Haitian Creole

Short description: French-based creole language

Not to be confused with Haitian French, a variety of French spoken in Haiti.

"Saint-Domingue Creole" redirects here. It is not to be confused with Dominican Creole French.

Haitian Creole

kreyòl ayisyen
Pronunciation| ht
Native to| Haiti
Ethnicity| Haitians

Native speakers

| 13 million (2020)e27

Language family

Creole of African languages[1], lexified by French

* Circum-Caribbean French[2]
* Haitian Creole

Writing system

| Latin (Haitian Creole alphabet)
Official status

Official language in

| Haiti

Recognised minority
language in

Bahamas[3]
Cuba[3]
Costa Rica

Regulated by| Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen[4]
(Haitian Creole Academy)
Language codes
ISO 639-1| `ht`
ISO 639-1| `hat`
ISO 639-3| `hat`
Glottolog| `hait1244` Haitian[5]
Linguasphere| `51-AAC-cb`
IETF| `ht`

Distribution of Haitian Creole. Areas in dark blue are where it is spoken by a majority; areas in light blue are where it is spoken by a minority.

This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

File:Anbasadè Hervé Denis ap pale Relasyon ki dwe Egziste ant Ayiti ak Dyaspora a.webm

Haitian Creole (/ˈheɪʃən ˈkriːoʊl/; French: Créole haïtien fr; Haitian Creole: kreyòl ayisyen, ht[6][7]), or simply Creole (Haitian Creole: kreyòl), is an Atlantic–Congo and French-based creole language that is spoken by over 13 million Haitian people worldwide.[8][9] It is one of the two official languages of Haiti (the other being French), where it is the native language of the vast majority of the population. It is also the most widely spoken creole language in the world.[10][11]

The three main dialects of Haitian Creole are the Northern, Central, and Southern dialects; the Northern dialect is predominantly spoken in Cap-Haïtien, the Central in Port-au-Prince, and the Southern in the Cayes area.[12]

The language emerged from contact between French settlers and enslaved Africans during the Atlantic slave trade in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) in the 17th and 18th centuries.[13][14] Although its vocabulary largely derives from 18th-century French, its grammar is that of a West African Volta–Congo language branch, particularly the Fongbe and Igbo languages.[14] It also has influences from Spanish, English, Portuguese, Taíno, and other West African languages.[15] It is not mutually intelligible with standard French, and it also has its own distinctive grammar. Some[who?] estimate that Haitians are the largest community in the world to speak a modern creole language;[16][improper synthesis?] others[who?] estimate that more people speak Nigerian Pidgin.[citation needed]

Haitian Creole's use in communities and schools has been contentious since at least the 19th century. Some Haitians view French as inextricably linked to the legacy of colonialism and language compelled on the population by conquerors, while Creole has been maligned by Francophones as a miseducated person's French.[17][18] Until the late 20th century, Haitian presidents spoke only standard French to their fellow citizens, and until the 21st century, all instruction at Haitian elementary schools was in modern standard French, a second language to most of their students.[10]

Haitian Creole is also spoken in regions with Haitian immigrant communities, including other Caribbean islands, French Guiana, Martinique, France, Canada (particularly Quebec) and the United States (including the U.S. state of Louisiana).[19] It is related to Antillean Creole, spoken in the Lesser Antilles, and to other French-based creole languages.

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Origins
* 2.1 Saint-Domingue Creole French
* 2.2 Differences between Haitian Creole and French
* 2.3 Taíno influence
* 3 History
* 3.1 Early development
* 3.2 Becoming an official language
* 3.3 Literature development
* 3.3.1 Notable Haitian Creole-language writers
* 4 Sociolinguistics
* 4.1 Role in society
* 4.2 Use in educational system
* 5 Orthography
* 5.1 Haitian orthography debate
* 5.2 French-based orthography
* 6 Grammar
* 6.1 Pronouns
* 6.2 Possessive pronouns
* 6.2.1 Singular
* 6.2.2 Plural
* 6.3 Plural of nouns
* 6.4 Possession
* 6.5 Indefinite article
* 6.6 Definite article
* 6.7 Demonstratives
* 6.8 Verbs
* 6.8.1 Copula
* 6.8.2 To have
* 6.8.3 There is
* 6.8.4 To know
* 6.8.5 To do
* 6.8.6 To be able to
* 6.8.7 Tense markers
* 6.8.8 Negation
* 7 Lexicon
* 7.1 Sample
* 7.2 Nèg and blan
* 8 Examples
* 8.1 Salutations
* 9 Proverbs and expressions
* 9.1 Proverbs
* 9.2 Expressions
* 10 Usage abroad
* 10.1 United States and Canada
* 10.2 Cuba
* 10.3 Dominican Republic
* 10.4 The Bahamas
* 11 Software
* 12 See also
* 13 References
* 14 Further reading
* 15 External links

## Etymology

The word creole comes from the Portuguese term crioulo, which means "a person raised in one's house" and from the Latin creare, which means "to create, make, bring forth, produce, beget".[20][21] In the New World, the term originally referred to Europeans born and raised in overseas colonies[7] (as opposed to the European-born peninsulares). To be "as rich as a Creole" at one time was a popular saying boasted in Paris during the colonial years of Haiti (then named Saint-Domingue), for being the most lucrative colony in the world.[22] The noun Creole, soon began to refer to the language spoken there as well, as it still is today.[7][21]

## Origins

Haitian Creole contains elements from both the Romance group of Indo-European languages through its superstrate, French, as well as influences from African languages.[2][1][23] There are many theories on the formation of the Haitian Creole language.

One theory estimates that Haitian Creole developed between 1680 and 1740.[24][25][26] During the 17th century, French and Spanish colonizers produced tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane on the island.[26] Throughout this period, the population was made of roughly equal numbers of engagés (white workers), gens de couleur libres (free people of colour) and slaves.[27] The economy shifted more decisively into sugar production about 1690, just before the French colony of Saint-Domingue was officially recognized in 1697.[13][25] The sugar crops needed a much larger labor force, which led to an increase in slave trafficking. In the 18th century an estimated 800,000 West Africans were enslaved and brought to Saint-Domingue.[26] As the slave population increased, the proportion of French-speaking colonists decreased.

Many African slaves in the colony had come from Niger-Congo-speaking territory, and particularly speakers of Kwa languages, such as Gbe from West Africa and the Central Tano languages, and Bantu languages from Central Africa.[25] Singler suggests that the number of Bantu speakers decreased while the number of Kwa speakers increased, with Gbe being the most dominant group. The first fifty years of Saint‑Domingue's sugar boom coincided with emergent Gbe predominance in the French Caribbean. In the interval during which Singler hypothesizes the language evolved, the Gbe population was around 50% of the kidnapped enslaved population.[25]

Classical French (français classique) and langues d'oïl (Norman, Poitevin and Saintongeais dialects, Gallo and Picard) were spoken during the 17th and 18th centuries in Saint‑Domingue, as well as in New France and French West Africa.[7][28] Slaves lacked a common means of communication and as a result would try to learn French to communicate with one another, though most were denied a formal education. With the constant trafficking and enslavement of Africans, the language became increasingly distinct from French. The language was also picked up by other members of the community and became used by the majority of those born in what is now Haiti.[7]

### Saint-Domingue Creole French

A rich Creole planter of Saint-Domingue with his wife

In Saint-Domingue, people of all classes spoke Creole French. There were both lower and higher registers of the language, depending on education and class. Creole served as a lingua franca throughout the West Indies.[29]

> L'Entrepreneur. Mo sorti apprend, Mouché, qué vou té éprouvé domage dan traversée.

> Le Capitaine: Ça vrai.

> L'Entr: Vou crére qué navire à vou gagné bisoin réparations?

> Le C: Ly té carené anvant nou parti, mai coup z'ouragan là mété moué dan cas fair ly bay encor nion radoub.

> L'Entr: Ly fair d'iau en pile?

> Le C: Primié jours aprés z'orage, nou té fair trente-six pouces par vingt-quatre heurs; mai dan beau tem mo fair yo dégagé ça mo pu, et tancher miyor possible, nou fair à présent necqué treize pouces.[30]

> The Entrepreneur: I just learned, sir, that you garnered damages in your crossing.

> The Captain: That's true.

> The Entrepreneur: Do you believe that your ship needs repair?

> The Captain: It careened before we left, but the blow from the hurricane put me in the position of getting it refitted again.

> The Entrepreneur: Is it taking on a lot of water?

> The Captain: The first days after the storm, we took on thirty-six inches in twenty-four hours; but in clear weather, I made them take as much of it out as I was able, and attached it the best we possibly could; we're presently taking on not even thirteen inches.

* * *

The flag of the Empire of Haiti (1804–1806)

> Haïti, l'an 1er, 5e, jour de l'indépendance.

> Chère maman moi,

> Ambassadeurs à nous, partis pour chercher argent France, moi voulé écrire à vous par yo, pour dire vous combien nous contens. Français bon, oublié tout. Papas nous révoltés contre yo, papas nous tués papas yo, fils yo, gérens yo, papas nous brûlées habitations yo. Bagasse, eux viennent trouver nous! et dis nous, vous donner trente millions de gourdes à nous et nous laisser Haïti vous? Vous venez acheter du sucre, du café, de l’indigo chez nous? Mais vous payez la moitié du droit à nous. Vous pensez, chère maman, que nous avons accepté le marché. Le président nous a embrassés, bon papa Makau. Yo bu santé roi de France, santé Boyer, santé Christophe, santé Haïti, santé indépendance. Puis yo dansé Balcindé et Bai chi ca colé avec Haïtiens. Moi pas pouvé dire vous combien tout ça noble et beau.

> Venir voir fils à vous sur habitation, maman moi, li donné vous cassave, gouillave et pimentade. Il est bien content si vous pouvez mener la blanche France pour épouse. Dis-lui, si ben heureuse. Nous plus tuer blancs, frères, amis, et camarades à nous.

> Fils à vous, embrassez-vous, chère maman, moi.

> Congo, Haïtien libre et indépendant, au Trou-Salé.[31]

A Haitian planter

> Haiti, 1st year, 5th day of independence.

