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Re: Durant l'eau haute de vignt-sept (transcription

Neil, where you are talking about corn meal, isnt he saying corn husks(coton de mais)?

Gregue is a coffee pot.

In the 3rd paragraph where Clotile is speaking, could she be telling him "enough, you".

Merci beaucoup pour tout ca.

Bryan Lafleur

Re: Durant l'eau haute de vignt-sept (transcription

A few additions from my dad:

1st paragraph-
L'eau passait proche en "grenier" (ceiling). (Kick myself for not getting that one).
...joue pain pe po sur mes "noeud d'reins"(backbone)

2nd paragraph-
.. pagaye' la "ouais, 'tit".
He is pretty sure a "dis wheez" is a farm implement, but cant remember which one.

4th paragraph-
Parce que Rene Fontenot "la"

5th paragraph-
Elle a passe' sa main dans la de coton mais y avait colet du rechaud elle a mis une (?). He doesnt know the word either, but thinks she is referring to "handful".
He neg, quand t'es apres tamiser la vie (means when you are living life). Neil, I have seen your cousin use that phrase.

Bryan Lafleur

Re: Re: Durant l'eau haute de vignt-sept (transcription

The unknown word in the fifth paragraph sounds like "mainter," and in the context of the phrase, means "a handful." "She grabed a handful of corn cobs in a tub by the heater and put it in the heater."

Dowell

Re: Re: Re: Durant l'eau haute de vignt-sept (transcription

Sorry, I mistranslated the phrase in the 5th paragraph.

"She passed her hand in the corn cob container (tub)that is near the heater, and she put a handful in (the heater)."

Dowell

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Marion Marcotte's Lucky Day at the Red Cross in Pointe Aux Chiens

"- Quand ma femme commence à crier c'est comme du tac tac qu'après fleurer..."

I think it's quereller (quarrel)

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: quereller

You're right, it's "quereller" (I always forget that Cajun pronunciation of this word - here we pronounce the first "e").
Un hangar (barn or shed) because he makes a liaison with "un". But it may be Nonc..., as you hear, I can't tell for sure.

I have the impression that he did not only kiss her (je l'ai renversée sur la berce...)

Christian

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

"- Quand ma femme commence à crier c'est comme du tac tac qu'après fleurer..."

I think it's quereller (quarrel)

: Re: Re: quereller

Clothilde had a right to quarrel! Sounds like he got fresh!

Re: : Re: Re: quereller

Sorry to go against the current here, but the word does sound like "fleurir," and is the word used for popcorn popping. It actually means "blooming" as with flowers.

Dowell

Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

Bien merci, on va corriger ça. Petit à petit on va tout avoir, c'est bien intéressant.

Christian

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

Replying to:

Sorry to go against the current here, but the word does sound like "fleurir," and is the word used for popcorn popping. It actually means "blooming" as with flowers.

Dowell

Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

Pop, moi j'crois que il a dit les deux mots.
When she quarrels she sound like popcorn popping.

?????

Bryan

Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

T'est bien mon garcon, il dit "..quand ma femme commence a quereller, c'est comme un toc-toc qu'est apres fleurir." "...when my wife starts to quarrel, it's like popcorn that is popping."

I should also add here, that in the first paragraph, 4th sentence, "J'etais pauvre jusqu'a ma bouche était amer (means bitter)." "I was poor to the point that my mouth was bitter."

Dowell

Re: Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

Dowell wrote

"I should also add here, that in the first paragraph, 4th sentence, "J'etais pauvre jusqu'a ma bouche était amer (means bitter)." "I was poor to the point that my mouth was bitter.""

True, but my interpretation based on my parents' is that the author could have said that but said the more foul "ma bouche etait en merdre." They laughed hard about that.

It is part of the storyteller's building the character of Jim Soileau (who by the way is the name of the long time Cajun radio announcer on KVPI in Ville Platte where Swallow records recorded; and Bradley Meaux in the "boutique a Rene Fontenot" segment was a well known TV broadcaster in Cajun French for KLFY in Lafayette).

From my parents' understanding, in more than one place Jim tries to inflate his character with his language, but the language undermines him. And this is part of the self-deprecating Cajun humor.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

I also thought he said "*****", but I have learned that I am seldom right when I argue with mon pop, and I wasnt sure if either were common expressions.

