Acadian French

Acadian French (le français acadien) is the version of French that is spoken by certain francophone inhabitants of the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. It is also heard in certain francophone communities in norther parts of the state of Maine. Its purest form is spoken in certain isolated areas along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, such as the Magdalen Islands and Havre-Saint-Pierre. What is now known as Acadian French was brought to North America at the time of the French colononization of Canada (17th century.) It has evolved independently over the years, surrounded by an anglophone culture, in much the same way as has the French of Quebec. Acadian French has evolved in a parallel manner to Quebec French and is not a sub-dialect of Quebec French. However, the two varieties do share certain commonalities, such as elements of French vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation which were common in 17th century France. Both dialects have been influenced by the English and American Indian languages. Acadian French in particular incorporates a large number of anglicisms into common usage. Since both Acadian and Quebec French have their roots in a French that hasn't been heard in France for hundreds of years, many Europeans find the two dialects amusing, reminding them of the archaic textbook French of Molière.

A third dialect of French in North America, Cajun French, is actually a sub-dialect of Acadian French. It is spoken in parts of Southern Louisiana in the United States. It was brought to Louisiana in the 1700s from Canada by Acadians who didn't want to live under British rule. The word "Cajun" is a phonetic approximation of the (mis)pronunciation of the word "acadien". (Note that in Acadian French the consonant
'D' when followed be 'i' is pronounced 'dz' so 'acadien' became 'acajen' and finally 'Cajun'.

Marie-Jo Thério is a Acadian singer/musician who grew up in Moncton, New Brunswick.
The song below "A Moncton", is a rich example of Acadian French lyrics in a beautifully haunting modern pop melody. Note the rolled 'r' and the 3rd person plural verb ending "-ont" (instead of the current-day "-ent"). These were both features of 17th century French. E.g. "Les années qui s'en viennont".
Notice also the abundance of English words.