carriage of some sort) we used “reculer” to back up or “aller en recule,” (to go in reverse).
The French noun or adverb “rebours” was heard in my grandmother’s conversation. “Il est parti en rebours plutôt d’advancer.” (He is gone in reverse rather than forward or advancing.)
Many times the English word “back” was used, such as “Y faut que j’back-up (aller back) avant que j’peux (puisse) avancer dans cette boue.” (I need to back-up or go in reverse before I can advance in this mud.)
“Culer” in one French Dictionary takes on a nautical action, such as “to veer astern, or go astern.” Since my locale was away from shipping activities, I never recall hearing that verb used to mean such.
“Cules-toi d’ici (de là )!” (Move yourself from here or there!) If something was in your way, you were told “simplement cules-lé (ça).” (Simply move it (that).) “T’as besoin de culer la chaise de là .” Or “cules la chaise d’ici, mon garçon.” (You need to move the chair from there, my son. Or, remove the chair from here, my boy.)
In standard French I notice where the verb “appuyer” expresses the action of “pushing, leaning, endorsing” or ‘appuyer sur le champignon,’ which literally means to ‘push on the mushroom’ but stands for ‘put the pedal to the metal.’
In our daily Cajun conversations I always heard it used mainly ‘to lean’ on something, both literally and not. We may have used it to mean “to push” as, “appuies ton épaul contre la porte et pousses trè¨s fort.” (Lean your shoulder against the door and push really hard.)
However, to push on a button to activate an action, the verb “presser” was used. “Y faut que tu presses (pousses) sur le bouton, là -là , pour faire cette machine courir (aller).” (It is necessary for you to press or push on this button, there, to make this machine run (go).) “Appuyez votre doigt sur le bouton…” was not heard.
It would sound rather funny to me to hear someone use the above, last expression. Why? I could just see a finger in a leaning position rather than precipitating a pushing action.
When I had a sore throat, my mother would have me “gargle” with warm salt water or perhaps warm water with a drop of Watkin Liniment and a crushed aspirin dropped in the solution. Some Cajuns would use the verb “gargariser” for “to gargle,” however, in my family the verb “gargoler” was used. “Mom j’vas gargoler ma gorge avant que j’vas aller me coucher.” (Mom I will gargle my throat before that I will go to bed.)
A related noun to the above verb is “le gargotant, (le gargoton)” which stands for “throat” or “windpipe.” If a person were to hit you around the adam’s apple, you would hear: “Y m’a frappé sur (dans) mon gargotant, et gardes, ça m’a fait du mal, oui! Enfin, j’ai perdu mon souffle (ma haleine) pour un élan!” (He hit me on (in) my windpipe area, and look, that did hurt me, yes. In brief, I lost my breath for a short time.)
Or I would hear, “Y m’a gargoté équand son bras m’a frappé dans la gorge. Il a pas fait exprès (en exprès), mais quand même, il aurait pu* me tuer avec c’coup là , là !” (He cut my breath off when his arm hit me in the throat. He did not do that on purpose, but however, he could have killed me with this blow, there, there!)
In SF “il aurait pu” is in the past conditionel tense, but we always used it, no doubt with the thought of “if” or conditionel. Perhpas, “if he were to hit me hard enough” was understood??
“Le couloir” (couloire Cajun Dictionary) to me was always “a strainer.” “Mom passait le lait au couloir chaque fois que pâpe tirait la vâche.” (Mom would strain the milk each time Pop would milk the cow.)
In SF “le couloir” can mean “a corridor,” “a passage” or “a lane.” It seems that “le passoire” is used for “the strainer.” I never heard “le couloir” used for “a lane” or “a passage” in our Cajun conversations. We used the nouns “le corridor,” and “l’allée,” instead of “le couloir.”
“Le corridor dans not(re) maison nous apportait une bonne fraiche pendant l’été.” (The corridor (breezeway) brought us a good breeze during the summer.) “Le corridor été usé pour serrer des utiles ou des voitures.” (The corridor (open shed) was used to put up tools and carriages (cars).)
“La remise” was used for a “storing shed,” but generally it had doors, whereas “le corridor” was mostly opened at least at one end. “Mon grand-père¨ usait sa remise pour serrer sa voiture et il avait sa forge dedans ça aussi.” (My grandfather would use the storing shed to put up his vehicle and he also had his forge in it.)
For a side passage, off of a main road, or a passage fenced off from the main pasture for the cattle to get to the main pasture, we used “la manche.” “La manche de terre” was used for a side dirt road off of a main road. “La manche de ch(e)mise” (the shirt sleeve) was used, as you can see it was used as a “passageway” for the arm, leading away from the body of the shirt.
“Une fois on restait dans une maison qu’été situé un peut loin du grand ch(e)min, alors, y fallait prendre un tit ch(e)min terre pour arriver à çulà . On marchait au bout du tit ch(e)min terre pour joindre le transfère d’école.” (One time we lived in a house that was situtated a long way from the main road, therefore, it was necessary to take a little dirt road to arrive at that one. We would walk at the end of the little dirt road to meet the school bus.)
(An after thought: The Cajun sentence structure may have changed in style with the generation that began to attend American schools. I am one of those who was affected by my English education. I tend to pattern my sentences by the way Americans speak English. I believe that my grandparents’ generation and their parents’ and grandparents’ generations constructed their sentences a bit differently due to the fact that they were not educated in English at all. Just a thought.)
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New Design Problems
Monday, June 16th, 2008Note: I will have to go back and correct all French words with accents!!!! Possibility of recovering proper accenting. J’souhaite, ain! I corrected the last post. If I missed any errors in accenting, si vous plait pardonnez-moi! Jim Léger