Did Daniels transcription shed any further light?

Bryan

Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

My cousin Daniel Blanchard made this transcription and translation/explanation. I appended a few of my own notes where I differ.

Mes amis, (euh) je veux vous raconter ma misère j’avais durantl’eau haute de vingt-sept.
(My friends, I want to tell you the story about my misery that I had during the flood (high water) of twenty-seven.)

J’avais noyé jusqu’aux paupières.
(I had drowned just up to my eyelids.)

L’eau passait proche en grenier.
(The water had passed almost up to the attic. (Some may say ceiling, but this is not correct. The ceiling is “le plafond”. The standard French for attic is “grenier” which is also that Cajun word for attic, just with a slightly different pronunciation.)

J’ai été échafaudé sur la deuxième étage de mon hangar avec ma femme, mes petits, mes chats et mes chiens.
(I was scaffolded on the second floor of my barn (warehouse, storage building) with my wife, my children, my cats and my dogs. (The word “hangar” is used by some to mean “barn”. The more popular Cajun French word for barn is “magasin”. A farm could have both “un magasin” and “un hangar”.)

J’étais pauvre jusqu'à ma bouche était en mer (amer).
(I was so poor until my mouth tasted bitter. (Standard French is “amer” which means “bitter”. Cajuns pronounce it “en mer” almost as if it were two words.)

Pour vous dire la sainte vérité, j’étais proche à la crève de faim.
(To tell you the holy truth, I was almost starving to death. )

Pas voir é-ou manger, ça m’avait tellement affaibli, jusqu'à je voilais.
(Not able to see where to eat, I was so weakened that I was buckling.)

J’avais tellement maigri, jusqu'à t’aurais pu joué pain pi peau sur mes nœuds de rein.
(I had lost so much weight, until you could have played pain pi peau on my backbone. (literally on the knots of my kidneys. But the French use “rein” to also mean the back)
Mom remembers singing/chanting this Pain-pi-peau child’s ditty. She can only remember: Pain-pi-peau Laurent, q’a vole ma femme…. NOTE FROM NEAL: My mother showed me the game but I don't remember it exactly. You had to touch your forehead, your nose, your chest, your shoulders. The image is one of a grown man playing a children's game, too weak to even make these small movements--an exaggeration given the fact that he is strong enough to paddle himself to the Red Cross)

J’avais reçu des nouvelles, que le gouvernement avait envoyé la croix rouge à la Pointe aux chiens, pour donner des rations au monde qui était à la crève de faim.
(I had received some news, that the government had sent the Red Cross to Pointe aux Chiens, to give rations to the people who were dying of starvation. (There is controversy over the name “Pointe aux chiens”. This means Point of the Dogs. Some say it is supposed to be “Pointe aux chênes” which is “Oak Point”. I seem to remember that the latter version won out officially a few years ago.)

Quand j’ai su ces nouvelles, j’ai pas perdu de temps.
(When I learned of this news, I didn’t lose any time.)

J’ai embarqué dans mon chalon, et je m’ai pagayé la, oui ‘tit. NOTE from Neal: not out 'tit, but aussi.
(I got in my ???? (must be some kind of boat), and I paddled over there, yes ‘tit.)

Mon idée, le bonheur était avec moi ce jour-la, parce que j’avais bien réussi.
(My idea, goodness (good luck) was with me that day, because I succeeded well. )

Ils m’avaient donné une charrue, un disque, une herse double, un G-Wheels (NOTE from Neal: un ****weez), un planteur, des souliers pour tous mes p’tits, un rat de bois maigre, des navets, un corset pour ma femme, une brosse à dents, un râtelier, une corde à linge, un paquet de gomme, quarante sous en argent, et un sac à deux bouts, avec un matou d’un coté, et une paire de chenets l’autre bord.
(They gave me a plow, a disc, a double-harrow, a G-Wheels (this must be some sort of farm implement, but no one I’ve asked knows what this is NOTE from Neal: My family started calling tweezers un ****weez after hearing Marcotte's story), a planter, some shoes for all of my children, a skinny opossum, some turnips, a corset (girdle) for my wife, a toothbrush, a set of false teeth, a clothesline, a packet of gum, forty cents in money, and a sack with two ends, with a cat (this is not a wild cat, BUT it is a BIG cat, probably a Tomcat) on one end, and a pair of andirons on the other side.

