Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1938 A Glossary of Words That Vary From Standard French in Avoyelles Parish. Samuel L. Jeansonne Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the French and Francophone Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Jeansonne, Samuel L., "A Glossary of Words That Vary From Standard French in Avoyelles Parish." (1938). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 8193. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/8193 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A GLOSSARY OF WORDS THAI VARY FROM STANDARB-FRENCH IN AVOYELLES PARISH. A T h esis Submit ted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in The Department of Romance Languages By Samuel L. Jeanson a e B. A., Louisiana State University, 1927 1 9 5 8 UMI Number: EP69928 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI Dissertation Publishing UMI EP69928 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 haul experience la the respenaibilities of a French teach** iffpeAXes Pariah since 1B£7, 1 undertook this study at the suggestion $V& #1 - V/ - .<. ■. ■ , • 3r#dT. 8« A* Major, professor of French la the Department of Romance Languages ef Louisiana State University. to fro f. H« A« Ilajor X am Indebted for hie guidance la the selection of this thesis subject; far the many suggested reference materials, his untiring assistance, helpful suggestions and the constructive criticism s which he has offered throughout the study of this task. X an also indebted to Prof. Judith Major of thu Romance Languages Department of the Louisiana State University# She was very kind la permitting me to audit one of her classes in phonetics, which enabled ne to attanpt this study. Many thanks are also due Miss Alice M. Dugas for her kind and v a lu a b le gnid&nee In th e use o f the Romance Languages c o lle c tio n o f the University library for this task. I wish to acknowledge *iy gratitude for the first hand information X received from the following persons when X Interviewed* Reverend J. S. Jacquemin, Pastor of the More&uville Church| Stephen Ducotl, supervisor of Elementary Grades in Avoyelles P a ris h ; I. A. Rozas, Principal of Moreauvllle High School; Hermel Berthier, Principal of Hessmer High School; S. J. Reck, Principal of Mnnsura High Schoolj Sydney Lemoine, Principal of Fifth Ward High School; Ruble Jeansonne, Principal of Plauc eville High School; I l l Mr. and Mrs. H. A. Jeansonne, my father and mother} Mr. Philip E scud I, my father-in-law . To my wife, Mrs. Samuel L. Jeansonne, I am very grateful for her continued moral and intellectual support which made the task most p le a s a n t. IV TABLE OF COMTEK TS page TITLE PAGE................................................................................................................................ I ACSNOVvLEiXlASNT.. ................................................................................................ O ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. V IBTRODU CTION..................... VI GLOSSARY.....................................................................................................................................1 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................. 125 BIOGRAPHY................................................................................................................................ 126 V ABSTRACT A GLOSSARY OF WORDS THAT VARY FROM STAHDArULFKEHCH IB AVOYELLES PARISH. This thesis was directed by Professor H. A* Major* The purpose of this thesis is to compile a glossary of the words in the French dialect of Avoyelles Parish that differ from the Standard- French in pronunciation or meaning, or do not occur in it. Each word is rendered as closely as possible in conventional ortho* graphy, transcribed phonetically, and defined in English. A sentence with its English translation is given wherever the sense might otherwise be ambiguous. Then the Standard-French equivalent of the dialect word i s given* VI INTRODUCTION The purpose of this study is to compile a glossary of the words of the spoken French of Avoyelles Parish which differ in pronunciation and in meaning, or in both meaning and pronunciation, from the Standard- French, or else do not exist in the latter* Many of the words in the l i s t known i n some l o c a l i t i e s a re unknown in others* T his stu d y does not attempt to indicate those linguistic