Acadiana

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A region in south Louisiana where descendants of French-speaking Acadian settlers from Canada have long made their home, known for its distinctive culture and cuisine
2. The area of southern Louisiana shaped by the Acadian people who arrived from Nova Scotia, with its own French-influenced traditions and heritage
3. A cultural and geographic region of Louisiana founded by Acadian exiles, famous for its language, music, and regional food traditions

Etymology: Acadiana is the name for the region of south-central Louisiana where French-speaking Acadian (Cajun) communities settled, and the name itself was made up in the twentieth century. Its roots run back to Acadia, the French colony in what are now Nova Scotia and neighboring parts of Atlantic Canada. Acadians were expelled from that region in the 1750s, and many eventually made their way to Louisiana, where the word "Acadian" was shortened over time to "Cajun." The name was coined independently on a few occasions between the 1940s and 1960s, most notably by the Louisiana television station KATC, which simply added an "a" to the end of "Acadian." Read by surface analysis, the form is "Acadia" plus the suffix "-ana," the same ending seen in place names and collections such as "Americana" and "Louisiana." The result is a regional label that sounds like a place of its own rather than a description of a people.