Dictionary of Louisiana Creole

The contents of this website remain the intellectual property of the following authors: Albert Valdman, Thomas A. Klingler, Margaret M. Marshall, Kevin J. Rottet

• Warning: There has been no censoring of the data, including offensive language or racial slurs.
• Orthography: Entries use the modern Kouri-Vini Orthography; however, the examples retain their original orthography based on Haitian Creole from the book. There are also several examples written in a French Orthography; these have also been left as is in the book. Additionally, the acute (à) and circumflex (â) when used for stress, preterit, or disambiguation, have not been included separately (i.e., aren't used).
• There are several variants for certain sounds that have not been included in the variants for entries. Please use the variants in quotations in place of the others when searching for words with the following sounds:
  • use "s" for /s/ ← s, ç
  • use "è" for /æ/ ← æ, è
  • use "i" for /ɪ/ ← ì, i
  • use "an" for /ã/ ← an, am, en, em
  • use "on" for /ɔ̃/ ← on, om
  • use "in" for /ɛ̃/ ← in, im
• Parts of Speech abbreviation correspondences:
  • adj. = Adjective
  • adv. = Adverb
  • adv.phr. = Adverbial Phrase
  • art.def. = Definite Article
  • art.indef. = Indefinite Article
  • conj. = Conjunction
  • dem. = Demonstrative
  • det. = Determiner
  • det.poss. = Possessive Determiner
  • f. = Feminine
  • int. = Interjection
  • interr.phr. = Interrogative Phrase
  • m. = Masculine
  • n. = Noun
  • n.phr. = Noun Phrase
  • num.card. = Cardinal Number
  • num.ord. = Ordinal Number
  • onom. = Onomatopoeia
  • pl. = Plural
  • place n. = Place Name
  • prep. = Preposition
  • pron. = Pronoun
  • pron.indef. = Indefinite Pronoun
  • pron.refl. = Reflexive Pronoun
  • pron.rel. = Relative Pronoun
  • prop.n. = Proper Noun
  • ptcl. = Preverbal Particle
  • sg. = Singular
  • v. = Verb
  • v.aux. = Auxiliary Verb
  • v.cop. = Copular Verb
  • v.intr. = Intransitive Verb
  • v.mod. = Modal Verb
  • v.phr. = Verb Phrase
  • v.refl. = Reflexive Verb
  • v.tr. = Transitive Verb
• Sources abbreviation correspondences (post-1960):
  • gen = (BT + CA + NE + PC + ST)
  • AN = Ancelet 1994
  • BT = Bayou Teche, field data
  • CA = Côte des Allemands, field data
  • DC = Clifton 1980
  • DT 77 = Tentchoff 1977
  • GY = Guidry, Richard
  • HW = Hebert Wiltz
  • MO 60 = Morgan 1960
  • MO 69 = Morgan 1969
  • MO 72 = Morgan 1972
  • NE = Neumann 1985
  • PC = Pointe Coupee, field data
  • ST = Saint Tammany, field data
  Sources abbreviation correspondences (pre-1960):
  • BD = Broussard 1942
  • BI = Bienvenu 1933
  • BO = Bourgeois 1927
  • DU = Durand 1930
  • FO T# = Fortier 1895
  • FO 1887 = Fortier 1887
  • GC1 = Cable 1886a
  • GC2 = Cable 1886b
  • JR = Jarreau 1931
  • KB = Krehbiel 1962
  • LA = Lavergne 1930
  • ME = Mercier 1881
  • ME 90 = Mercier 1890
  • ME 91 = Mercier 1891
  • PE = Perret 1933
  • T# = Neumann 1987 Text # (T12–T17 are satirized Creole, use with caution)
  • TM = Marie Augustin
  • TN = Tinker 1935
  • TP = Trappey 1916
  • WO = Marguerite Wogan

Website created by William S. Morales.

