When last we visited New Brunswick (three weeks ago), we concentrated on the coast of the Bay of Fundy (see “Fundy Fun Days” post). After visiting Prince Edward Island, we now had the chance to explore the northeastern coast of New Brunswick, which is heavily French-speaking/Acadian.
Back in the 1600s, this area was settled mostly by the French and called Acadia (including much of the state of Maine and other sections of the Maritime provinces). However, in the mid-1700s, during the Great Expulsion, the British forcibly removed Acadian (French-speaking) people from their homes and farms. Some were deported to France; others to Louisiana (who became Cajuns, a corruption of “Acadians”). Some Acadian settlers managed to stay in the area and moved to less-desirable parts of the Atlantic coastal region. That is how eastern New Brunswick got settled.
When we were in France, we learned about this history when we were in Brittany…origin of the Acadians!
Have they preserved “Old French” there as well? Our guide was talking about Cajuns…and that the language is a blend of French stuck in a certain time period with the addition of modern (English) words that they had no words for from their part of France-then-Canada.
I don’t know enough French to comment on what we’re hearing. Someone told me that in addition to standard French, there is a dialect that they speak, but I don’t know for sure. A fascinating bit of history that was all new to us.