Cajun french VS France french or canada french?

Question

i want to know can they all understand each other.

Answer 1

I have watched many french canadian TV shows , it is not tough to understand it , even though there are some differences, we just have to pay attention.

I would say it is more painfull to understand cajun french.

Answer 2

The French French speakers and the Canadian French speakers can understand each other about as well as American English speakers and British English speakers do....the Cajuns, however, are mainly understood only by themselves....their French is from the 1700s and has been soaking up English and East African and Spanish and Southern English for a few 100 years

Answer 3

Let me turn it around on you.  How do you think it is that South Africans, Australians, English and Americans all understand each other?  The answer is - it is all the same language, we just have different accents.  You just need to listen a bit more.

Answer 4

Cajun is more of a dialect of French. The words have different origins and there are some different grammatical rules. The French in France is regulated by the Academie, and in Canada they still speak French, but sometimes they use different words for things, such as British English vs. American English. There's also Quebecoise. They also have different accents.

3 days ago

Answer 5

Cajun is more of a dialect of French.  The words have different origins and there are some different grammatical rules.  The French in France is regulated by the Academie, and in Canada they still speak French, but sometimes they use different words for things, such as British English vs. American English.  There's also Quebecoise.  They also have different accents.

Answer 6

Cajun French is transplanted Quebecois (Canadian French) with a couple of centuries of divergence for each based on local influences.

I learned French in Montreal andf it wasn't until I visited France for the first time that I realized that I wasn't speaking "proper" French.

I recall that my very first day in Paris I was in something of a panic because much of what I heard was difficult to understand and many people seemd to have a lot of trouble grasping what I was saying. It was only then that I realized I was speaking a patois (non-standard French) . After more than 30 years spending time in Paris I have managed to ditch most of my accent.

When I moved to East Texas (which is right next to Louisiana) and met Cajuns (many of whom live in this part of Texas) their accent and speech patterns seemed very similar to those I had learned in Montreal.

Answer 7

It's very similar to our situation in English. We have American-English, Canadian-English, Irish-English, and English-English and then to dwell even deeper into the world of Lingusitics we have accents: Southern, Northern and so on.

Can we understand what an Irish or an English person says? Most of the time, yes! But sometimes, we are truly at a loss. It's all in the vocabulary!

I have studied both French-French and Canadian French and the grammar rules and much of the 'main' vocabulary are the same.

For Example: In Cajun they say "Laissez les bonnes temps rouler!" This means, let the good times role.

All these words make sense in Canadian or France-French but the phrase may be lost to a non Cajun. It makes sense to them but to the French and the Canadians it may sound something like "Let good times move along or physically roll around." It might not make sense!

There are hundreds of different words for all sorts f things in both areas. In England they say "wait in queue" and we say "wait in line." We say "how's it going" they might say "cheers."

Grammatically and Linguistically they can understand each-other, however, it's the vocabulary that can cause trouble!

Answer 8

Ok, I am extremely discouraged after reading the previous posts.

1. Standard French, Cajun French and Canadian French.

2. "Cajun" is not a "dialect of French"... nor are there actual dialects of Cajun French from town to town.

3. THEY ARE NOT "mainly understood only by themselves".  This is a ridiculous assumption from EVIDENTLY a non-french/francophone speaker.  They are understood very clearly by others, with the occasional vocab word sans context that poses a bit of confusion (and usually a good laugh!)

4. There is a difference between Creole French in Louisiana (Kreyòl Lwiziyen) and Cajun french (le français cadien).

5. The similarity/analogy is more similar to reading modern english as opposed to Beowulf... or 17th century texts.  Wording, order and grammar is just different.  It is not a written language (only spoken), so "mispronunciations" are naturally a part of the language.  Also, when they first settled into the region, there were no modern inventions... so the english equivalents are used.

6. Cajun French is *NOT* "transplanted Québécois (Canadian French) with a couple of centuries of divergence for each based on local influences."  !!

The "Acadiens" settled in what is now roughly Nova Scotia, in the Bay of Fundy region.  They relocated from France, speaking 17th century french. (This was long before the Académie stepped in and began "regulating" and "standardizing" the language.)  Once EXPELLED from Acadie, the Cajuns reassembled (for the most part) in Southern Louisiana.  The variations that derived were through interaction with others (like the Micmac indians in Acadie), the ONLY oral transmission, and surroundings (especially once in Louisiana).  

7. (omg, if these are the last words out of my dying lips, then so be it...) THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS "PROPER" FRENCH.  

"Ditching one's accent" is a rejection of heritage.

8. "I would say it is more painfull to understand cajun french."

Not only is it PAINFUL to read your statement, but also your spelling.

The only painful things in Louisiana are:

a) alligators

b) mosquitoes

c) tourists

Ok... joke.

mostly.

______________________________

Hope this helps (and EDUCATES)!

Answer 9

I had no problem understanding the Canadians in Quebec and Montreal despite some slight difference in vocabulary - which made for some very funny exchanges - I had more problem understanding some Canadian films where they spoke 'backcountry' French Canadian.  

Cajuns are harder to understand because some - all right, more than some - of their vocabulary is totally different. But we can still all understand each other.