areas, bat deals with the jjT parish as a whole unit. A few examples may be cited* The word DAlGUE ( ) is used in the Kessmer locality and MARAIS ( in. <a -re. ) is used in the Bayou Jacques Community, for the Standard-French vivier. The word BOUROBIHQUE ( b -tcv- vv/ 2" K ) is used around Everfereea, and HACK ( H ) is used in the Mansura community for the Standard—French charrette. The word TCHOPINE ( lj~ o p i t v ) is used at Bordelon- v i l l e , whereas TCHACOUELLE ( t^ cl K ^ £ I )is used in the Flauche- ville vicinity for the Standard-French tasse* And yet these communities are not more than twenty miles from each other* The English words herein recorded represent only a small part of those common to the current vocabulary of the people of this parish* Only those have been selected which seem to have become thoroughly francised, which have the "feeln of French words. The following methods were used in gathering the material for this g lo ssa ry ! 1. Through conversations with the French-speaking pupils of the Evergreen High School. The pupils are from the Goudeau, the Bay H ill, and the Bayou Rouge communities* The communities are in three different directions from Evergreen, at a distance of eight, six, and five miles respectively* VII g* By contacting individual® who are natives of the following sections of the parish: Bayou Jaequo 9 Plauchevllle, Moreauvills, Bor- delonvllle, Bayou Dee Glaise, Bayou Rouge, Bay H ill, Hessmer, Mansura, fifth Ward, Goude&u, and Evergreen* It is not the object of this thesis to disagree with any work of this nature about the dialect of Avoyelles* The writer was conscientious in trying to reproduce the sounds of the words as closely as possible just as they were heard, and to indicate the ex-net meaning of each word* He makes no claim to have exhausted the material available, but rather feels that he has contributed to an extent to the study of the dialect* The time consumed in the research and compilation of these words approximated two years* Explanation* If two cur more variants In the pronunciation of a word exist, each is listed in its proper alphabetical place* The word is followed in'* mediately fay its interpretation in phonetic symbols in parentheses; the part of speech to which the word belongs is given by the appropriate abbreviation immediately following the pronunciation* This is followed by the definition in English and, where necessary, fay a sentence il­ lustrating its use* Below is given a table of the phonetic symbols used* The system is that of the International Phonetic Association, with modifications as listed in the table. The International symbols not indicated in the table, have the same value as in Standard-French. t/ £ as open as English aj. in fair. ci between French d . arid CL of the International Phonetic Assn. 3 as open as English aw la law. VIII cf? more open than In Standard-French. £ more open than in Standard-Fren ch. ^ closer than in Standard—French* ty approximately as English ch in church. approximately as English j[ In joy, rj approximately as English ng in sang. / indicates the stress is on that syllable. ABBREVIATION used in th is t h e s is . a £ j . f a d je c tiv e , obj•, ob]ect. adv., adverb, ornith., ornithology, anat., anatomy, p. p., past participle, col•, colloquial pers., person, conj•, conjunction• pi., plural, demon s . , demo 2s tra tiv e. pop., popular, excl., exclamation, prep., preposition, f ., feminine. pres., present, Ft ., French, pron-, pronoun, ich., ichthyolog • prop., proper, Ind., indicative, ref., reflexive, indlr., indirect, sing•, singular• interj., interjection, S t.-, Standard, interrog., interrogative. t r •, t r !■ n si t i ve * int., intransitive, v . , v erb . m., masculine, n . , noun, naut., nautical. A (3 ), first person sing*, pres* ind. of AVOIR, J'A, I have, J’a ein crayon, St.-Fr., j ’ai. A ( 3 ) j prep* A replaces the possessive BE. El crayon A Jean, St.-Fr., de. A ( 3 ) , pers* pron. A replaces the pronoun ELLE before a consonant, A vrn aller, St*-Fr., elle. ABATARDI { aba-ttL'Ttl'i ), adj. Hybrid, of plants and animals, II est aba tar di negre. St.-Fr., hybrids* ABIMER i' 6 bi>vie. ), v. ref* To hart oneself; to wound oneself; to hurt one’s health* II s’est &bim£* St.-Fr., se faire mal, se blesser. ABNORMAL ( ab-noTywal), adj. Abnormal, denatured. La femme est abnormal. St.—Fr., anormal* ABOfcTER ( a burf.'fce. ), v. tr. To join together. Ils ont sboet£ les olos.