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Haitian Creole

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Haitian Creole language (Kreyòl ayisyen; pronounced [kɣejɔl ajisjɛ̃]), officially Haitian, often called simply Creole or Kreyòl, is a language spoken in Haiti by about twelve million people, which includes all Haitians in Haiti and via emigration, by about two million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, Cayman Islands, French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Belize, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and United States.

Haitian Creole
Kreyòl ayisyen
Native to Haiti(official)
 Bahamas
 Canada
 Cuba
 Dominican Republic

 France
 United States
Native speakers
12,000,000[1]
Creole language
Official status
Official language in
 Haiti
Regulated byMinistère de l'éducation nationale et de la formation professionnelle
Language codes
ISO 639-1ht
ISO 639-2hat
ISO 639-3hat

Haitian Creole is one of Haiti's two official languages, along with French. It is a creole based largely on 18th to 21st-century French, some African languages, including Arabic, as well as Spanish, Taíno, and English.

Partly due to 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. Its orthography was standardized in 1979. The official status was maintained under the country's 1987 constitution. The use of Haitian Creole in literature has been small but is increasing. Morisseau was one of the first and most influential authors to write in Haitian Creole. Since the 1980s, many educators, writers and activists have written literature in Haitian Creole. Today numerous newspapers, as well as radio and television programs, are produced in Haitian Creole.

As required by the Joseph C. Bernard (Secrétaire d'État de l'éducation nationale) law of 18 september 1979, the Institut Pédagogique National established an official orthography for Kreyòl, and slight modifications were made over the next two decades. For example, the hyphen (-) is no longer used, nor is the apostrophe. The only accent accepted is the grave accent (è, ò, or à).

Phonology and Orthography

This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Haitian creole is a language where orthography strictly follows pronunciation, except for proper nouns and foreign words. According to the official standardized orthography, Haitian Creole is composed of the following 32 sounds : a, an, b, ch, d, e ,è, en, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, ng, o, ò, on, ou, oun, p, r, s, t, ui, v, w, y, z. Of note is the absence of letters c, q, u and x. Letter k is to be used for the sounds of letters c and q, while letter i (and its sound) is used to replace letter u. As for letter x, its sound is produced by using the combination of letters k and s, "ks".

Consonants
Haitian orthography IPA Examples nearest English equivalent
b b bagay before
ch ʃ cheve shoe
d d dènye do
f f fig festival
g ɡ gòch gain
h h hinghang hotel
j ʒ jedi vision
k k kle sky
l l lin clean
m m moun moon
n n nòt note
ng ŋ bèl filing feeling
p p pakèt spy
r ɣ rezon ruin
s s sis six
t t tonton telephone
ui ɥi nuit huis-clos
v v vwazen vision
w w wi we
y j pye yes
z z zero zero
Vowels
Haitian orthography IPA Examples nearest English equivalent
a a abako apple
an ã anpil genre
e e kle clay
è ɛ fèt festival
en ɛ̃ mwen doyen
i i lide unique
o o zwazo sole
ò ɔ deyò sort
on ɔ̃ tonton bon appétit
ou u kafou you
oun ũ youn moon

Where consonants appear in pairs, the one on the left is voiceless.

Orthographically, open-mid vowels carry a grave accent ‹`› to distinguish them from close-mid vowels (e.g. ‹e› for /e/ and ‹è› for /ɛ/). ‹n› indicates nasalization when following ‹a›, ‹e›, or ‹o›. However, if a vowel before ‹n› carries a grave accent, the vowel is oral (e.g. ‹on› = /ɔ̃/, but ‹òn› = /ɔn/.)


Grammar

Haitian Creole grammar differs greatly from French and is much more analytical: 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.

Many grammatical features, particularly pluralization of nouns and indication of possession, are indicated by appending certain suffixes, 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’).

Although the lexicon is mostly French, the sentence structure is like that of the West African Fongbe language. This is because many of the enslaved peoples that were brought to Haiti came from the former kingdom of Dahomey[citation needed] (present day Benin).