5139 entries found

• blan-légon PC ( n. )
  1. White leghorn chicken; leghorn blanc, espèce de poulet aux jambes blanches.
• blanshi CA ( n. )
  1. Icing, frosting; glaçage.
     Piti-ye lenm blanchi chokola. Children like chocolate icing. (CA) See examples
• blanshi CA, PC, ST ( v.tr. )
  1. To whitewash; blanchir à la chaux.
     No te pran lacho, se pè en lapentir se en WHITEWASH. No te blanchi lamezon, no te pa ka pentirè. We would take lime, that’s not a paint, it’s a whitewash, and we would whitewash our house. We couldn’t paint it. (PC); Ye te koutmen blanchi fòs andan simityèr me astœr plito moun sèrvi lapentur. They used to whitewash the graves in the cemetery but people now use paint instead. (ST) See examples
  2. To whiten, bleach; blanchir, laver à l’eau de javel.
     To lenj blan, to me li o soley pou blanchi li. Your white clothes, you put them in the sun to bleach them. (CA) ♦Cofè Bon Dyé pas blanchi moin? Mo fait tout ça ‘tit Maite li fait. Why didn’t God make me white? I do everything my master does. (BD); ' blonchi' (PE) See examples
  3. To ice, frost (a cake); glacer (un gateau).
     To blanchi gato. You iced the cake. (CA); To fe en gato chokola, to gen blanchi li. You make a chocolate cake, you have to ice it. (PC) See examples
• blanshur PC ( n. )
  1. Whitewash, lime; chaux, lait de chaux, blanc de chaux.
     Apre i se mèt blanchur ; i se mèt la cho an li. After (the mudwalling) he would put whitewash, he would put lime on it. (PC) See examples
• ble NE ( adj. ) blé CA, NE, PC
  1. Blue; bleu.
     Char bleu-la se pou mon. The blue car is mine. (NE); Mo bimen so ladjèl byen. Li te tou gonf. Li te ble-nwa . I hit his mouth well. It was all swollen. It was black and blue. (CA) ♦To fe en siro avek de pikon ble. You make a syrup with blue thorns. (BI); So chivé té bouclé, so zié blé, so la peau blanc et rose. His hair was curly, his eyes blue, his skin white and pink. (FO T20) See examples
• bliyé No sources ( v. )
  1. To forget; oublier, cf. oubliyé
• blofé CA, NE, PC ( v.tr. )
  1. To bluff, fool, trick; tromper, bluffer, rouler.
     Te gen tou moun-ye byen blofe. He had everyone fooled. (PC); Mo blofe li! I tricked him! (NE); T ap blofe man pou sa to achte. To pa peye man sa sete vo. You’re tricking me about what you bought. You didn’t pay me what it was worth. (CA) ♦Kon li rive, so vye fonm rakonte li konmon Bouki te vini blofe li pou tou so mouton ye. When he arrived, his old wife told him how Bouki had come to trick her out of all her sheep, [‘blofe'] (DU) See examples
• bloké BT, CA, PC ( v.tr. )
  1. To block, obstruct; obstruer, bloquer.
     E la te bloke li avèk en ti baton pou tchenn la pòt ouvèr: And then you blocked the door open with a little stick. (BT); Ye gen sa bloke pèche li kour desi l chmen ou moun-ye a pase. They block that to keep it from falling into the road where people will go by. (PC); Mo bloke mo chmen pa pou oto-ye tournen. I blocked my driveway so the cars couldn’t turn around in it. (CA) See examples
  2. To block out (a pattern, a design, in sewing); ébaucher (un dessin, terme de couture). (PC)
  3. To put blocks under a house to serve as pillars; mettre des pilots en bois sous une maison pour servir de piliers.
     Se parey konm si to bloke en lamezon. It’s like when you put a house up on blocks. (PC) See examples
• blouz No sources ( n. ) blaz PC
  1. Blouse; chemisier.
     La fenm pa bezwen sez blouz. The woman does not need sixteen blouses. (HW); To blaz. Your blouse. (PC) See examples
• blèktòp BT, CA ( n. )
