Saving A French Dialect That Once Echoed In Ozarks - 2 views
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Lara Cowell on 23 Sep 14Language-lovers and locals of an isolated mining region of the Ozarks are scrambling to preserve what's left of a dialect known as Pawpaw French before it fades. The dialect once dominated this community in southeastern Missouri, but due to stigmatization, is dying out. Pawpaw French - named after a local fruit-bearing tree - is a linguistic bridge that melds a Canadian French accent with a Louisiana French vocabulary.