— un projet cadien —

Cajun French API

Le français cadien deserves digital infrastructure.

A structured, searchable lexicon of français cadien:
for developers, educators, linguists, and the communities who speak it.

Built by Amanda Jones (Coulon)

pour ma mémère.
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Pourquoi ça compte

Why it matters

Cajun French is an endangered language spoken across south Louisiana. Fluent speakers are elderly. Younger generations, including my own family, grew up English-dominant. La langue was lost in a single generation. Here's how it happened.

I'm a software developer and I'm cadienne. So I'm building the tool that I wish I'd had growing up: a public, verified, community-curated digital lexicon of français cadien, with the regional granularity, spelling variants, and etymological depth that no existing dictionary tool captures.

une question?

Qu'est-ce qu'une API?

What's an API?

An API is a structured way for one program to ask another program a question and get a clean answer back. The classic analogy: a library catalog. You don't go rummaging through the back room: you ask the librarian a specific question and she hands you exactly what you asked for. Pareil pour un API: same idea, just for software.

Let's say a language-learning app wants to ask the Cajun French API: "every spelling of rougarou across south Louisiana, with the parish where it's used." The API returns a tidy list — variants, definitions, regional notes, example sentences — ready to display. No spreadsheets, no guesswork, no wading through the swamp.

le projet

The Project

What it is

For everyone

Think of it as a library catalog for Cajun French vocabulary: searchable, citable, and free to access.

For developers

A REST API with structured entries: regional tagging by parish, spelling variants, loanword etymology, part of speech, and example sentences. Designed from day one for future expansion to Louisiana Creole.

For institutions

Built with cultural accountability in mind: I aim to partner with verified contributors, maintain an audit trail, and include citations to academic sources including Valdman (2010) and Papen & Rottet (1997).

contact

Travaillons ensemble

Let's work together

Whether you're a heritage speaker, a researcher, a developer, a cultural institution, or a reclamation learner like me, I'd like to hear from you. This project is in active development and I'm seeking collaborators, community input, and institutional partners.

Venez comme vous êtes.

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