> My dear mother,

> Our ambassadors left to get money from France, I want to write to you through them, to tell you how much we are happy. The French are good, they forgot everything. Our fathers revolted against them, our fathers killed their fathers, sons, managers, and our fathers burned down their plantations. Well, they came to find us, and told us, "you give thirty million gourdes to us and we'll leave Haiti to you? (And we replied) Will you come buy sugar, coffee, and indigo from us? You will pay only half directly to us." Do you believe my dear mother, that we accepted the deal? Our President hugged the good papa Makau (the French ambassador). They drank to the health of the King of France, to the health of Boyer, to the health of Christophe, to the health of Haiti, to independence. Then they danced Balcindé and Bai chi ca colé with Haitian women. I can't tell you how beautiful and noble all of this is.

> Come see your son at his plantation, my mother, he will give you cassava, goyava, and pimentade. He will be happy if you can bring him a white Frenchwoman for a wife. Tell her, if you please. We won't kill anymore whites, brothers, friends, and camarades of ours.

> Your son hugs you, my dear mother.

> Congo, free and independent Haitian, at Trou-Salé.

### Differences between Haitian Creole and French

Haitian Creole and French have similar pronunciations and also share many lexical items.[32][33] However, many cognate terms actually have different meanings. For example, as Valdman mentions in Haitian Creole: Structure, Variation, Status, Origin, the word for "frequent" in French is fréquent; however, its cognate in Haitian Creole frekan means 'insolent, rude, and impertinent' and usually refers to people.[34] In addition, the grammars of Haitian Creole and French are very different. For example, in Haitian Creole, verbs are not conjugated as they are in French.[7] Additionally, Haitian Creole possesses different phonetics from standard French; however, it is similar in phonetic structure.[32] The phrase-structure is another similarity between Haitian Creole and French but differs slightly in that it contains details from its African substratum language.[32]

Both Haitian Creole and French have also experienced semantic change: words that had a single meaning in the 17th century have changed or have been replaced in both languages.[7] For example, "Ki jan ou rele?" ("What is your name?") corresponds to the French "Comment vous appelez‑vous ?". Although the average French speaker would not understand this phrase, every word in it is in fact of French origin: qui "who"; genre "manner"; vous "you", and héler "to call", but the verb héler has been replaced by appeler in modern French and reduced to a meaning of "to flag down".[7]

Claire Lefebvre proposed the theory of relexification, arguing that the process of relexification (the replacement of the phonological representation of a substratum lexical item with the phonological representation of a superstratum lexical item, so that the Haitian creole lexical item looks like French, but works like the substratum language(s)) was central in the development of Haitian Creole.[35]

The Fon language, also known as the Fongbe language, is a modern Gbe language native to Benin, Nigeria and Togo in West Africa. This language has a grammatical structure similar to Haitian Creole, possibly making Creole a relexification of Fon with vocabulary from French. The two languages are often compared:[36]

French | Fon  | Haitian Creole  | English

|
|
|

la maison[37] | afe a | kay la | the house

### Taíno influence

Template:Unref section There are a number of Taíno influences in Haitian Creole; many objects, fruit and animal names are either haitianized or have a similar pronunciation. Many towns, places or sites have their official name being a translation of the Taíno word.

Taíno  | Haitian Creole  | Meaning

|
|

Amani | Amani-y  | The nickname of the town of Saint-Marc and famous beach
Ayiti, Ayti | Ayiti, Haiti  | The name of the country and the island. It means "Land of Great Mountains"
Barbacoa | Babekyou  | Barbecue
Bajacu | Bayakou  | The northern star, dawn, a Vodoun Loa associated with the star
Batey | Batèy  | Batey, a settlement around a sugar mill
Caiman | Kayiman  | Alligator
Caimito | Kayimit  | Star apple
Canari | Kannari  | A clay pot to keep water cool
Canoa | Kannòt  | Canoe
Casabe | Kasav  | Cassava
Casique | Kasik  | Cacique, an indigenous chief
Cayo | Okay, or Les Cayes  | A commune and seaport in the Sud département of Haiti
Gonaibo | Gonayiv, or Gonaïves  | The biggest city and capital of Artibonite
Guanabo | Gonav, Gonâve or Lagonav  | The biggest satellite island of Hispaniola and last refuge of the Taíno
Guayaba | Gwayav  | Guava
Hamaca | Amaka  | Hammock
Jatibonico | Latibonit, or Artibonite  | The longest river of Hispaniola and the biggest and most populous département of Haiti. In Taíno the word means "sacred water".
Lambi | Lanbi  | Conch
Mabi | Mabi  | A bitter drink known in the West Indies as Mauby
Maboya | Mabouya  | Iguana
Mahis | Mayi  | Maize
Mamey | Mamey, or Abriko  | The nickname of the town of Abricots
Manati | Lamanten  | Manatee
Mani | Manba  | Peanut butter
Sabana | Savann  | Savanna
Tiburon | Tibiwon  | The same word means "Tiburon", a coastal town in the South Peninsula (also called Tiburon Peninsula) and a river near the town. Also means Shark.
Yaguana | Leyogàn, Léogane  | A coastal town south of Port-au-Prince and capital of the cacicat of Xaragua
Yucahu | Loko, or Louquo  | The patron of healers and plants, a Vodoun Loa related to Yucahu, the supreme deity of the Taíno

## History

### Early development

Haitian Creole developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in the colony of Saint-Domingue, in a setting that mixed speakers of various Niger–Congo languages with French colonists.[13] In the early 1940s under President Élie Lescot, attempts were made to standardize the language. American linguistic expert Frank Laubach and Irish Methodist missionary H. Ormonde McConnell developed a standardized Haitian Creole orthography. Although some regarded the orthography highly, it was generally not well received.[38] Its orthography was standardized in 1979. That same year Haitian Creole was elevated in status by the Act of 18 September 1979.[39] The Institut Pédagogique National established an official orthography for Creole, and slight modifications were made over the next two decades. For example, the hyphen (-) is no longer used, nor is the apostrophe.[40]: 131 [17]: 185–192 The only accent mark retained is the grave accent in ⟨è⟩ and ⟨ò⟩.[17]: 433

### Becoming an official language

The Constitution of 1987 upgraded Haitian Creole to a national language alongside French.[41] It classified French as the langue d'instruction or "language of instruction", and Creole was classified as an outil d'enseignement or a "tool of education". The Constitution of 1987 names both Haitian Creole and French as the official languages, but recognizes Haitian Creole as the only language that all Haitians hold in common.[42]: 263 [43] French is spoken by only a small percentage of citizens.[13][19]

### Literature development

Even without government recognition, by the end of the 19th century, there were already literary texts written in Haitian Creole such as Oswald Durand's Choucoune and Georges Sylvain's Cric? Crac!. Félix Morisseau-Leroy was another influential author of Haitian Creole work. Since the 1980s, many educators, writers, and activists have written literature in Haitian Creole. In 2001, Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry was published. It was the first time a collection of Haitian Creole poetry was published in both Haitian Creole and English.[44] On 28 October 2004, the Haitian daily Le Matin first published an entire edition in Haitian Creole in observance of the country's newly instated "Creole Day".[45]: 556 Haitian Creole writers often use different literary strategies throughout their works, such as code-switching, to increase the audience's knowledge on the language.[19] Literature in Haitian Creole is also used to educate the public on the dictatorial social and political forces in Haiti.[19]

#### Notable Haitian Creole-language writers

Template:Blp unreferenced section

* Louis-Philippe Dalembert (b. 1962), poet and novelist
* Frankétienne (1936–2025), poet, playwright, painter, musician, activist
* Ady Jean-Gardy (b. 1967), international press activist
* Josaphat-Robert Large (1942–2017), poet, novelist and art critic
* Félix Morisseau-Leroy (1912–1998), poet and playwright
* Elsie Suréna (b. 1956), writer and visual artist
* Lyonel Trouillot (b. 1956), poet and novelist

## Sociolinguistics

### Role in society

Although both French and Haitian Creole are official languages in Haiti, French is often considered the high language and Haitian Creole the low language in the diglossic relationship of these two languages in society.[34] That is to say, for the minority of Haitian population that is bilingual, the use of these two languages largely depends on the social context: standard French is used more in public, especially in formal situations, whereas Haitian Creole is used more on a daily basis and is often heard in ordinary conversation.[46]

There is a large population in Haiti that speaks only Haitian Creole, whether under formal or informal conditions:

> French plays no role in the very formal situation of a Haitian peasant (more than 80% of the population make a living from agriculture) presiding at a family gathering after the death of a member, or at the worship of the family lwa or voodoo spirits, or contacting a Catholic priest for a church baptism, marriage, or solemn mass, or consulting a physician, nurse, or dentist, or going to a civil officer to declare a death or birth.

— Yves Dejean[47]: 192

### Use in educational system

In most schools, French is still the preferred language for teaching. Generally speaking, Creole is more used in public schools,[48] as that is where most children of ordinary families who speak Creole attend school.