  1. Blacktop; macadam, goudron qui sert à couvrir des chaussées, bitume.
     Ti vwa konm leu chmen isi. Ye vini mèt èn kouch blèktòp disu. You see, like the road right here? They came to put a layer of blacktop on it. (BT); Ye fe chmen e blèktòp e kolta. They made the road with blacktop and coal tar. (CA) See examples
• blésé PC ( v.tr. ) blèsé PC blès PC
  1. To wound, harm; blesser.
     Ken en fanm koulè te fe kèkcho li pa gan fè, e si li se gen en gro vannt, pou taye li ye se fouye è trou, e fe li kouche an so vannt, pèche blese ti bebe-la, ye se taye li. When a black woman did something she wasn’t supposed to do, if she was pregnant, to whip her they would dig a hole and make her lie down on her stomach, to keep from harming the baby, and then they would whip her. (PC); Enave en laksidan dan chèmen-la la-ba-la-la. Enave de moun blese. There was an accident on the road over there. Some people were hurt. (CA) ♦Li fou Konpè Tig en kout kouto. Men li monke li, li jis blese li. He struck Brer Tiger with the knife, but he missed him, he just wounded him. [‘blessé'] (DU); ‘blesser' (PE) • blese santiman n.phr. To hurt s.o.’s feelings, offend, insult; blesser, offenser, froisser. ♦Ye pa ri, ye te pa ole blese santiman a bouki. They didn’t laugh because they didn’t want to hurt Bouki’s feelings. (JR) See examples
• blòk CA, PC ( n. ) blok PC
  1. Block, large pièce; bloc, grand morceau.
     To gen ote tou branch-ye pou to koupe blòk-ye an dibwa-la. T a siye li t a fe blòk ave li. You have to remove all the branches in order to cut blocks from the tree. You’ll saw it, you’ll make blocks of wood with it. (PC); Mo koupe en gro blòk dibwa jodi. I cut a large piece of wood today. (CA) ♦ ‘Trois ti blocs camphe [trwa ti blòk konf]' Three blocks of camphor. (BI); Li té gaigné pou monté en ho ein popa-kokien block. He had to get up on a big old block. (T17) See examples
  2. Block, bolt (of fabric); bloc (d’étoffe).
     Nou monmon se kouri achte en gro blòk. Our mother would go buy a big block of fabric. (PC) See examples
  3. Large piece of cloth on which the smaller pieces are sewn to make a quilt, backing; grand morceau d’étoffe qui sert de fond sur lequel on coud les carreaux pour faire une courtepointe, renforcement.
     Koupe ye, fe de blòk. Fe de blok, e la to gen bare ye. Cut them, and make blocks. And then you’d have to block them out. (PC) See examples
  4. Pile (block of wood, stone, or brick on which a house rests to keep it above ground); pilot (pilier sur lequel on bâtit une maison pour la protéger des inondations).
     Se parey konm si to bloke en lamezon. To gen tou blòk-ye pouri tou bloke bon blan, e to kite movè-ye. It’s like when you put a house up on blocks. You have all your blocks that are rotting, and all your good blocks, and you leave the bad ones aside. (PC) See examples
• bo CA, MO 60, NE ( adj. )
  1. Pretty, beautiful, fine; beau.
     En bo journen. A beautiful day. (MO 60); En gro bo chat. A big pretty cat. (NE); Mo gen de bo bouk-d-òrey . I’ve got some beautiful earrings. (CA) REM: This adj. has a feminine variant bèl (q.v.). ♦ Li té mette so lommebrelle dans beau temps et li té couri ni-tête quand la plie té tommebé. He took his umbrella in fine weather and he went bareheaded when it was raining. (BD) See examples
• bo NE ( n. )
  1. Boyfriend; beau, copain, petit ami.
• bo CA, NE, ST ( v., v.tr., v.intr. )
