Help from fluent French speakers pls

[resultsassoc]

Situation: Rural Louisiana Sheriff addressing young man doing community service for breaking and entering, who is helping law enforcement breach a cabin with four criminals inside. He is speaking Cajun Patois. Can you make out what he is saying from what I've written?

The Sheriff, a tall man, thin, wearing glasses too big for his head, grinned. He spoke in a lazy drawl that few people outside southwest Louisiana could understand. “Thassa way you ici, sogn. Now, a day new break and entrée.”

Thx.

[versailles]

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@Bill H wrote:

 He spoke in a lazy drawl that few people outside southwest Louisiana could understand.

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It's not only the drawl. It's the whole dialect that nobody outside the Cajun community can understand.

Me, I can't understand what you wrote.

Off to Youtube to watch some Cajun... 🙂

[wendy_writes]

Bill, I'm putting my Haw'n pidgin to the test here but "Thassa way you ici, sogn. Now, a day new break and entrée.” translates to "That's the way you (get /go) here, son.  It's a new day so enjoy it"

[mwiggenhorn]

I think Wendy nailed it.  Lived in LA for 30 years and spent a good bit of time out in the bayous.

[mwiggenhorn]

It's worth noting that "Cajun French" has not developed or changed over the years, so is more like 18th century Nova Scotia French than modern.

[colettelewis]

Doesn't look much like 18th century French to me - at least, not metropolitan French! 😉

[versailles · Accepted solution]

Actually it sounds more like Creole French, which was also spoken in Louisiana.

[resultsassoc]

You are absolutely correct. I intended Creole, and wrote Cajun. Ir's been fixed, the wording changed slightly, and a translation given by another character.

What woulda French speaker be saying, that an American heard "A day new?"

[versailles]

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@Bill H wrote:

What woulda French speaker be saying, that an American heard "A day new?"

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A day new pronounced with a standard American accent may sound, more or less, as "Aidez nous" (help us) in a French spoken with an American accent.

[sylvie-de-gil]

A day new? Maybe: aidez-nous (to do something.. )