Historically, the education system has been French-dominant. Except the children of elites, many had to drop out of school because learning French was very challenging to them and they had a hard time to follow up. The Bernard Reform of 1978 tried to introduce Creole as the teaching language in the first four years of primary school; however, the reform overall was not very successful.[49] The use of Creole has grown; after the earthquake in 2010, basic education became free and more accessible to the monolingual masses.[citation needed] pted to expand the use of Creole and improve the school system.[50][51]

## Orthography

Haitian Creole has a phonemic orthography with highly regular spelling, except for proper nouns and foreign words. According to the official standardized orthography, Haitian Creole is composed of the following 32 symbols: ⟨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⟩, and ⟨z⟩.[6]: 100 The letters ⟨c⟩ and ⟨u⟩ are always associated with another letter (in the multigraphs ⟨ch⟩, ⟨ou⟩, ⟨oun⟩, and ⟨ui⟩). The Haitian Creole alphabet has no ⟨q⟩ or ⟨x⟩; when ⟨x⟩ is used in loanwords and proper nouns, it represents the sounds /ks/, /kz/, or /gz/.[17]: 433

| Consonants

Haitian orthography | IPA | Examples | English approximation
b  | b | bagay  | bow
ch  | ʃ | cho  | shoe
d  | d | dous  | do
f  | f | fig  | festival
g  | ɡ | gwo  | gain
h  | h | hountò  | hotel
j  | ʒ | jedi  | measure
k  | k | kle  | sky
l  | l | liv  | clean
m  | m | machin  | mother
n  | n | nòt  | note
ng  | ŋ | bilding | feeling
p  | p | pase  | spy
r  | ɣ | rezon  | between go and loch
s  | s | sis  | six
t  | t | tout  | to
v  | v | vyann  | vent
z  | z | zewo  | zero
Non-native consonants
dj  | dʒ | djaz  | jazz
Semivowels
w  | w | wi  | we
y  | j | pye  | yes
Semivowel followed by vowel (digraph)
ui  | ɥi | uit  | roughly like sweet
| Vowels

Haitian orthography | IPA | Examples | English approximation

(or à before an n)

| a | abako

pàn

| bra
e  | e | ale | hey
è  | ɛ | fèt  | festival
i  | i | lide  | machine
o  | o | oranj  | blow
ò  | ɔ | deyò | sort
ou  | u | nou | you
Nasal vowels

(when not followed by a vowel)  | ã | anpil  | many

(when not followed by a vowel)  | ɛ̃ | mwen | en [ɛ]

(when not followed by a vowel)  | õ | tonton | tone [o]
oun
(when not followed by a vowel)  | ũ | moun | No English equivalent;
nasalized [u]

* There are no silent letters in the Haitian Creole orthography.
* All sounds are always spelled the same, except when a vowel carries a grave accent ⟨`⟩ before ⟨n⟩, which makes it an oral vowel instead of a nasal vowel:
* ⟨en⟩ for /ɛ̃/ and ⟨èn⟩ for /ɛn/;
* ⟨on⟩ for /ɔ̃/ and ⟨òn⟩ for /ɔn/; and
* ⟨an⟩ for /ã/ and ⟨àn⟩ for /an/.
* When immediately followed by a vowel in a word, the digraphs denoting the nasal vowels (⟨an⟩, ⟨en⟩, ⟨on⟩, and sometimes ⟨oun⟩) are pronounced as an oral vowel followed by /n/.
* There is some ambiguity in the pronunciation of the high vowels of the letters ⟨i⟩ and ⟨ou⟩ when followed in spelling by ⟨n⟩.[52] Common words such as moun ("person") and machin ("car") end with consonantal /n/, while very few words, mostly adopted from African languages, contain nasalized high vowels, as in houngan ("vodou priest").
* The diphthong /ɥi/ is extremely rare, and maybe only exists in the common word uit (← French huit) "eight". Most other instances of this diphthong have been replaced by /wi/, e.g. fwi (← fruit) "fruit", nwit (← nuit) "night".

### Haitian orthography debate

The first technical orthography for Haitian Creole was developed in 1940 by H. Ormonde McConnell and Primrose McConnell, Irish Methodist missionaries. It was later revised with the help of Frank Laubach, resulting in the creation of what is known as the McConnell–Laubach orthography.[17]: 434 [53]

The McConnell–Laubach orthography received substantial criticism from members of the Haitian elite. Haitian scholar Charles Pressoir critiqued the McConnell–Laubach orthography for its lack of codified front rounded vowels, which are typically used only by francophone elites.[17]: 436 Another criticism was of the broad use of the letters ⟨k⟩, ⟨w⟩, and ⟨y⟩, which Pressoir argued looked "too American".[17]: 431–432 This criticism of the "American look" of the orthography was shared by many educated Haitians, who also criticized its association with Protestantism.[17]: 432 The last of Pressoir's criticisms was that "the use of the circumflex to mark nasalized vowels" treated nasal sounds differently from the way they are represented in French, which he feared would inhibit the learning of French.[17]: 431

The creation of the orthography was essentially an articulation of the language ideologies of those involved and brought out political and social tensions between competing groups. A large portion of this tension lay in the ideology held by many that the French language is superior, which led to resentment of the language by some Haitians and an admiration for it from others.[17]: 435 This orthographical controversy boiled down to an attempt to unify a conception of Haitian national identity. Where ⟨k⟩ and ⟨w⟩ seemed too Anglo-Saxon and American imperialistic, ⟨c⟩ and ⟨ou⟩ were symbolic of French colonialism.[54]: 191

### French-based orthography

When Haiti was still a colony of France, edicts by the French government were often written in a French-lexicon creole and read aloud to the slave population.[55] The first written text of Haitian Creole was composed in the French-lexicon in a poem called Lisette quitté la plaine in 1757 by Duvivier de la Mahautière, a white Creole planter.[55][56]

Before Haitian Creole orthography was standardized in the late 20th century, spelling varied, but was based on subjecting spoken Haitian Creole to written French, a language whose spelling has a complicated relation to pronunciation. Unlike the phonetic orthography, French orthography of Haitian Creole is not standardized and varies according to the writer; some use exact French spelling, others adjust the spelling of certain words to represent pronunciation of the cognate in Haitian Creole, removing the silent letters. For example:
Li ale travay nan maten (lit. "He goes to work in the morning") could be transcribed as:

* Li ale travay nan maten,
* Lui aller travail nans matin, or
* Li aller travail nans matin.

## Grammar

Haitian Creole grammar is highly analytical: for example, verbs are not inflected for tense or person, and there is no grammatical gender, which means that adjectives and articles are not inflected according to the noun. The primary word order is subject–verb–object as it is in French and English.

Many grammatical features, particularly the pluralization of nouns and indication of possession, are indicated by appending certain markers, like yo, to the main word. There has been a debate going on for some years as to whether these markers are affixes or clitics, and if punctuation such as the hyphen should be used to connect them to the word.[17]: 185–192

Although the language's vocabulary has many words related to their French-language cognates, its sentence structure is like that of the West African Fon language.[36]

Haitian Creole  | Fon  | French  | English

|
|
|

Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | my bike
Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | Script error: No such module "Interlinear". | my bikes

### Pronouns

There are six pronouns: first, second, and third person, each in both singular, and plural; all are of French etymological origin.[57] There is no difference between direct and indirect objects.

Haitian Creole  | Fon[25]: 142 | French  | English

|
|
|

Long form  | Short form[40]: 131 [58]
mwen | m | nyɛ̀ | je | I

me | me

moi
ou[lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2] | w | hwɛ̀ | tu | you (singular), thou (archaic)

toi
li[lower-alpha 3] | l | é, éyɛ̀ | il | he
elle | she, her
le | him, it
la | her, it
l' | him, her, it
lui | him, her, it
nou | n | mí | nous | we, us
you (plural)[lower-alpha 4]
yo[lower-alpha 5] | y | yé | ils | they
elles
les | them
leur
eux

1. ↑ sometimes the French pronoun on ("one", "[generic] you", "[singular] they") is translated to Haitian Creole as ou[59] and other times it is translated as yo[60]
2. ↑ sometimes ou is written as w and in the sample phrases below, w indicates ou.
3. ↑ in the northern part of Haiti, li is often shortened to i as in Guadeloupe, Martinique and the other Lesser Antilles.
4. ↑ in southern Haiti, the second person plural is zòt
5. ↑ sometimes the French pronoun on ("one", "[generic] you", "[singular] they") is translated to Haitian Creole as yo[60] and other times it is translated as ou[59]

### Possessive pronouns

Template:Unref section

#### Singular

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

pa mwen an | le mien | mine (masculine)
la mienne | mine (feminine)
pa ou a | le tien | yours (masculine)
la tienne | yours (feminine)
pa li a | le sien | his/hers/its (masculine)
la sienne | his/hers/its (feminine)
pa nou an | le/la nôtre | ours
le/la vôtre | yours ("of you-PLURAL")
pa yo a | le/la leur | theirs

#### Plural

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

pa mwen yo | les miens | mine
les miennes
pa ou yo | les tiens | yours
les tiennes
pa li yo | les siens | his/hers/its
les siennes
pa nou yo | les nôtres | ours
les vôtres | yours ("of you-PLURAL")
pa yo | les leurs | theirs

### Plural of nouns

Template:Unref section Definite nouns are made plural when followed by the word yo; indefinite plural nouns are unmarked.

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

liv yo | les livres | the books
machin yo | les voitures | the cars
tifi yo met wòb | les filles mettent des robes | the girls put on dresses

### Possession

Possession is indicated by placing the possessor or possessive pronoun after the item possessed. In the Capois dialect of northern Haiti, a or an is placed before the possessive pronoun. Note, however, that this is not considered the standard Kreyòl most often heard in the media or used in writing.[61]

Possession does not indicate definiteness ("my friend" as opposed to "a friend of mine"), and possessive constructions are often followed by a definite article.

