Root, Stem, Base

Acadian French is the second most common variety of French used in Canada, after Quebec French. Today, you are most likely to meet Acadian French speakers in New Brunswick and the surrounding Maritime provinces. This is the land that historically made up Acadia during the time of French settlers in New France. The evolution of the Acadian French language is closely tied with the history of Acadian and the Canadian Maritimes.

This is part 2 in a three-part series on the history of French in Canada. Check out part 1 on Quebec French and stay tuned for part 3 on Michif.

What is Acadian French?

Acadian French is the variety of Canadian French spoken mainly in the Atlantic provinces and some parts of Quebec. It is identifable from Quebec French due to their many linguistic differences. Some versions of each dialect are mutually unintelliglble to each other.

History of Acadia

Prior to the 16th century arrival of French settlers, the region known as Acadia was home to the Mi’kmaq and the Maliseet. In 1605, French settlers established the site Port-Royal (located near present-day Annapolis, NS).

These early French settlers struggled to establish Acadia for the first several decades, mostly due to French-English conflict. Therefore, it was not until the 1670s that the Acadian settlers moved beyond Port-Royal and set up establishments at Beaubassin (present-day Amherst, NS) and Grand-Pré.

From 1755 to 1763, the English government, which controlled New Brunswick, Gaspé, and Main, deported the Acadians deported from Atlantic Canada. This came after the Acadians were reluctant to make a pledge of alliegance to the English.

The British deported the Acadians to elsewhere along the Atlantic coast, going as far south as Georgia. Some Acadians eventually landed in Louisiana, where they contributed to the development of Cajun culture there.

Towards the end of the 18th century, some Acadians returned to the Canadian Maritimes after making the required oath of alliegance to the British. Some of these returning Acadians were deportees, but many were fugitives who escaped the original deportation.

French language evolution

Acadian French is easily distinguished from Quebec French due to its different “pronunication, morphology, and vocabulary”. These differences exist both because of the geographical separation between Atlantic Canada and the St. Lawrence valley where Quebec French developed and that the two varieties originated from different populations.

Settlers of New France, where Quebec French emerged, originated mostly from Normandy and Ile-de-France. Meanwhile, settlers from Annis, Poitou, and Saintonge colonized Acadia.

Acadian French vs. Quebec French

In his book Speaking Canadian French (see references below), Orkin lists several properties found in both Acadian and Quebec French. He explained that these are due to the two dialects originating during the French colonial period.

Above you can see a variety of differences in conjugation, vocabulary, and pronunciation.

Additionally, because of its unique origin, the Acadian French language has its own properties which distinguish it from other varieties of Canadian French.

Here are a couple of examples of Acadian French versus Quebec French terminology:

Something notable about Acadian French is how it has retained archaic properties of French that Parisian French evolved away from.

To indicate possession, Parisian French uses the preposition de, whereas Acadian French uses à. And to show simultaneousness, Acadian French uses quant et.

Closing thoughts:

If you want to learn more about Acadian French and the history of Acadia, check out the references I used in this blog post below.

• French in Canda: Some interesting facts you may not know | The Our Languages Blog
• Speaking Canadian French: An Informal Account of the French Language in Canada (Revised Edition) by Mark M. Orkin (1971)
• Acadian French | The Canadian Encyclopedia
• History of Acadia | The Canadian Encyclopedia

Stay tuned for part 3 in this series which discusses Michif (Métis French). Until then, you can also check out part 1 on Quebec French or my other blog posts about niche languages and dialects.