En revenant des rations, quand j’ai arrivé devant la boutique à René Fontenot, qui se trouve dans les roseaux à l’Anse aux pailles, j’ai décidé de prendre mon quarante sous et m’acheter une livre de café et un can de Pet Milk.
(Coming back to the rations, when I arrived in front of Rene Fontenot’s store, which is found amongst the reeds at L’Anse aux Pailles, I decided to take my forty cents and buy me a pound of coffee and a can of Pet Milk. (l’Anse aux pailles means “a cove of hay”. This brings up a fascinating fact about Acadians in Louisiana. Many of our place names are nautical. They refer to the sea. In this case, there may not actually be a cove. I know that L’Anse aux pailles is somewhere around Ville Platte and Chataigner, but I don’t really know if is actually a “cove” in the water. I would bet not. The early Acadians saw the vast prairies as resembling the ocean. Therefore a large stand of trees in the middle of the prairie was called an Ile, or island. So the Hay Cove referred to may have been an area close to the edge of a small forest in the prairie in much the same way a cove is to an island.)

Pense donc, j’avais pas bu du café, Il n’avait au-dessus de trois semaines.
(Just think, I had not drank coffee, it’s been more than three weeks.)

J’avais tellement envie d’une ‘tite gorgée, jusqu'à j’avais le goût dans le palet.
(I had such an urge for a little sip, that I had the taste in my palet (in my mouth).

Quand j’ai rentré dans la boutique à René, j’ai vu ce malfaiteur, Bradley Meaux, qui était assis sur le bout du comptoir.
(When I entered in Rene’s store, I saw that trouble-maker, Bradley Meaux, who was sitting on the end of the counter.)

Quand j’ai paru dans la porte, Il dit, « Gardez donc qui les chats ont traîné ici dedans. C’est Jim Soileau. »
(When I appeared in the door, he says, “Well look what the cats drug in here. It’s Jim Soileau.”)
NOTE from Neal: Jim Soileau and Bradley Meaux were well known radio and TV men of the day)


Il dit, « Comment c’est, Jim ? J’ai cru que tu avais parti à la dérive, avec les ouaouarons dans l’eau haute. »
(He says, “How is it, Jim? I thought that you were adrift with the frogs in the flood (high water).”

Il dit, « Hé Jim Soileau, c’est pas proche toi q’a mis l’eau dans les cocos, non. »
(He says, “Hey Jim Soileau, It’s not even you that put the water in the coconuts, no.”)

Il était après essayer de se foutre de moi.
(He was trying to make fun of me (insult me, belittle me).

Il croyait pas que j’aurais rien dit.
(He didn’t think that I was going to say anything. )

Mais nègre, euh je l’ai bouché, oui.
(But, negre, uh I stopped him up, yes. )

Euh, Je dis, « Non Bradley, c’est pas moi q’a mis l’eau dans les cocos.
(Uh, I say, “No Bradley, It’s not me that put the water in the coconuts.)

Mais, oublie pas, vieux chien, c’est pas proche toi q’a râpé la lune pour faire les étoiles. »
(But, don’t forget, you old dog, it’s not even close to being you that grated the Moon to make the stars.)

Nègre, quand je lui ai dit ça, ça il l’a surpris.
(Negre, when I told him that, it surprised him. )

Il a sauté en bas du comptoir.
(He jumped underneath the counter.) NOTE from Neal: He didn't jump under the counter. He jumped from his seat at the other end of the counter, as if to charge Jim)

J’ai cru qu’il m’aurait foutu une.
(I thought that he was going to hit me (going to hit me with one (slap))


Avant il a pu me répondre, René Fontenot s’a mêlé.
Il dit, « Ecoutez ici ! » Il dit, « Si vous-autres la ferme pas, je vas vous cogner vos têtes ensembles. ».
(Before he was able to answer me, Rene Fontenot got involved.
He says, “Listen here!” He says, “If y’all don’t close it (referring to their mouths), I’m going to bang your heads together.”)

