Cajun duck names?

[Natural Light Kid]

A few years ago, someone posted tha Cajun names (Pouldeau, dos Gris, etc.) for all the different waterfowl we have. If memory serves right, somebody's paw paw put the list together for them. I've searched all over and I can't find it. Can someone help?

[Natural Light Kid]

Found it! I had copied, pasted, and emailed it to myself. Enjoy!

Default My dad and grandfather's ducks
(As I sip on a bourbon and ice and wait for tomorrow's opener I am thinking back on my first duck hunt at the age of 5 in 1965. In the blind were my dad, my grandfather, one of my uncles and me. In another blind were 2 other uncles and my brother who was 14 years older than me. My grandfather spoke very little English thus the conversations were in French. For some of the ducks you may see two names. The names of the ducks that I learned were those familiar to my family who were from Acadia and St. Landry Parish. I married a girl from Kaplan in Vermillion Parish. My father-in-law (Dennis Broussard and his friend Otto Trahan) taught me the names used in Vermillion Parish so I included those also. For those of you who are interested these were the names of south Louisiana ducks all those years ago. I have put the English name, French name and spelling, minus the accent marks, and I did my best to also spell it phonetically.
Mallard = Canard Francais (French Duck) Ka na Fra say
Canvasback = Canard Cheval (Horse Duck) Ka na Shu val (named for the horse head like appearance of the duck's head)
Gray Duck = Chipeau (gadwall) She-peaux
Scaulp = Dos Gris (gray back) Dough-Gree (roll the "r" on gree)
Teal = Sarcelle Sar-sell
Blue Wing Teal = Sarcelle d' ete, (summer teal), Sarcelle de l'autominere (autumn teal), and Sarcelle de l'aile bleue (blue wing teal) Sar-sell de eye bleuh
Green Wing Teal= Sarcelle d'hiver (winter teal) Sar-sell de lee-vair, Sarcelle du nord (northern teal) Sar-sell do nord, and Sarcelle de l'aile verte
Pintail = Paille en queue (straw tail) Pie on cuha
Wood Duck = Canard Branchu (branch duck) Ka na Bron-shoe
Ring Neck Duck (Black Jack)= Canard Noir (Black Duck) Ka na Ne-wire
Mottled Duck =Canard Noir d'ete (Summer Black Duck) Ka na Ne-wire d' a-tay, and Canard des iles (Island duck) Ka na days eels
Black Mallard = Canard Noir du Nord (Northern Black Duck) Ka na Ne-wire do nord
Buffle Head = Marionette (Small Puppet) Mary-o-net
Red Head = Canard de tete rouge (Red head duck) Ka na duh tete rouge
Weigon = Canard d'Amerique (American Duck) Ka na duh A-mar-rike
Spoonbill = Canard d'Souchet (Shoveller Duck) Ka na Show-va-lour and Canard de bec cuillere (Spoonbill duck) Ka na duh beck koo-lu-eure
Golden Eye = Canard d'oile d'or (Golden eye duck) Ka na duh ohi duh orr
Coot = Poule d'eau (Water chicken) Pool-do
Gallinule = Rale bleu (Blue rail) rwow- belu
Marsh Hen = Rale poule d'eau (water chicken hen) rowo pool-do and Poule d'eau de marais (Water chicken of the marsh) Pool do duh mah-ray
American Merganser = Bec-Scie (Saw Bill) beck see
Red Breasted Merganser = Bec-Scie de Mer (Sea Saw Bill) beck see duh Mare
Hooded Merganser = Bec-Scie du lac (Saw Bill of the Lake) beck see duh lock and Bec-Scie du Cypriere (Cypress Swap Saw Bill) beck see duh See-pree-air
Blue Goose = Oie Aigle (Eagle Goose) oye a-guhla
Speckle belly Goose = Oie Caille (Speckled Goose) oye kye and Oie Nonnette (Young Nun Goose) oye non-nette
Canadian Goose = Oie Canadianne (Canadian Goose) oye ka-na-de-anne
Brant = La Branache (Brant) lah bh-na-ash
On a side note divers (Canvasbacks, Red-Heads, Scaulp, and Black-Jacks were referred to as Plongeur (diver) plon-geur.
A Grebe (a.k.a. Hell Diver) was known by two names: Manger du Plomb (lead eater) monjay do plome (long o) and as a Sac-a-plomb (bag led) sock ah plome
May all of you have a safe and successful hunt in the morning!
Tim

[tojoe]

I like those! Hadn't heard some of those names in a long time!

[gasdad]

Thanks, heard of some of these names but many I have not

[lil bubba]

How bout the gros bec.....Yellow crown nite heron...
Bec crosh.....Ibis......

Couple fine eating birds although not exactly ducks...

[cajunduck man]

Originally Posted by lil bubba

How bout the gros bec.....Yellow crown nite heron...
Bec crosh.....Ibis......

Couple fine eating birds although not exactly ducks...

Thanks for reminding me about those...I really enjoyed posting those names, they brought back great memories.

[Pat Babaz]

Originally Posted by cajunduck man

Thanks for reminding me about those...I really enjoyed posting those names, they brought back great memories.

Do you know the French names for a comorant(water turkey) and the rosette spoonbill? Also, what does Bayou d' Inde mean?

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by Pat Babaz

Do you know the French names for a comorant(water turkey) and the rosette spoonbill? Also, what does Bayou d' Inde mean?

Bayou of the Indians, or Indian Bayou. Guess it depends on how you translate it.