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

lajan li | son argent | his money
her money
fanmi mwen | ma famille | my family
fanmi m
fanmi an m (Capois dialect)
kay yo | leur maison | their house
leurs maisons | their houses
papa ou | ton père | your father
papa w
chat Pyè 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

Template:Unref section The language has two indefinite articles, on and yon (pronounced /õ/ and /jõ/) which correspond to French un and une. Yon is derived from the French il y a un ("there is a"). Both are used only with singular nouns, and are placed before the noun:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

on kouto | un couteau | a knife
yon kouto
on kravat | une cravate | a necktie
yon kravat

### Definite article

In Haitian Creole, the definite article has five forms,[62]: 28 and it is placed after the noun it modifies. The final syllable of the preceding word determines which form the definite article takes.[63]: 20 If the last sound is an oral consonant or a glide (spelled 'y' or 'w'), and if it is preceded by an oral vowel, the definite article is la:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English  | Note

|
|
|

kravat la | la cravate | the tie  |
liv la | le livre | the book  |
kay la | la maison | the house  | From French "la cahut(t)e" (English "hut, shack")
kaw la | le corbeau | the crow  |

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

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

lanp 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, the definite article is a:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

kouto a | le couteau | the knife
peyi a | le pays | the country

If the last sound is any oral vowel other than i or ou and is preceded by a nasal consonant, then the definite article is also a:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

lame a | l'armée | the army
anana a | l'ananas | the pineapple
dine a | le dîner | the dinner
nò a | le nord | the north

If a word ends in mi, mou, ni, nou, or if it ends with any nasal vowel, then the definite article is an:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

fanmi an | la famille | the family
jenou an | le genou | the knee
chen an | le chien | the dog
pon an | le pont | the bridge

If the last sound is a nasal consonant, the definite article is nan, but may also be lan:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English  |

|
|
|

machin nan | la voiture | the car  |
machin lan |
telefonn nan | le téléphone | the telephone  | The spelling "telefòn" is also attested.
telefonn lan
fanm nan | la femme | the woman  |
fanm lan |

### Demonstratives

Template:Unref section There is a single word sa that corresponds to English "this" and to "that" (and to French ce, ceci, cela, and ça). As in English, it may be used as a demonstrative, except that it is placed after the noun that it qualifies. It is often followed by a or yo (in order to mark number): sa a ("this here" or "that there"):

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

jaden sa bèl | ce jardin est beau | this garden is beautiful
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 is my friend
that is my friend
sa se chen frè mwen | c'est le chien de mon frère | this is my brother's dog
that is my brother's dog

### Verbs

Template:Unref section 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, mood, and aspect are indicated by the use of markers:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

li ale travay nan maten | il va au travail le matin | he goes to work in the morning
elle va au travail le matin | she goes to work in the morning
li dòmi aswè | il dort le soir | he sleeps in the evening
elle dort le soir | she sleeps in the evening
li li Bib la | il lit la Bible | he reads the Bible
elle lit la Bible | she reads the Bible
mwen fè manje | je fais à manger | I make food
I cook
nou toujou etidye | nous étudions toujours | we always study

#### Copula

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 similarly to the English word "say") is used to link a subject with a predicate nominative:

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

li se frè mwen | c'est mon frère | he is my brother
mwen se yon doktè | je suis médecin | I'm a doctor
je suis docteur
sa se yon pyebwa mango | c'est un manguier | this is a mango tree
that is a mango tree
nou se zanmi | nous sommes amis | we are friends

The subject of a sentence with se might not be included. In which case, the sentence is interpreted as if the subject were sa ("this" or "that") or li ("he", "she" or "it"):

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

se yon bon ide | c'est une bonne idée | that's a good idea
this is a good idea
se nouvo chemiz mwen | c'est ma nouvelle chemise | that's my new shirt
this is my new shirt

To express "I want to be", usually vin ("to become") is used instead of se.

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

li pral vin bofrè m | il va devenir mon beau-frère | he will be my brother-in-law | he will be my stepbrother
li pral vin bofrè mwen
mwen vle vin yon doktè | je veux devenir docteur | I want to become a doctor
sa pral vin yon pye mango | ça va devenir un manguier | that will become a mango tree
this 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 a sentence, after the predicate and the subject (in that order):

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

mwen se Ayisyen | je suis haïtien | I am Haitian
Ayisyen mwen ye
Kòman ou ye? | lit. Comment + vous + êtes ("Comment êtes-vous?") | How are you?

Haitian Creole has stative verbs, which means that the verb "to be" is not covert when followed by an adjective. Therefore, malad means both "sick" and "to be sick":

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

mwen gen yon sè ki malad | j'ai une sœur malade | I have a sick sister
sè mwen malad | ma sœur est malade | my sister 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 de l'argent dans la banque | I have money in the bank

#### There is

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

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

gen anpil Ayisyen nan Florid | il y a beaucoup d'Haïtiens en Floride | there are many Haitians in Florida
gen on moun la | il y a quelqu'un là | there is someone here
there is someone there
pa gen moun la | il n'y a personne là | there is nobody here
there is nobody there

#### To know

The Haitian Creole word for "to know" and "to know how" is konnen, which is often shortened to konn.

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

Èske ou konnen non li? | Est-ce que tu connais son nom? | Do you know his name?
Do you know her name?
mwen konnen kote li ye | je sais où il est | I know where he is
je sais où elle est | I know where she is
Mwen konn fè manje | Je sais comment faire à manger | I know how to cook
(lit. "I know how to make food")
Èske ou konn ale Ayiti? | Est-ce que tu as été en Haïti? | Have you been to Haiti?
(lit. "Do you know to go to Haiti?")
Li pa konn li franse | Il ne sait pas lire le français | He cannot read French
(lit. "He doesn't know how to read French")
Elle ne sait pas lire le français | She cannot read French
(lit. "She doesn't know how to read French")

#### To do

Fè means "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 kreyòl? | 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":

Haitian Creole  | French  | English

|
|

mwen ka ale demen | je peux aller demain | I can go tomorrow
petèt mwen ka fè sa demen | je peux peut-être faire ça demain | maybe I can do that tomorrow
nou ka ale pita | nous pouvons aller plus tard | we can go later

#### 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

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 a mangé | he ate
elle a mangé | she ate
nou manje | nous avons mangé | we ate
yo manje | ils ont mangé | they ate
elles ont mangé

Manje means both "food" and "to eat", as manger does in Canadian French ; 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 | from French été ("been")
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.). From 18th-century French être après, progressive form
a | future  | some limitations on use. From French avoir à ("to have to")
pral | near or definite future  | translates to "going to". Contraction of French pour aller ("going to")
ta | conditional future  | a combination of te and a ("will do")

Simple past or past perfect:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

mwen te manje | I ate
I had eaten
ou te manje | you ate
you had eaten
li te manje | he ate
she ate
he had eaten
she had eaten
nou te manje | we ate
we had eaten
yo te manje | they ate
they had eaten

Past progressive:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

mwen t ap manje | I was eating
ou t ap manje | you were eating
li t ap manje | he was eating
she was eating
nou t ap manje | we were eating
yo t ap manje | they were eating

Present progressive:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

m ap manje | I am eating
w ap manje | you are eating
l ap manje | he is eating
she is eating
n ap manje | we are eating
y ap manje | they are eating

For the present progressive, it is customary, though not necessary, to add kounye a ("right now"):

Haitian Creole  | English

|

m ap manje kounye a | I am eating right now
y ap manje kounye a | they are eating right now

Also, ap manje can mean "will eat" depending on the context of the sentence:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

m ap manje apre m priye | I will eat after I pray
I am eating after I pray
mwen p ap di sa | I will not say that
I am not saying that

Near or definite future:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

mwen pral manje | I am going to eat
ou pral manje | you are going to eat
li pral manje | he is going to eat
she is going to eat
nou pral manje | we are going to eat
yo pral manje | they are going to eat

Future:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

n a wè pita | see you later
(lit. "we will see later")

Other examples:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

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 was eight years old...
when 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

Recent past markers include fèk and sòt (both mean "just" or "just now" and are often used together):

Haitian Creole  | English

|

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:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

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 would forget you if you weren't here
she would forget you if you weren't here

#### Negation

The word pa comes before a verb and any tense markers to negate it:

Haitian Creole  | English

|

Rose pa vle ale | Rose doesn't want to go
Rose pa t vle ale | Rose didn't want to go

## Lexicon

Most of the lexicon of Creole 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. However, the language also inherited many words of different origins, among them Wolof, Fon, Kongo, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Taino and Arabic. 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 tòchon, from the French torchon.

### Sample

Haitian Creole  | IPA  | Origin  | English

|
|
|

ablado[64] | /ablado/ | Spanish: hablador | "a talker"
anasi  | /anasi/ | Akan: ananse | spider
annanna  | /ãnãna/ | Taino: ananas; also used in French  | pineapple
Ayiti  | /ajiti/ | Taino: Ahatti, lit. 'mountainous land' | Haiti ("mountainous land")
bagay  | /baɡaj/ | French: bagage, lit. 'baggage' | thing
bannann  | /bãnãn/ | French: banane, lit. 'banana' | banana/plantain
bekàn  | /bekan/ | French: bécane | bicycle
bokit[15] | /bokit/ | bucket  |
bòkò  | /bɔkɔ/ | Fon: bokono | sorcerer
Bondye  | /bõdje/ | French: bon dieu, lit. 'good God' | God
chenèt  | /ʃenɛt/ | French: quénette (French Antilles)  | gap between the two front teeth
chouk  | /ʃuk/ | Fula: chuk, lit. 'to pierce, to poke' | poke
dekabès  | /dekabes/ | Spanish: dos cabezas, lit. 'two heads' | two-headed win during dominos
dèyè  | /dɛjɛ/ | French: derrière | behind
diri  | /diɣi/ | French: du riz, lit. 'some rice' | rice
èkondisyone  | /ɛkondisjone/  | air conditioner  | air conditioner
Etazini[65] | /etazini/ | French: États-Unis | United States
fig  | /fiɡ/ | French: figue, lit. 'fig' | banana[66]
je  | /ʒe/ | French: les yeux, lit. 'the eyes' | eye
kannistè[15] | /kannistɛ/ | canister  | tin can
kay  | /kaj/ | French: la cahutte, lit. 'the hut' | house
kle  | /kle/ | French: clé, lit. 'key' | key, wrench
kle kola  | /kle kola/ | French: clé, lit. 'key' | bottle opener
cola
kònfleks  | /kɔnfleks/ | corn flakes  | breakfast cereal
kawotchou  | /kawotʃu/ | French: caoutchouc, lit. 'rubber' | tire
lalin  | /lalin/ | French: la lune, lit. 'the moon' | moon
li  | /li/ | French: lui | he, she, him, her, it
makak  | /makak/ | French: macaque | monkey
manbo  | /mãbo/ | Kongo: mambu or Fon: nanbo | vodou priestess
marasa  | /maɣasa/ | Kongo: mapassa | twins
matant  | /matãt/ | French: ma tante, lit. 'my aunt' | aunt, aged woman
moun  | /mun/ | French: monde, lit. 'world' | people, person
mwen  | /mwɛ̃/ | French: moi, lit. 'me' | I, me, my, myself
nimewo  | /nimewo/ | French: numéro, lit. 'number' | number
oungan  | /ũɡã/ | Fon: houngan | vodou priest
piman  | /pimã/ | French: piment | a very hot pepper
pann  | /pãn/ | French: pendre, lit. 'to hang' | clothesline
podyab  | /podjab/ | French: pauvre diable or Spanish: pobre diablo | poor devil
pwa  | /pwa/ | French: pois, lit. 'pea' | bean
sapat[64] | /sapat/ | Spanish: zapato; French: savatte | sandal
seyfing  | /sejfiŋ/ | surfing  | sea-surfing
tonton  | /tõtõ/ | French: tonton | uncle, aged man
vwazen  | /vwazɛ̃/ | French: voisin | neighbor
zonbi  | /zõbi/ | Kongo: nzumbi | soulless corpse, living dead, ghost, zombie
zwazo  | /zwazo/ | French: les oiseaux, lit. 'the birds' | bird

