Louisiana Creole (Kouri-Vini) Language (video, information, & comments)

Wikitongues, Mar 10, 2022  

Louisiana Creole, also called Kouri-Vini, is spoken by as many as 10,000 people, primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. A French Creole language, it is closely related to Haitian and Antillean Creole.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a 2023 YouTube video about Louisiana Creole (Kouri-Vini) language. Selected comments from the discussion thread of this video and selected comments on this subject from the discussion threads of several other YouTube videos are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, socio-cultural, and educational purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to all those who are keeping the Louisiana Creole language alive. Thanks to all those who quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these videos on YouTube. -snip-
This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on Louisiana Creole culture. Click the links that are found below for more pancocojams posts on this subject.

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INFORMATION ABOUT LOUISIANA CREOLE (KOURI-VINI) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Creole "Louisiana Creole is a French-based creole language spoken by fewer than 10,000 people, mostly in the state of Louisiana.[4] Also known as Kouri-Vini,[1] it is spoken today by people who may racially identify as White, Black, mixed, and Native American, as well as Cajun and Creole. It should not be confused with its sister language, Louisiana French, a dialect of the French language. Many Louisiana Creoles do not speak the Louisiana Creole language and may instead use French or English as their everyday languages.

Due to the rapidly shrinking number of speakers, Louisiana Creole is considered an endangered language.[5]

[...]

No standard name for the language has existed historically. In the language, community members in various areas of Louisiana and elsewhere have referred to it by many expressions, though Kréyol/Kréyòl has been the most widespread. Until the rise of Cajunism in the 1970s and 1980s, many Louisiana Francophones also identified their language as Créole, since they self-identified as Louisiana Creoles. In Louisiana's case, self-identity has determined how locals identify the language they speak. This leads to linguistic confusion. To remedy this, language activists beginning in the 2010s began promoting the term Kouri-Vini, to avoid any linguistic ambiguity with Louisiana French.[1]

[...]

Today, Louisiana Creole is spoken by fewer than 6,000 people.[1][4] Though national census data includes figures on language usage, these are often unreliable in Louisiana due to respondents' tendencies to identify their language in line with their ethnic identity. For example, speakers of Louisiana Creole who identify as Cajuns often label their language 'Cajun French', though on linguistic grounds their language would be considered Louisiana Creole.[18]

Efforts to revitalize French in Louisiana have placed emphasis on Cajun French, to the exclusion of Creole.[19] Zydeco musician Keith Frank has made efforts through the use of social media to not only promote his music, but preserve his Creole heritage and language as well most notably through the use of Twitter. Additionally, Frank developed a mobile application in 2012 titled the "ZydecoBoss App" which acts as a miniature social network linked to a user's Facebook and Twitter accounts, allowing users to provide commentary in real time amongst multiple platforms. Aside from social media activism, Frank also created a creole music festival in 2012 called the "Creole Renaissance Festival", which acts a celebration of Creole culture.[20] A small number of community organizations focus on promoting Louisiana Creole, for example CREOLE, Inc.[21] and the 'Creole Table' founded by Velma Johnson.[22] Northwestern State University developed the Creole Heritage Centre designed to bring people of Louisiana Creole heritage together, as well as preserve Louisiana Creole through their Creole Language Documentation Project.[23] In addition, there is an active online community of language-learners and activists engaged in language revitalization, led by language activist Christophe Landry.[24] These efforts have resulted in the creation of a popular orthography,[25] a digitalized version of Valdman et al.'s Louisiana Creole Dictionary,[26] and a free spaced repetition course for learning vocabulary hosted on Memrise created by a team led by Adrien Guillory-Chatman.[27] A first language primer was released in 2017[28][dead link][29] and revised into a full-length language guide and accompanying website in 2020.[2] 2022 saw the publication of an anthology of contemporary poetry in Louisiana Creole, the first book written completely in the language.[30"....

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SELECTED COMMENTS FROM  YOUTUBE DISCUSSION THEADS

These discussion threads are given in no particular order.

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

Discussion thread #1 (This is the discussion thread for the video that is embedded in this post.]

1. @stphnmrrs3982, 2022
"Louisiana does some French immersion programs but it's entirely taught in metropolitan French by mostly  native French speakers from France and Quebec. Louisiana French and Creole are ignored. However my info might be a little out dated"

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2.@Lavori,2022
"In Lafayette they’ve been working on bringing back Kreyol-vini and Cajun French."

