Haiti Languages

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Description

The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole.

French

  • principal written and administratively authorized language
  • spoken by 42% of Haitians
  • spoken by all educated Haitians
  • the medium of instruction in most schools
  • used in the business sector
  • used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church Masses

Haitian Creole

  • recently undergone a standardization
  • spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti
  • one of the French-based creole languages
  • Its vocabulary is 90% derived from French, but its grammar resembles that of some West African languages
  • has influences from Taino, Spanish, and Portuguese
  • related to the other French creoles, but most closely to the Antillean Creole and Louisiana Creole variants [1]

Difference between Haitian Creole and French

  • Haitian Creole and French have similar pronunciations and share many lexical items
  • over 90% of the Haitian Creole vocabulary is of French origin
  • many cognate terms actually have different meanings
  • the grammars of Haitian Creole and French are very different (in Haitian Creole, verbs are not conjugated as they are in French)
  • 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 [2]

Word List(s)

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Language Aids


Dictionaries

  • Vilsaint, Féquière and Jean-Evens Berret. English Haitian Creole dictionary. Coconut Creek, FL: Educa Vision, 2005. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Theodore, Charmant. Haitian Creole dictionary & phrasebook. New York: Hippocrene Books, 2009. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Targète, Jean and Raphael G Urciolo. Haitian Creole-English dictionary. Kensington, Md: Dunwoody Press, Dunwoody Press. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Goldsmith, Evelyn, Amanda Earl, Lyn Mitchell, and Adriana Capadose. French dictionary. Bromley: Harrap, 1990. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Cousin, Pierre-Henri. Collins French dictionary. Glasgow [Scotland], Great Britain,: HarperCollins Publishers, 2012. Available at: WorldCat.

Online Dictionaries

Additional Resources

  • Accilien, Cécile and Jowel C Laguerre. Haitian Creole phrasebook. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2011. Available at: WorldCat.
  • Valdman, Albert. Haitian Creole : structure, variation, status, origin. Sheffield, UK: Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2015. Available at: WorldCat.

References

  1. Wikipedia contributors, "Haiti," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti#Languages#Languages, accessed 3 Apr 2021.
  2. Wikipedia contributors, "Haitian Creole," in Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Creole#Difference_between_Haitian_Creole_and_French, accessed 3 Apr 2021.