Chiac is a vernacularAcadian French language with a strong English influence and various Canadianaboriginal languages. The most notable aboriginal influence on Chiac is from Mi'kmaq, evident in words such as matues, meaning 'porcupine'. It is spoken by many Acadians in southeast New Brunswick, especially among youth near Moncton, Dieppe, Memramcook and Shediac and is becoming increasingly popular among the youth in the area.[1] Chiac is a more recent development of the French language (especially since the 1960s), spurred by exposure to dominant English language media, increased urbanization of Moncton, and contact with the dominant Anglophone community in the area. The word 'Chiac' is believed to be derived from "Shediac".[2]
The roots and base of Chiac are Acadian French, a spoken French often tinged with nautical terms (e.g. haler, embarquer), reflecting the historical importance of the sea to the local economy. Chiac also has roots in older French words (e.g., bailler, quérir, hucher, gosier), many of which are deemed archaic by the Académie Française, a testimony to three centuries of relative isolation of Acadian communities from French influence. It uses primarily French syntax with French-English vocabulary and phrase forms (see below). It is often deprecated by both French and English speakers as an ill-conceived hybrid language — either "bad" French or "bad" English.[3] See franglais for a wider discussion of this phenomenon. The collected works of Goncourt prize-winner Antonine Maillet, and her play La Sagouine in particular illustrate this variation of French very well.
Chiac has been embraced in recent years by some Acadian groups as a living and evolving language, and part of their collective culture. Acadian writers, poets and musicians such as France Daigle, Zero Celsius, Radio Radio, Paul Bossé,[4]Fayo[5] and 1755[6] have produced works in Chiac. Recently, Chiac has also made its way onto a local television station with Acadieman, a comedy about "The world's first Acadian Superhero" by Dano Leblanc.[7] The animated series, also a comic book, contains a mixture of Anglophone, Francophone, and "Chiacophone" characters. The popular Acadian rap group Radio Radio have also raised the profile of Chiac by rapping almost exclusively in that language. "Acadian" French has been greatly influenced by Chiac as it has spread among the younger generations.
"Ej vas tanker mon truck de soir pis ej va le driver. Ça va être right d'la fun." (I am going to go put gas in my truck and drive it tonight. It's going to be so much fun.)
"Espère-moi su'l'corner, j'traverse le ch'min pi j'viens right back." (Wait for me at the corner, I'm crossing the road and I'll be right back.)
"Zeux ils pensont qu'y ownont le car." (They think they own the car.)
"On va amarrer ça d'même pour faire sûr que ça tchenne." (We will tie it like this to make sure it stays.)
"Ca t'tente tu d'aller watcher un movie?" (Do you want to go see a movie?)
"Ej ché pas...so quosse vous faites de soir?" (I don't know. What are you doing tonight?)
"J'aime ta skirt, j'aime la way qu'a hang." (I like your dress, it fits you well!)
"Ton car é ti en pretty good shape?" (Is your car in working order?)
"C'é pretty right on man, mon truck handle dans les trails." (It's really fun, my truck handles well off-road.)
"Man, c'té nouvelles light-là son complicated, j'aimais mieux le four-way stop!" (Man, these new lights are complicated, I preferred the four-way stop.)
"Mame, les rules des quads sont tu les mêmes sur les chemins?" (Mom, do the four wheeler regulations apply on the city streets?)
"T'é pu avec lui anymore, c'é pretty right on ça." (You aren't with him anymore; well that's good news.)
"Sylvie, ça semble comme si tu work out man, moi chu naturally fit though!" (Sylvie, it looks like you have been working out, I'm lucky enough to be naturally fit.)
"J'vai parker mon car dans le driveway là." (I'm going to park my car in that driveway.)
"Quossé tu parle about" (What are you talking about.)
"Yinque à ouaire on oua bien" (Just by seeing, you see well.)
"Cousse-tu veux chte-dise?" (What do you want me to tell you?)
"Tchein ton siault d'beluets!" (Hold on to your blueberry bucket!)
"J'étais tellement en djable que j'l'ai horer par dessus la fence." (I was so upset that I threw it over the fence)
"J'ai crasher dans l'peteau, pis l'car étais toute smasher." (I crashed into the telephone pole and wrecked the car.)
"tchin tes chulottes." (Keep your pants on!)
"Ayousque ta mis mes hardes?" (Where did you put my clothes?)
"Astheure cé mon tour." (Now it's my turn.)
"Reste icitte, j'v'aller parker car dans champ a côté d'la garage." (Wait for me here, I'm going to park the car next to the garage.)
"Le gars puait assez qu'l'ai genoux m'buckleyiant!" (The guy smelled so much my knees buckled.)
"Cé right hard de driver standard quand tu commence a driver." (It's very hard to drive a manual stickshift when you're a beginner.)
"Check ça out, pi call-moi back." (Gather some information and let me know what's going on.)
Caló (Chicano) - A slang mixing Mexican Spanish and English, emerging in the 20th century, that is used by speakers with varied ability in either language in the Southwest United States.
Portuñol - A mixed language that combines Spanish and Portuguese and is spoken in border areas of various countries (such as Brazil and Uruguay, Spain and Portugal) where the two languages co-exist.
Russification - the policy of introduction of Russian language into non-Russian communities
Diglossia - a situation of parallel usage of two closely related languages, one of which is generally used by the government and in formal texts, and the other one is usually the spoken informally
King, Ruth. "Overview and Evaluation of Acadie's joual," in Social Lives in Language - Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities: Celebrating the Work of Gillian Sankoff edited by Miriam Meyerhoff and Naomi Nagy (2008) pp 137ff
Chiac: an example of dialect change and language transfer in Acadian French. National Library of Canada, 1987.
