Magoua
Magoua (French pronunciation: [maɡwa]) is a particular dialect of basilectal Quebec French spoken in the Trois-Rivières area, between Trois-Rivières and Maskinongé. Long before a military fort was constructed there, Trois-Rivières became in 1615 the first stronghold of the coureurs des bois outside the city of Québec. Magoua is the ethnonym applied to their descendants in the area. Magoua is the most conservative of all Quebec French varieties, including Joual. It preserves the sontaient ("étaient") characteristic of Métis French and Louisiana French, has a creole-like past tense particle tà and has old present-tense contraction of a former verb "to be" that behave in the same manner as subject clitics.
Its name may derive from a word in Atikamekw: Makwa (French: huard), which means loon (Gavia immer).
01Morphology and vocabulary
| Magoua | Standard French | English |
|---|---|---|
| mouén | moi, je | I |
| toué | toi, tu | you |
| (mouén) ch(u) tà ben màlàd | j’étais très malade | I was very sick |
| (mouén) chu la pis j’rès | j’y suis, j'y reste | I am here, and I stay |
| i son tà deus euzot | ils étaient deux | There were two of them |
| Ti-Oui i ben màlàd | Louis est très malade | Louis is very sick |
| Ti-Oui i tà ben màlàd | Louis était très malade | Louis was very sick |
| Ti-Oui tà pour t’aider | Louis t’aurait aidé | Louis would have helped you |
| tà mér tu la? | ta mère est-elle là? | Is your mother at home? |
| tà mér tà tu la? | ta mère était-elle là? | Was your mother at home? |
| (nouzot) ouen tà pour viend | nous serions venus | We would have come |
| vouzot tà àprà bouér | vous étiez en train de boire | You all were drinking |
| m’a fer sa | je le ferai | I will do it |
| t'a fer sa | tu le feras | You will do it |
| ouan alé wér wér si la djòb tà fèt | nous irons voir si le travail a été vraiment fait. | We will go and see if the job was really done |
| mon kien | le mien | mine |
| ton kien | le tien | yours |
| à gar | à la gare | at the train station |
| dan kour | dans la cour | in the yard |
| dan kor | dans le corps | in the body |
| ya ben kàrant onz d'skotch dan kor | Il a bien quarante onces de scotch dans le corps | He must have been drinking 40 ounces of Scotch |
| kòsen | vieillerie, truc, chose, affaire | old stuff |
| èn plènté d'kosen | une grosse quantité d'objets divers | plenty of stuff |
| ranmàs té kòsen pi dékris | prends tes affaires et vas-t’en | Pick up your things and scram! |
| tokàp | pénis, sans allure, con | penis, idiot |
| tokàpin | conne | idiotic woman |
| parlé màgoua | parler magoua | to speak Magoua, "comme les gens de chez nous" |
| èn cour d'Màgoua | une cour en désordre où on trouve de tout | a courtyard that looks like Ali Baba's cave |
| en vrà Màgoua | un Magoua de souche; un vrai débrouillard | a person of Magoua descent; someone without "proper European" manners; a resourceful person |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Magoua”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.
