Haitian Creole language

Encyclopedia : H : HA : HAI : Haitian Creole language

Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. It is spoken in Haiti by about 8.5 million people (as of 2005), which is nearly the whole population. Via emigration, about 1.5 million speakers live in other countries, including Canada, the United States, and France, as well as many Caribbean nations, especially the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas.

There are linguistic influences from several West African languages, namely from Wolof, and some Gbe languages, notably Fon and Ewe/Anlo-Ewe. There are two dialects: Fablas and Plateau.

In part because of the efforts of Felix Morisseau-Leroy, since 1961 Haitian Creole has been recognized as an official language along with French, which had been the sole literary language of the country since its independence in 1804, and this status was upheld under the country's constitution of 1987. Its usage in literature is small but growing, with Morisseau being one of the first and most prolific examples. Many speakers are bilingual and speak both Haitian Creole and French. Many educators, writers and activists have emphasized pride and written literacy in Creole since the 1980s. There are newspapers, radio and television programs in this language.

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Usage outside of Haiti

Haitian Creole is used widely among Haitians who have relocated to other countries, particularly the United States. Some of the larger population centers include parts of New York City, Boston and South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach). Various public service announcements, school-parent communications, and other materials are produced in this language by government agencies. Miami-Dade County in Florida sends out paper communications in Haitian Creole in addition to English and Spanish. Announcements are posted in the Boston subway system in this language. Miami-Dade County also sends out public announcements in Creole. HTN, a Miami-based television channel, is the nation's only Creole-language television network. The Miami area also features over half a dozen Creole-language AM radio staitons.

Sounds and spellings

Haitian Creole spelling is mostly phonetic, and in fact quite close to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The main differences are j = /ʒ/, y = /j/, è = /ɛ/, ou = /u/.

Lexicon

Most of the lexicon is derived from French, with simplified pronuciation. Often, the French definite article was retained as part of the noun.

Sample

Creole	IPA	Origin	English
bagay	/bagaj/	(?)Fr. bagage, "baggage"	"thing"
banan	//	Fr. banane, "banana"	"plantain"
bekann	/bekãn/	Fr. bécane /be.kan/	"bicycle"
Bondye	/bõdje/	Fr. Bon Dieu /bõ.djø/	"God"
dèyè	/dɛjɛ/	Fr. derrière /dɛ.ʁjɛʁ/	"behind"
diri	/diri/	Fr. du riz /dy.ʁi/	"rice"
fig	/fig/		"banana"
kay	/kaj/	(?)Fr. cahutte /ka.yt/	"house"
kiyez, tchok, poban	//		"hog banana" (*)
kle	/kle/	Fr. clé /kle/, "key"	"wrench" or "key"
kle kola	//	Fr. clé /kle/, "key" + Eng. "cola"	"bottle opener"
konflek	//	(?)En. "corn flakes"	"breakfast cereal"
kowouchu	//	(?)Fr. caoutchouc, "rubber"	"tire"
lalin	/lalin/	Fr. la lune /la.lyn/	"moon"
makak	/makak/	Fr. macaque /ma.kak/	"monkey"
makomen	/makomẽ/		"goodfatherhood" (#)
matant	/matãt/	Fr. ma tante, "my aunt"	"aunt"
moun	/mun/	(?) Fr. monde /mõd/	"person"
nimewo	/nimewo/	Fr. numéro /ny.me.ʁo/	"number"
ozetazini	/etazini/	Fr. aux États-Unis /o.ze.ta.zy.ni/	"the United States"
pima	//	Fr. piment	a very hot pepper
pung	//		"hang"
pwa	/pwa/	Fr. pois /pwa/	"bean"
shanet	//		"tooth gap" (@)
tonton	//		"uncle"
vwazen	/vwazɛ̃/	Fr. voisin /vwa.zɛ̃/	"neighbour"
zwazo	/zwazo/	Fr. les oiseaux /le.zwa.zo/	"bird"
zye	/zje/	Fr. les yeux /le.zjø/	"eye"

(*) A banana which is short and fat, not a plantain and not a conventional banana; regionally called "hog banana" or "sugar banana" in English.
(#) The relationship shared between a child's parents and godparents.
(@) The gap between a person's two front teeth.