Il dit, « Tant q’à pour toi, Jim Soileau, si je t’en fous une, tu vas croire c’est un madrier à la vapeur qui t’a frappé. »
(He says, “As far as you, Jim Soileau, if I hit you, you will think it’s a beam of steam that hit you”. (ok…madrier = beam, a big piece of wood that is square and long. Vapeur = steam…perhaps referring to a beam cut at a sawmill with a steam engine, or maybe a wooden beam that might have been part of a steam engine. My thought is that it refers to a beam cut at a steam sawmill.)

Oublie pas ‘tit, j’ai tenu ma bouche fermé, oui
(Don’t forget, ‘tit (don’t worry,bro) I kept my mouth shut, yea.)


Parce que René Fontenot-la, c’est un les si méchant bougres que je connais.
(Because Rene Fontenot, there, he’s one of the most wicked fellows that I know.)

Ils m’ont dit qu’il est tellement mauvais, jusqu'à quand il se rase les matins, il met son pistolet sur la table à côté de lui, en tout cas il aime pas son amage (image) dans le miroir.
(They told me that he’s so bad, that when he shaves himself in the mornings, he puts a pistol on the table next to him, just in case he doesn’t like his image in the mirror.)

Ils m’ont dit qu’il perce son miroir à coups de balles de pistolet, quand il est de mauvaise humeur, et se regarde dans le miroir.
(They told me that he pierces his mirror with gun shots when he’s in a bad mood and looks at himself in the mirror.)


N’importe, euh je voulais pas m’obstiner avec un animal comme Bradley Meaux.
(No matter, I didn’t want to argue (persist) with an animal like Bradley Meaux.)

J’ai acheté ma livre de café et mon can de Pet Milk, et je m’ai pagayé à la maison.
(I bought my pound of coffee and my can of Pet Milk, and I paddled (back) to the house.)

Quand j’ai arrivé à la maison, j’ai dit à ma femme Clotilde, euh, je dis, « Écoute chère, il n’y assez longtemps j’ai envie du café.
(When I arrived at the house, I said to my wife Clotilde, uh I say, “Listen dear, it’s been such a long time that I have an urge for some coffee”.)


Euh, je dis, atisonne le feu.
(Uh, I say, stoke the fire.)

Elle a passé sa main dans la baille de coto maïs il y’avait collée du réchaud.
(She passed her hand in the bucket of corn cobs that was stuck (fastened, fixed) to the stove. (We also use “réchaud” to mean heater, but in this context it means the stove, probably a wood stove which also acted as the heater for the kitchen.)

Elle a mis une maintien dedans.
(She put a handful inside.)

Ça a fait des braises violets.
(It made some violet (purple) embers.)

Là, elle a pris la grègue, et elle l’a mis sur le feu.
(Then, she took the coffee pot, and she put it on the fire.)

Quand j’ai attendu (entendu) le café qui était après couler dans la grègue, ça faisait doup, doup, doup, doup, doup, doup, doup.
(When I heard the coffee that was dripping in the coffee pot, it made (sounded like) doup, doup, doup, doup….)

Euh, je m’ai roulé une cigarette de Bull Durham, et je me l’ai accrochée derrière l’oreille.
(Uh, I rolled me a cigarette of Bull Durham, and I hooked it behind my ear.)

Quand le café était à mouche, j’ai pris ma hache ; j’ai foutu un coup de hache dans ce can de Pet Milk, là.
(When the coffee was ready, I took my hatchet; I let loose with a blow of the hatchet in that can of Pet Milk, there. ( I am just guessing at the meaning of the expression “à mouche”. The context would suggest that M. Marcotte is talking about the coffee being ready. However I have never heard this expression, and neither has Mom. Also the word “hache” usually means ax, but it can also mean hatchet and would seem more appropriate given the size of the can).

Ça a fait une gueule.
(It made a mouth. (really means that the hatchet made a big opening))

Ma femme m’a vidé du café dans une « chocwell ».
(My wife poured me some coffee in a “chocwell”. ( of course your guess is as good as mine on this one. It must be some sort of mug. Perhaps he is using a brand name for this cup. At any rate I’ve never heard of it nor has Mom.)

J’ai pris le can de Pet Milk. J’en ai vidé dans le café. Ça a fait blum.
(I took the can of Pet Milk. I poured some out into the coffee. I made (made a noise like) blum.)