  1. To kiss; embrasser.
     Bo mon! Don mwa en ti bek! Kiss me! Give me a little kiss! (NE); Mo bo twa. Mo lenm twa. I kiss you. I love you. (CA) ♦Yé va donne toi di sict et pi yé va bo toi. They will give you some sugar, and they will kiss you. (T27)To kiss; s’embrasser. Ye jich ape kache parskè ye p ole moun wa ye ape bo. They’re just hiding because they don’t want anyone to see them kissing. (CA) See examples
• bo CA ( v.intr. )
  1. To do sth. in vain, of no use; avoir beau (faire qch.).
     Mo bo parle li. Li kout pa man. There’s no use talking to him. He doesn’t listen to me. (CA) ♦ Mo bo parlé négues, yé réponde moin: couri diable. It doesn’t do me any good to talk to the blacks, they tell me ‘Go to hell’. (T34); Li bo pale mo pa tonn li. It won’t do him any good to talk, I’m not listening to him. (BD) See examples
• bo-fis PC ( n. )
  1. Son-in-law; gendre, beau-fils.
• bo-frè CA, PC ( n. )
  1. Brother-in-law; beau-frère.
     Mo gen en bo-frè ki res en pe plu lwen. I have a brother-in-law who lives a little further down. (PC); Mo frè gen en bo-frè dan lopital. My brother has a brother-in-law in the hospital. (CA) See examples
• bo-pèr No sources ( n. ) bo-pè CA, MO 60, PC, PC
  1. Father-in-law; beau-père.
     Mo kouri rèste avek mo bo-pèr. I went to live with my father-in-law. (PC); Mo mari te dans byen e mo bo-pèr te di de fars. My husband danced well and my father-in-law would tell jokes. (CA) ♦Quek temps après mariage-là, so beau-père mandé li pour menein li wa la place ou li té travaillé. Some time after the marriage, his father-in-law asked him to take him to see the place where he worked. (JR) See examples
• bobinn PC ( n. )
  1. Spool, bobbin; bobine.
     Bobin dufil-ye an-o kwilt-la. The spools of thread are on the quilt. (PC) See examples
• bobo CA, NE ( n. )
  1. Wound, sore; plaie.
     To peu gen en gro bobo kom-sa-la e si se en rezipel, se le moun ki tret sa. You might have a big sore like that, and if it’s erysipelas, there are people who treat that. (NE); Li gen de broken delase. Si to lase sa tro sere, safe en bobo. She’s got unlaced boots. If you lace them too tight, that makes a sore. (CA) ♦ Si en sèpon mòd twa, tchwe en poul nwa, koupe li on de e met la motche on bobo la. If a snake bites you, kill a black chicken, cut it in two and put half of it on the wound. (BD) See examples
• boflo PC ( n. )
  1. Buffalo fish; espèce de poisson, (genus Ictiobus).
     En kap se en boflo. Se en zafè gen gro zekay. A carp is a buffalo fish. It’s a thing that has big scales. (PC) See examples
• bogé CA, PC ( n. ) bogi BT, NE
  1. One-horse buggy, carriage; voiture à cheval, boghei.
     Nou te gen trwa doktè ki te pas on boge pou trète l monn malad. We used to have three doctors who came by in a buggy to treat sick people. (PC); Mo mèt en chval apre mo boge pou ale o magazen. I put a horse on my buggy to go to the store. (CA) See examples
• bokal ST ( n. )
