Monday, October 21, 2013

the oldest man in catahoula




A snippet I recorded during last Saturday's Senior Citizens Day in Catahoula. This is Cajun French. Reminds me so much of my grandparents, whose primary language was this dialect. Cajun French was also my father's first language, and both my parents continue to speak it with older members of the community. I can understand a lot of it, but my generation was the first to grow up speaking English, so I can't speak it very well. The sound of it transports me to another time.

Translation:

My mother would give me twenty-five cents
and a token
and I'd go to the grocery store
and I'd buy
ten cents of beans
ten cents of rice
and five cents of (?)  

and that would last us the whole week
for twenty-five cents
and a token