French Fongbe Haitian Creole
Ma bécane (my bike) Keke che (keke = bike / che = my) Bekàn mwen (bekàn = bike mwen = my)
French Fongbe Haitian Creole
Mes bécanes (my bikes) Keke che le (my bikes) Bekàn mwen yo (my bikes)

Pronouns

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

person/number Creole Short form French English
1/singular Mwen M’ Je, me, moi "I", "me"
2/singular Ou (*) W’ Tu, te, vous "thou", "you" (sing.)
3/singular Li L’ Il, elle, on "He", "she"
1/plural Nou N’ Nous "We", "us"
2/plural Nou or Ou (**)   Vous "You" (pl.)
3/plural Yo Y’ Ils, Elles "They", "them"

(*) 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.

Haitian Creole French English
Liv yo Les livres The books
Machin yo Les machines The cars
Fi yo mete rob Les filles mettent les robes The girls put on dresses.

Possession

Possession is indicated by placing the possessor or possessive pronoun 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. In northern Haiti, an "a" or "an" is placed before the possessive pronoun.

Unlike in English, possession does not indicate definiteness ("my friend" as opposed to "a friend of mine"), and possessive constructions are often followed be a definite article.

Haitian Creole French English
Lajan li Son argent "His/her money"
"Fanmi mwen" or "fanmi m" or "fanmi an m" Ma famille My family
Kay yo Leur maison / Leurs maisons "Their house" or "their houses"
"Papa ou" or "papa a ou" Ton père Your father
Chat Pierre a Le chat de Pierre Pierre's cat
Chèz Marie a La chaise de Marie Marie's chair
Zanmi papa Jean L’ami du père de Jean Jean's father's friend
Papa vwazen zanmi nou Le père du voisin de notre ami Our friend's neighbor's father

Indefinite article

The language has one indefinite article, yon /jõ/, roughly corresponding to English "a/an" and French un/une. Yon 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:

Haitian Creole French English
Yon kouto Un couteau A knife
Yon kravat Une cravate 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 an (ã) oral consonant and is preceded by an oral vowel, it becomes la:

Haitian Creole French English
kravat la La cravate The tie
Liv la Le livre The book
kay la La maison The house

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

Haitian Creole French English
Lamp lan La lampe The lamp
Bank lan La banque The bank

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

Haitian Creole French English
kouto a Le couteau The knife
Peyi a Le pays The country

If a word ends in "mi" or "mou" or "ni" or "nou", it becomes an:

Haitian Creole French English
Fanmi an La Famille The family
Mi an Le mur The wall

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

Haitian Creole French English
Chen an Le chien The dog
Pon an Le pont The bridge

If the last sound is a nasal consonant, it becomes nan, but may also be "lan"

Haitian Creole French English
Machin nan La voiture The car
Telefòn nan Le téléphone The telephone
Madanm nan / Fanm nan La dame / La femme The woman

"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): sa a = This here / that there (ceci / cela)

Haitian Creole French English
Jaden sa bèl Ce jardin est beau This/that garden is beautiful.

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

Haitian Creole French English
sa se zanmi mwen C’est mon ami This/that is my friend
sa se chen frè mwen C’est le chien de mon frère This/that is my brother's dog

Verbs

Many verbs in Haitian Creole are the same spoken words as the French infinitive, but 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.

Haitian Creole French English
Li al travay le maten Il va au travail le matin. He/she goes to work in the morning.
Li dòmi le soi Il dort le soir. He/she sleeps in the evening.
Li li bib la Il lit la Bible. He/she reads the Bible.
Mwen fè manje Je fais a manger. I make food. (I cook)
Nou toujou etidye Nous étudions toujours. We always study.

Copulas

Main article: Copula (linguistics) § Haitian Creole

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

The verb se (pronounced "say") is used to link a subject with a predicate nominative:

Haitian Creole French English
Li se frè mwen Il est mon frère he is my brother
Mwen se yon doktè Je suis un docteur I am a doctor
Sa se yon pye mango C’est un manguier That is a mango tree
Nou se zanmi Nous sommes amis We are friends

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

Haitian Creole French English
Se yon bon ide C’est une bonne idée That is a good idea
Se nouvo chemiz mwen C’est ma nouvelle chemise This is my new shirt

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

Haitian Creole French English
Li pral vin bofrè m (mwen) Il va devenir mon beaufrère He will be my brother-in-law
Mwen vle vin yon doktè Je veux devenir un docteur I want to become a doctor
Sa pral vin on pye mango Ça va devenir un manguier That will become a mango tree
Nou pral vin zanmi Nous allons devenir amis We will be friends

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

Haitian Creole French English
"Ayisyen mwen ye" = "Mwen se ayisyen" Je suis haïtien I am Haitian
Koman ou ye? Comment êtes-vous? How are you?

