Chiac
| Chiac | |
|---|---|
| Chiac | |
| Native to | Canada |
| Region | Acadian communities throughout the Maritime provinces, but mainly around Moncton |
Native speakers | Unknown |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | none |
| ISO 639-2 | none |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
Chiac is a dialect of Acadian French heavily mixed with English. It is spoken as the native and dominant language of most Acadians in southeast New Brunswick, especially among youth, near Moncton, Memramcook and Shediac. It is a relatively more recent evolution of the French language, spurred by exposure to dominant English language media (radio, television, internet) and increased urbanization to Moncton and contact with the dominant Anglophone community in the area since the 1960s especially. The word itself is generally considered a derivation of the name "Shediac," a town in the area. Some have also suggested that it is a derivative of the French slang word chier, meaning "to defecate", although this etymology is considered spurious. [citation needed]
The roots and base of Chiac are Acadian French, i.e. a spoken French often tinged with nautical terms (e.g. haler, embarquer), reflecting the historic importance of the sea to the local economy, as well as older French words (e.g., bailler, quérir, hucher, gosier), many deemed archaic by the Académie Française, testimony to three centuries of relative isolation of Acadian communities from French influence. The collected works of Goncourt Prize-winner Antonine Maillet, and her play La Sagouine in particular, illustrate well this variation of French. What sets Chiac apart from Acadian French is that it is a vernacular French mixed with English. It uses primarily French syntax with French-English vocabulary and phrase forms (see below). It is often deprecated by both French and English speakers as an ill-conceived hybrid — either "bad" French or "bad" English. [citation needed] See franglais for a wider discussion of this phenomenon.
Chiac has been embraced in recent years by some Acadian groups as a living and evolving language, and part of their collective culture. Acadian writers, poets and musicians such as Dano Leblanc[1], Paul Bossé[2], Fayo[3] and 1755[4] have produced works in Chiac.
Recently, Chiac has also made its way onto local television with Acadieman, a comedy about "The world's first Acadian Superhero." The animated series, also a comic book, contains a mixture of Anglophone, Francophone, and "Chiacophone" characters.
Examples
- Ej va driver mon truck à soir puis ça va êt'e right la fun. (I'm going to drive my truck tonight and it's going to be lots of fun.) (je vais conduire ma camionette ce soir et je vais bien m'amuser - Parisian French -)
- J'va parker mon char. (I'm going to park my car.) (Je vais garer ma voiture)
- Ej schwimmais dans l'océan puis j'tais right soaking wet. (I swam in the ocean and got soaking wet.) (Je nageais dans l'océan et j'étais complètement mouillé)
- Worry pas. (Don't worry) (Ne t'inquiète pas)
- J'va essayer de coaxer Alphonse pis Euclide pour qu'y viennent brosser avant la hockey game de soir. (I'm going to try to convince Alfonce and Euclide to come drinking before the hockey game tonight.) (Je vais essayer de persuader Alphonse et Euclide de venir boire un coup avant le match de hockey de ce soir.)
- Ma mère travaille au grocery store à pousser des shopping carts. (My mother works in a grocery store; she pushes shopping carts.) (Ma mère travaille à l'épicerie, elle y pousse des chariots.)
- Viens watcher un movie chenou. Ça va ête right la fun. (Come watch a movie at my place, it'll be really fun.) (Passe chez nous voir un film. On va bien s'marrer.)
- Ej chepas quosse tu parles about. (I don't know what you're talking about.) (Je ne sais pas de quoi tu veux parler.)
- "Moi chu acadien(ne)!" (I'm Acadian!) (Je suis Acadien(ne)!)
- Le ref y a donné 2 minutes pour bailler du six-pouce (l'arbitre l'a expulsé 2 minutes après qu'il eut porté un coup irrégulier de la main - lors d'un match de hockey)
- "J'aime ta jupe la way qu'a hang." (I like the way your skirt hangs.) (J'aime vraiment l'effet de ta jupe sur toi)
- J'v'aller à Parlee à soir. (I'm going to Parlee Beach tonight.) (Je vais aller à la plage de Parlee ce soir.)
External links
- Et si on parlait chiac ? (And if we spoke Chiac?)
- Je suis acadien - an example of Chiac
- The Chiac verb particle construction - A linguistics paper (beginning on page 56 of the pdf document) examining certain features of Chiac grammar.
References
- ^ "C'est la vie". 2006-12-08.
{{cite episode}}: Missing or empty|series=(help) - ^ Manning, Joanna (2006-12-14), "High-flying literature", Telegraph-Journal, p. D3
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ^ Laberge, Corinne (2007-06-28). "Le monde de Fayo". Retrieved 2007-08-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Elsliger, Lise (2007-06-26). "Acadian band 1755 together again". Retrieved 2007-08-09.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)