Nouns derived from trade marks

Many trade marks have become common nouns in Haitian Creole (as happened in English with "aspirin" and "biro", for example).

koget (Colgate) — "toothpaste"
jilet (Gillette) — "razor"
pamper (Pampers) — "nappy" or (Am) "diaper"
kodak (Kodak) — "camera"

The word neg

The term neg strictly means a dark-skinned man, as in gen yon neg e gen yon blan ("there is a black man and a white man"). However, it is also generally used for any man, regardless of skin color (i.e. like "guy" in American English).

Etymologically, the word derives from Spanish negro ("black", both the color and the people), and is therefore cognate of English "negro". In Haitian Creole, however, neg does not have pejorative connotations.

There are many other Haitian Creole terms for specific tones of skin, such as grimou, brin, woz, mawon, etc. However, such labels are considered offensive by some Haïtians, because of their association with racial discrimination and the Haitian class system.

Grammar

Haitian Creole grammar differs greatly from French and inflects much more simply: for example, verbs are not inflected for tense or person, and there is no grammatical gender — meaning that adjectives and articles are not inflected according to the noun. The same primary word order (SVO) is the same as French, but the variations on the verbs and adjectives are minuscule compared to the complex rules employed by French.

Many grammatical features, particularly pluralization of nouns and indication of possession, are indicated by appending certain suffixes (postpositions) like yo to the main word. There has been a debate going on for some years as what should be used to connect the suffixes to the word: the most popular alternatives are a dash, an apostrophe, or a space. It makes matters more complicated when the "suffix" itself is shortened, perhaps making only one letter (such as m or w).

Pronouns

There are six pronouns, one pronoun for each person/number combination. There is no difference between direct and indirect. Some are obviously of French origin, others are not.

person/number Creole Short form French English
1/singular mwen m or m‘ or ‘m je, moi, me "I", "me"
2/singular ou (*) tu, te, vous "you" (sing.)
3/singular li l‘ il, elle, lui, le, se "he", "she", "it"
1/plural nou n‘ nous "we", "us"
2/plural ou or vou (@) vous "you" (pl.)
3/plural yo y‘ ils, elles, eux "they", "them"

(*)sometimes ou is written as w- in the sample phrases, the w indicates ou.
(@) depending on the situation.

Plural of nouns

Nouns are pluralized by adding yo at the end.

liv yo or liv-yo - "books"

machin yo or machin-yo - "cars"

Possession

Possession is indicated by placing the possessor after the item possessed. This is similar to the French construction of chez moi or chez lui which are "my place" and "his place" respectively.

lajan li - "his" (or "her") "money"

fanmi mwen or fanmi'm - "my family"

kay yo - "their house" or "houses"

papa ou or papa'w - "your father"

chat Pierre - "Pierre's cat"

chez Marie - "Marie's chair"

zanmi papa Jean - "Jean's father's friend"

papa vwazin zanmi nou - "our friend's neighbor's father"

note: the possesive relationship is properly done in many different ways : ex:chez ti pye ya, chez ti pye an. also there is certain degre of morphology in haitian creole, it may not be extensive but it is there and thus can potentially be developed. for instance, the word "pete" and konyen which are fart and sex respectively in english can be morphed into "petado" and "konyado" to decribe the persons engaging in the act of farting and sex respectively.

morphology, and how it is done in some cases? "manje" means eat, and "papye" means paper, so paper-eater in creole is "manjet papye"; according to that rule we apparently add "t" to the active verb as in manjet where we add "t" to the verb "manje". As one can easily see, there is at least a primitive morphology in creole that can further be developed as the language evolves with respect to the expresive demands of its speakers.