### Nèg and blan

Although nèg and blan have similar words in French (nègre, a pejorative to refer to black people, and blanc, meaning white, or white person), the meanings they carry in French do not apply in Haitian Creole. Nèg means "a person" or "a man" (like "guy" or "dude" in American English).[67] The word blan generally means "foreigner" or "not from Haiti". Thus, a non-black Haitian man (usually biracial) could be called nèg, while a black person from the US could be referred to as blan.[67][68]

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

There are many other Haitian Creole terms for specific tones of skin including grimo, bren, roz, and mawon. 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

Template:Unref section

Haitian Creole  | English

|

Papa Nou ki nan sièl,

ké non ou jouinn tout réspè, ké règn ou vini, ké volonté ou akonpli, sou té a tankou nan sièl. Ban nou jod a pin chak jou nou, padonnin nou péché nou, tankou nou padonnin moun ki ofansé nou. Pa minnin nou nan tentasion, min délivré nou an-ba malin an. Amen.

| Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name,

thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

### Salutations

Haitian Creole  | English

|

A demen!  | See you tomorrow!
A pi ta!  | See you later!
Adye!  | Good bye! (permanently)
Anchante!  | Nice to meet you! (lit. "enchanted!")
Bon apre-midi!  | Good afternoon!
Bòn chans!  | Good luck!
Bòn nui!  | Good night!
Bonjou!  | Good day!
Good morning!
Bonswa!  | Good evening
Dezole!  | Sorry!
Eskize m!  | Excuse me!
Kenbe la!  | Hang in there! (informal)
Ki jan ou rele?  | What's your name?
Ki non ou?
Ki non w?
Kòman ou rele?
Mwen rele | My name is...
Non m se.
Ki jan ou ye?  | How are you?
Ki laj ou?  | How old are you? (lit. "What is your age?")
Ki laj ou genyen?
Kòman ou ye?  | How are you?
Kon si, kon sa  | So, so
Kontinye konsa!  | Keep it up!
M ap boule  | I'm managing (informal; lit. "I'm burning")
(common response to sa kap fèt and sak pase)
M ap kenbe  | I'm hanging on (informal)
M ap viv  | I'm living
Mal  | Bad
Men wi  | Of course
Mèsi  | Thank you
Mèsi anpil  | Many thanks
Mwen byen  | I'm well
Mwen dakò  | I agree
Mwen gen an  | I'm years old
Mwen la  | I'm so-so (informal; lit. "I'm here")
N a wè pita!  | See you later! (lit. "We will see later!")
Orevwa!  | Good bye (temporarily)
Pa mal  | Not bad
Pa pi mal  | Not so bad
Padon!  | Pardon!
Sorry!
Move!
Padone m!  | Pardon me!
Forgive me!
Pòte w byen!  | Take care! (lit. "Carry yourself well!")
Sa k ap fèt?  | What's going on? (informal)
What's up? (informal)
Sa k pase?  | What's happening? (informal)
What's up? (informal)
Tout al byen  | All is well (lit. "All goes well")
Tout bagay anfòm  | Everything is fine (lit. "Everything is in form")
Tout pa bon  | All is not well (lit. "All is not good")

## Proverbs and expressions

Proverbs play a central role in traditional Haitian culture and Haitian Creole speakers make frequent use of them as well as of other metaphors.[69]

### Proverbs

Haitian Creole  | English

|

Men anpil, chay pa lou  | Strength through unity[70] (lit. "With many hands, the burden is not heavy";[71] Haitian Creole equivalent of the French on the coat of arms of Haiti, which reads l'union fait la force)
Apre bal, tanbou lou  | There are consequences to your actions (lit. "After the dance, the drum is heavy")[72]
Sak vid pa kanpe
Pitit tig se tig  | Like father like son (lit. "The son of a tiger is a tiger")
Ak pasyans w ap wè tete pis  | Anything is possible (lit. "With patience you will see the breast of the ant")
Bay kou bliye, pote 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  | Not all smiles are friendly (lit. "Good teeth don't mean (that person is) a friend")
Bèl antèman pa di paradi  | A beautiful funeral does not guarantee heaven
Bèl fanm pa di bon mennaj  | A beautiful wife does not guarantee a happy marriage
Dan konn mòde lang  | People who work together sometimes hurt each other (lit. "Teeth are known to bite the tongue")
Sa k rive koukouloulou a ka rive kakalanga tou  | What happens to the dumb guy can happen to the smart one too (lit. "What happens to the turkey can happen to the rooster too")[73]: 75
Chak jou pa Dimanch  | Your luck will not last forever (lit. "Not every day is Sunday")
Fanm pou yon tan, manman pou tout tan  | A woman is for a time, a mother is for all time[73]: 93
Nèg di san fè, Bondye fè san di  | Man talks without doing, God does without talking[73]: 31
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 pòv se nèg  | A rich negro is a mulatto, a poor mulatto is a negro
Pale franse pa di lespri  | Speaking French does not mean you are smart[73]: 114
Wòch nan dlo pa konnen doulè wòch nan solèy  | The rock in the water does not know the pain of the rock in the sun[74]
Ravèt pa janm gen rezon devan poul  | Justice will always be on the side of the stronger[75] (lit. "A cockroach in front of a chicken is never correct")
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 have grabbed it a long time ago
Sèl pa vante tèt li di li sale  | Let others praise you (lit. "Salt doesn't brag that it's salty," said to those who praise themselves)
Bouch granmoun santi, sak ladan l se rezon  | Wisdom comes from the mouth of old people (lit. "The mouth of the old stinks but what's inside is wisdom")
Tout moun se moun  | Everyone matters (lit. "Everybody is a person")[76]

### Expressions

Haitian Creole  | English

|

Se lave men, siye l atè  | It was useless work (lit. "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 is full of himself (lit. "He speaks French")[77]
Kreyòl pale, kreyòl konprann  | Speak straightforwardly and honestly (lit. "Creole talks, Creole understands")[73]: 29
Bouche nen ou pou bwè dlo santi  | You have to accept a bad situation (lit. "Pinch your nose to drink smelly water")[73]: 55
Mache sou pinga ou, pou ou pa pile: "Si m te konnen!"  | "Be on your guard, so you don't have to say: 'If only I'd known!'"[73]: 159
Tann jis nou tounen pwa tann  | To wait forever (lit. "left hanging until we became string beans" which is a word play on tann, which means both "to hang" and "to wait")
San pran souf  | Without taking a breath; continuously
W ap konn jòj  | Warning or threat of punishment or reprimand (lit. "You will know George")
Dis ti piti tankou ou  | Dismissing or defying a threat or show of force (lit. "Ten little ones like you couldn't.")
Lè poul va fè dan  | Never (lit. "When hens grow teeth")[78]
Piti piti zwazo fè nich li  | You will learn (lit. "Little by little the bird makes its nest")[73]: 110

## Usage abroad

### United States and Canada

Haitian Creole display at a car rental counter in the Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport (2014) A CDC-sponsored poster about the COVID-19 prevention in Haitian Creole

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 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.[79] North America's only Creole-language television network is HBN, based in Miami. These areas also each have more than half a dozen Creole-language AM radio stations.[80]

Haitian Creole and Haitian culture are taught in many colleges in the United States and the Bahamas. York College, City University of New York, features a minor in Haitian Creole.[81] Indiana University's Albert Valdman founded the country's first Creole Institute[82] where Haitian Creole, among other facets of Haiti, were studied and researched. The University of Kansas, Lawrence has an Institute of Haitian studies, founded by Bryant Freeman. The University of Massachusetts Boston, Florida International University, and Indiana University Bloomington offer seminars and courses annually at their Haitian Creole Summer Institutes. Brown University, University of Miami, Tulane University, and Duke University[83] also offer Haitian Creole classes, and Columbia University and NYU have jointly offered a course since 2015.[84][85] The University of Chicago began offering Creole courses in 2010.[86]

As of 2015[update], the New York City Department of Education counted 2,838 Haitian Creole-speaking English-language learners (ELLs) in the city's K–12 schools, making it the seventh most common home language of ELLs citywide and the fifth most common home language of Brooklyn ELLs.[87]: 19–20 Because of the large population of Haitian Creole-speaking students within NYC schools, various organizations have been established to respond to the needs of these students. For example, Flanbwayan and Gran Chimen Sant Kiltirèl, both located in Brooklyn, New York, aim to promote education and Haitian culture through advocacy, literacy projects, and cultural/artistic endeavors.[88]

### Cuba

Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba after Spanish,[89][90] where over 300,000 Haitian immigrants speak it. It is recognized as a minority 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.[90]

### Dominican Republic

As of 2012[update], the language was also spoken by over 450,000 Haitians who reside in the neighboring Dominican Republic,[91] although the locals do not speak it. However, some estimates suggest that there are over a million speakers due to a huge population of undocumented immigrants from Haiti.[92]

### The Bahamas

As of 2009, up to 80,000 Haitians were estimated residing in the Bahamas,[93] where about 20,000 speak Haitian Creole. It is the third most‑spoken language after English and Bahamian Creole.[94]

## Software

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, international aid workers desperately needed translation tools for communicating in Haitian Creole. Furthermore, international organizations had little idea whom to contact as translators. As an emergency measure, Carnegie Mellon University released data for its own research into the public domain.[95] Microsoft Research and Google Translate implemented alpha version machine translators based on the Carnegie Mellon data.

Several smartphone apps have been released, including learning with flashcards by Byki and two medical dictionaries, one by Educa Vision and a second by Ultralingua, the latter of which includes an audio phrase book and a section on cultural anthropology.