  1. Jar; bocal.
• bokou CA, MO 60, NE, PC ( n., adv. ) boukou BT, PC
  1. Much, a lot (of); beaucoup (de).
     Nwa te pa gen bokou lekòl dan tan-sa-la. Black folks didn’t have a lot of schooling in those days. (PC); Si to lèv li twa-menm ou si to achèt li, safe pa boukou d difèrans. It doesn’t make much difference whether you raise (a horse) yourself or you buy it. (BT) ♦Alors mo tante té fait beaucoup de dépenses pou masques, dominos et tout bitin là yé. So my aunt had spent a lot on masks, dominos and the other stuff. (T40)1. Very; très. Kalomel, ye te sèr sa pou dòn le moun ki te boukou malad. Calomel was something they would give to people who were very sick. (PC) ♦Melonni vini bokou malad. Li kouche trwa mwa don lit. Melanie became very sick. She stayed in bed three months. (LA); boukou (JR) 2. Much, a lot; beaucoup. ♦Oh! Oui, mapé souffri boucou, vous oua c'est Compair Lapin qui poisonin moin et pi li voyé so malédiction en haut moin. Oh! yes, I am suffering a lot, you see it’s Brer Rabbit who poisoned me and sent his curse upon me. (JR) REM: According to NE this word is rare among basilectal speakers. See examples
• bokshé PC ( v.tr. )
  1. To bump into; buter (contre).
     Mo bokche lapòrt yèr-o-swa. Safe man en gro loup apre mo janm. I bumped into the door last night. It made a big lump on my leg. (PC). See examples
• bokshé CA ( v.intr. )
  1. To stumble, trip; trébucher.
     Ekan ena dolo ho e to va pa wa boskoyo sip, t a bokche apre li e t a tonbe. When there is a flood and you don’t see a cypress knee, you will trip on it and fall. (CA) See examples
• boksé No sources ( v. )
  1. To box; boxer.
• bol CA, PC ( n. )
  1. Bowl; bol.
     To ka mèt li dan to perm oben dan en bòi. You can put it in a pan or in a bowl. (PC); Mo mèt mo bol fri an mo bifèt. I put my fruit bowl on my buffet. (CA) See examples
• bon CA, MO 60, NE, PC ( adj. ) ban PC bon NE
  1. Good; bon.
     Chèvrèt sek-ye fe en ban ganmbo. Dried shrimp make a good gumbo. (PC); Bon wiski fe to di byen. Good whiskey does you good. (PC); M achte en gato. Li te tou fe e li te bon. I bought a cake. It was ready-made and it was good. (CA) ♦Epi si vou té connin comme mo bonne coiffeuse é bonne couturière! If you only knew what a good hairdresser and seamstress I am! (ME) See examples
  2. Okay, all right, fine; bien.
     Mo bon la, mo bon. I’m okay here, I’m fine. (PC) See examples
  3. Half (sharing the same mother); demi (qui a la même mère).
     Pakout se bon frè èk mon. Pakoot is my good brother. (Pakoot and I share the same mother). (BT) See examples
  4. Right, correct; qui a raison.
     To bon. You’re right. (PC) See examples
• bon No sources ( n. )
  1. Jump, leap; bond, saut. •fe en bon
     v.phr. (CA). To jump, leap; faire un saut, faire un bond, sauter. Li fe en bon desi ban-la. He jumped onto the bench. (CA) ♦ Li commencé descende dans trou, mais Compair Lapin fait ein bond et sorti déhors. He started to go down into the hole, but Brer Rabbit jumped up and went out. (FO T6) See examples
• bon-aryin PC ( n., adj. ) bonn-aryin CA
  1. Good-for-nothing; bon-à-rien, vaurien.
     Mile kreyòl sa pa bon aryen, fan-d-gas-sa-la move konm mo pa konnen ki. A Creole mule is good-for-nothing. That son of a bitch is bad like I don’t know what. (PC); To jich en bonn-aryen. To pa konen sa t ole fe. To jich ap gavyònen tou partou. You’re just a good-for-nothing. You don’t know what you want to do. You’re just wandering about aimlessly. (CA) ♦Eh ben, couri, d’abord to si capon, bon à rien. So go, since you’re so cowardly, good for nothing. (FO T1); Li té gagnin ein bon arien mari et té toujou apé mouri faim. She had a good-for-nothing husband and she was always dying of hunger. (FO T6) See examples