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3. @Dragoncam13,2022
"If they did it would probably mainly be in Lafayette and Saint Martin parishes"

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4.@herewegoagin4667,2022
" @Dragoncam13 

St. James, St. John and St. Charles Parishes still have older first language Creole speakers too"

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5. @AGENT-dl2lu, 2022
"Exactly but they rather teach another language which nothing is wrong with that but what about our language"

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6. @kamikazehound3243,2022
"The reason Kouri Vini and Cajun French was not taught in schools is because Creoles were ostracized from being what they are by the English who hated that Creoles were mixed with West African and Native while Cajuns were viewed as sub par to put it mildly, though many will call themselves Coon asses it actually was actually an insult used towards Cajuns. It was in the 1920s the languages truly began to die, people were scared to teach their kids it because children would be punished and bullied at school if they were caught speaking it instead of English.

That said really when Louisiana joined the US In general French Languages being spoken was not liked by the English which is why Louisiana French as well as Haitian Creole died out in Louisiana, basically if it sounded French they were going to like you. In terms of Haitian Creole in Louisiana I'm not sure if anyone really speaks it at all still but once Haiti gained its independence there were a lot of Haitians that moved to Louisiana since they could understand other French based languages even if theirs was slightly different. Both the French Creoles and Haitians hated the Spanish rule, Creoles because the Spanish wanted them to get rid of their culture while the Haitians hated how the Spanish wanted to not only increase the slave trade in Louisiana but also make it harsher. If not for Creoles and Haitians Louisiana may have belonged to Spain a lot longer which is another part of history they don't teach."

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7. @antoinesantiago5156,2022
"I love the way how Kouri-Vini sounds! So sweet. Very similar to accents from France in my opinion (in comparison with north American french accents). And sometimes I hear an accent similar to the ones from the French Antilles.

As a native french speaker from France I can understand about 95% of what he’s saying and I love that! 😊"

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8. @nicolasbachand1972,2022
"Also many similarities with the Acadien accent from the Canadian Maritimes (Nouveau-Bunswick, Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Baie-des-Chaleurs In Québec, etc.), since the Cadien (Cajun) accent is derived from Acadien."

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9. @pepitaaralartxope2304,2022
"Je suis du Pays Basque espagnol, en une petite ville acoté de la frobtiere et pour moi, il semble un espagnol en parlant français"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"I am from the Spanish Basque Country, in a small town next to the frobtiere and for me it seems a Spanish speaking French"

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10. @LM-ki5ll,2022
" @nicolasbachand1972  its really not, the acadian migrants never made up more than a third of the population the migrated to. theres no direct correlation seen by most linguists other than "cajunists""

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11. @nicolasbachand1972,2022
"@LM-ki5ll  Visiblement, vous ne parlez ni français, ni cadien/acadien, ni créole louisianais."
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Obviously, you don't speak French, Cajun/Acadian, or Louisiana Creole."
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12. @LM-ki5ll,2022
"@nicolasbachand1972  disagree, its a revision much like the so called distinctions between creole and cajun cuisine. Its not an ethnic distinction, its a rural vs urban one. Or calling Zydeco cajun when it was all rural creoles of color who founded it. "Strangely "Cajuns" seemed to have turned anything attached to creoles of color as "Acadien""

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13. @nicolasbachand1972, 2022
"@LM-ki5ll   Ok I will answer you in English, as, like I said, you obviously don’t speak French and didn’t understand my initial post. The point I made is that there are  similarities between Louisiana  French Créole and  Louisiana Cadien (i.e. the Acadian French dialect from the Canadian Maritimes that became spoken in Louisiana). None is a derivation or descendant of the other, even indirect, and I never suggested they were. Under the French regime, Acadians who sought refuge in Louisiana after the Deportation (and became  known there as Cadiens (mispronounced Cajuns by English speakers)) and French Antilles Créoles , mainly from Haiti, came into contact in Louisiana, thus creating reciprocal linguistic influence, while remaining distinct populations. This is a common linguistic phenomenon. Mutual influence between Louisiana French Créole and Louisiana Cadien is not only well documented and evidenced outside « cajunist » circles, as you call them, it is obvious to anyone speaking Acadian, including in Canada, on one hand, and French Antilles Creole, including Haiti Creole, on the other hand.