## See also

|  Kreyòl ayisyen edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

|

* Afro-Brazilians
* Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen
* Antillean Creole French
* Creole language
* Louisiana Creole French
* Michel DeGraff
* Radio Haiti-Inter

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gurevich, Naomi (2004). "Appendix A: Result Summary". Lenition and Contrast: The Functional Consequences of Certain Phonetically Conditioned Sound Changes. New York: Routledge. pp. 112; 301–304. ISBN 978-1-135-87648-7. OCLC 919306666. https://books.google.com/books?id=LhPxHG8cLowC&pg=PA304. "Name: ... Haitian Creole ...; Phylum: ... Indo‑European..."
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Haitian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/hait1244.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dufour, Fritz, ed (2017). "Exploring the Possibilities for the Emergence of a Single and Global Native Language". Language Arts & Disciplines. p. 4. https://books.google.com/books?id=IvA_DwAAQBAJ&q=minorité+langue+de+cuba+créole+haitïen.
4. ↑ "Cérémonie de lancement d'un partenariat entre le Ministère de l'Education Nationale et de la Formation Professionnelle et l'Académie Créole" (in fr, ht). Port‑au‑Prince, Haiti: Government of the Republic of Haiti. 8 July 2015. http://menfp.gouv.ht/PARTENARIA_AKA_MENFP.html.
5. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds (2017). "Haitian". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/hait1244.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Faraclas, Nicholas; Spears, Arthur K.; Barrows, Elizabeth; Piñeiro, Mayra Cortes (2012). "II. Structure and Use § 4. Orthography". in Spears, Arthur K.; Joseph, Carole M. Berotte. The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use, and Education. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-0-7391-7221-6. OCLC 838418590. https://books.google.com/books?id=4xbGzLuBvWwC&pg=PA100.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Valdman, Albert (2002). "Creole: The National Language of Haiti". Footsteps 2 (4): 36–39. http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html.
8. ↑ "Discovering Languages: Haitian Creole" (in en). CASLT. 6 February 2024. https://www.caslt.org/en/blog-discovering-languages-haitian-creole/.
9. ↑ "Haitian Creole". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Creole. Retrieved 29 June 2025.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 DeGraff, Michel; Ruggles, Molly (1 August 2014). "A Creole Solution for Haiti's Woes". The New York Times. p. A17. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/02/opinion/a-creole-solution-for-haitis-woes.html. "Under the 1987 Constitution, adopted after the overthrow of Jean‑Claude Duvalier's dictatorship, [Haitian] Creole and French have been the two official languages, but most of the population speaks only Creole fluently."
11. ↑ Léonidas, Jean-Robert (1995) (in fr). Prétendus Créolismes: Le Couteau dans l'Igname. Montréal: Editions du CIDIHCA. ISBN 978-2-920862-97-5. OCLC 34851284. https://books.google.com/books?id=9foaAQAAIAAJ.
12. ↑ Schieffelin, Bambi B.; Doucet, Rachelle Charlier (1994). "The "Real" Haitian Creole: Ideology, Metalinguistics, and Orthographic Choice". American Ethnologist 21 (1): 176–200. doi:10.1525/ae.1994.21.1.02a00090. ISSN 0094-0496. https://www.jstor.org/stable/646527.
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 DeGraff, Michel (2007). "Kreyòl Ayisyen, or Haitian Creole ('Creole French')". Comparative Creole Syntax: Parallel Outlines of 18 Creole Grammars. London: Battlebridge. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-1-903292-01-3. OCLC 192098910. http://web.mit.edu/~linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2007hc-ccs.pdf.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Seguin, Luisa (2020). Transparency and Language Contact: The Case of Haitian Creole, French, and Fongbe. Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages. pp. 218–252.
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Bonenfant, Jacques L. (2011). "History of Haitian-Creole: From Pidgin to Lingua Franca and English Influence on the Language". Review of Higher Education and Self-Learning 3 (11). http://fmuniv.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/History_of_haitian_review_of_higher_education.pdf.
16. ↑ Nadeau, Jean-Benoît; Barlow, Julie (2008). "Far from the Sun". The Story of French. New York: St. Martin's Press. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-312-34184-8. OCLC 219563658. https://books.google.com/books?id=NN5oc0HFC7QC&pg=PA97. "There are more speakers of French-based Creoles than all other Creoles combined (including English), thanks mostly to Haiti, the biggest Creole-speaking nation in the world..."
17. ↑ 17.00 17.01 17.02 17.03 17.04 17.05 17.06 17.07 17.08 17.09 17.10 Schieffelin, Bambi B.; Doucet, Rachelle Charlier (September 1992). "The 'Real' Haitian Creole: Ideology, Metalinguistics, and Orthographic Choice". Journal of Pragmatics 2 (3): 427–443. doi:10.1525/ae.1994.21.1.02a00090. ISSN 0378-2166. http://journals.linguisticsociety.org/elanguage/pragmatics/article/download/387/387-681-1-PB.pdf.
18. ↑ DeGraff, Michel (2003). "Against Creole exceptionalism". Language 79 (2): 391–410. doi:10.1353/lan.2003.0114. http://web.mit.edu/~linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff-lang-79-02.pdf.
19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Spears, Arthur K.; Joseph, Carole M. Berotte (2010-06-22) (in en). The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use, and Education. Lexington Books. p. 2. ISBN 978-1-4616-6265-5. https://books.google.com/books?id=i3PBpDa-tBIC&dq=haitian+creole+history&pg=PP2.
20. ↑ Harper, Douglas, ed. "Creole". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://etymonline.com/?term=creole.
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Archer, Marie-Thérèse, ed (1998). "Créolologie haïtienne: latinité du créole d'Haïti : créole étudié dans son contexte ethnique, historique, linguistique, sociologique et pédagogique. Volume 1 of Livre du maître". Impr. Le Nata. p. 7. https://books.google.com/books?id=ftkuAAAAYAAJ.
22. ↑ Dinga, John S., ed (2011). America's Irresistible Attraction: Beyond the Green Card. Trafford Publishing. p. 489. ISBN 9781426961250. https://books.google.com/books?id=-NxL6AoBZ20C&q=to+be+rich+like+a+creole+haiti&pg=PA489. Retrieved 11 October 2020.
23. ↑ John, Vijay; Slocum, Jonathan (2014). "Indo‑European Languages: Italic Family". University of Texas at Austin. http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/general/ie-lg/Italic.html.
24. ↑ Spears, Arthur K.. "Haitian Creole chapter from the book: Languages and Dialects in the U.S.: Focus on Diversity and Linguistics (pp.180–195)". Routledge. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338675782.
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 Lefebvre, Claire (2006). Creole Genesis and the Acquisition of Grammar: The Case of Haitian Creole. Cambridge University Press. pp. 53–57, 190. ISBN 978-0-521-02538-6. OCLC 71007434. https://books.google.com/books?id=_D91RqW-CFYC.
26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Velupillai, Viveka (2015). Pidgins, Creoles and mixed languages: an introduction. Creole language library. Amsterdam; Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 198. ISBN 9789027252715. http://webcat1.library.ubc.ca:80/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=8119102.
27. ↑ Singler, John Victor (1996). "Theories of Creole Genesis, Sociohistorical Considerations, and the Evaluation of Evidence: The Case of Haitian Creole and the Relexification Hypothesis". Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 11 (2): 185–230. doi:10.1075/jpcl.11.2.02sin.
28. ↑ Lefebvre, Claire (2004). "The linguistic situation in Haiti at the time Haitian Creole was formed". Issues in the Study of Pidgin and Creole Languages. Studies in language companion series. 70. John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 240–241. doi:10.1075/slcs.70. ISBN 978-1-58811-516-4. OCLC 54365215. https://books.google.com/books?id=_wbzAPZ7ZrYC&pg=PA240.
29. ↑ Carl A. Brasseaux, Glenn R. Conrad (1992). The Road to Louisiana: The Saint-Domingue Refugees, 1792–1809. New Orleans: Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana. pp. 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15, 21, 22, 33, 38, 108, 109, 110, 143, 173, 174, 235, 241, 242, 243, 252, 253, 254, 268.
30. ↑ S.J. Ducoeurjoly (1803). Manuel des habitans de Saint-Domingue. pp. 363, 364.
31. ↑ L. Bouchard (8 October 1825). La Nouveauté No. 38. pp. 3, 4.
32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 Hall, Robert Anderson (1953) (in en). Haitian Creole: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary. American Anthropological Association. https://books.google.com/books?id=5MYRAAAAIAAJ&dq=haitian+creole+origin&pg=PA11.
33. ↑ Lagarde, François (2007). "5. Langues § 1. Locaters § 1.2. Immigrés" (in fr). Français aux Etats-Unis (1990–2005): migration, langue, culture et économie. Transversales. 20. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers. p. 137. ISBN 978-3-03911-293-7. OCLC 122935474. https://books.google.com/books?id=gXscYwsV2sAC&pg=PA137. "le français et le créole haïtien ... sont des langues différentes « non-mutuellement intelligibles »"
34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 Valdman, Albert (2015). Haitian Creole : structure, variation, status, origin. Equinox: Equinox. p. 14. ISBN 978-1-84553-387-8.
35. ↑ Lefebvre, Claire (1997). "Relexification in Creole Genesis: The Case of Demonstrative Terms in Haitian Creole". Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 12 (2): 181–201. doi:10.1075/jpcl.12.2.02lef. ISSN 0920-9034.
36. ↑ 36.0 36.1 Lefebvre, Claire (1986). "Relexification in Creole Genesis Revisited: the Case of Haitian Creole". Substrata Versus Universals in Creole Genesis. Creole Language Library. 1. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. pp. 279–301. doi:10.1075/cll.1.13lef. ISBN 978-90-272-5221-0. OCLC 14002046. https://books.google.com/books?id=tAkYez_Kv7IC&pg=PA279.
37. ↑ Template:Synthesis span
