Specific Language 5, Haitian Creole: history of the language, official recognition, 15 idioms, literal and semantic translations

When the Court Interpreter’s Act was passed in the United States in 1978 to become effective in 1980, three languages were included: Spanish, Haitian Creole and Navaho.

Currently, in 2024, there are approximately 13 million native Haitian Creole speakers in the world. Unlike the other French-based Creole languages, the Haitian Creole language includes both high register and low register varieties, thus not being a type of diglossia, as described by Ferguson at Stanford University in which totally different languages are used according to the formality of the register (like Spanish versus Guarani in Paraguay).

Haiti is the one nation in the world where Haitian Creole is recognized as an official language. In addition to Haiti, it is also a recognized minority language in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, the Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Jamaica and the United States.

The following information is from Britannica:

Haitian Creole, a French-based?vernacular?language?that developed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It developed primarily on the sugarcane plantations of Haiti from contacts between French colonists and African slaves. It has been one of?Haiti’s official languages since 1987 and is the first language of about 95 percent of Haitians, especially in rural areas. Like other French?creoles, its grammatical features can be related to those of the nonstandard?dialects?of French spoken by the early colonists, although the features did not all originate in one particular?dialect. Challenging problems for scholars include determining how these features were selected into Haitian Creole, what roles the African languages played in determining specific selections, and to what extent the features have been modified during their reorganization into the new system.

Of all the French creoles of the?Western Hemisphere, Haitian is probably the one that bears the most influence from African languages. Scholars who believe that creoles develop gradually (a point of view not held by all) have suggested that this is a result of two factors. One is the unusually high ratio of Africans to Europeans in the colony’s early history: perhaps 9 to 1 in the 17th century, rising to approximately 16 to 1 in 1789 and increasing further during the?Haitian Revolution?(1791–1804), when most of the French colonists either left or died (see?Haiti: History). The other is Haiti’s early isolation from France, especially after independence in 1804.

In contrast to the hemisphere’s other creoles, which are primarily spoken in informal and domestic situations, Haitian?Creole?is also used for formal and public functions, notably in schools, in churches, and at political meetings.

The information below is a list of 15 idioms in Haitian Creole provided by Ralph Desmangles, both a Certified Court Interpreter in Haitian Creole <> English Interpreter, and a United States State Department Conference Interpreter in French <> English.

For more information, or for work in these pairs of languages, if you want to get in contact with Mr. Desmangles, his e-mail is: [email protected].

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1.???????? Tet chaje ?

[?Loaded head]??

Oh boy - Too much trouble.?

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2.???????? Wap konn Georges

[You'll meet?Georges]?

You'll see what's about to happen -Brace yourself for trouble.?

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3.???????? Pran sanw

[Take your blood]??

Relax -Take it easy.?

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4.???????? Tet neg

[A?Man's head]??

Expensive

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5.???????? Banm tet mwen [Give me my head]?

Stop it - Leave me alone.

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6.???????? Deye mon gen mon

[?Mountains upon mountains]?

Always something - Endless challenges.

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7.???????? Dan pouri gen fos sou banan mi

[Rotten teeth are tough on ripe plantains] -??

Somewhat weak but still mightier than the weaker.

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8.???????? Se Lave men siye ate

[Wash your hands? but use the floor to dry them]?

You're wasting your time.

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9.???????? Sak vid pa kanpe ?

[Empty bags will not stand on their own]?

Hungry folks?are unproductive.?

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10.????? Ou gate sanm ?

[You spoiled my blood]

You made me upset.

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11.????? Ale nan peyi san chapo

[To travel to a country without a hat on] ?

To die.?(Dead bodies are typically buried without hats.)

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12.????? Tout jou pa Dimanch?

[Everyday is not Sunday]??

You will not always be as lucky - Your bad behavior will catch up with you at some point.

13.????? Banm zorey mwen

[Give me my ears] ?

Shut up - Stop talking.

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14.????? Pa gen nen nan figiw?

[No nose on your face].??

Shameless

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15.????? Tout lapriye gen amen.?

[All prayers have an amen]?

All grief must eventually come to an end.

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Sources

Desmangles, Ralph. Certified Court Interpreter in Haitian Creole and English, US Department of State Conference Interpreter in French and English.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Haitian-Creole

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