Louisiana Creole (Louisiana, USA) – Language Snapshot

Louisiana Creole is an exogenous, French-based creole of the Americas and the only such creole to have had its genesis in what would become the United States. Records of the language date back to the later half of the 18th century, and at one time it was widely used by speakers of various races and ethicities in South Louisiana and the greater Gulf South region. A series of events that includes the Sale of Louisiana (1803), the Civil War (1861), compulsory public schooling (1921), and two world wars (1917, 1941) all contributed to the shift away from the language in favor of English. Although the language has effectively ceased to be transmitted intergenerationally, it persists in small pockets of ever-aging mother-tongue speakers. Additionally, an established revitalization movement is underway that has produced a sizeable number of competent younger speakers. This snapshot pays particular attention to an underdescribed regional dialect of the language spoken along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain in St. Tammany Parish (Louisiana).