Haitian Creole (Kreyòl ayisyen) is a creole language based on the French language. It is spoken in Haiti by about 7.5 million people (as of 1998), which is nearly the whole population. Via immigration, several hundred thousand speakers live in other countries, including Canada, the United States and France, as well as many Caribbean nations.

There are linguistic influences from several West African languages, namely from Wolof, and some Gbe languages, notably Fon and Ewe/Anlo-Ewe. There are two dialects: Fablas and Plateau Haitian Creole .

Since 1961, Haitian Creole has been recognized as an official language. Its usage in literature is small but growing. Many speakers are bilingual and speak both Haitian Creole and French, but Creole has a lower social status than French in the minds of some. Many educators, writers and activists have emphasized pride and written literacy in Creole since the 1980s. There are newspapers, radio and television programs in this language. Miami-Dade County in Florida sends out paper communications in Haitian Creole in addition to English and Spanish.

It is not to be confused with Haitian Vodoun Culture Language .

Simple sample phrases

(Text in square brackets is in the International Phonetic Alphabet.)

• Hello - Salu [salu] (Fr. salut [saly])
• Good morning — Bonjou [bõʒu] (Fr. bonjour [bõʒur])
• Good evening — Bonswa [bõswa] (Fr. bon soir) [bõswar]
• Goodbye — Na we [nawe] (or Nap we) [napwe]
• Please — Silvouple [silvuple] / Souple [suple] (Fr. s'il vous plaît [silvuple])
• Thank you (very much) - Mèsi (ampil) [mɛsi (ãpil)] (Fr. merci, [mɛrsi])
• How are you? — Kijan ou ye? [kiʒãuye]
• What's your name? — Kijan ou rele? [kiʒãurele]
• My name is... — M'rele... [m̩rele]
• How's it going? — Sak pase? [sakpase]
• General response to Sak pase: Map boule! [mapbule] (Fr. je brule [ʒəbul])
• Who's your daddy? — Kiyès ki Papa'w? [kiyɛski papaw]
• I love you — M renmen w [m̩rɛ̃mɛ̃w]
• Give me a dollar — Ba'm youn dola [bamjũdola]

• How much/how many? — Kombyen? [kõbjɛ̃] (Fr. combien [kõbjɛ̃])
• How? — Kijan? [kiʒã] or Koman? [komã] (Fr. quel genre [kɛlʒãrə] ; comment [kɔmã])
• Who? — Ki moun? [kimun] (Fr. qui [ki])
• Which? — Ki lès?
• Where? — (Ki) Kote? [kikote] / Ki bo? [kibɔ] (Fr. quel côté [kɛlkote], quel bord [kɛlbɔr])
• When? — Ki lè? [kilɛ] (Fr. quelle heure [kɛlœr]
• Why? — Pouki(sa)? [puki(sa)] (Fr. pourquoi (ça) [purkwa(sa)])

A sample of the vocabulary

Where the French source-word is not the same as the French translation, the source is noted in parentheses. In most such cases, the difference is because of Haitian having reanalyzed the definite article as part of the noun.

Creole — French — English

• zwazo [zwazo] — oiseau (<(les) oiseaux) [(lez)wazo] — bird
• Ozetazini [etazini] — États-Unis (<(aux) États-Unis [(oz)etazyni]) — the United States
• vwazen [vwazɛ̃] — voisin [vwazɛ̃] — neighbour
• nimewo [nimewo] — numéro [nymero] — number
• lalin [lalin] — (la) lune [(la)lyn] — moon
• dèyè [dɛjɛ] — derrière [dɛrjɛr] — behind
• zye [zje] — oeil (<(les) yeux [(lez)jø]) — eye
• Bondye [bõdje] — Dieu (<(Bon) Dieu [bõdjø]) — God
• makak [makak] — singe (<macaque [makak]) — monkey
• kay [kaj] — maison — house
• bekann [bekan] — bicyclette — bicycle
• diri [diri] — riz (<(du) riz [dyri]) — rice
• pwa [pwa] — pois [pwa] — bean

See also

• Romance copula (see section on Haitian copula)

External links

• Haitian Creole dictionary
• UN Declaration of Human Rights in Haitian Creole
• RFI — Kréyòl Palé Kréyòl Konprann (radio program)
• Common Creole Words and Phrases
• Haitian Creole online test
• Haitian Kreyol grammar