Colonial French
| Colonial French | |
|---|---|
| Region | Louisiana |
| Extinct | merged with Cajun |
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Indo-European
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| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | None |
French spread in Louisiana. Parishes marked in yellow are those where 4–10% of the population speak French or Louisiana French at home, orange 10–15%, red 15–20%, brown 20–30%.
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Colonial French (commonly known as Colonial Louisiana French) is a variety of Louisiana French. It is associated with the Cajun French dialect and Louisiana Creole French, a related creole language. Formerly spoken widely in what is now the U.S. state of Louisiana, it has since merged into Cajun French.
Colonial French is conventionally described as the form of French spoken in Lower French Louisiana prior to the late arrival of Acadians after the Great Upheaval of the mid-18th century, which resulted in the birth of the Cajun dialect. The prestige dialect still used by Creoles and Cajuns is often identified as deriving from Colonial French, but some linguists differentiate between the two, referring to the latter as Plantation Society French.
Historically spoken by Louisiana Creole population in lower French Louisiana, Colonial French is generally considered to have been adopted by whites, blacks and Cajuns. It is known among the educated that it has been relabeled "Cajun French" among Cajuns and CODOFIL. Most linguists consider it to have largely been relabeled Cajun French by Cajuns and whites, which is distinguishable from Louisiana Creole French.
Following the Great Upheaval in the mid-18th century, when many Acadians relocated to French Louisiana, Colonial French was beginning to be assimilated by the Acadians or "Cajuns". Some scholars suggested that it survived as the prestige dialect spoken by Creoles, both white and of color, into the 21st century. There are populations of Creoles and Cajuns among other ethnic groups in the parishes of St. Martin, Avoyelles, Iberia, Pointe-Coupée, St. Charles, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, and other parishes south of Orleans, that still speak this prestige dialect.
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