38. ↑ Fontaine, Pierre-Michel (1981). "Language, Society, and Development: Dialectic of French and Creole Use in Haiti". Latin American Perspectives 8 (1): 28–46. doi:10.1177/0094582X8100800103. ISSN 0094-582X. OCLC 5724884282.
39. ↑ "Haïti: Loi du 18 septembre 1979" (in fr). Québec City: Université Laval. http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/amsudant/haiti-loi-1979.htm. "L'usage du créole, en tant que langue commune parlée par les 90 % de la population haïtienne, est permis dans les écoles comme instrument et objet d'enseignement."
40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 Védrine, Emmanuel W. (2007). "Òtograf ofisyèl la" (in ht). Yon koudèy sou pwoblèm lekòl Ayiti (2nd ed.). Boston. p. 131. ISBN 978-0-938534-28-0. OCLC 37611103. http://potomitan.info/vedrine/koudey.pdf#page=131. "Nou suiv sa yo rele ‘òtograf ofisyèl’ la lan tout sa li mande. Tout liv oubyen dokiman Éditions Deschamps sòti respekte òtograf sa a alalèt. Yon sèl ti eksepsyon petèt, se kesyon apostwòf nou pa anplwaye aprè de gwoup kòm ‘m ap’ (m'ap); ‘sa k ap fèt?’ (sa k'ap fèt?)"
41. ↑ Valdman, Albert (1989). "The Use of Creole as a School Medium and Decreolization in Haiti". in Zuanelli Sonino, Elisabetta. Literacy in School and Society: Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Topics in Language and Linguistics. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 59. doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0909-1. ISBN 978-1-4899-0909-1. OCLC 646534330. https://books.google.com/books?id=mywBCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA59. "In 1979, by a presidential decree, Haitian Creole was officially recognized as classroom medium and as school subject at the primary level. In the 1983 Constitution it was upgraded to the level of national language with French."
42. ↑ Hebblethwaite, Benjamin (2012). "French and underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and development: Educational language policy problems and solutions in Haiti". Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 27 (2): 255–302. doi:10.1075/jpcl.27.2.03heb. ISSN 0920-9034. http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite 2012 JPCL.pdf#page=9. "Article 5 of the ... Constitution of 1987 ... recognizes Creole as the sole language that unites all Haitians.".
43. ↑ "La Constitution de 1987, Article 5" (in fr). 1987. http://sdn.mefhaiti.gouv.ht/lois/CH87/CH_P01.php#A5. "Tous les Haïtiens sont unis par une Langue commune : le Créole."
44. ↑ Laraque, Paul (April 2001). Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry. Curbstone Press. ISBN 978-1-880684-75-7. https://archive.org/details/opengateantholog00paul.
45. ↑ DeGraff, Michel (2005). "Linguists' most dangerous myth: The fallacy of Creole Exceptionalism". Language in Society 34 (4): 533–591. doi:10.1017/S0047404505050207. ISSN 0047-4045. http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2005fallacy_of_creole_exceptionalism.pdf.
46. ↑ Férére, Gérard A. (March 1977). "Diglossia in Haiti: A Comparison with Paraguayan Bilingualism". Caribbean Quarterly 23 (1): 50–69. doi:10.1080/00086495.1977.11671912.
47. ↑ Dejean, Yves (1983). "Diglossia revisited: French and Creole in Haiti". Word 34 (3): 189–213. doi:10.1080/00437956.1983.11435744. ISSN 0043-7956. OCLC 5845895993.
48. ↑ Scott, Nicole A. (2013). "Creole Languages". Encyclopedia of Race and Racism. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galerace/creole_languages/0?institutionId=3205. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
49. ↑ World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey of Educational Systems Worldwide. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Group. 2002. ISBN 978-0-02-865594-9. https://archive.org/details/worldeducationen0003unse.
50. ↑ Daniel, Trenton (6 February 2013). "Haitian schools expand use of Creole language". US News. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/02/06/haitian-schools-expand-use-of-creole-language?offset=50.
51. ↑ Hebblethwaite, Benjamin (2012). "French and underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and development". Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 27 (2): 255–302. doi:10.1075/jpcl.27.2.03heb. ISSN 0920-9034. http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite 2012 JPCL.pdf. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
52. ↑ Cadely, Jean‑Robert (2002). "Le statut des voyelles nasales en Créole haïtien" (in fr). Lingua 112 (6): 437–438. doi:10.1016/S0024-3841(01)00055-9. ISSN 0024-3841. "L’absence d’opposition distinctive dans la distribution des voyelles hautes ainsi que le facteur combinatoire illustré ci-dessus amènent certains auteurs ... à considérer les voyelles nasales [ĩ] et [ũ] comme des variantes contextuelles de leurs correspondantes orales. Toutefois, l’occurrence dans le vocabulaire des Haïtiens de nombre de termes qui se rattachent pour la plupart à la religion vaudou contribue à affaiblir cette analyse. Par exemple, dans la liste des mots que nous présentons ... il est facile de constater que les voyelles nasales hautes n’apparaissent pas dans l’environnement de consonnes nasales:
[ũɡã] ‘prêtre vaudou’
[ũsi] ‘assistante du prêtre/ de la prêtresse’
[ũfɔ] ‘sanctuaire du temple vaudou’
[hũ] ‘tambour’
[oɡũ] ‘divinité vaudou’
[ũɡɛvɛ] ‘collier au cou du prêtre vaudou’
[bũda] ‘derrière’
[pĩɡa] ‘prenez garde’
[kaʃĩbo] ‘pipe de terre’
[jũ/ũ nɛɡ] ‘un individu’".
53. ↑ Andrews, Helen (2009). "Frances Elaine ('Primrose') McConnell in Beckett, George Francis". in McGuire, James; Quinn, James. Dictionary of Irish Biography. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
54. ↑ Romaine, Suzanne (2002). "Signs of Identity, Signs of Discord: Glottal Goofs and the Green Grocer's Glottal in Debates on Hawaiian Orthography". Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 12 (2): 189–224. doi:10.1525/jlin.2002.12.2.189. ISSN 1055-1360. "For some opponents of the official orthography, ⟨k⟩ and ⟨w⟩ are tainted with the perceived stigma of being Anglo-Saxon and smack of American imperialism. The French symbols ⟨c⟩ and ⟨ou⟩, however, are allied with colonialism.".
55. ↑ 55.0 55.1 Ayoun, Dalila, ed (2008). Studies in French Applied Linguistics. John Benjamins Publishing. p. 230. ISBN 978-90-272-8994-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=VVg6AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA230. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
56. ↑ Jenson, Deborah, ed (2012). Beyond the Slave Narrative: Politics, Sex, and Manuscripts in the Haitian Revolution. Liverpool University Press. p. 257. ISBN 978-1-84631-760-6. https://books.google.com/books?id=UNgxtsjOIf4C&pg=PT257. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
57. ↑ Saint Martin, Weston (2005). Les formes des pronoms personnels de l'haïtien et leur place en comparaison avec celles du français (PDF) (Thesis) (in français). pp. 9–11\. OCLC 155834626. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 April 2016.
58. ↑ Léger, Frenand (2011). Pawòl Lakay: Haitian-Creole Language and Culture for Beginner and Intermediate Learners. Coconut Creek, Florida: Educa Vision. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-58432-687-8. OCLC 742361935.
59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 Damoiseau, Robert; Jean-Paul, Gesner (2002) (in fr, ht). J'apprends le créole haïtien. Port-au-Prince and Paris: Faculté de Linguistique Appliquée, Université d'État d'Haïti and Éditions Karthala. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-2-84586-301-9. OCLC 50772881. https://books.google.com/books?id=2QggpjJxBocC. "Kèlkeswa kote ou fè nan peyi a lè ou kite Pòtoprens, ou travèse zòn kote yo fè jaden... / Quelle que soit la route qu'on emprunte pour sortir de Port-au-prince, on traverse des zones cultivées."Faculté+de+Linguistique+Appliquée,+Université+d'État+d'Haïti+and+Éditions+Karthala&rft_id=info:oclcnum/50772881&rft.isbn=978-2-84586-301-9&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QggpjJxBocC&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Social:Haitian_Creole">
60. ↑ 60.0 60.1 Damoiseau, Robert; Jean-Paul, Gesner (2002) (in fr, ht). J'apprends le créole haïtien. Port-au-Prince and Paris: 'Faculté de Linguistique Appliquée, Université d'État d'Haïti and Éditions Karthala. pp. 82–83. ISBN 978-2-84586-301-9. OCLC 50772881. https://books.google.com/books?id=2QggpjJxBocC. "Yo pa fè diferans ant « kawotchou » machin ak « wou » machin nan. Yo di yonn pou lòt. Gen kawotchou ki fèt pou resevwa chanm, genyen ki pa sèvi ak chanm. Yo rele kawotchou sa a tiblès... / On ne fait pas de différence entre « pneu » et « roue » d'une voiture. On dit l'un pour l'autre. Il y a des pneus conçus pour recevoir une chambre à air, il y en a qui s'utilisent sans chambre à air. On appelle ce dernier type de pneus « tubeless »."Faculté+de+Linguistique+Appliquée,+Université+d'État+d'Haïti+and+Éditions+Karthala&rft_id=info:oclcnum/50772881&rft.isbn=978-2-84586-301-9&rft_id=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QggpjJxBocC&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikibooks.org:Social:Haitian_Creole">
61. ↑ Tézil, David. 2019\. The nasalization of the Haitian Creole determiner La in non-nasal contexts: a variationist sociolinguistic study. PhD dissertation, Indiana University. (Têzil 2019, p. 9, notes: "[T]his variety is frequently subject to depreciative [sic] attitudes, as Capois speakers face the predominance of Port-au-Prince Creole...")
62. ↑ Heurtelou, Maude; Vilsaint, Féquière (2004). "Atik defini ak atik endefini" (in en, ht). Guide to Learning Haitian Creole (2nd ed.). Coconut Creek, Florida: Educa Vision. p. 28. ISBN 978-1-58432-108-8. OCLC 56117033. https://books.google.com/books?id=vYz_NUPIbC4C&pg=PT28.
63. ↑ Cadely, Jean-Robert (2003). "Nasality in Haitian Creole". in Adone, Dany. Recent Development in Creole Studies. Linguistische Arbeiten. 472. Tübingen, Germany: Max Niemeyer Verlag. p. 20. doi:10.1515/9783110948318.5. ISBN 978-3-11-094831-8. OCLC 5131095031. https://books.google.com/books?id=reoiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20.
64. ↑ 64.0 64.1 Worldmark Encyclopedia of Cultures and Daily Life: Americas. 2009. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-4144-4890-9. https://books.google.com/books?id=F7hZAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