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[swamp snorkler]

I see you put "ka na" for the pronunciation. We always put an r at the end of the na.... for instance a Mallard would be a Ka Nar De Francais or French Duck. Its all trivial though, A cowan in one part of the state is not the same a cowan in other parts of the state.

[seachaser250]

Originally Posted by Smalls

Bayou of the Indians, or Indian Bayou. Guess it depends on how you translate it.

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It means don't eat nuffin you catch outa there.

[cajunduck man]

Originally Posted by Pat Babaz

Do you know the French names for a comorant(water turkey) and the rosette spoonbill? Also, what does Bayou d' Inde mean?

I head two name for a comorant #1 D'inde de 'eau (water turkey), the other I won't say here...lol...rosette spoonbill was called a un rosette. As you can see from the French spelling of water turkey Bayou D'inde is Turkey Bayou. An indian in Cajun French is un sauvage.

[cajunduck man]

Originally Posted by swamp snorkler

I see you put "ka na" for the pronunciation. We always put an r at the end of the na.... for instance a Mallard would be a Ka Nar De Francais or French Duck. Its all trivial though, A cowan in one part of the state is not the same a cowan in other parts of the state.

Yea, it's all about phonics...I learned French at home and I majored in it in college, that's when I learned to read and write it as well as French vs English phonics. I just glad I was in the mood to write them down at that time. Oh, that is so true about cawin...I swear I had a few snap at me

[Smalls]

Originally Posted by cajunduck man

I head two name for a comorant #1 D'inde de 'eau (water turkey), the other I won't say here...lol...rosette spoonbill was called a un rosette. As you can see from the French spelling of water turkey Bayou D'inde is Turkey Bayou. An indian in Cajun French is un sauvage.

Maybe this is incorrect, but I have seen texts cite it as meaning "bayou of the indians". The Cajun French Dictionary does have "d'inde" as turkey, but I'm curious as to why it would also be translated as "indian", other than the similar look and sound.

Or perhaps it comes from the French word "inde", meaning "India"?

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[Duck Butter]

"Water turkey" originally referred to the anhinga because it's tail feathers when fanned look just like a wild turkey. It got mixed up over the years with a cormorant become people didn't know the difference

Have always heard cormorants called water turkeys and the "other" name though

[cajunduck man]

Originally Posted by Smalls

Maybe this is incorrect, but I have seen texts cite it as meaning "bayou of the indians". The Cajun French Dictionary does have "d'inde" as turkey, but I'm curious as to why it would also be translated as "indian", other than the similar look and sound.

Or perhaps it comes from the French word "inde", meaning "India"?

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It could be a local slang. An example is Prien Lake...It was named for Cyprien Duhon...Prien was a nickname for Cyprien. Cajuns are notorious for nicknames. It very well could be a local slang for Indian. It's so sad that many of the old people were not "interviewed" back in the day, but back then there was not much interest in this subject. In my youth I asked a lot of questions...sometimes answered, sometimes not. As I have grown older I realized than many of those people were belittled because of there heritage and did not want relive this issue. There are some place-names that we will never know the exact origins but I appreciate the comments...it makes me want to look at things in a broader prospective. FYI I have a degree in French, French was my second language, I was a French teacher, and I am currently a Principal at a French Immersion School in Calcasieu Parish. Anything that I can find about the French language or culture is always appreciated.

[Smalls]

Hmm, never knew the origin of Prien Lake. I love learning about the origin of place names. Some are so out there, I don't know that I want to know. Lol!

For instance, does anyone REALLY want to know why the town "Maringouin" got it's name? I sure has hell don't. That place must have been miserable when it was first settled to get a name like that.

We have such a unique mixture of native American and french names in our culture. It really is hard to know where a place really got it's name from sometimes, especially when you have the french twist added to an indian term.

I wish I had learned more of the language when I was a kid, or at least retained it, but I hope to relearn it and pass on to my kids. Otherwise, the language will sadly die, as there are not many fluent cajun french speakers left anymore. I work in a parish where a few of our farmers (and some of my coworkers) are still fluent, but their numbers are dwindling.

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[Pat Babaz]

This is a neat thread. Have any of ya'll ever seen a duck dog that was trained in Cajun French? I've heard of people doing this, but never personally seen it. I heard the reason to do this is if the dog is ever lost/stolen it can't be used by the new "owner".

[cajunduck man]

Originally Posted by Pat Babaz

This is a neat thread. Have any of ya'll ever seen a duck dog that was trained in Cajun French? I've heard of people doing this, but never personally seen it. I heard the reason to do this is if the dog is ever lost/stolen it can't be used by the new "owner".

My dad's last dog was a "Chessie" named Justin...(jus-tan)...all commands in French...we also shared a Chessie named Whiskey that took commands in both languages...when I was teaching French, before I became a principal, I used to explain to my students that you can not only train a dog in any language you can teach the word "run" to mean "sit". They associate the word (sound) with the command. I remember all of my uncle's and great uncle's beagles were commanded in French...as was most of the livestock on the farms. Pat, the training of dad's dogs in French was for that reason, so the "new owner" could not use it...but I'm not sure a Chessie would allow himself to be stolen...

[jp_over]

Excellent reference that brings back many fond memories; thanks for posting OP!

Joe

[scooper]

I have to agree w JP. Seems to be a whole lot of "fluff" on the site sometimes, but this was a real "gem". I agree that a lot of what would qualify as our French heritage is on the verge of disappearing forever with some of our older generation. My mom is 89 as was chastised in her elementary school for speaking French; now we have French immersion. Those conversations she used to have with my grandparents around the Sunday dinner table are a "thing of the past", I'm afraid.