Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1933 A Study of Louisiana French in Lafayette Parish. Lorene Marie Bernard 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 Bernard, Lorene Marie, "A Study of Louisiana French in Lafayette Parish." (1933). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 8175. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/8175 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]. MANUSCRIPT THESES Unpublished theses submitted for the masterTs and doctorfs degrees and deposited in the Louisiana State University Library are available for inspection* Use of any thesis is limited by the rights of the author. Bibliographical references may be noted* but passages may not be copied unless the author has given permission# Credit must be given in subsequent written or published work. A library which borrows this thesis for use by its clientele is expected to make sure that the borrower is aware of the above restrictions. LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 1 1 9 -a A STUDY OF .LOUISIANA FRENCH IN LAF/lYETTE PARISH A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE LOUISIANA STa TE UNITORS TY AND AGRICULTURAL AND MEDICAL COLLET IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OB1 THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF FRENCH BY LOREBE MARIE BERNARD LAFAYETTE, LOUISIANA JUNE 19S3. UMI Number: EP69910 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 EP69910 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 P r o Q u e s t ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 TAB LIS OF 0 0 OTEUI3 PAGE ACKNOWLEDGMENT ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION............................................................................... I - V GLOSSARY......................................................................................... 1 - 78 COMPLEMENT ...................................................................................... 78 - 30 BIOGRAPHY...................................................................................... 80 - 81 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................... 31 - 93 AOKNOW LEXDGMMT To Mr. H. A. Major, Associate Professor of Prenoh, of the Louisiana State University, who has directed the writing of this thesis, A wi&h to express my sincere appreciation for the valuable help given and suggestions offered. Thanks also to, Mr. w*. A* Pickens, Associate Professor of Spanish, Mr. Oharles K. thews, Professor of French, Mr, 3as. A. McMillen, Professor of Library of Soience and my sister and brother, Amelie Bernard, and Mr. P. 0. Bernard, for their kind help. A STUDY OF LOUISIANA FBBNCH X I LAFAYETTE PABXSH - m x m z . This thesis is an attempt to compile a glossary of Louislana French words in Lafayette Parish whleh differ in meaning or prenonoiation from Standard French* The method followed is , first to reproduce the word as close- ly as possible in conventional orthography, then to exact phonetlo transcription as spoken Ly the natives, followed Ly the definition in Standard Premh, with examples when necessary, and lastly its derivation* It has not Leen possible to find the derivations of a ll the words, nor all the standard French equivalents, as some terms have originated here in Louisiana, Such words are generally connected with animal and plant life, and because of clim atic differences, have no correspond** lng names in France* This work shows that Lafayette Pariah French originated, to a great extent, from the dialects of the provinses of France, and contains aany survivals of Old French* I INTRODUCTION The object of this thesis is to compile an etymo­ logical glossary of the Lafayette Parish French in so far as it differs from Standard French in form, in meaning and in pronunciation. For the collection of this material, the author interviewed residents of Lafayette, Oarencro, Brouss­ ard and foungsville, and also received valuable help from her father and mother, 'Mr* and BUTs. E. J. Bernard, who have been residents of Lafayette Parish for the last fifty years and have spoken French almost exclu­ s iv e ly . The careful reading of these pages w ill show that the French spoken by the inhabitants of Lafayette is not a language peculiar to them, and originated by them, much less a " patois ” as it is often wrongly termed, but Jhe French spoken by their ancestors who left France before the language had developed to its present