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@deku_0073,2022
"I speak french. I think it would be good to summarize for those who cannot speak this language or similar languages. he spoke the language because his parents wanted to make sure their language would not die. he works with different organizations in France and Canada to preserve the french and creole in louisiana. he also mentions working with the organizations in louisiane to save the languages of the state.

Please feel free to correct if I missed something."

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Discussion Video #2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uenm0EfrkTg "Louisiana Creole Woman speaking Creole French" published by Louisiana French, Feb 19, 2019; Renella Jones, a Louisiana Creole Woman speaks in Creole French.

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. @Fast_and__curious, 2019
"I’m Haitian, I didn’t know I could have understood anything but yes I understand most things she said 👏🏽👏🏽"

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2.@terrancewilliams8554, 2020
"Because in 1805 40,000 Haitians came to south west Louisiana, in the Acadiana French  region. Im a mix Haitian with native American, Spanish ect.. And my base language is CREOLE OR NOW CALLED LOUISIANA CREOLE"

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3. @madzshagger, 2020
"Bro im from Mauritius and its crazy how similar our creole languages are"

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4.@saintseer9578, 2020
"My people are out of Pointe Coupee been there longer than 1800 spanning back to as far as the 1700s the immigrated Haitian story isn’t everyone’s story. Just like the long time formerly enslaved, my family, of the area isn’t everyone’s story. Brought over from Senegambia region, The Bight of Benin, Ivory Coast, etc. wasn’t no stops in the Caribbean for EVERYONE. We were occupied by the same people just like all French based creoles there’s similarities and also differences. Kouri-Vini formed independently. If you like linguistics you would know that there is no “right way” to speak a French based creole. That’s like an Argentine telling a Colombian they speak Spanish wrong. There’s different Creoles from all around the world and however you speak it where you’re from is your way. Everyone seriously has to stop the paternalistism with Black Americans in general. Not even getting down to the sub ethnicities/cultures within Black America like Louisiana Creoles, Mississippi Delta folks, Gullah/Geechee people, etc. We’ve been doing our thing here what is so complicated for folks to understand that? "

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5. @myronbriggs1018,2020
"My people r Creole from Acadiana I understand practically nothing of what she said."

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6. @specialkayy01,2020
"I’m speak French and I understand most of it"

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7. @rosepierre4505, 2020
"I’m understand everything she said and I’m Haitian"

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8. @platteformtv1766, 2020
"Im from central Louisiana and I should understand more than I do, but we weren't taught because the old folks only spoke French around us when they didn't want us to know what they were saying"

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9. @persephoneperry776, 2020
"Exactly or pig latin lol they didn't want us to know nothing and that's y we lost out"

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10. @destineylacour2877, 2020
"Im also from central Louisiana. That's true. I was born and raised here. They only spoke Creole so we wouldn't know what they were talking about'

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11. @platteformtv1766, 2020
"Crazy thing is a couple years ago I asked my dad to teach me and he said he doesn't really remember much because he hasn't had anyone to speak it with. Im from ville platte and in the 90's I use to hear it everywhere, but now its few and far between"

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12. @destineylacour2877, 2020
"@platteformtv1766   Im live in Alexandria, I'm 25 now and it's been a very long time since I heard it. My grandmother used to speak it. No one rarely speaks it"

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13. @curlidemi1, 2020
"My grandma overheard me practicing for a French test once and was shooked. That’s when she told me about our Creole history &  that kids weren’t allowed to learn it and were punished for speaking it around adults."

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14. @countesslove1752, 2020
"Demi’s World...so what is/were the appropriate age to learn?   What about our Creole history?🙂"

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15. @curlidemi1,2020
"@countesslove1752  I wish I knew. It depends on our elders."

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16. @megancoker6598, 2020
"It was illegal to speech Louisiana French in 90's. It just got legal in the 2000's this are group that is trying to keep it alive"

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17. @originaldaughterofabyayala6678, 2020
"It’s because your grandma is probably an indigenous/American Indian and the colonisers used to ban indigenous people from speaking their languages.

At least, from my research they always did that to indigenous people. I’m a French black girl with Caribbean roots, and I understood what she’s saying in the video, it’s beautiful. It happened to us also in the Caribbean and South America. When European languages became official, we couldn’t speak our language."

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Discussion Video #3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ss694YMBVFs Louisiana Creole/ Kouri-Vini| Fi Di Kulcha- Episode 41 ft @rouganou2651, published by CharisMaggie TV, Sep 1, 2022  The Creole/Kreyol Series

Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.

