Byenvini nan Forum Kreyòl Ayisyen nan!
I’m not expecting for anyone to follow this course, but I would like to have it here for present and/or future reference’s sake. I must make a disclaimer though: Although I am a Creole by blood, I was not born in Haïti, nor have I lived there or travelled there. Although I speak Creole with much of my family by default, code-switching [with English here in the States, and with French in Québec], both in vocabulary and grammar is the rule, not the exception, in the Diaspora – my family is certainly not one of the exceptions. Therefore, I will do my best to answer your questions to the best of my ability, or to ask a relatve, but you have been warned.
A short introduction and grammatical sketch of Haïtian Créole:
Haïtian Créole, along with French, is the official language of the first Black republic – Haïti. By learning Haïtian Créole, you will be exposed to a vibrant culture that has adamantly defended itself from the encroachments of Western imperialism with fierce pride and dignity. This language is one that is spoken by over 12 million speakers. Surprisingly, almost a fourth of these speakers are scattered throughout the world in what we know as the Haïtian Diaspora. Most Haïtians that live abroad reside in France, in metropolitan Francophone Canada, in the United States [primarily Miami, New York and Boston – no other American cities exist to many Haïtians ] or work to eke out a living in the surrounding Caribbean countries. Within Haïti, the role of the language is the epitome of a contradiction. While few Haïtians ever learn French fluently, French is the language that is associated with sophistication and the one that is largely used to determine social class, as well as to interact with the world – the language of global relations, in effect. Haïtian Créole, on the other hand, is a ‘low’ language, fit for being spoken in the home, but undesirable in the public sphere of daily life. Ironically, the ‘French’ of the elite of Port-au-Prince would be mostly incomprehensible to your average French or French-Canadian. - In many parts of the Caribbean, it suffices to know enough French to convince everyone else that you have a mastery of French.
What is a Creole? – A creole can be defined in this way : a language that has come into existence through the attempts of speakers of two different languages to communicate – the result is often a language that is simple in vocabulary and in grammar. In our case, Haïtian Créole is primarily a fusion of French and several African languages that arose from the communication of African slaves with their French masters. The ideology that Creoles are inferior is common even amongst Creoles themselves, but foreign learners make grammatical mistakes, just as in any other language, testifying to the fact that simplified does not translate into easy, and the so-called ‘simplistic’ vocabulary does not by any means leave speakers who must use only Haïtian Créole lacking in any words that would be used in the language’s natural environment. French speakers may notice several grammatical oddities that blatantly depart from that of French, but one must keep two points clearly in mind a) the grammar of the French Creoles is heavily influenced by that of African languages, including Yoruba, Ewe, Fon and Igbo and b) French in the Caribbean had already meshed with that of the native Amerindians of the Caribbean island – it was this dialect of French and these African languages that meshed to form Haïtian Créole, and all of the other Caribbean French Creoles as we know them. Clearly, there should be no questions in anyone's mind that Haïtian Créole is its own language, and not a dialect of French. Indeed, it is as Aimé Césaire said, “Creole is a language whose body is French, but whose soul is African.”
The contemporary role of Haïtian Créole is larger than it has ever been in history. It now has an official orthography, which although is not often strictly adhered to, has promoted the growth of literature and of the daily media in Haïtian Créole, both in Haïti and abroad. The Diaspora has, in fact, been able to promote the usage of Haïtian Créole in ESL programs in the United States, as well as the development of radio and television programs in Haïtian Créole – even movies have been produced in Haïtian Créole!
In modern times, there are three distinctive dialects spoken in Haïti. Despite the various regions in Haïti being relatively isolated due to the topography, the differences are primarily in lexicon, having taken different borrowings from French than other dialects, as well as in idiomatic expressions (proverbs) - the combination makes noticeable differences, but certainly not enough to hamper intelligibility. The standard dialect is spoken in the capital Port-au-Prince; there are also two dialects spoken in the north and in the south. - The dialect that I speak is from the far north. In addition to the dialects of Haïti, the language is also highly mutually intelligible with the Antillian Créoles and with Louisiana Créole – we can usually understand each other almost 100%, excepting certain idiomatic expressions that just sound ‘quaint’. Mauritian Créole, Réunion Créole and Seychellois Créole are also close enough to Haïtian Créole to be highly mutually intelligible with it. One can accurately say that there is, to some extent, a pan-Creolophone identity – this stems from the sharing of a common bloodline, a common language, a common culture, a common struggle, however, tension between Creolophones also exists for political and social reasons.
Haïtian Créole grammar reflects its Creole roots, naturally. It is completely lacking in any form of declension, conjugation and arbitrary grammatical gender. It is a SOV [subject object verb] language, but one that can be as different from French as any other Indo-European SOV language. For instance, while the indefinite article is placed before the noun in all cases, the definite article is always placed after the noun. Furthermore, it must be adjusted based on the last morpheme of the word preceding it. This is a trait from West Africa. Plurals, as well as verb tenses are formed with the use of particles, but these can often be omitted if ambiguity is unlikely –the grammatical function is virtually implied, in other words. This is also the case with possession, for which there is no particle, word or phrase used. I wish anyone who wants to learn Haïtian Créole the best of luck. Be assured that you will be received warmly by all Creolophones - particularly Haïtians in learning this language!