forai, or the one s till spoken by the people of the provinces of F rance. Three elements seem to predominate in this Lafa­ yette French. First and foremost, one will recognize traces of the dialects of; Anjou, Poitou, Orldans, Touraine, Burgundy, Berry, Lorraine, Ohampagne, Picardy, Normandy, Britany and Nivernais. IX For example, the words, fillo le. siau. blau, which one hears today in Lafayette and its vicinity, are Picard words, found in the romance of Auoassln and Nioolette. The word japper which replaces aboyer is used today in Hormandy, as laidezir may be heard in Nivernais, lioher. in Anjou, and dplurer in Orldans and Champagne* Even in the department of the Seine near Paris we find sable pronounced sabe. and sur. s u b . The second element composing Lafayette French, is Old French, many words of which survive in that locali* ty. As we know, the Old French Period extended into the Sixteenth Century and these words undoubtedly existed in the provinces from which our French ancestors emigrated to Louisiana sinoe the material available here at the University, shows that many of these words still exist there today. Some of these Old French words heard in Lafayette Parish are: dgraffigner. for dgratigner; espler. for dpeler: guernoullle. for grenouille; oblier, oubller; and dgalir, for dgaliser. Such survivals are also found in certain sounds which w ill be treated later in this work. The third element comprises sea*faring terms. This is easily explained from the fact that many of our ances­ tors oame from the coast of France. Among these words we have: embarquer. for monter: fraler. for tirer; oarguer. for lncllner; navlguer. for voflttgeir; and niban. for rub an. I l l The following variants w ill show one or the other of these elements: 1. A tendency to retain the Old French pronunciation of oi as w&, as in: bo&te. for hoi/to; and armoufore for annoire. 2* A change of e to a before r in the body of a word, or of e, initial before 2.: varnir, for nernir; alaatiqua, for dlastique. w© find these same va­ riants in Anjou, Orleans, Nivernais, Picardy, Saint- onge, Poitou* 3* Addition of a glide consonant between s and r ; i i n and r ; and 1 and r ; ooohondrie . for oochonnerle. 4* D1 becomes (<£% ) before a vowel: ( <t> ) for adieu, * ( d^diMo) for dlamant. Poitou has the same peculia­ rity , as also Bas-Matoe and Normandy. 5. Retention of the ja pronunciation of Old French in the £ mute of the present subjunctive; voye far Z2i£5 aye (tj ), for aie. 6. Before a vowel que is replaced by tch [£ f )• as in : tcheue. for queue: Ti undergoes the same change; tchien, for tlen. Dialectal in Poitou. 7• Suppression of final jr, ^ 1 , and m in Isme-endingB; aabe, for sable; tende, for tendne; catechise, for , cateohlsme, which is found today in Anjou, Berry, Orldans, and lie de France. a . First part of negation in, ne*....pas, never used in Lafayette, was omitted in 0. Fr. also* IV 9, The substitution of on for nous, is also prac­ tised in Berry, Maine, Saintonge, and Uivemais. 10. The sounding of h aspirate as in: haut: hSche. hair, is a survival of Old French. Owing to the lack of sufficient research material accessi- to theauthor, it has been impossible to trace oertain La­ fayette Parish French in the dialects of the provinces of France, hut it is most probable that they exist there also. The following are some of these peculiarities: 1. The d iffe re n c e in the n a s a l sounds, an, am, en, em, from on, om, is hardly distinguishable. Bon is pronounced exactly the same as dans. that is, a sort of medium ( ? ) between the two sounds, grant­ ing the Frenoh is on represented by ( ° ). 2. The imperfect ending ais, is pronounced either £ or a more open sound that St. French, ais. It is the same sound as that of ai in iSnglish fair. The f i r s t sound is more common among the c u ltu re d th an among the uneducated. 3 . The imperfect tense, except in the case of the verbs etre and avoir, is replaced by the imperfect of, etre dn train de, or 3tre apr&s, plus the infinitive , 4. The future tense is rendered by the present of aller plus the infinitive. 5. The o in such words as: haute. pauvre, mauve, chose, and £ in vBtre; cSte, are pronounced ( ^ ), which Y has the same sound as English aw in law, 6^ The verb avoir is substituted fox the verb etre in the compound tensos of reflexive verbs and of intransitive verbs of motion. 7. The past indefinite of aller is rendered by the past indefinite of Stro.