French, Cajun

Print

Primary tabs

A language of United States

ISO 639-3
frc
Alternate Names
Acadian, Cajan, Cajun, Louisiana French, cadien, français de la Louisiane, françé la lwizyàn
Autonym
français cadien, français louisianais
User Population

21,300 (2015 census), decreasing.

Location

Louisiana: west of the Mississippi to Allen, Avoyelles, Calcasieu, and Evangeline parishes; Texas: small border area west of Sabine river, east of Beaumont.

Language Maps
Language Status

7 (Shifting).

Classification
Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French
Dialects

Marsh French, Prairie French, Big Woods French. Reportedly Cajun speakers can partially understand standard French [fra].

Language Use

Adults only. Most shifting to English [eng]. Used as L2 by Koasati [cku].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L2: 60% in English [eng], 0% in French [fra]. Textbooks in Cajun, translations of some classics. Radio. Dictionary. Grammar.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about French, Cajun
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Ancestors came from French Canada in the 18th century. Christian.