How to Enjoy the Cajun Language

Jambalaya is a common cajun dish.

The Cajun language is a dialect of French and English, and is often called Cajun French. The Cajun people came from Nova Scotia area of Canada about 1755, and settled in Louisiana where their descendants still thrive. Cajuns have a reputation as fun-loving people into food and dance. Some of the "fun" words are associated with those activities.

Things You'll Need

• Just reading skills for this one, since it is for fun. No tests.

Instructions

1. Learn Cajun words for food like jambalaya, etouffee and gumbo. Jambalaya is meat with rice cooked in the same pot. Etouffee is meat in a sauce over a bed of fluffy rice. Gumbo is like a spicy soup eaten over rice or with rice in it.

2. Cajun dialect is peppered with certain words that reflect the French origin with a Louisiana twist. Cher, or "dear" in French, became "Sha" with the "a" flat as in cat. Sha starts or ends many sentences. Little boys are all called Tee and girls are Teet, combined with the name. So, Tee John is little John. This developed from shortening the word "petite."

3. Almost everything in Cajun gets "passed." They pass a broom instead of sweep, and pass a mop. They pass a good time, and like to pass the rice best.

4. Learn the shortened forms of words in the Cajun dialect. Some Cajuns use "me" at the end of the sentence, as in "I did that, me." They also use the "d" sound for "th," so this sounds like "dis" and that sounds like "dat." Many words are shortened from Parisian French.

5. Learn and use some common cajun words. That list should include Ca c'est bon (that's good), Mon cher (my dear), Lagniappe (bonus), Bonjour Mes Amis (Good day, my friends) and Merci Beaucoup (thank you very much).

Tips & Warnings

• Copyright 2009 Linda Richard

• Feel free to link to this article or send it to a friend.

• The Cajuns became a national minority ethnic group in 1980 in the case of Roach vs. Dresser Industries.

References

• Cajun Crawfish Pie