• bon-marshé CA, PC ( adj. ) bo-marshé MO 60
  1. Cheap, inexpensive; bon marché.
     Dan tan-sa-la, tou kichò te bon marche. In those days everything was inexpensive. (PC); Mo gen benefis achte sen liv diri. Se bon-marche. I made a profit buying five pounds of rice. It’s cheap. (CA) •pli bon-marche adj.phr. (PC). Cheaper, less expensive; meilleur marché. Li pli bon-marche ke NEW ROADS. It’s cheaper than at New Roads. (PC) ♦ Si cé pli bon maché, vou kapab ranne mouen lamonè. If it’s cheaper than that you can give me my change. (T13) See examples
• bon-tan CA ( n. ) bon-ton PC
  1. Good time(s), fim; divertissement, amusement.
     Ena plen bon-ton laba-la? Do they have a lot of fun down there? (PC) •gen bon-ton v.phr. (PC); gen en bon tan (CA). To have a good time, have a ball; passer du bon temps, s’amuser. Mo te gen en bon tan o bal yèr-o-swa. I had a good time at the dance last night. (CA) See examples
  2. Good fortune; bonne fortune.
     ♦Bont on pa bosko. Good fortune is never hunchbacked. (DU) See examples
  3. Idleness; oisiveté.
     ♦Bont on fe krapo monke bounda. Idleness leaves the frog without buttocks, ‘bon-temps’ (DU) See examples
• bondye No sources ( n. )
  1. God; Dieu. cf. dye
• bonjour CA, NE, PC ( int. ) bonjou NE, PC
  1. Hello, good day; bonjour.
     Me se de dròl moun-ye. Ye di pa bonjou , ye pa konnen pou rezevwa. But those are strange people. They never say hello, they don’t know how to receive guests. (PC); Bonjour Misye , koman sa va? Vou san vou-mèm byen? Hello sir! How are you? Do you feel well? (CA) ♦ Bon jou Madanm chatig , Pa Lapen di. ‘Hello, Mrs. Wildcat, said Brer Rabbit. (JR) •answit da bajòr! int. (PC). Hello! Good Day! Bonjour! See examples
  2. Goodbye; au revoir, bonne journée.
     ♦La taïque se leva,...et dit pour tout adieu ce seul mot: Bonjou. The squaw got up, and for her goodbye she said only this word: Bonjou. (ME) See examples
• bonmb CA ( n. )
  1. Bomb; bombe.
     Ye voye bonmb-la dan navir e sa eksploze andan navir-la. They threw the bomb in the ship and it exploded in the ship. (CA) ♦L/ pelé bon tirore ki mêté ein ti bombe dan so fizi , et vizé li prosse zoreille bon courore; bombe la fé pralapau! He called the good marksman who put a little bomb in his gun and aimed near the ear of the good runner; the bomb went off, bang! (T7) See examples
• bonmb PC ( n. ) bòm PC banm PC bonm PC bonb CA labonb CA
  1. Kettle; bouilloire.
     Met dolo dan bonm-la. Put water in the kettle. (PC); Mo gen en gro labonb en fèr pou bwi dolo pou fe kafe. I’ve got a big iron kettle to boil water to make coffee. (CA) See examples
  2. Teapot; théière. (PC)
• bonnmon No sources ( adv., adv.phr. ) tou bonnmon BT
  1. Simply, plainly, just; simplement, tout bonnement.
     Ti chmen d kampangn, te me pa de simon an ba. Tou bonnmon ye me BLACKTOP. Little country roads, they don’t put cement down on those. They just put blacktop down. (BT) See examples
• bonnèr No sources ( n. )
  1. Happiness; bonheur.
     Et le moun de la mèche yé té gain bonheur et Cocodrie gain entas prestige. And the swamp folk had a lot of happiness, and Alligator had a lot of prestige. (DC) ♦Mais nous bonheur pas duré longtemps. But our happiness didn’t last long. (T40); ' bonner ‘ (TU) See examples
