Haitian Creole language (kreyòl ayisyen), often called simply Creole or Kreyòl (pronounced ), is a language spoken in Haiti by about 8.5 million people (as of 2005), which is nearly the entire population, and via emigration, about 3.5 million speakers who live in other countries, including Canada, the United States, Venezuela, France, and many Caribbean nations, especially the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas. The language is notable for being the most widely spoken creole language in the world.^[1]

Haitian Creole is one of Haiti's two official languages, along with French. It is a creole based primarily on 18th Century French, but it also contains various influences, notably West African and Central African languages (from the 18th century, including some Arabic), Taino, Portuguese, Spanish, and some English. African and French influence is strongest, as those were the two populations in contact during the development of Creole.

Residents of French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia and Dominica also speak Creole, with some local variations.

In part because of the efforts of Félix 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. The official status was upheld under the country's constitution of 1987. The use of Creole in literature has been small but is increasing. Morisseau was one of the first and most influential authors to write in Creole. Many speakers are trilingual, speaking Haitian Creole, French and Spanish or English. Since the 1980s, many educators, writers and activists have emphasized pride and written literacy in Creole. Today numerous newspapers, as well as radio and television programs, are produced in Creole.

History

The origins of Haitian creole are disputed - it is a subject that has fascinated scholars for decades. In part, Creole resulted from African slaves' efforts to speak the French that they heard when they arrived in the colony. Slaves came from all over West Africa and spoke many different languages. On any one plantation, several African languages were spoken. Also at that time, most of the French people in Saint-Domingue spoke French dialects and everyday spoken French. That type of French, called Popular (common people's) French, differed a lot from the French spoken by the ruling classes in France called Standard French. The slaves, seldom able to communicate with fellow slaves in a common African tongue, tried to learn Popular French. Slaves who arrived later, especially field slaves who had little contact with French speakers, tried to learn the approximative variety of Popular French the other slaves spoke rather than Popular French itself. Over time, this approximative form of French became more and more different from the French varieties and came to be recognized as a language in its own right: Creole. It is also interesting that it was picked up by the whites and became the language used by all those born in the colony.

Over 90% of the vocabulary of Creole is of French origin, yet French people can't understand Creole. This is because the grammars of the two languages are very different. Also, Creole has kept the original meaning of Popular French words whereas in France these words were replaced by words from Standard French, and some Popular French words changed their meaning. A good example is the sentence "Ki jan ou rele?" or "What is your name?" which corresponds to French Comment vous appelez-vous? Although a French person wouldn't understand that phrase, every word is of French origin: qui/what, genre/manner, vous/you, héler/to call or "What manner call (yourself)?". In France, the verb héler has been replaced by appeler.^[2][3]

Usage outside of Haiti

Haitian Creole is used widely among Haitians who have relocated to other countries, particularly the United States and Canada. Some of the larger population centers include Montreal, Quebec, where French is the official language, and parts of New York City, Boston, Central and South Florida: (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach). To reach the large Haitian population, government agencies have produced various public service announcements, school-parent communications, and other materials in Haitian Creole. For instance, Miami-Dade County in Florida sends out paper communications in Haitian Creole in addition to English and Spanish. In the Boston area, the Boston subway system and area hospitals and medical offices post announcements in Haitian Creole as well as English. North America's only Creole-language television network is HTN, based in Miami. The area also has more than half a dozen Creole-language AM radio stations.

There is controversy over whether to teach Creole in Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Many argue Creole is a peasant language that is not fully developed for literary purposes; others argue it is important for children to learn a written form of their parents' native tongue.

Haitian Creole language and culture is taught in many colleges in the United States as well as in the Bahamas. Indiana University has a Creole Institute http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/ founded by Dr. Albert Valdman where Haitian Creole, among other facets of Haiti, are studied and researched; the University of Kansas, Lawrence has an Institute of Haitian studies, founded by Dr. Bryant Freeman. Additionally, the University of Massachusetts-Boston, Florida International University, and University of Florida offer seminars and courses annually at their Haitian Creole Summer Institute. Brown University, Columbia University, and University of Miami are also offering classes in Haitian Creole.