La crème a frappé le bas de la « chocwell ».
(The cream hit the bottom of the “chocwell”.)

Là c’est revenu en haut ; ça a fait un embarras. Hé ‘tit.
(Then it came back to the top; it made a fuss (disturbance, it mixed it up). Hey boy.)

Mais là je m’ai décroché ma cigarette de Bull Durham de derrière mon oreille, et je l’ai allumé.
(But then I unhooked my cigarette of Bull Durham from behind my ear, and I lit it.)

J’ai pris tellement une grosse boucane, jusqu'à j’ai manqué de m’assaisonner un poumon.
(I took such a big puff (smoke), until I just about missed seasoning a lung. )

Là j’ai pris ma « chocwell » de café et ma cigarette, j’ai été m’asseoir sur la berce devant le réchaud, et je me berçais, buvais mon café, et je fumais.
(Then I took my “chocwell” of coffee and my cigarette, I went to sit on the rocker in front of the stove, and I rocked, drank my coffee, and I smoked.)


Hé, Nègre ! C’est ça t’appeler tamiser la vie, oui.
(Hey, negre! That’s what you call living the high life, yes. (ok..”tamiser” means to sift. Mom remembers always saying “tamiser la farine”, which is “to sift flour”. In this context “tamiser la vie” means to sift life, or rather to measure it, or take it lightly, or to get the best part of it as one does when one sifts.)

Ma femme était après piétonner devant moi, après cuire le rat de bois et les navets.
(My wife was prancing in front of me, cooking the opossum and the turnips. (“piétonner” is a made-up verb form of the word “piéton” which is a pedestrian, or someone walking. Imagine her in the kitchen walking back and forth from stove to sink to table and back. I translated it as “prancing” in order to give the sense of grace and femininity that was affecting her husband as he sat and smoked.)

À tout moment je lui foutais une ‘tite tape. Pow !
(Every once and a while I’d give her a little tap. Pow!)

Là, tout d’un coup, je l’ai empoignée, et je l’ai renversée sur la berce, et je l’ai embrassée. Chiappe !
(Then, all of a sudden, I grabbed her, and I knocked her down onto the rocker, and I kissed her. Chiappe! (the verb “renverser” means “to knock down” but also “to upset” or “to turn upside down”. Basically he grabbed her and put her in his lap and then he laid one on her.)

Là je lui ai dit, j’ai dit, « Hé, ça, chère ‘tite catin ». Euh, je dis, « Je l’aime gros, oui » !
(Then I told her, I said, “Hey, that, dear little doll.” Uh, I say, “I like her a lot, yeah”!)

Quand je l’ai lâchée, elle était tout essoufflée.
(When I let go of her, she was all out of breath.)


Elle se retourne sur moi. Elle dit, « Si nègre, toi Jim Soileau. Tu dois avoir un tiroir de lait caillé dans ta cervelle ».
(She turns back on me. She says, “If nègre, you Jim Soileau. You must have a drawer of curdled milk in you brain”. (Well this one’s hard to translate at the beginning because it’s hard to tell what M. Marcotte’s saying. “Si nègre could also be “Assez nègre, which means “Enough, nègre” I would tend to go with this translation, but it’s just so hard to make out.) (About “lait caillé”, this is really a form of cream or cottage cheese cream. There is a creamery that sells the real thing in Baton Rouge, and trust me, it’s delicious.)

Elle dit, « Tu dois être après perdre ton ‘tit brin d’esprit que t’as. »
(She says, “You must be loosing the little sense you have.”)

Elle faisait comme elle aimait pas mes caresses.
(She made like she didn’t like my caresses.)

Mais, nègre, moi je connais appâter ma femme, oui.
(But, nègre, me I know how to lure my wife, yes. (the word “appâter” can mean to bait or lure. In this case it means flirt with or butter up, almost flatter, but maybe not in quite the same sense.) NOTE from Neal: I think Jim says pater ma femme, i.e. paw her.

