The United States does not have an official language. English predominates of course, but other languages prevailed in certain places as they have for centuries. The Cajun dialect of French as spoken in parts of Louisiana is a prime example.
CODOFIL
Cajun culture intertwines with Louisiana’s identity, personality and heritage. In recognition the state legislature chartered a Council for the Development of French in Louisiana in 1968. This happened when it perceived a general decline in the use of the distinct dialect. The group uses other names too, including the Counseil pour le développement du français en Louisiane in French and the Kounséy pou le dévelopmen di françé en Lwizyàn in Creole, along with the acronym CODOFIL.
It aspires to:
“…do any and all things necessary to accomplish the development, utilization, and preservation of the French language as found in Louisiana for the cultural, economic and touristic benefit of the state.”
The Cajuns (Acadians) left Canada at the behest of the British government in the 1700’s. I’ll leave the details and politics to other sources if you crave more. For purposes of this entry, the item to note is that many of these displaced peoples migrated to southern Louisiana. Here, they’ve successfully retained a vibrant cultural and linguistic identity for two hundred and fifty years.
Recently CODOFIL designed a license plate that is now available for sale to residents of Louisiana. Proceeds will support French immersion programs in public schools.
It’s Entirely in French
This may be the only license plate issued in the United States in a language other than English. But please post other examples in the Comments box if you know otherwise. Drawing upon material presented in recent press coverage, “la glaie bleue” translates to Louisiana Iris and “Chez nous autres” translates to Our Home. Even more significantly, the plate renders the state name as Louisiane rather than Louisiana.
Apparently it took considerable effort to approve the “e” on the plate. But it was critically important because that feature fully de-anglicizes the license plate and supports the CODOFIL mission.
Target Demographic
It took some decent public interest for the plate to even exist. The Legislative Fiscal Office required at least 1,000 applications before they authorized it. However, it’s not entirely surprising that CODOFIL met the mark given the population available to their cause. Nearly 200,000 people in Louisiana speak French, Cajun or Creole as their primary language according to the 2000 Census. The population of people who identify and affiliate themselves with the Cajun community is much larger though. That probably comes closer to a couple of million.
Incidentally, the Parish with the highest proportion of French Speakers is the oddly bifurcated St. Martin Parish that I featured previously, at 27%. The Parish with the highest absolute number of speakers is Lafayette, with about 25,000, again according to the 2000 Census.
Laissez les bons temps rouler, as they say down in New Orleans.
Leave a Reply