• bononm CA ( n. ) bònonm PC bònom CA
  1. Scarecrow; épouvantail.
     Mo mèt en ti bònom fe a lapay andan mo jarden pou lanse zozo k ap vini anlantò. I put a scarecrow made of straw in my garden to chase away birds that come around. (CA) ♦ Li ranje en bononm e met li ora lafnet larenn-la. He made a scarecrow and set it by the queen’s window. (JR) •bononm godron n.p hr. (CA). Tar man, tar baby, scarecrow made of tar; bonhomme, épouvantail en goudron. En ti bònom godron se pou trape demouch. Kan ye tonbe an li , ye pa konen sòti. A tar-baby is for catching flies. When they land on it, they can’t get off. (CA) ♦Bouki ranje en ti bonnonm godron e met li ora pwi-la. Bouki arranged a little tar man and set him up next to the well. (JR) See examples
• bonswar NE ( int. ) bonswa CA banswa PC
  1. Good evening, good night; bonsoir.
     Bonjour se la maten e bonswa se le swa. Good day is [what you say] in the morning and good evening in the evenings. (CA) ♦ Enfin ein soi li té si quirié li rété en bas perchoir la et li dit : -Bonsoi , Michié Dinde. Finally one evening he was so curious that he stopped under a roost and said ‘Good evening, Mr. Turkey.’ (FO T7) See examples
• bontin CA ( n. )
  1. Heavy gingham; guingan épais, cotonnade à carreaux épaisse, (toile de) vichy.
     Bonten se en kalite letof kòm koton. Gingham is a kind of material like cotton. (CA) ♦ Mo té tan sirpri ké mo trouné blan kom mo chimige bontin. I was so surprised that I turned as white as my gingham shirt. (T16) See examples
• bonté NE ( n. )
  1. Goodness, kindness; bonté.
     Ye t ape abize sa bonte. They were taking advantage of his kindness. (NE) See examples
• boné CA ( n. )
  1. Bonnet; bonnet.
     En bòne , se pou en ti bebe pou mèt so latèt ansanm kan li gen en gro latèt. En gard-soley , se pou soley. A bonnet is for a little baby to keep his head together when he has a big head. A sun bonnet is for the sun. (CA) ♦Fomme L'ogre-la pronne sept ‘tits garçons-yé et li mette ein bonnet en chacaine yé latéte . The ogre’s wife took the seven little boys and she put a bonnet on each of their heads. (BD) See examples
• Boné CA ( place n. )
  1. Bonnet Carré (name of a spillway); Bonnet Carré (nom d’un déversoir).
     Ye ouv Bone Kare-la pou dolo flèv pase kan flèv ho , pa pou gen la krevas. They open the Bonnet Carré spillway to let river water in when the river is high, so the levee won’t break. (CA) ♦ Pi li mandé moué si zens kouler Boné-Karé té pa di moué li té kandida. Then he asked me if the colored folks from Bonnet Carré hadn’t told me he was a candidate. (T12) See examples
• bonœr CA, PC ( adv. ) bònèr CA, MO 60 bonnœr PC bonnè PC bonnin PC bonè PC bonèr NE
  1. Early; de bonne heure, tot.
     Deumen maten mo gen pou leve bonnœr avan soley lèv. Tomorrow morning I have to get up early, before sunrise. (PC); To bònèr jodi. Mo t ap otan pou twa pli tar. You’re early today. I was expecting you later. (CA) ♦ Tou jenn garson-ye rive o bal bonnè. All of the young guys arrived at the dance early. (JR); bonnè (JR); ' bon her', (T18); ‘bonne her’ (T26; T27) •Nou dan bonnœr, phr. (PC). It’s early; Il est tot. •Li bonè . phr. (PC). It’s early; Il est tot. See examples
• boraks CA ( n. )
  1. Borax; borax.
     Boraks se pou netwaye. Borax is for cleaning. (CA) ♦Pou la demonjezon, to pronn la gres kochon e to fe fri di boraks on poud on don-la. For the itch, you take pig fat and you fry borax in powder form in it. (BI) See examples
• borné PC ( n. )
  1. Baumé hydrometer; hydromètre Baumé.
• borné PC ( v.tr. )
  1. To measure the thickness of syrup on the Baumé hydrometer; mesurer l’épaisseur d’un sirop avec un hydromètre Baumé.