C’est beaucoup mieux de lui faire accroire, que la quitter commencer à disputer.
(It’s much better to let her think she knows (believes) than to let her start arguing. )

Parce que, tonnerre mes chiens, quand ma femme commence à quereller, c’est comme un tac tac q’après (qui est après) fleurer.
(Because, lighting my dogs, when my wife starts to quarrel (scold), It’s like popcorn that’s smelling (cooking). (ok…this sentence is very interesting. “Tonnerre mes chiens” is just a way of saying that this is a “helluva” thing. “Tonnerre” is “thunder”, “mes chiens” is “my dogs”. Some also say “que le tonnerre m’écrase” which is “may thunder crush me”, and of course in English we say “may lighting strike me”. I have a theory that perhaps the saying came from “tonnerre MÈCHANT.” The word “méchant” means wicked or nasty or menacing, kind of like what thunder is like in real life. Perhaps the pronunciation of “méchant” was changed to “mes chiens” over time.)
(Now about “quereller”. Some would say that the word is “crier”, but they would be wrong. He’s definitely not talking about screaming here, but rather he’s talking about quarelling or scolding.) (About the word “fleurer”, it’s hard to know what he means here. There is of course the word “fleurir” which means to bloom, as in the popcorn, when cooking, is blooming, a metaphor for bursting open. However my ears hear him distinctly saying “fleurer”. Maybe this is just his way of pronouncing “fleurir”. On the other hand, there really is a verb “fleurer”, and it means to smell or to be fragrant, and one is hardly able to deny the splendid aroma coming from popcorn cooking. Hence I choose to translate it as “smelling”).


T’attends (tu entends) tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac tac.
(You hear tac tac tac tac…….)

Il n’y a plus de finition.
(There is no end (to it).)

Quand le souper était cuit, euh, je m’ai attablé.
(When the supper was cooked, uh, I sat at the table.)

J’ai dit à ma femme, Clotilde, euh je dis, « Écoute, chère, fous les chats dehors parce que je veux pas que ça rapassent (repassent) dans mes jambes, pardant (pendant) j’sus (je suis) après manger mon rat de bois ».
(I said to my wife, Clotilde, uh, I say, “Listen, dear, put the cats outside because I don’t want them to pass in (between) my legs while I’m eating my opossum. (The standard French for “during or while” is “pendant”. This is also standard Cajun. However, sometimes this word is pronounced as he does here “pardant” or “perdant’ with an open “e”.)


Tonnerre mes chiens, nègre, ça c’est un soir, j’ai tellement mangé, jusqu'à t’aurais pu jouer le tambour sur mon estomac après que j’ai eu fini.
(Thunder my dogs, nègre, that was a night, I ate so much, until you could have played the drum(s) on my stomach after I had had finished.)

Je en garanti, nègre, si je serais mort ce soir-là, ça aurait pas été avec la faim.
(I guarantee it, negre, if I would be dead that night, it wouldn’t have been with (from) hunger.)

C’est pour ça je veux vous dire, mes amis, il n’a pas personne dans le monde entier, qui a doit eu plus de la misère que moi, durant l’eau haute de vingt-sept.
(It’s for that (that’s why) I want to tell you, my friends, that there was not no one in the whole world, who had more misery than me, during the flood (high water) of twenty-seven.)

Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

"Elle se retourne sur moi. Elle dit, « Si nègre, toi Jim Soileau. Tu dois avoir un tiroir de lait caillé dans ta cervelle ».

In the above, I hear "Elle se retourne sur moi. Elle dit, 'c'est i'na 'vec toi Jim Soileau.'" There are unpronounce words in this phrase, and it should be "Qui c'est il na avec toi, Jim Soileau." (What is the matter with you, Jim Soileau.)Very common is our area. I have never been able to make out the "na" that is used in this instance. We use it occasionally in this manner. We also sometimes use the phrase "qui y a" or "c'est y a" Maybe it should be "n'avec" ??

Dowell

Re: Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

Qu'est-ce qu'il y avec toi? = What's the matter with you (in standard French)

In daily French, this can become "Qu'est-ce qui'y a avec toi?" Pronounce "Kess key ya avek twa"

Re: p.s. to Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

p.s.

This transciption is extremely good.

Dowell

Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

Thanks Neal for this annotated version. I am going to print it out to take the time to study it closely.
Just several little things that occurred to me while reading :
- « Tamiser la vie » : I wonder if this might not simply be a distortion of « t’amuser la vie », a literal translation of « to enjoy life ».
- I don’t think « fleurer » is possible here because no one would compare a woman « quarreling » to a smell.
- The word "piétonner" (= piétiner) does exist (in Canada).

