- Official language in
- Haiti
- Also spoken in
- United States, Canada, Dominican Republic, Bahamas
- Script
- Latin
- Speakers
- 6M (2001)
Where it's spoken
Haitian Creole and French are the two official languages of Haiti: Article 5 of Haiti's nineteen-eighty-seven constitution states that Creole and French are the Republic's official languages, and that all Haitians are united by Creole as a common language. A law from nineteen seventy-nine had already recognized Creole — described in the text of the law as the common language spoken by 90% of the Haitian population — as a medium and subject of instruction in Haitian schools. Three regional dialects are described for Haiti: a Northern dialect around Cap-Haïtien, a Southern dialect around Les Cayes, and a Western dialect around Port-au-Prince, with only a relatively small number of variants setting them apart, mostly at the lexical and morphosyntactic level. The language is also carried abroad by the Haitian diaspora, mostly in the United States and Canada, and on other Caribbean islands such as the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.
Sources
- Constitution of the Republic of Haiti (1987, as amended through 2012), English translation — Article 5
- Haïti — Loi du 18 septembre 1979 — Article 1
- Zephir, Flore (2001). "Haitian Creole." In: Garry, Jane; Rubino, Carl (eds.) Facts About the World's Languages: An Encyclopedia of the World's Major Languages, Past and Present. New York/Dublin: H. W. Wilson — Dialects; Number of Speakers
Script & pronunciation
Haitian Creole is written with its own standardized orthography, based on the Latin alphabet, rather than with French spelling. Since the nineteen-forties, three spelling systems had been proposed for the language; in nineteen seventy-five the Institut Pédagogique National (IPN) introduced a new notation, and in nineteen seventy-nine the Haitian government gave this spelling formal recognition. Today nearly all materials in the language use that system. In it, some vowel phonemes are spelled with a vowel letter followed by m, or with a vowel letter carrying a grave accent — è, ò, or à — and that accent marks a different vowel sound from the unaccented letter. This app's card Ki lè festivite a ap kòmanse? ("When does the festival start?") shows both accented vowels, in lè and kòmanse.
Sources
- Haïti — Loi du 18 septembre 1979 — Articles 2–3 (mandate to standardize the alphabet and spelling)
- Valdman, Albert (1988). "Ann pale kreyòl: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole." Indiana University, Bloomington (ERIC ED 356 617) — Preface, p. x; Glossary introduction
Grammar essentials
Haitian Creole's personal pronouns each have a single, unchanging form: mwen ("I/me/my"), ou ("you/you/your," singular), li ("he/him/his," "she/her/her," or "it/it/its" — Creole does not distinguish gender in the third-person singular), nou ("we/us/our," and also plural "you/you/your"), and yo ("they/them/their"). A pronoun that comes before a predicate — a verb, adjective, or adverb — functions as its subject; this app's card Mwen pa gen lajan kach ("I don't have cash") shows the subject mwen followed by the verb gen and its object lajan kach. Verbs themselves do not change form for person or number: tense and aspect are instead shown by short particles placed before the verb, such as ap for an action in progress or about to begin, and pral (from ap ale) for "going to." This app's cards show both: Ki lè festivite a ap kòmanse? ("When does the festival start?") uses ap, and Konbyen sa pral koute? ("How much will this cost?") uses pral. Negation is formed by placing pa ("not") directly before the predicate; the same card about cash, Mwen pa gen lajan kach, shows pa directly before the verb gen.
Sources
- Valdman, Albert (1988). "Ann pale kreyòl: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole." Indiana University, Bloomington (ERIC ED 356 617) — Leson En, p. 2 ("Personal Pronouns"; "Uses of Pronouns"); Leson Kat, p. 16 (progressive marker ap; pral/prale); Leson Sèt, p. 34 (negation with pa)
Politeness & etiquette
Haitian Creole's personal pronouns have only one form each, and ou is the sole singular word for "you" — there is no separate, more formal word to use instead. This app's card Koman ou rele? ("What is your name?") uses this single ou. Politeness is instead expressed through separate terms of address: konpé and komé are widely used, especially in rural Haiti, to indicate friendship, and when used together with a person's surname — as in konpé Ogis — they indicate deference or respect. In the Catholic baptismal ceremony, the same two words also refer to godparents: konpé, "godfather," and komé, "godmother."
Sources
- Valdman, Albert (1988). "Ann pale kreyòl: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole." Indiana University, Bloomington (ERIC ED 356 617) — Leson En, p. 2 ("Personal Pronouns"); Leson Kat, pp. 18–19 ("Not: Kompé and komé")