A Lesson Before Dying Vocabulary

1. modicum (n) – a small amount, little bit, scrap

2. parain (n) – Cajun term meaning godfather
3. Cajun (n) – a member of a group of people with an enduring cultural tradition
whose French Catholic ancestors established permanent communities in Lousiana
and Maine after being expelled from Acadia in the late 18th century
For more on Cajun history, you may visit the link below.
http://www.lafayette.travel/culture/history/whatiscajun/?
gclid=CJism5for5cCFRwwawodzwjejQ
4. Creole (n) – a person of mixed black and European, esp. French or Spanish,
ancestry who speaks a creolized (formerly a pidgin but now the native language
of a group of speakers, with consequent enrichment of the vocabulary by
borrowing and creating.) form of French or Spanish
5. creolized (adj) – (of a language) formerly a pidgin but now the native language of
a group of speakers, with consequent enrichment of the vocabulary by borrowing
and creating*
6. pidgin (n) – an auxiliary language that has come into existence through the
attempts by the speakers of two different languages to communicate and that is
primarily a simplified form of one of the languages, with a reduced vocabulary
and grammatical structure and considerable variation in pronunciation*
7. auxiliary (adj) – additional, supplementary*
8. satchel (n) – school bag, shoulder bag
9. primer (n) – the youngest students; those of kindergarten age
10. mulatto (n) – child from one white and one black parent, mixed blood
11. trusty (n) – an inmate who has earned special privileges
12. rustic (adj) – rural, county, pastoral
13. quarter (n) – neighborhood, district, section
14. alight (v) – land, rest, settle
15. inclement (adj) – stormy, rainy, windy
16. chifforobe (n) – a free-standing closet, bureau, dresser
17. corrugated (adj) – ridged, grooved, wavy
18. wake (n) – viewing before a burial
19. manacles (n) chains, irons*
20. relented (v) – gave in, yielded