In the Americas, Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba, where over 300,000 Haitian immigrants speak it. It is recognized as a language in Cuba and a considerable number of Cubans speak it fluently. Surprisingly enough, most of these speakers have never been to Haiti and do not possess Haitian ancestry, but merely learned it in their communities. In addition, there is a Haitian Creole radio station operating in Havana.^[4] The language is also spoken by over 150,000 Haitians (although estimates believe that there are over a million speakers due to a huge population of illegal aliens from Haiti^[5]) who reside in the neighboring Dominican Republic.^[6]

Orthography and phonology

Haitian Creole has ten vowels as opposed to standard French's twelve. This is primarily due to the loss of front rounded vowels. In Creole, these French phonemes are usually merged with their unrounded counterpart. Hence, becomes and becomes .

French's uvular rhotic either becomes an alveolar trill , or , or is elided altogether, depending on the environment.

Being formed relatively recently, Haitian Creole orthography is mostly phonemic, and is similar to the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The main differences are j = , y = , è = , ou = . Nasalization is indicated by a following n.

Lexicon

Most of the lexicon is derived from French, with significant changes in pronunciation and morphology. Often, the French definite article was retained as part of the noun. For example, the French definite article la in la lune ("the moon") was incorporated into the Creole noun for moon: lalin.

Sample

1. ↑ http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html
2. ↑ http://www.ahadonline.org/eLibrary/creoleconnection/Number20/haitiancreole.htm
3. ↑ http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html
4. ↑ Haiti in Cuba
5. ↑ Dr1.com: Illegal Haitians deported
6. ↑ Languages of Dominican Republic
7. ↑ A banana which is short and fat, not a plantain and not a conventional banana; regionally called "hog banana" or "sugar banana" in English.
8. ↑ The relationship shared between a child's mother and godmother.
9. ↑ 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 "kleenex", for example).

• kòlgat (Colgate) ? "toothpaste"
• jilèt (Gillette) ? "razor"
• pampèz (Pampers) ? "nappy" or (Am) "diaper"
• kodak (Kodak) ? "camera"
• frijide (Frigidaire) - "refrigerator"
• delko (Delco) - "generator"
• iglou (Igloo) - "cooler"
• chiklèt (Chiclets) - "gum"
• kyouteks (Cutex) - "nail polish"
• jip (Jeep)- "SUV"

New words from English

Haitian Creole speakers have adopted some English words. Fé back to move backwards, and napkin are two examples.

The word nèg and the word blan

Despite similar words in French (nègre = a black man; blanc = white person), the meanings they carry do not apply in Haiti. The term nèg is generally used for any man, regardless of skin color (i.e. like "guy" or "dude" in American English). Blan is generally used for foreigner. It is not used to refer just to white foreigners, but foreigners of other races as well (including Black people).

Etymologically, the word nèg is derived from the French "nègre" and is cognate with the Spanish negro ("black", both the color and the people)

There are many other Haitian Creole terms for specific tones of skin, such as grimo, bren, wòz, mawon, etc. However, such labels are considered offensive by some Haïtians, because of their association with color 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 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.

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

Plural of nouns

If a noun is definite, it is pluralized by adding yo at the end. If it is indefinite, it has no plural marker, and its plurality is determined by context.

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.

Indefinite article

The language has an indefinite article yon, roughly corresponding to English "a/an" and French un/une. It is derived from the French il y a un, (lit. "there is a/an/one"). It is used only with singular nouns, and it is placed before the noun:

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 an oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel, it becomes la:

If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel, it becomes lan:

If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant, it becomes a:

If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by a nasal consonant, it becomes an:

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

If the last sound is a nasal consonant, it becomes nan:

"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. It is often followed by a or yo (in order to mark number):

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

Verbs

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; the verbs have one form only, and changes in tense are indicated by the use of tense markers.

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") is used to link a subject with a predicate nominative:

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

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

"Ye" also means "to be", but is placed exclusively at the end of the sentence, after the predicate and the subject (in that order):

The verb "to be" is not overt when followed by an adjective, that is, Haitian Creole has stative verbs. So, malad means "sick" and "to be sick":

"to have"

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

"there is"

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

"to know"

There are three verbs which are often translated as "to know", but they mean different things.

Konn or konnen means "to know" + a noun (cf. French connaître).

Konn or konnen also means "to know" + a fact (cf. French savoir).

(note pa = negative)

The third word is always spelled konn. It means "to know how to" or "to have experience". This is similar to the "know" as 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.

Another verb worth mentioning is fè. It comes from the French faire and is often translated as "do" or "make". It has a broad range of meanings, as it is one of the most common verbs used in idiomatic phrases.

"to be able to"

The verb kapab (or shortened to ka, kap' or 'kab) means "to be able to (do something)". It refers to both "capability" and "availability", very similar to the French "capable".