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":

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen gen yon zanmi ki malad J’ai un ami malade I have a sick friend.
Zanmi mwen malad. Mon ami est malade. My friend is sick.

"to have"

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

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen gen lajan nan bank lan. J’ai d’argent dans la banque. I have money in the bank.

"there is"

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

Haitian Creole French English
Gen anpil ayisyen nan florid. Il y a beaucoup haïtiens en floride. There are many Haitians in Florida.
Gen yon moun la. Il y a quelqu’un là. There is someone here or there.
Pa gen moun la. Il n’y a personne là. There is nobody here or there.
Mwen genyen match la. J’ai gagné le match I won the game.

"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).

Haitian Creole French English
Eske ou konnen non li? Est-ce que tu connais son nom ? Do you know his/her name?

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

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen pa konnen kote li ye. Je ne sais pas où il est I don't know where he/she is.

(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.

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen konn fè manje. Je sais comment faire à manger I know how to cook (lit. "I know how to make food")
Eske ou konn ale Ayiti? Est-ce que tu as été à Haïti ? Have you been to Haïti? (lit. "Do you know to go to Haiti?")
Li pa konn li franse. Il ne sait pas lire le français He/she can't read French (lit. "He doesn't know how to read French.")

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.

Haitian Creole French English
kòman ou fè pale kreyol? Comment as-tu appris à parler créole ? How did you learn to speak Haitian Creole?
Marie konn fè mayi moulen. Marie sait faire de la farine de maïs Marie knows how to make cornmeal.

"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".

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen kapab ale demen. Je peux y aller demain I can go tomorrow.
Petèt m ka fè sa demen. Je peux peut-être faire ça demain 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 for stative verbs:

Haitian Creole French English
Mwen pale kreyòl. Je parle créole I speak Creole

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

Haitian Creole French English
mwen manje j'ai mangé I ate
ou manje tu as mangé you ate
li manje il/elle a mangé he/she ate
nou manje nous avons mangé we ate
yo manje ils/elles ont mangé they ate

(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:

Tense marker Tense Annotations
te simple past
t ap past progressive a combination of te and ap, "was doing"
ap present progressive With ap and a, the pronouns nearly always take the short form (m ap, l ap, n ap, y ap, etc.)
a future some limitations on use
pral near or definite future translates to "going to"
ta conditional future a combination of te and a, "will do"

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:

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 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"

Also, those examples can mean "will eat" depending on the context of the sentence.

M ap manje apre m priye - "I will eat after I pray" / Mwen pap di sa - "I will not say that"

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 pi ta - "See you later" (lit. "We will see (each other) later) from the old patois (Nous sommes à voire plus tard > > Nous à voire plus tard) meaning: we are to see 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 l te gen uit an... - "When he/she 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 epi m te wè yon chen - "I was walking and I saw a dog"

Additional time-related markers:

fèk - recent past ("just")
sòt - similar to fè’k

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 m 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:

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

Lexicon

See also: Haitian Creole Lexicon
See also: Wiktionary:Appendix:Haïtian Creole Swadesh list

Although 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), Haitian creole inherited many words of different origins, among them Fon, Kongo, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Taino and Arabic, a testament to the numerous contacts with different cultures that led to the formation of the language.

Being a living language, Haitian Creole creates and borrows new words to describe new or old concepts and realities. Examples of this are "fè bak" which was borrowed from English and means 'to move backwards' (the original word derived from French is "rekile" from reculer), and also from English, "napkin", which is being used as well as the original Creole word "tòchon".

