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{{Short description|Acadian French variety of southeast New Brunswick, Canada}}
{{distinguish|Franglais|Acadian French}}
{{Expand French|Chiac|date=December 2022}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Chiac
| nativename       = 
| states           = [[Canada]]
| region           = [[Acadian]]s in southeastern New-Brunswick
| speakers         = 
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Italic languages|Italic]]
| fam3             = [[Latino-Faliscan languages|Latino-Faliscan]]
| fam4             = [[Romance languages|Romance]]
| fam5             = [[Italo-Western languages|Italo-Western]]
| fam6             = [[Western Romance languages|Western Romance]]
| fam7             = [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]]                                                                                                                                 | fam8             = [[Langues d'oïl|Oïl]]
| fam9             = [[French language|French]]
| fam10            = [[Canadian French]]
| fam11            = [[Acadian French]]
| isoexception     = 
| lingua           = 
| glotto           = none
}}
 [[File:WIKITONGUES- Jacques and Yvette speaking Chiac.webm|thumb|An immigrant couple living in [[Massachusetts]], [[United States]], speaking a version of  Chiac.]]
'''Chiac''' (or ''Chiak'', ''Chi’aq''), is a [[patois]] of [[Acadian French]] spoken mostly in southeastern [[New Brunswick]], [[Canada]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=Chiac {{!}} The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/chiac|access-date=2021-06-15|website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca}}</ref> Chiac is frequently characterized and distinguished from other forms of Acadian French by its borrowings from [[English language|English]] and is thus often mistakenly considered a form of [[Franglais]]. 

The word "Chiac" can also sometimes be used to refer to ethnic [[Acadians]] of rural southeastern New Brunswick, who are not considered [[French Canadian]] historically and ethnically because of their separate and distinctive history. They are considered ethnically as "Chiac-Acadian"<ref name=":1" /> or simply "Chiac".

==Characteristics==
As a major modern variety of Acadian-French, Chiac shares most phonological particularities of the dialect. However, Chiac contains far more English [[loanwords]] compared to other Canadian French dialects. Many of its words also have roots in the [[Eastern Algonquian]] languages, most notably [[Mi'kmaq language|Mi'kmaq]]. Loanwords generally follow French conjugation patterns; "Ej j'va aller watcher un movie" uses the English-derived loanword "watch" as if it were an "-er" verb. The most common loans are basic lexical features (nouns, adjectives, verb stems), but a few conjunctions and adverbs are borrowed from English ("but, so, anyway").

==History==
Chiac originated in the community of specific ethnic Acadians, known as "Chiacs, Chiaks or Chi'aq",<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Dorion |first1=Leah |url=https://www.metismuseum.ca/media/document.php/07159.Resources%20for%20Metis%20Researchers.pdf |title=Resources for Métis Researchers |last2=Préfontaine |first2=Darren R. |last3=Barkwell |first3=Lawrence J. |publisher=Gabriel Dumont Institute and The Louis Riel Institute |year=1999 |pages=14 |chapter=VI: Métis Culture and Language |quote=Chiac, the little-known mixed Algonquian-Acadian French language of the Metis people in Maritime Canada bears a remarkable similarity in syntax to Michif}}</ref> living on the southeast coast of New Brunswick, specifically near the [[Shediac Bay]] area.

While some{{who|date=July 2025}} believe that Chiac dates back as far as the 17th or the 18th centuries, others{{who|date=July 2025}} believe it developed in the 20th century, in reaction to the dominance of English-language media in Canada, the lack of French-language primary and secondary education, the increased urbanization of Moncton, and contact with the dominant [[English Canadian|Anglophone community]] in the area.{{fact|date=July 2025}} The origin of the word "Chiac" is not known; some speculate that it is an alteration of "[[Shediac]]" or "Es-ed-ei-ik".

==Geographic distribution==
Chiac is mostly spoken by native speakers of [[Acadian French]] in the southeastern region of New Brunswick. Its speakers are primarily located in the [[Westmorland County, New Brunswick|Westmorland County]] of southeastern New Brunswick and further north along the coast in adjacent [[Kent County, New Brunswick|Kent County]].

Further north along the coast, [[Acadian French]] resembling [[Quebec French]] is more common as the border with [[Quebec]] is approached. To the immediate east, west, and south, fully bilingual speakers of French and English are found, and the regions beyond typically have unilingual Anglophones.

==In culture==
Acadian writers, poets, and musicians such as [[Lisa LeBlanc]], [[Radio Radio (band)|Radio Radio]],<ref>{{Citation |title=Radio Radio: Comment ça va? | date=21 January 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rG06IuRS6q4 |language=en |access-date=2022-03-17}}</ref> [[Fayo]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Laberge |first=Corinne |title=Le monde de Fayo |date=2007-06-28 |url=http://www.citesnouvelles.com/article-125172-Le-monde-de-Fayo.html |access-date=2007-08-09}}</ref> [[Cayouche]], [[Les Hay Babies]], [[1755 (band)|1755]], [[Antonine Maillet]]<ref>{{cite web |last1=Morrow |first1=Martin |title=Acadian actor Viola Léger embodied the iconic character La Sagouine |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-acadian-actor-viola-leger-embodied-the-iconic-character-la-sagouine/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=17 January 2024 |date=18 February 2023 |quote=La Sagouine’s use of chiac, the type of Acadian French native to rural New Brunswick.}}</ref> and many others have produced works in Chiac.

Chiac is also featured in [[Acadieman]], a comedy about "The world's first Acadian Superhero" by Dano Leblanc.<ref>{{cite episode |title=[[C'est la vie (radio)|C'est la vie]] |airdate=2006-12-08|series=C'est la vie}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* King, Ruth. "Overview and Evaluation of Acadie's joual," in '' Social Lives in Language – Sociolinguistics and multilingual speech communities: Celebrating the Work of Gillian Sankoff'' edited by Miriam Meyerhoff and Naomi Nagy (2008)  pp 137ff
* ''Chiac: an example of dialect change and language transfer in Acadian French.'' National Library of Canada, 1987.

== See also ==
*[[Acadian Exodus]]
*[[Acadian French]]
*[[Caló (Chicano)]]
*[[Cultural assimilation]]
*[[French language]]
*[[Haitian Creole]]
*[[Louisiana Creole people]]
*[[Louisiana Creole]]
*[[Michif]]
*[[Pidgin]]
*[[Shediac]]

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100608232155/http://linggraduate.unm.edu/proceedings/HDLS%204%20Proceedings%202001.pdf The Chiac verb particle construction] – A linguistics paper (beginning on page 56 of the pdf document) examining certain features of Chiac grammar.
* [https://sangmele.net/home/2016/2/10/cofeetable Sang Mêlé]

{{French dialects by continent}}
{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}
{{Acadia}}

[[Category:French language]]
[[Category:Acadian French]]
[[Category:Canadian French]]
[[Category:Acadian culture]]
[[Category:Acadia]]