65. ↑ Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael G. (1993) (in ht, en). Haitian Creole–English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Kensington, Maryland: Dunwoody Press. pp. i, 63, 141. ISBN 978-0-931745-75-1. OCLC 30037768. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/3503981/haitian-creole-aeur-english-dictionary-pdf-catmonfoundationorg/74. Retrieved 13 November 2015. "Most English words that are of the same origin as Creole words are marked with an asterisk (*).... Etazini n[oun] United States* ... ozetazini In the U.S.A."
66. ↑ Bollée, Annegret, ed (2018) (in fr, en). Dictionnaire étymologique des créoles français d'Amérique. Kreolische Bibliothek. 29. Hamburg: Buske. p. 32. ISBN 978-3-87548-881-4. OCLC 982379542. https://www.uni-bamberg.de/fileadmin/uni/fakultaeten/split_lehrstuehle/romanische_sprachwissenschaft/PI_F.pdf#page=32.
67. ↑ 67.0 67.1 Katz, Jonathan M. (2013). The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster. St. Martin's Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-1-137-32395-8. OCLC 886583605. https://books.google.com/books?id=cFKdtzGITDcC&pg=PT77.
68. ↑ "Vignettes from Jakzi". Haiti Marycare News. 2013. http://haitimarycare.org/Newsletter_Spring_2013.pdf#page=2.
69. ↑ Rahill, Guitele; Jean-Gilles, Michele; Thomlison, Barbara; Pinto-Lopez, Elsa (2011). "Metaphors as Contextual Evidence for Engaging Haitian Clients in Practice: A Case Study". American Journal of Psychotherapy 65 (2): 138–139. doi:10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2011.65.2.133. ISSN 0002-9564. PMID 21847891. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51577269. "The importance of metaphors in Haitian storytelling is reflected in the value ascribed to proverbs as an important aspect of teaching and reinforcing practical wisdom and values to children and community members. The existence of two separate texts in which 999 to more than 3000 Haitian proverbs are documented serve as evidence of the importance of these proverbs and their centrality in traditional Haitian culture...".
70. ↑ "Civic Heraldry of Haiti". http://ngw.nl/int/car/haiti-nat.htm.
71. ↑ McAlister, Elizabeth A. (2002). "6. Voices under Domination: Rara and the Politics of Insecurity". Rara!: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora. University of California Press. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-520-22822-1. OCLC 5559545903. https://books.google.com/books?id=BYiXSOTFvHIC&pg=PA168. "Aristide took ownership of the pwen and replied with another: 'Men anpil chay pa lou' ("With many hands, the burden is not heavy")."
72. ↑ Cynn, Christine (2008). "Nou Mande Jistis! (We Demand Justice!): Reconstituting Community and Victimhood in Raboteau, Haiti". Women's Studies Quarterly 36 (½): 42–57. doi:10.1353/wsq.0.0071. ISSN 1934-1520. OCLC 5547107092. "After Aristide announced his unexpected candidacy in the 1990 presidential elections, the American ambassador to Haiti, Alvin Adams, in a speech assured Haitians that the United States would support whichever candidate was elected but concluded his remarks with a proverb (or pwen) emphasizing the problems that would remain after the elections: ‘After the dance, the drum is heavy [Apre bal, tanbou lou]’....".
73. ↑ 73.0 73.1 73.2 73.3 73.4 73.5 73.6 73.7 Cite error: Invalid `<ref>` tag; no text was provided for refs named `Freeman1997`
74. ↑ Rosenthal, Kent (11 July 2006). "Undeclared War on Haiti's Poor". Eureka Street 16 (8). ISSN 1036-1758. http://eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=1169. "The rock in the sun cannot get ahead like the rock in the water. Whether you’re the rock suffering in the sun or whether you’re cooling off in the water depends on where you were born, what passport you hold, what education you have, whether you speak French, whether your parents are peasants or well-off, whether your parents are married or if you have a birth certificate. Chance can deal a very cruel or kind hand in Haiti.".
75. ↑ Joint, Gasner (1999). "Impact social du vaudou" (in fr). Libération du vaudou dans la dynamique d'inculturation en Haïti. Interreligious and Intercultural Investigations. 2. Rome: Gregorian & Biblical Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-88-7652-824-8. OCLC 51448466. https://books.google.com/books?id=FP5UHuZD44sC&pg=PA167. "Cette situation d’injustice institutionalisée est dénoncée par la philosophie populaire dans les adages courants comme : ... « Ravèt pa janm gen rezon devan poul » ... « Un cafard ne saurait l’emporter sur un poulet ». Expression populaire et imagée de la loi de la jungle: « la raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure »."
76. ↑ Joseph, Celucien L. (2014). "Toward a Politico-Theology of Relationalit: Justice as Solidarity and the Poor in Aristide's Theological Imagination". Toronto Journal of Theology 30 (2): 270. doi:10.3138/tjt.2105. ISSN 0826-9831. https://www.academia.edu/11683047. "[Peter] Hallward has wrongly misconstrued [Jean-Bertrand] Aristide’s affirmative and egalitarian principle tout moun se moun (‘Everybody is a person’)—the idea that everyone matters and that ‘everyone is endowed with the same essential dignity.’".
77. ↑ Faedi Duramy, Benedetta (2008). "The Double Weakness of Girls: Discrimination and Sexual Violence in Haiti". Stanford Journal of International Law 44: 150. "Li pale franse (He speaks French (so he is likely deceiving you).)".
78. ↑ Targète, Jean; Urciolo, Raphael G. (1993) (in ht, en). Haitian Creole–English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Kensington, Maryland: Dunwoody Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-931745-75-1. OCLC 30037768. https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/3503981/haitian-creole-aeur-english-dictionary-pdf-catmonfoundationorg/165. Retrieved 7 September 2015. "Lè poul va fè dan: Never (when hens grow teeth)."
79. ↑ "enfòmaysyan sou tit iv – haitian creole". https://cdn.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Contact_Us/MC09021 Title VI_Version1_Creo.pdf.
80. ↑ Moise, Raymond (30 October 2015). "Haitian Radio Stations". Bonpounou. http://bonpounou.com/onlinehaitianradio.html.
81. ↑ "Creole (Minor)". Jamaica, New York: York College. 2014. http://www.york.cuny.edu/produce-and-print/contents/bulletin/school-of-arts-and-sciences/foreign-languages-esl-and-humanities/creole-minor.
82. ↑ "Creole Institute History". https://frit.indiana.edu/about/creole.html.
83. ↑ "Schedule of Classes, Fall 2015". Durham, North Carolina: Duke University. 2015. p. 40. https://registrar.duke.edu/sites/default/files/uploaded-images/Fall 2015 03-23-15.pdf#page=40.
84. ↑ "Elementary Haitian Kreyol". New York: Columbia University. 2015. http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/KREY/W1101-20153-001/. "This course is part of the language exchange program with New York University..."
85. ↑ "Institute of Latin American Studies: CU–NYU Consortium Courses: Spring 2016". New York: Columbia University. 4 November 2015. p. 1. http://ilas.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2016-Spring-NYU-Courses-Approved-for-CU_6-courses.pdf.
86. ↑ "College of Liberal Arts and Sciences". https://clas.uchicago.edu/language_teaching/haitiankreyol.shtml.
87. ↑ "English Language Learner Demographics Report for the 2015–16 School Year". New York City Department of Education. http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/3A4AEC4C-14BD-49C4-B2E6-8EDF5D873BE4/213766/201516DemographicReportv5FINAL.pdf.
88. ↑ Cerat, Marie Lily (2011). "Myths and Realities: A History of Haitian Creole Language Programs in New York City". Journal of Haitian Studies 17: 73–91.
89. ↑ Press, ed (16 March 2016). "Haitian and Creole Culture in Cuba". Cuba Journal. http://cubajournal.co/haitian-and-creole-culture-in-cuba/.
90. ↑ 90.0 90.1 "Haiti in Cuba". http://www.afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm.
91. ↑ "Primera Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes en la República Dominicana" (in es). Santo Domingo: Oficina Nacional de Estadística. 2012. p. 163. http://countryoffice.unfpa.org/dominicanrepublic/drive/InformeENI-2012-General.pdf#page=163.
92. ↑ "Illegal Haitians deported". DR1. 16 August 2005. http://dr1.com/news/2005/dnews081605.shtml#13.
93. ↑ Davis, Nick (20 September 2009). "Bahamas outlook clouds for Haitians". BBC News. London. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8257660.stm.
94. ↑ "Ethnologue – Bahamas (18th ed.)". Ethnologue. https://www.ethnologue.com/country/BS/languages.
95. ↑ "Carnegie Mellon releases data on Haitian Creole to hasten development of translation tools". 27 January 2010. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/01/27/carnegie.mellon.releases.data.haitian.creole.hasten.development.translation.tools.

## Further reading

* Anglade, Pierre (1998) (in fr). Inventaire Étymologique des Termes Créoles des Caraibes d'origine Africaine. Editions L'Harmattan. ISBN 9782296352582. https://books.google.com/books?id=Rl9EJfAL68sC.
* DeGraff, Michel (2001). "Morphology in Creole genesis: Linguistics and ideology". in Kenstowicz, Michael. Ken Hale: A life in language. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 52–121. ISBN 978-0-262-61160-2. OCLC 44702224. http://web.mit.edu/Linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff-hale-festschrift.pdf.
* Lang, George (2004). "A Primer of Haitian Literature in Kreyòl ". Research in African Literatures 35 (2): 128–140. doi:10.1353/ral.2004.0046. ISSN 1527-2044.

## External links

|  Kreyòl ayisyen edition of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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File:Incubator-notext.svg | Haitian Creole test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator

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| Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Haitian Creole

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* "Indiana University Creole Institute". http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/.
* Haitian Creole basic vocabulary (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
* Haitian Creole-English dictionary (PDF)

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