Topic > The Cajun Dialect in the English Language

Cajun Vernacular English is a dialect with a rich history, found in southern Louisiana. It is heavily influenced by the French language, as its original speakers were French colonists. This group originates from the Vendée, a region in western France. Settlers from this region traveled to Acadie, which since became Nova Scotia. When France lost control of the territory to Great Britain, its inhabitants were forced to convert to Protestantism. When the Acadians refused, they were removed from their new home and scattered across the continent. Over time, these missing people traveled and began to settle in southern Louisiana. As time passed, the Acadians formed a new culture in their new swamp home: Cajun. Cajuns continued to speak French until the early 20th century, when English in the education system created the original bilingual speakers of Cajun English. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Cajun English has many indicators that make it distinct from standard English at almost all levels of language study. On a phonological level, Ramos identifies two main characteristics, the first of which is the elimination or modification of final consonants. Final consonant deletions include the [t] in late, the [r] in together, and the [rk] in New York. Changes to consonant clusters/final consonants include dropping the [l] in plain to make “simpuh,” the [v] in leave becoming an [f] to make “leaf.” However there are still further consonant changes beyond these. An example is the [s] softening to a [z] for most words, with sink becoming "zink" and gas becoming "gaz". The [r] is often dropped when it is not at the beginning of a word. For example, Robert becomes “Robet” and tired becomes “tied”. The [th] in words like this, these, and those becomes a [d], forming “dis,” “dese,” and “dose.” Many other consonant clusters are shortened or simplified, as from [nd] to [n] as in kind to "kine", from [nt] to [n] as in goes to "wen", from [st] to [s ] as in cost in “cos” and [kt] in [k] as in act in “ak”. The second feature noted by Ramos is the modification of the long vowels [i], [e], [o] and [u]. All these vowels lengthen, becoming [i:], [e:]. [o:] and [u:]. There are many other noticeable differences. The long [i] can become a short [a:], so that the use of the pronoun “I” sounds like “ah”. In some cases the vowel [e] transforms into the vowel [i]. An example is the word airplane, which a Cajun might pronounce as “pleen.” Being so closely related to the French of the Acadian settlers, it is not surprising that Cajun English borrowed some of its phonology. An example is the use of nasal vowels. Not usually found in English, Cajun speakers have transformed some vowels into their more familiar counterparts. Some examples are changing uncle to "oncle", not "don" and friend to "fran". Another French characteristic is the difference in the way syllables are stressed. In English, the stress in words and sentences can vary. In French, however, sentence stress is mostly uniform, and syllable stress is concentrated on the last syllable of a word. An example where this is easy to see is the strawberry. Where a Standard English speaker would emphasize "straw", those with the Cajun dialect would emphasize "berry". Cajun grammar also has many differences from standard English. One thing noted by Ramos (2013) is that some grammatical markers are the result of phonological markers. Since Cajun speakers drop the -s and -ed suffixes.