Pronunciation
Vowels:
The pronunciation of Haïtian Créole is quite straightforward – it is a creole after all! There are certain sounds and sound changes that particularly French speakers benefit from understanding, and using in the oral language. Also, be cogniscent of the fact that many Diaspora speakers will not strictly observe these rules, but rather will allow the sounds of the word to take on that of the original language – be it French, English, Spanish, etc. Note: The examples are only for pronunciation’s sake – do not feel obligated to learn them at this time.
There are 11 vowel sounds in Haïtian Créole, 3 of which are nasal vowels.
A– this corresponds roughly to the /a/ of IPA. It is similar to the word ‘mat’ in general American English, but without the glide and slightly shorter, and it is similar to the a in ‘battre’ in French.
Examples: ka (can [the modal verb], sak (that which), akòz (because), ase (enough), depase (exceed)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
E – this corresponds to the /e/ of IPA. It is like ‘say’ in English, but without the glide, and ‘parlé’ in French.
Examples: Pale (to speak), kite (to leave), deja (already), nimewo (number), ble (blue)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
È – this corresponds to /ɛ/ in IPA. It is pronounced as the e in ‘bed’ in English, and like ‘près’ in French. At the end of a word, the letter y also sounds similar to this.
Examples: kilomèt (kilometre), très (lock [of hair]), pèdi (lose), fè (to do/iron), lotèl (hotel), Kreyòl (Creole)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
I – this corresponds to the /i/ of IPA. It is like the ee in the word ‘leek’ in English, and like the I in the word ‘conduire’ in French. French-speakers should at this point note that the [y] , or French ‘u’ sound was extremely difficult for, and continues to be a good shibboleth for Creolophones. The /y/ sound maps onto this /i/ vowel.
Examples: vivan (living), li (he/she), Ayiti (Haïti), klik (gang), lib (free [as in, without restrain])
Examples of the u/i merger: Haïtian Créole - itil, French - utile; Haïtian Créole dife, French du feu; Haïtian Créole plim, French plume
Koute pawòl sa yo!
O – this corresponds to the /o/ of IPA. It corresponds to the o in ‘low’ of English, and to the vowels of ‘l’eau’ in French.
Examples: flote (drift), bo (kiss ), matlo ( noun, mate), moman (moment)
[You can see what mood I was in when I wrote this! ]
Koute pawòl sa yo!
Ò – this corresponds closely to the /ɔ/ of IPA. It is like the diphthong in the English word ‘mow’ and like the o in the word ‘parole’ in French.
Examples: Pawòl (word), alò (well then [common filler word]), filozòf (philosopher), kò (PM me, if you want to know )
Koute pawòl sa yo!
OU – this corresponds to the /u/ of IPA. It is like the ‘oo’ of ‘loot’ in English, and like the ‘ou’ of ‘cou’ in French.
Examples: fou (crazy), ou (you), doudou (darling, sweetheart [warning – reserved only for one’s partner generally]), foure (put s.th. inside of s.th.), patou (everywhere)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
Nasal Vowels
Nasal sounds differ from normal vowels in their manner of articulation. When a nasal vowel is articulated, air escapes from both the mouth and the nose. This feature was taken from the French language; however, Francophones will note that French has much heavier nasal sounds than do any of the French creoles. Haïtian Créole in particular only uses very slight nasal sounds. All nasal vowels are written in this manner : first, the vowel to be articulated is written, and then a single n is written to denote nasalization. A double n in no case denotes nasalization.
Example : Annou alè! (Let’s go) M ka santi van nan. (I can feel the wind)
Koute fraz sa yo!
In this section, I have omitted giving examples in French because of the diversity of pronunciations of the nasal vowels – please see the American English equivalent and/or listen to the voice files that I have made.
AN- this corresponds to the /ã/ of IPA. It is similar to the ‘an’ in the English word ‘man’, but without articulation of the n.
Examples: van (wind), nan (in, the), etonan (surprising/amazing), Zantiy (the Antilles), pikan (thorn)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
EN – This corresponds to the /ẽ/ of IPA. It is similar to the word ‘can’ when uttered without the n sound in quick speech.
Examples: diven (wine), byen (well, [intensifier]), mwen (I), fen (end)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
ON – This corresponds to the /õ/ of IPA. It is similar to the word ‘cone’ in English without fully articulating the n sound.
Examples: Kamyon (truck), Pantalon (pants), Tonbe (to start doing s.th.), ponp (pump [n.]), ondire ki (everyone says)
Koute pawòl sa yo!
The next lesson will go over the consonants, and the rules of stress for Haïtian Creole.