🎻BrainRotCentral🎹

SO! Wow, where to start. I've read some really interesting takes on Alastor speaking French in the new season, and I thought I'd share some resources for those who are interested to learn a bit more about Louisiana and it's relation to language.

MOST IMPORTANT LINK: "Ti Liv Kréyòl" (explained later in post. If you take anything away from this rant, please take this.)

(Disclaimer: I am not part of either of these groups as I'm not from Louisiana, and I do not want to speak over anyone. I'm here to spread resources and clear up some misconceptions I've seen, so if any of this is not correct or too simplified please let me know ^^ speaking of which, this is a SIMPLIFIED OVERVIEW of complex topics. Meaning there is nuance and context that I cannot get into unless I wanted to write a whole damn thesis. This is already way too long and I want it to be fairly comprehensive for folks. Use the hyperlinks for sources.)

First of all, when Alastor is summoning Rosie in the human world, he says: "Tu es prêt à manger" (You are ready to eat *evil French laugh*) which is French. It is not a type of Creole French. This distinction is important because Louisiana Creole (Kouri-Vini) is an endangered language and it deserves it's space to shine.

Here's a direct comparison between French and Kouri-Vini.

"Tu es prêt à manger"

"To paré manjé"

(Note: I am still learning, so thank you for the correction ^^)

Pretty different! So, why is that?

To answer that, we gotta know what exactly a creole language is defined as. Essentially, creole is kind of a catch all term used to describe a language that is based on, and influenced by, the mixing of European and non-European languages. So there are most likely dozens or hundreds of creole languages out there! Kouri-Vini is just one of many, and it is distinct from other creole languages. It may share similarities to - for example - Haitian Creole, but they are distinct from each other.

In the 17th century, Louisiana was a part of a French colony for just under 100 years. Which really cemented the French language into it's culture and people. Important side tangent: In the mid-18th century, the British acquired French territory in Eastern Canada and (the British being the British) started a campaign to rid the land of the Acadians. The Acadians living there were deported en-mass and were randomly put onto ships and sent off. This event lead to many Acadians finding their way to Louisiana, and is where Cajun French comes from. (Massively oversimplified, but is a topic that is greatly important for me.)

In addition to this influx of French speakers, there were also so many people being forced into Louisiana via the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This meant there were many languages brought into the state and they soon began to mix, mainly on plantations. Kouri-Vini is a creole language consisting of French, Spanish, a variety of Native American languages as well as many from Africa. It is a language entirely it's own, and it's still spoken today. However, it is in danger of being lost.

There have been great efforts by those trying to preserve it, especially from the folks who have written "Ti Liv Kréyòl" by Adrien Guillory-Chatman, Oliver Mayeux, Nathan Wendte and Herbert Wiltz (Hyperlink is to a free pdf of the second edition. I CANNOT tell you how cool this language is. The first edition didn't really have a comprehensive grammar section and didn't translate the phrases used, but this one does and it's incredible, thank you Nathan Wendte for initiating this project). There is also this YouTube channel who has done some basic Kouri-Vini lessons if you want to get a feel for the language!

So, why did he speak French then? Alastor is creole, why didn't he speak Kouri-Vini? Which are great questions!

I would have loved to hear Alastor speak Kouri-Vini, I think that would have been a fantastic!!! A quick, "To paré manjé?" would have made my heart soar! Cause it would have started more conversation about the endangered language. But that's a different topic.

Why French? Well it might just be a voice actor thing, or maybe they didn't know where to start with translating???(I highly doubt this one) Even though it took me all of 5 mins of looking through the 'Ti Liv Kréyòl' to translate it. But honestly, in terms of setting and character, I 100% believe that Alastor could speak French and be a tri-lingual baddie, ever the chameleon that man. Heck, we don't even know if he can speak Kouri-Vini, but that wouldn't make him not creole.

As another aside during this era, French (and any language apart from English) was looked down upon due to the intense discrimination of the south. Even though - to my knowledge - language wasn't directly targeted by Jim Crow laws (there were other discriminatory language laws in place in schools though), it doesn't mean people weren't shitty about it. But, there were many communities (ex, Cajun communities) who spoke French in and outside of cities; same as Kouri-Vini. So Alastor being able to integrate and manipulate people in his mother tongue checks out lol.

Basically what I am saying is that there's a historical difference between Kouri-Vini and Cajun French that should be respected. I'm not bashing that fact that Alastor spoke French or anything, cause it makes sense why he can speak it. I just wanted to add my two cents into the bucket of discourse I suppose jajaja

Which has sat finished in my drafts for a year. I’ve opened it back up like an old tome and I’m fixing it up. I’d like to think my writing has improved over that time so I’m editing.