Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 21:36:48 -0600

From: Katherine Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]BGA.COM

Subject: Re: hmm.. what's cajun English, then?



1--"Anglos (people of Cajun extraction who speak English)"



--if (1) above are NOT speakers of Cajun English, then who is?

(I'm assuming that the real speakers, who "Please to stand up"

as we say in Jamaica, must both be "of Cajun extraction" and

"speak English"!)



I'm not sure what the original poster meant, but I'd say there is a definte

difference between my 37 year-old husband, who is 7/8ths cajun by blood and

was raised in southeast Texas but speaks no French, and his 73-year-old

grandfather, who was raised on Avery Island in Louisiana, learned English

as a second language, spoke French at home with his wife (until her recent

death), and whose English carries a distinctly "cajun" accent and syntax.



I apologize--as a non-linguist who usually only lurks on this list, I don't

really know what the technical distinction is. It does seem to me there is

one.



Kate Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bga.com