Languages
Here you can familiarize yourself with Louisiana’s Latin-based heritage languages.
We particularly and deliberately privilege Kouri-Vini, also known as Louisiana Creole, since the language has never enjoyed institutional or educational presence. We have joined members of the community to develop learning resources and tools which you will discover here. Click page 2 below.
Louisiana French is also spoken. While the language has been on the decline since World War I, it nevertheless maintains a unique position in Louisiana. A state agency, Agence des affaires francophones, also known as the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), currently oversees the growth of Francophone (French-language) public school teachers in the state and also maintains or facilitates accords with Francophone overseas partners. There are Francophone public and private schools throughout south Louisiana. French is on street signs. There are Francophone Catholic masses. French is on some radio stations, at festivals, reunions, and many other gatherings in the state. We therefore will not be reinventing the wheel here, as many other sites provide excellent information. We only provide a supplement. Click page 3 below
Adaeseño and Isleño, two varieties of Louisiana Spanish spoken in Sabine and St. Bernard Parishes, respectively, are perhaps the most endangered of the 3 Latin-based heritage languages natively spoken in Louisiana. And between the 2, Adaeseño is perhaps in the most critical situation. No linguistic reclamation projects exist in Los Adaes (the region’s name where Adaeseño is spoken), and the last handful of native speakers were in the 70s over 2 decades ago. In St. Bernard, there has been an identity renaissance, and to a certain extent a cultural one, however a linguistic renaissance has yet to materialize. No learning resources or tools exist for either, and thus very little information is available. However, we will provide the information we can obtain. Click page 4 below.
Key linguistic terms on the site:
Kouri-Vini-speakers
Francophone – means French-speaking
Hispanophone – means Spanish-speaking