Indefinite article

The language has an indefinite article yon, roughly corresponding to English "a"/"an" and French un/une. It is placed before the noun:

yon kouto - "a knife"

yon kravat - "a necktie"

Definite article

There is also a definite article, roughly corresponding to English "the" and French le/la. It is placed after the noun, and the sound varies by the last sound of the noun itself. If the last sound is a non-nasal consanant, it becomes la:

kravat la - "the tie"

If the last sound is a vowel, it becomes an a:

kouto a - "the knife"

mango a - "the mango"

If the last sound is a nasal (usually an "n" sound) it becomes nan:

machin nan - "the car"

telefon nan - "the telephone"

\"This\" and \"that\"

There is a single word sa that corresponds to French ce/ceci or ça, and English "this" and "that". As in English, it may be used as a demonstrative, except that it is placed after the noun it qualifies:

jardin sa bel (or jardin-sa bel)- "This garden is beautiful

As in English, it may also be used as a pronoun, replacing a noun:

sa se zanmi mwen - "this is my friend"

sa se chyen frè mwen - "this is my brother's dog"

Verbs

Many, many verbs in Haitian Creole are the same spoken words as the French infinitive, but they are spelled phonetically. As indicated above there is no conjugation in the language.

Li ale travay le maten - "He goes to work in the morning".

Li dòmi le swa - "He sleeps in the evening".

Li li Bib la - "She reads the Bible".

Mwen fe manje - "I make food".

Nou toujou etidye - "We study all the time".

conjugation? contrary to what the orijinal writer has maintained, there is a functional and well-structured conjugation for the verbs in haitian creole. for instance, let's take the verb "manje" which is to eat in english, the following are its well-structured time-specific conjugations:

progressive present tense:

m'ap manje---- i am eating w'ap manje---- you are eating l'ap manje---- he/she is eating n'ap manje----we are eating y'ap maje-----they are eating

progressive past tense:

mwen t'ap manje--- i was eating ou t'ap manje---- you were eating li t'ap manje--- he/she was eating nou t'ap manje---we were eating yo t'ap manje---they were eating

present tense:

mwen manje-- i eat ou manje--- you eat li manje--- he/she eats nou manje--- we eat yo manje--- they eat

past tense:

mwen te manje--- i ate ou te manje--- you ate li te manje--- he/she ate nou te manje---we ate yo te manje--- they ate

future tense: mwen pral manje--- i will eat ou pral manje--- you will eat li pral manje--- he/she will eat nou pral manje--- we will eat yo pral manje--- they will eat

Copulas

The concept expressed in English by the verb "to be" is expressed in Haitian Creole by two words, se and ye.

The verb se (pronounced as the English word "say") has roughly the same meaning as "to be" (and its inflections "am", "are", "is") in English. It is used like any verb, namely between the subject and the predicate:

Li se fre mwen - "he is my brother"

Mwen se doktè - "I am a doctor"

Sa se yon pyebwa mango - "That is a mango tree"

Nou se zanmi - "we are friends"

The subject sa or li can sometimes be omitted with se:

Se yon bon ide - "That is a good idea"

Se nouvo chemiz mwen - "This is my new shirt"

For the future tense, such as "I want to be" usually devenir is used instead of se.

"Ye" has a similar meaning, but it is placed at the end of the sentence, after the predicate and the subject (in that order):

Ayisyen mwen ye = Mwen se Ayisyen - "I am Haitian"

Ki moun sa? - "Who is that?"

Kouman ou ye? - "How are you?"

To have

The verb "to have" is genyen, often shortened to gen.

There Is

The verb genyen (or gen) also means "There is" (or "There are")

Genyen anpil Ayisyen nan Florid - "There are many Haitians in Florida".

Gen yon moun la - "There is someone here".

Pa gen moun la - "There is nobody here".

To know

There are two verbs which are often translated as "to know", but they mean different things. Konn or konnen means just about what "to know" means in English.

Èske ou konnen non li? - "Do you know his name?"

M pa konnen kote li ye - "I don't know where he is." (note pa = negative)

The other word is konn. It is not easy to translate as a single word, but it most approximately means "to know how", "to have experience", or "to know how to do something". This is similar to the "know" is used in the English phrase "know how to ride a bike": it denotes not only a knowledge of the actions, but also some experience with it.

Mwen konn fe manje - "I know how to cook" (lit. "I know how to make food")

Eske ou konn ale Ayiti? - "Have you been to Haïti?" (lit. "Do you know to go to Haiti?")

Li pa konn li franse - "He can't read French" (lit. "He doesn't know how to read French.")

Another verb worth mentioning is fe. It comes from the French faire and is often translated as "do" or "make". It has a broad range of meanings.

Kouman ou fe pale kréyòl? - "How did you learn to speak Haitian Creole?"

