An Inspection of the Syntax of Cajun French, with Particular Attention on the

Relationship between the Syntax of Cajun French, Modern European French,

and English

“Mon pape et ses frères, c’était mes oncles à mon…ça jouait de la

musique”

Frequency of fronting (Generally subject-fronting, but we will

also see object-fronting) Weakness of verb conjugation system

(unlike Modern European French) Ability to drop ‘that’

(unlike Modern European French)

“Mon pape, son violin,eux-autres l’a toujoursmais c’est pas—c’est pasmon qui l’a”

“My dad, his violin,they still have itbut it’s not—it’s notme who has it”

“to go” Cajun French

Modern European

FrenchEnglish

1st Person Sing.

Vais/Vas Vais Go

2nd Person Sing.

Vas Vas Go

3rd Person Sing.

Va Va Goes

1st Person Plural

Va Allons Go

2nd Person Plural

Va allez Go

3rd Person Plural

Va Vont Go

Cajun French

Modern European

FrenchEnglish

Strong Verb Conjugations? No Yes No

SVI? No Yes No

‘that’-drop? Yes No Yes