Tense markers

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

Note that when the basic form of action verbs is used without any verb markers, it is generally understood as referring to the past:

(Note that manje means both "food" and "to eat" -- m ap manje bon manje means "I am eating good food".).

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

Simple past or past perfect:

mwen te manje - "I ate" or "I had eaten"

ou te manje - "you ate" or "you had eaten"

li te manje - "he/she ate" or "he/she had eaten"

nou te manje - "we ate" or "we had eaten"

yo te manje - "they ate" or "they had eaten"

Past progressive:

men 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 progressive:

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 manje - "they are eating"

Note: For the present progressive ("I am eating now") it is customary, though not necessary, to add "right now":

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

Near or definite future:

mwen pral manje - "I am going to eat"

ou pral manje - "you are going to eat"

li pral manje - "he/she is going to eat"

nou pral manje - "we are going to eat"

yo pral manje - "they are going to eat"

Future:

N a wè pita - "See you later" (lit. "We will see (each other) later)

Other examples:

Mwen te wè zanmi ou yè - "I saw your friend yesterday"

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

Lè li te gen uit 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"

Mwen t ap mache e m wè yon chyen - "I was walking and I saw a dog"

Additional time-related markers:

fèk - recent past ("just")

sòt - similar to fèk

They are often used together:

Mwen fèk sòt antre kay la - "I just entered the house"

A verb mood marker is ta, corresponding to English "would" and equivalent to the French conditional tense:

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

Mwen ta vini si mwen te gen yon 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 (and all tense markers) to negate it:

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

Woz pa t vle ale - "Rose didn't want to go"

List of Haitian Creole words

See also Haitian Creole Swadesh list

• yon anana - a pineapple (from Arawak, anana and now used in France ananas)
• Anakaona - ? (from Arawak, Anacaona, who was a Taino princess)
• anpil - a lot, many (from Fr. "en pile", lit. in piles, in great amounts)
• aprann - to learn
• yon bannann - plantain
• bat - to whup
• yon batay - a fight, a battle
• yon goumen - a fight (most popular)
• batay - to fight, to battle
• goumen - to fight
• yon bebe - a baby
• bonjou - good day / good morning
• bonswa - good evening (bonswa is typically said after 12:00 noon or at sundown)
• boukousou - a type of bean
• boul, balon - a ball
• Byensi - "Of course" (from Fr. "Bien sûr")
• chadèk - grapefruit (from Fr. Chadèque or pamplemousse)
• chante - to sing
• yon chanson - a song
• yon chan - a song, a chant
• cheri - darling
• cho - hot (also used as an adj. i.e. "Fi sa a cho anpil", That lady's really hot!Or this girl is rude;slutty.)
• doudou - sweetheart
• dous - sweet
• yon dous - a cookie (food)
• enpe dlo - some water
• yon fanmi - a family
• fè - to make / to do
• yon fèt - a party / a birthday
• yon fig - a banana
• fòl - crazy, only in reference to women (a crazy person - yon moun fou (fòl))
• fou - crazy, for reference to either gender (a crazy person - yon moun fou (fòl))
• fou - stove
• gade - to look (at), to watch (to watch TV - gade TV)
• garde - to guard
• yon gardyen - a guardian
• yon gardyen bu - a goal keeper
• gato - a cake
• gwayav - guava fruit
• gwo - big; also, to be fat ("li gwo", he is fat or big.)
• enpe kafe - some coffee
• kaka - feces
• yon kann - a sugar cane
• yon kenèp - Mamoncillo a.k.a. Spanish lime
• kijan - how
• kisa - what
• kibò, kikote - where
• kimoun - who
• ki, ke - that (conj.)
• kite mwen - leave me / leave me alone
• kite mwen ale - let me go
• yon kochon - a pig
• yon kokoye - a coconut
• konprann/komprann - to understand
• kouman/kijan ou rele? - what is your name?
• kòm - as
• kòman/kijan - how
• kounyèa - now ex: vini kounye a (come here now)
• yon kowosòl/kosòl - Soursop a.k.a Corossol
• yon kreyon - a pencil
• yon kwafè - a barber
• la - here / the
• lant/lan - slow
• lanse - to launch
• yon lougawou - a werewolf, bad witch
• yon mambo/manbo - a female witch
• yon bòkò/ongan - a male witch
• yon majisyen - a magician
• yon machin - a car
• yon makak - a monkey
• yon manyòk - Cassava a.k.a. manioc
• manje - to eat / food (both noun and verb)
• enpe manje - some food
• mèg - skinny
• mèsi/mèrsi - thank you
• yon moun - a person
• kèk moun - some people (the indefinite article plural form)
• move - bad (move moun - bad person)
• move - fighty (a person that is ready to fight or beat someone up)
• pale/parle - to talk / to speak
• yon pánye - a basket
• yon pitit - a child (a father or mother: my child)
• yon pitit fi - a daughter
• yon pitit gason - a son
• yon pitit pitit - a grand child
• pwa - bean
• ki pèz ou (genyen)?- what is your weight?
• peze - to press (press a button), to weigh (this weighs two liters)
• yon pyebwa - tree (lit. wood foot, from Fr. pied de bois)
• sa bon pou ou - that's what you get
• yon sache/sachè - a bag
• sa (è) bon pour ou - that's good for you
• sa ka fèt / sa k ap fèt - how's it going?
• sa k pase - what's up?
• yon sirèt - a candy
• tankou - like (conj.)
• yon timoun - a kid ("little person")
• yon granmoun - an adult
• tombe - to fall
• toutouni - naked
• yon vòlè - a thief
• vòlè - to steal
• yon vòl - a theft, an aeroplane flight (ki vòl ou ape pran - what flight are you taking?)
• pran vòl - to take off (an airplane)
• yon avyon - an airplane
• vole - to jump or fly
• yon zaboka - Avocado
• zobogit - to be skinny
• yon zonbi/zombi - a ghost (from Africa, zombi)