Marie konn fe mayi moulen. - "Marie knows how to make cornmeal"

To be able to

The verb kapab or shortened to ka means "able to (do something)". It means both "capability" and "availability", very similar to the English "can"

Mwen ka ale demen - "I can go tomorrow"

Petet m ka fe sa demen - "Maybe I can do that tomorrow"

Tense markers

There is no conjugation in Haitian Creole. In the present, non-progressive tense, one just uses the basic verb form:

Mwen pale kréyòl - "I speak Haitian Creole"

For other tenses, special "tense marker" words are placed before the verb. The basic ones are:

te - simple past

ap - present progressive

a - future (some limitations on use)

pral - future (translates to "going to")

tap (or t'ap) - past progressive

For the present progressive (I am eating now)- (notice that it is not necessary to say "right now" but it is customary) ap is used:

M'ap manje kounye a - "I am eating now"

Note that manje means both "food" and "to eat", and ''m'ap manje yon bon manje" is also said and means "I am eating a good food".

With ap and a the pronouns nearly always take the short form (m'ap, l'ap, n'ap, y'ap):

Mwen te we zanmi ou ye - "I saw your friend yesterday"

Nou te pale lenten - "We spoke for a long time"

Le li te gen wit an... - "When he was eight years old..."

M'a travay - "I will work"

M pral travay - "I'm going to work"

N'a li'l demen - "We'll read it tomorrow"

Nou pral li'l demen - "We are going to read it tomorrow"

Additional time-related markers are:

fek - recent past ("just")

sot - similar to fek

They are often used to together:

Mwen fek sot antre kay la - "I just entered the house"

Also t'ap is a combination of te and ap and means "was doing":

Mwen t'ap mache e m'we yon chen - "I was walking and I saw a dog"

Another tense marker is ta, meaning "would":

yo ta renmen jwe - "They would like to play"

Mwen ta vini si mwen te gen youn machin - "I would come if I had a car"

Li ta bliye'w si ou pa't la -"He(she) would forget you if you weren't here"

Negating the verb

The word pa comes before a verb to negate it:

Rose pa vle ale - "Rose doesn't want to go"

List of Kreyòl words

annakaonna - ? (from Arawak, anacaona)
annanna - a pineapple (from Arawak, anana and now used in France ananas)
aprann - to learn
bat - to hit
batay - to fight
bebe - a baby
bonjou - good day / good morning
bonswa - good evening (bonswa is typically said vice bonjou after 12 noon)
boukousou - a type of bean
boul - a ball
chante - to sing
cheri - darling
cho - to be hot
dou-dou - sweetheart
dlo - water
fanmi - family
fè - to make / to do
fèt - a party / a birthday
fig - banana
fou - to be crazy
gade - to look (at)
gato - a cake
kijan - how
kisa - what
kite M - leave me / leave me alone
kochon - a pig
konprann - to understand
kouman ou rele? - what is your name?
kounye-a - now ex: vini kounye-a (come here now)
kreyon - a pencil
kwafè - a barber
la - here / the
lougawou - man wolf beast
machin - a car
makak - monkey
manje - to eat / food
mèg - to be skinny
mesi - thank you
moun - a person / people
move - to be bad
pale - to talk / to speak
panye - a basket
pitit - a child
pwa - beans
sa bon pou ou - that's good for you / that's what you get
sache - a bag
sirèt - candy
timoun - a child
tonbe - to fall
toutouni - to be naked
vole - a thief / to jump or fly
zonbi - a ghost (from Africa, zombi)
"sac pase"- what's up

External links

[ {{{1] of Wikipedia

[Haitian Creole dictionary]
[UN Declaration of Human Rights in Haitian Creole]
[RFI — Kréyòl Palé Kréyòl Konprann (radio program)]
[Common Creole Words and Phrases]
[Haitian Creole online test]
[Haitian Kréyòl grammar]
[Haitian Creole English Dictionary] from [Webster's Online Dictionary] - the Rosetta Edition

Languages derived from French ''see also French-based creole languages
In the Americas: Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) • Michif • Lanc-Patuá Antillean Creole • Louisiana Creole (kreyol lwiziyen) • Chiac In Africa: Seychellois Creole (Kreol) • Mauritian Creole • Réunion Creole In Asia: Tây Bồi

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