Lesson 14: If-Then
Dialogue 1
Lesson 14 - Dialogue 1.m4aA: Yéyay, mo gin in ta pou fé démin! Mo gin pou kouri a Lafayèt pou ashté kèk nouvo linj pou mô piti. Apré ça, m'ap kouri wa mô bèl-sœr a Sésilya. Apré ça, mo stil gin pou fé grosri...
B: Mé mò, mo gin pou kouri o sto démin itou. Si to di mò ça to bezwin, m'alé ashté kèk zafær pou twa.
A: Mé ça çé vayan, shær! Gèt, ça çé mô lis. Si to ashèt tou ça, mo sa bokou konten!
B: Oké, alon wa... mé, shær, to ékri in ta zafær isit!
A: Wèl, si mo ashèt pa in ta, no va pa gin asé pou manjé. Çé lafèt mô garçon é tou la famiy vyin manjé shé nouzòt!
B: Si mo té konné ça, mo sé pa di ariyin!
A: Yeyay, I have a ton to do tomorrow! I have to go to Lafayette to buy some new clothes for my children. After that, I’m going to see my sister-in-law in Cecilia. After that, I still have to go make groceries…
B: But me, I have to go to the store tomorrow too. If you tell me what you need, I’ll buy some things for you.
A: But that’s real nice of you! Look, this is my list. If you buy all that, I’ll be really happy!
B: OK, let’s see… but, cher, you wrote a whole bunch of stuff here!
A: Well, if I don’t buy a whole bunch, we won’t have enough to eat. It’s my son’s birthday and all the family are coming to our place!
B: If I had known that, I wouldn’t have said anything!
Dialogue 2
Lesson 14 - Dialogue 2.m4aC: Ça to sé fé si to sé ganñé lalotri?
D: Mò, mo sé kité mô djòb, bati mò in nouvo mézon dan la kamponñ, épi résté la tousœl.
C: Mé si to rès laba tousœl, to sa ennwiyé!
D: Mo p'olé pærsonn vini embarasé mò pou mô larjen. Ça fé mo sé kouri résté obòr bayou laba la éyou mô ti frèr fé lashas.
C: Laba, lá? Wé, mo konné! Si to ganñ lalotri é to gonn laba, m'a vini vizité!
D: Mé to kanay, twa!
C: What would you do if you won the lottery?
D: Me, I’d leave my job, build myself a new house in the country, and live alone.
C: But if you live there alone, you’ll be bored!
D: I don’t want anyone to come and bother me for my money. So I’d go and live by the bayou there where my little brother goes hunting.
C: Down there? Yeah, I know! If you win the lottery and you go down there, I’ll come visit!
D: You’re sly, you!
Lagniappe
Today Louisiana Creole speakers can be found in many different places, but historically they have been concentrated in a few areas throughout the state of Louisiana: in communities along Bayou Teche, on the northshore of Lake Pontchartrain, in the area known as the German Coast (upriver from New Orleans, downriver from Baton Rouge), Pointe Coupee Parish, within New Orleans, and around Natchitoches. The language is also spoken in a diaspora communities in Texas, California, Illinois, and elsewhere.
Vocabulary
Si to…, to sé… - If you…, you would ...
Si to…, to sa… - If you…, you will …
Si to travay tro, to sé/sa las. - If you work too much, you would be/will be tired.
Si mo té gin asé larjen, mo sé fé li ranjé shar-la. - If I had had enough money, I would have had him fix the car.
Si yé vyin aswa, li sé kwi soupé pou yé. - If they come this evening, he will cook dinner for them.
lis - list
ganñé, ganñ - win
(la)lotri - lottery
(la)shas - hunt
shasé, shas - to hunt