Numbers

• zero - 0
• yonn, en - 1
• de, dez - 2
• twa - 3
• kat, katr - 4
• senk - 5
• sis - 6
• sèt - 7
• uit, ywit - 8
• nèf - 9
• dis - 10
• onz - 11
• douz - 12
• trèz - 13
• katòz - 14
• kenz - 15
• sèz - 16
• disèt - 17
• dizwit - 18
• diznèf - 19
• ven, vent - 20
• venteyen, vent-yonn- 21
• vennde, vent-dez - 22
• venntwa, vent-twa - 23
• ...etc.

• trant - 30
• tranteyen, trant-yonn - 31
• trannde - 32
• tranntwa - 33
• ...etc.

• karant - 40
• karanteyen, karant-yonn- 41
• karannde - 42
• karanntwa - 43
• ...etc.

• senkant - 50
• swasant - 60
• swasenndis - 70
• swasenteyonz- 71
• swasenndouz- 72
• swasenntrèz- 73
• ...etc.

• katreven, katrevent - 80
• katrevendis, katreven-dis- 90
• katrevenonz, katreven-onz- 91
• katrevendouz- 92
• katreventrèz- 93
• ...etc.

• san - 100
• san en, san yonn - 101
• san dis - 110
• de san, dez san - 200
• de san ven - 220
• twa san - 300
• kat san - 400
• senk san - 500
• si san - 600
• sèt san - 700
• ui(t) san - 800
• nèf san - 900

• nèf san katrevendisèt - 997
• nèf san katrevendizuit - 998
• nèf san katrevendiznèf - 999

• mil - 1000
• de mil - 2000
• senk mil - 5000
• di mil - 10 000
• san mil - 100 000
• 1 milyon - 1 000 000, 1 million
• 1 bilyon - 1 000 000 000, 1 billion

References

External links

• Haitian Creole dictionary (Haitian Community Dictionary Project)
• 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
• What is Haitian Creole? (By Hugues St.Fort)
• Haitian Creole English Dictionary from Webster's Online Dictionary - the Rosetta Edition
• Haitian Proverbs
• Projects in Haitian Creole
• Unofficial Haitian creole Academy-Masterches initiative

br:Kreoleg Haiti bg:????????? ???????? ???? ca:Crioll haitià cy:Creol (Haiti) de:Haitianische Sprache es:Criollo haitiano eo:Haitia kreola lingvo fr:Créole haïtien ko:???? ia:Creolo haitian it:Creolo haitiano ka:???????? ?????? ht:Lang kreyòl ayisyen hu:Haiti kreol nyelv nl:Kreyòl ja:???? no:Haitisk pl:J?zyk haita?ski pt:Crioulo haitiano ro:Limba creol? haitian? ru:?????????? ?????????? ???? fi:Haitin kieli sv:Haitisk kreol zh:???????