Sample

Creole IPA Origin English
anasi /anasi/ Template:Ak icon "ananse" "spider"
annanna /ãnãna/ (Taino) "anana", "pineapple" (The word was absorbed into standard French) "pineapple"
Ayiti /ajiti/ (Taino) "Haiti(mountainous land)"
bagay /baɡaj/ Template:Fr icon bagage, "baggage" "thing"
bannan /bãnãn/ Template:Fr icon banane, "banana" "Plantains"
bekàn /bekan/ Template:Fr icon bécane /bekan/ "bicycle"
boko /boko/ (Fon) bokono "sorcerer"
Bondye /bõdje/ Template:Fr icon Bon Dieu /bõdjø/ "God" or "God!"/"Good Lord!"
chenèt /ʃenɛt/ Template:Fr icon (Antilles) la quénette "mamoncillo", "chenette", "guinip", "gap" [nb 1]
chouk /ʃõk/ Template:Ff icon Chuk - to pierce, to poke "poke"
deyè /dɛjɛ/ Template:Fr icon derrière /dɛʁjɛʁ/ "behind"
diri /diɣi/ Template:Fr icon du riz /dy ʁi/ "rice"
fig /fiɡ/ Template:Fr icon figue /fiɡ/ "Banana"
je /ʒe/ Template:Fr icon yeux /jø/ (plural of "oeil") "eye"
kiyèz, tchok, poban /kijɛz, tʃɔk, pobã/   "hog banana" [nb 2]
kle /kle/ Template:Fr icon clé /kle/, "key" "wrench" or "key"
kle kola /kle kola/ Template:Fr icon clé /kle/, "key" + Eng. "cola" "bottle opener"
kònfleks /kõnfleks/ Template:En icon "corn flakes" "breakfast cereal"
kaoutchou /kautʃu/ Template:Fr icon caoutchouc, "rubber" "tire"
lakay /lakaj/ Template:Fr icon la cahutte /la kayt/ "the hut" "house"
lalin /lalin/ Template:Fr icon la lune /la lyn/ "moon"
li /li/ Template:Fr icon Lui "he/she/him/her"
makak /makak/ Template:Fr icon macaque /makak/ "monkey"
manbo /mãbo/ Template:Kg icon mambu or Fongbe nanbo "voodoo priestess"
marasa /maɣasa/ Template:Kg icon mabasa "twins"
matant /matãt/ Template:Fr icon ma tante, "my aunt" "aunt", "aged woman"
moun /mun/ Template:Fr icon monde "people/person"
mwen /mwɛ̃/ Template:Fr icon moi /mwa/ "me","I","myself"
nimewo /nimewo/ Template:Fr icon numéro /nymeʁo/ "number"
oungan /ũgã/ (Fon) houngan "voodoo priest"
Ozetazini /ozetazini/ Template:Fr icon Aux États-Unis /etazyni/ "United States"
piman /pimã/ Template:Fr icon piment /pimã/ a very hot pepper
pann /pãn/ Template:Fr icon pendre /pãdʁ/, "to hang" "clothesline"
pwa /pwa/ Template:Fr icon pois /pwa/, "pea" "bean"
seyfing /seifiŋ/ Template:En icon surfing "sea-surfing"
tonton /tõtõ/ Template:Fr icon tonton "uncle", "aged man"
vwazen /vwazɛ̃/ Template:Fr icon voisin /vwazɛ̃/ "neighbor"
yo /jo/ (Fon) ye "they / them / their" - plural marker
zonbi /zõbi/ Template:Kg icon nzumbi "soulless corpse / living dead / ghost"
zwazo /zwazo/ Template:Fr icon les oiseaux /wazo/ (frontal "z" kept with liaison) "bird"
  1. ^ The gap between a person's two front teeth.
  2. ^ A banana that is short and fat, not a plantain and not a conventional banana; regionally called "hog banana" or "sugar banana" in English.

Nouns derived from trade marks

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

  • kolget (Colgate) or pat - "toothpaste"
  • jilèt (Gillette) - "razor"
  • pampèz (Pampers) or kouchèt - "diaper" or (Br) "nappy"
  • kodak (Kodak) - "camera"
  • frijidè (Frigidaire) - "refrigerator"
  • dèlco (Delco) - "generator"
  • iglou (Igloo) or tèmòs (Thermos) - "cooler"
  • chiklèt (Chiclets) - "chewing gum"
  • kitèks (Cutex) - "nail polish"
  • djip (Jeep) - "SUV"
  • douko (Duco) - "automobile paint"
  • koteks (Kotex) - "sanitary napkin"

nèg and 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 a foreigner of any color.

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, roz, mawon, etc. Some Haitians consider such labels as offensive because of their association with color discrimination and the Haitian class system, while others use the terms freely.