1. @MN-eo4eq, 2022
"It’s very similar to Haitian Creole (Kreyol). The main differences I find are mostly in the pronouns because I was able to understand the sentences and phrases pretty easily."

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2. @jeano7770, 2023
"This guy doesn't know what hell he's talking about! The Louisiana Creole is similar to the Haitian Creole so he needs to take a history class to learn about the Louisiana purchase/Haiti"

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3. @jaholo1805, 2022
"Mo pa wa li (Louisiana Creole) meaning "I don't see it" . Mwen pa wè li (Haitian kreyòl) meaning " I don't see it". Very similar! Even the days of the week are the same as well as the months except different spellings with a couple.  Many phrases and words are the same"

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4. @breilmusicgroup, 2022
"The reason why Haitian Creole have evolved so much over the years is because every sides of Haiti speaks Creole with a different accent and dialect. I was born in Haiti in 1982 and left for USA in 1994. At that time Creole wasn't a formal language they didn't teach it in private or public school. I have been in over 20 provinces in Haiti when I lived there I experience the difference sounds. For example; people from Okap speaks Creole like the original or Ancient Creole in comparison to Port-au-Prince where I was born and raised.

I couldn't find any French speakers when I moved to Washington DC, my Godsister  and her siblings which were born and raised in DC they spoke very good Creole, I brush up on my Creole from them. I am fluent in Creole. I read and write and also writes rap songs in Creole."

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5. . @johnypayet7995,2022
"Le créole louisianais est très similaire au créole mauricien"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:
"Louisiana Creole is very similar to Mauritian Creole"

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6. @CleverNameTBD, 2022
"Wé. çé vré ça"
-snip-
Google translate from French to English:

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7. @CharisMaggieTV, 2022
"Yes very much"

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8. @chillmusicrecords, 2023
"it's funny because as a french speaker, it's very easy to understand, it's like simply listening to someone with a strong accent and different grammar.

In certain part of France like the North of France, the accent could be as strong."

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9. @angienoel4564, 2023
"You have spoken your language kouri vini as a haitian I really understand the Louisiana kouri vini. Now, you can’t even understand my haitian language is because we speak so fast you said. I do understand all mautician, kouri vini and French creole Guiana."

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10. @frankysan4828, 2023
"Young brother seems smart and informed but I can’t help but sense some anti Haitian bias. You mean to tell me every other Creole except  Haiti. All the places the young brother mentioned never had the amount of people that migrated and settled to New Orleans. 15,000 or so refugees from st.domingue Haiti of all races but spoke Creole settle there and have no impact. I don’t know about that one unless they stopped speaking once they arrived . I’m sure there’s some influence whether he wants to admit it or not. Geez I understand this waaay more than reunion Creole and it makes sense it’s in the pacific. Rudolph’s Lucien desdunes family from Saint domingue said they speak the same language obviously it blended or something by then with the native Louisiana Creole. Haitis continued to evolve on its own but don’t try to separate it completely as an influence… damn they don’t like Haitians smh

Jelly roll Morton descendent

Louis gottschak descendent

Plessy.  From plessy vs Ferguson

List is long"

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11. @rouganou2651, 2023
"There is no anti-Haitian bias at all, when we talk about influence in the entire language outside of New Orleans then it drops down to zero whereas in New Orleans there would most likely be influence in Tremé due to FPOC who went there from St. Domingue but other than that no other place in Louisiana had a large influx of refugees or any folks from St. Domingue. Also, when they got here to Louisiana their creole was already close to ours so it does not take much to integrate and change small grammar rules. Considering that LA Creole has multiple dialects with some characteristics that stayed closer to the original creole linguistically we still don’t find that much influence and that’s not to say that there isn’t any but considering that creole in Haiti is different than the creole St. Dominguians were speaking when they got here, it is a theory that they just reinforced certain aspects of New Orleans like « ginyin/genyen » instead of just « gin/gen » or « kaz » instead of just « lamézon ». Like in old Louisiana documents we see words like « tini » to have, « bayé » to give, « sabé » to know, but these have mostly fallen out of use with only « bayé » being used sparsely but those were documented before the Haitian Revolution send the refugees to Louisiana. But no Anti-Haitian Bias, just presenting the facts that we have as of now, now as we gather more information then we will present what we find."

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