Editing Languages of the United States (section)

====Louisiana French====
{{further|Louisiana French|Louisiana Creole}}
[[File:Cajun USC2000 PHS.svg|thumb|Cajun language distribution in the United States.]]
Louisiana French ({{langx|frc|français de la Louisiane}}; {{langx|lou|françé la lwizyàn}}) is an umbrella term for the dialects and [[varieties of French|varieties of the French language]] spoken traditionally in colonial [[Lower Louisiana]]. As of today Louisiana French is primarily used in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Louisiana]], specifically in the southern [[Parish (administrative division)|parishes]].

French is spoken across ethnic and racial lines by [[Louisiana French people]] who may identify as [[Cajuns]] or [[Louisiana Creole people|Creoles]] as well as [[Chitimacha]], [[Houma people|Houma]], [[Biloxi people|Biloxi]], [[Tunica people|Tunica]], [[Choctaw people|Choctaw]], [[Acadian]]s, and [[Métis|French Indian]] among others.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Louisiana French: As Spoken in Cajun, Creole, and American Indian Communities |last=Valdman |first=Albert |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |year=2009 |isbn=978-1604734034 }}</ref><ref>[http://houmatoday.com/article/20071209/NEWS/712090329 ''Three Local Tribes Await Federal Decision''], December 8, 2007, ''Houma Today.''</ref> For these reasons, as well as the relatively small influence [[Acadian French]] has had on the region, the label Louisiana French or Louisiana Regional French ({{langx|fr|français régional louisianais}}) is generally regarded as more accurate and inclusive than "Cajun French" and is the preferred term by [[Linguistics|linguists]] and [[Anthropology|anthropologists]].<ref name="Neumann-Holzschuh 2014">{{Cite journal |last=Neumann-Holzschuh |first=Ingrid |date=2014 |title=Carrefour Louisiane |journal=Journal of Language Contact |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=124–153 |doi=10.1163/19552629-00701006|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Acadians and Cajuns: The politics and culture of French minorities in North America |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A. |publisher=Innsbruck University Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-3902571939 |editor-last=Mathis-Mosen |editor-first=Ursula |location=Innsbruck |pages=91–103 |chapter=How much Acadian is there in Cajun? |editor-last2=Beschof |editor-first2=Günter}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=If I could turn my tongue like that : the Creole language of Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A.|date=2003|publisher=Louisiana State University Press|isbn=978-0807127797 |location=Baton Rouge|oclc=846496076}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://muse.jhu.edu/book/38807 |title=New Perspectives on Language Variety in the South: Historical and Contemporary Approaches|last=Klingler|first=Thomas A. |publisher=The University of Alabama Press|year=2015 |isbn=9783110196351|editor-last=Picone |editor-first=Michael D. |location=Tuscaloosa|pages=627–640|chapter=Beyond Cajun: Toward an Expanded View of Regional French in Louisiana|editor-last2=Evans Davies|editor-first2=Catherine Evans Davies}}</ref> However, "Cajun French" is commonly used in [[Laity|lay]] discourse by speakers of the language and other inhabitants of Louisiana.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Klingler |first=Thomas A. |title=Language labels and language use among Cajuns and Creoles in Louisiana |editor1=T. Sanchez |editor2=U. Horesh |journal=Working Papers in Linguistics |volume=9 |issue=2 |date=2003 |pages=77–90 |url=https://repository.upenn.edu/pwpl/vol9/iss2/8/}}</ref>