Examples

Salutations

  • A demen! – See you tomorrow!
  • A pi ta! – See you later!
  • Adye! – Good bye! [Permanently]
  • Anchante! – enchanted (Nice to meet you!)
  • Bon apre-midi! – Good afternoon!
  • Bònn nui! – Good night!
  • Bonjou! – Good day! / Good morning!
  • Bonswa! – Good evening
  • Dezole! – Sorry!
  • Eskize m! – Excuse me!
  • Ki jan ou ale? – How is it going? The kreyol way it is written translates to: "how are you going?"
  • Ki jan ou rele? – What is your name?
  • Ki jan ou ye? – How are you?
  • Ki laj ou? – What is your age? (How old are you?)
  • Ki laj ou genyen? – How old are you?
  • Ki non ou / ki non w? – What is your name?
  • Koman ou ale? – How is it going?
  • Koman ou rele? – What is your name?
  • Koman ou ye? – How are you?
  • Kon si, kon sa – So, so
  • M ap boule – I'm managing (I’m burning) [Response to “sak pase” or “sak ap fèt”]
  • M ap viv – I’m living
  • Mal – Bad
  • Mwen byen – I’m well
  • Mwen dakò – I agree
  • Mwen gen…an – I am…years old
  • Mwen la – I’m fine
  • Mwen rele… – My name is…
  • N a wè pi ta! – We will see later (See you later!)
  • Non m se… – My name is…
  • Orevwa! – Good bye [Temporarily]
  • Pa mal – Not bad
  • Pa pi mal – Not so bad
  • Padon! – Pardon! / Sorry! Move!
  • Padonne m! – Pardon me! Forgive me!
  • Pòte w byen! – Carry yourself well! (Take care!)
  • Sak ap fèt? – What’s going on? What's up? [Informal]
  • Sak pase? – What’s going on? / What’s happening? [Informal]
  • Tout al byen – All goes well (All is well)
  • Tout bagay anfòm – Everything is in form (Everything is fine)
  • Tout pa bon – All is not good (All is not well)

Proverbs and Expressions

Haitian creole is a very figurative language, and as such uses a lot of proverbs and colourful expressions to illustrate many situations. Speakers of Haitian creole will use them frequently, showing knowledge of the language and of the Haitian culture.

Proverbs

  • Men anpil, chay pa lou - Unity creates strength (With many hands, the burden is light) - The Haitian creole equivalent of the Haitian motto written in French "L'union fait la force".
  • Apre bal, tanbou lou - There are consequences to your actions
  • Sak vid pa kanpe - You can't work without food. (Literally: An empty sack does not stand)
  • Pitit tig se tig - Like father like son. (Literally: the son of a tiger is a tiger).
  • Ak pasyans w ap wè tete foumi - Anything is possible. (Literally: With patience you will see the breast of the ant)
  • Bay kou bliye, pòte mak sonje – The giver of the blow forgets, the carrier of the scar remembers
  • Mache chèche pa janm dòmi san soupe - You will get what you deserve
  • Bèl dan pa di zanmi – Just because one smiles at you doesn't mean they're your friend
  • Bèl entèman pa di paradi – A beautiful funeral doesn't guarantee heaven
  • Bel fanm pa di bon menaj - A beautiful wife doesn't guarantee a happy marriage.
  • Dan konn mode lang - People who work together sometimes hurt each other (Literally: Teeth are known to bite the tongue).
  • Sak rive koukouloulou a sa rive kakalanga tou – What happens to the turkey can happen to the rooster too.
  • Chak jou pa Dimanch - Your luck won't last forever
  • Fanm pou yon tan, manman pou tout tan – Wife for one time, mother for all time
  • Nèg di san fè, Bondye fè san di – People say without doing, God does without saying
  • Sa Bondye sere pou ou, lavalas pa ka pote l ale - What God has saved for you, nobody can take it away.
  • Nèg rich se milat, milat pov se nèg – A rich negro is a mulatto, a poor mulatto is a negro
  • Pale franse pa di lèspri ou – Speaking French doesn't mean you're smart.
  • Wòch nan dlo pa konnen doulè wòch nan solèy – The rock in the water doesn't know the pain of the rock in the sun
  • Ravèt pa janm gen rezon devan poul - Justice will always be on the side of the stronger
  • Si ou bwè dlo nan vè, respèkte vè a – If you drink water from a glass, respect the glass
  • Si travay te bon bagay, moun rich ta pran l lontan – If work were a good thing, the rich would've grabbed it a long time ago
  • Sèl pa vante tèt li di li sale - Let others praise you (Said to ridicule those who praise themselves)
  • Bouch granmoun santi, sak ladan l se rezon - Wisdom comes from the mouth of old people

