patois

[ pat-wah, pah-twah; French pa-twa ]

/ ˈpæt wɑ, ˈpɑ twɑ; French paˈtwa /

a regional form of a language, especially of French, differing from the standard, literary form of the language.

a rural or provincial form of speech.

jargon; cant; argot.

Origin of patois

1635–45; < French: literally clumsy speech; akin to Old French patoier to handle clumsily, derivative of pate paw

patmore, patmos, patna, patna rice, pato, patois, paton, patos, patr-, patras, patres conscripti

A French patois is the language of the peasantry, but English is generally understood.

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 6 |Various
Of all patois they declared that mine was the most preposterous and the most jocose in sound.

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition |Robert Louis Stevenson
In Eastern Canada, the land of patois French, a portage is a portage.

In the Oregon Country |George Palmer Putnam
This was conducted in French, but the people here usually speak a patois utterly impossible for one to comprehend.

A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe on Rivers and Lakes of Europe |John Macgregor

They answer my queries in unconfused French, speaking both this and their patois, and even ask respectful questions in turn.

A Midsummer Drive Through The Pyrenees |Edwin Asa Dix

patois

/ (ˈpætwɑː, French patwa) /

an unwritten regional dialect of a language, esp of French, usually considered substandard

the jargon of particular group

C17: from Old French: rustic speech, perhaps from patoier to handle awkwardly, from patte paw