Store Events - December 4, 5:00 p.m.

The definitive reference tool for understanding francophone Louisiana and its rich, French variety

Please join us for a wine & cheese reception at Alliance Française de la Nouvelle-Orléans featuring the editors of and celebrating the release of DICTIONARY OF LOUISIANA FRENCH As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities.

This 800 page jewel comes complete with a printed case and will be available for purchase from Octavia Books and inscribing at the event (or if you are unable to attend and wish to reserve a signed 1st edition, please call us during business hours as 504-899-7323).

Senior editor Albert Valdman
Associate Editor Kevin J. Rottet
with Assistant Editors
Barry Jean Ancelet
Richard Guidry
Thomas A. Klingler
Amanda LaFleur
Tamara Lindner
Michael D. Picone
Dominique Ryon

The Dictionary of Louisiana French provides the richest inventory of French vocabulary in Louisiana and reflects precisely the speech of the period from 1930 to the present. This dictionary describes the current usage of French-speaking peoples in the five broad regions of South Louisiana: the coastal marshes, the banks of the Mississippi River, the central area, the north, and the western prairie. Data were collected during interviews from at least five persons in each of twenty-four areas in these regions. In addition to the data collected from fieldwork, the dictionary contains material compiled from existing lexical inventories, from texts published after 1930, and from archival recordings.

The new authoritative resource, the "DLF" not only contains the largest number of words and expressions but also provides the most complete information available for each entry. Entries include the word in the conventional French spelling, the pronunciation (including attested variants), the part of speech classification, the English equivalent, and the word's use in common phrases. The "DLF" features a wealth of illustrative examples derived from fieldwork and textual sources and identification of the parish where the entry was collected or the source from which it was compiled. An English-to-Louisiana French index enables readers to find out how particular notions would be expressed in "la Louisiane."

To reserve a signed first edition, please call Octavia Books during store hours at 504-899-7323.