Expressions

  • Se lave men, siye l atè - It was useless work (Literally: Wash your hands and wipe them on the floor)
  • M ap di ou sa kasayòl te di bèf la - Mind your own business
  • Li pale franse – He cannot be trusted, he's a trickster. (Literally: He speaks French)
  • Kreyòl pale, kreyòl konprann – Speak plainly, do not deceive (Literally: Creole spoken is Creole understood)
  • Bouche nen w pou bwè dlo santi - You have to accept a bad situation (Literally: Pinch your nose to drink smelly water)
  • Mache sou pinga w pou ou pa pile sou sa w te konnen - You need to be careful to avoid known problems
  • Tann jis nou tounen pwa tann - To wait forever (Literally: Wait until you become a tender pea) - Word play on "tann", which means "to wait" and also "tender"
  • San pran souf - Without taking a breath - Continuously

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 Creole-speaking populations are found in Montreal, Quebec (where French is the first official language), New York City, Boston, and Central and South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach). To reach out to 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.

Haitian language and culture is taught in many colleges in the United States as well as in the Bahamas. Indiana University has a Creole Institute [1] 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. Tulane University, Brown University, Columbia University, and University of Miami are also offering classes in Haitian Creole. The University of Oregon and Duke University will soon be offering classes as well.

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. 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.[2] 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[3]) who reside in the neighboring Dominican Republic ,[4] although the locals do not speak it.

Translation efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake

After the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, international help badly needed translation tools for communicating in Haitian Creole. Furthermore, international organizations had little idea who to contact as translators. As an emergency measure, Carnegie Mellon University released data for its own research into the public domain.[5] Microsoft Research and Google Translate have implemented alpha version machine translators based on the Carnegie Mellon data.

In addition, several free apps have been published for use on the iPhone & iPod Touch, including learning flashcards by Byki and two medical dictionaries, one by Educa Vision and a second by Ultralingua, which includes an audio phrase book and a section on cultural anthropology.

Haiti is isolated from the rest of the world by a significant language barrier. Lexical information is incomplete. For example, the machine translators provided by Microsoft and Google are only in alpha mode and have not made it to beta testing. Very few non-Haitians know the language, and most Haitians do not understand another language, even French. The language barrier has confounded earthquake relief work as well.

References

  1. ^ Raymond G. Gordon, Jr. (ed.). "Haitian Creole French". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2008-12-22. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  2. ^ Haiti in Cuba
  3. ^ Dr1.com: Illegal Haitians deported
  4. ^ Languages of Dominican Republic
  5. ^ Carnegie Mellon releases data on Haitian Creole to hasten development of translation tools

Further reading

  • Degraff, Michel (2001). "Morphology in Creole genesis: Linguistics and ideology". In Kenstowicz, Michael (ed.). Ken Hale: A life in language. Cambridge: MIT Press. pp. 52–121.
  • Degraff, John AS (2005). "Linguists' Most Dangerous Myth: The Fallacy of Creole Exceptionalism". Language in Society. 34 (4): 533–591.
  • Fattier, Dominique (1998). "Contribution à l'étude de la genèse d'un créole: L'Atlas linguistique d'Haïti, cartes et commentaires (Dissertation)". Language in Society. Université de Provence.
  • Spears, Arthur K., and Carole M. Berotte Joseph, eds. The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use, and Education (Lexington Books; 2010) 297 pages. Topics include Creole and English code-switching in New York City, Creole in education in Haiti, and Creole and French in Haitian literature.
  • Turnbull, Wally R. (2000). Creole Made Easy, Light Messages. ISBN 0-9679937-1-7.
 
Haitian Creole edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Haitian Creole test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator
 
Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Haitian Creole
 
Wikiversity has learning resources about Haitian Creole
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