(And I am interested in the English translation too).

Christian

Re: Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

Regarding "tamiser la vie", I really don't think he means "t'amuser". The expression "je m'amuse" or "on s'a bien amusé", was just way too common for him to have mispronounced it.

On second consideration of "fleurer", Probably he really means "fleurir" but just pronounces it "fleurer". Since our language was not written, there were many changes in verb endings and pronunciations like that over time. As far as "piétonner", I really don't ever remember hearing this word before now. But the context of the story just gives it away.

This translating/transcribing is fascinating stuff.

Le CD que je possède des contes de M. Marcotte, m'a été donné par une amie Nouveau Brunswickoise. On ne peut pas s'arrêter de rire quand on les écoute.

Daniel

Re: Re: Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

Bonjour Daniel,
Oui, moi aussi j’aime énormément cette façon de raconter. Très drôle. Je remarque en plus, grâce aux notes que Neal et toi avez ajoutées, que cela devait être encore plus comique pour les auditeurs de l’époque avec cette transformation de personnes réelles connues en personnages de l’histoire. Avec des allusions etc. J’aime bien également regarder en détail le vocabulaire (et parfois retrouver des mots anciens ou dont la connotation a changé) et la construction des phrases.

Pour « tamiser… », je ne pensais pas à une déformation due à la prononciation de ce conteur particulier. Il a bien utilisé ce mot-là. Je pensais à une évolution collective, due à l’oralité, d’une autre expression vers ce bizarre « tamiser la vie ». Le même phénomène, peut-être, que dans le cas de « tonnerre mes chiens ». Mais bon, c’était juste une hypothèse, peut-être complètement à côté.

Je n’avais jamais entendu « piétonner » non plus, mais je l’ai trouvé dans le Robert historique de la langue française, ainsi que dans un dictionnaire listant les mots spécifiquement québécois et dans quelques textes sur internet (je te joins un lien ci-dessus par exemple). Nicole peut sûrement nous dire si on l’emploie encore couramment au Québec aujourd'hui (en France, non).

Christian

Re: Re: Re: Re: Daniel Blanchard's Transcription and Translation

pietiner (maybe pronounced 'pietonner', depending on the accent of the area...cajun vs. quebecois vs. somewhere in France or Africa) = to stamp your foot.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

On the ".. wheez" part, I hear "... wheel", that fit anything? What is the word for a sharpening wheel?

On Clotile passing her hand with the coton d'mais, could she be saying "elle a mis un main tien en dedans"?

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

I'm aware that this discussion has been overwith for about a month, but hey, I just got my internet back up and running and I'm trying to catch up with the rest of you.

I think he says, "Elle a mis une mainte en-dedans." "She put in a great many."

I also think that he's not saying "Euh, je..." He's saying "Ej" which is a common occurence in Cajun French. Ej'crois, Ej'veux, Ej'vas, Ej'dit, etc., etc., etc. It's not a lapse of thought, it's simply a way of speaking.

There were other things I wanted to mention, but I forgot 'cause, man, this is a long discussion. :-)

---Roy---

P.S. The "...wheez" word sounds like "un gee whiz." Ça, c'est juste mes deux sous pour asteur.

Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

quand ma femme commence à queller, c’est comme un tac tac qu’après fleurer.

bryan

Re: Re: : Re: Re: quereller

Pop, moi j'crois que il a dit les deux mots- a comparison between the two.

quand ma femme commence à queller, c’est comme un tac tac qu’après fleurer

Bryan

Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: fleurir

Bryan, I think it's a question of pronunciation. The word is "fleurir" (standard and Cajun French/see LSU glossary), but it's the way he says it that sounds like "fleurer" (that's why I had spelled it like that).

Christian

Re: Re: Re: Re: : Re: Re: fleurir

I didnt know how it was spelled, I was just referring to the difference between "fleurir" and "querreler". Believe me, I will never correct anyones spelling.

Sorry I posted the same thing so many times. At one time I looked and my posts werent there, so I redid it, then all were there. Ce computer me faire comme un fou des fois.

Re: Marion Marcotte's Lucky Day at the Red Cross in Pointe Aux Chiens

I think that you mean "andirons"



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