Date: Tue, 31 Jan 1995 21:36:48 -0600 From: Katherine Catmull Subject: Re: hmm.. what's cajun English, then? > 1--"Anglos (people of Cajun extraction who speak English)" > --if (1) above are NOT speakers of Cajun English, then who is? > (I'm assuming that the real speakers, who "Please to stand up" > as we say in Jamaica, must both be "of Cajun extraction" and > "speak English"!) I'm not sure what the original poster meant, but I'd say there is a definte difference between my 37 year-old husband, who is 7/8ths cajun by blood and was raised in southeast Texas but speaks no French, and his 73-year-old grandfather, who was raised on Avery Island in Louisiana, learned English as a second language, spoke French at home with his wife (until her recent death), and whose English carries a distinctly "cajun" accent and syntax. I apologize--as a non-linguist who usually only lurks on this list, I don't really know what the technical distinction is. It does seem to me there is one. Kate Catmull kate[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]bga.com