This document provides an overview of Haitian Creole/Kreyòl Ayisyen, including its classification, related languages, sociolinguistic background, and basic linguistic features. Haitian Creole developed from French and various West and Central African languages and has over 7 million speakers. It is one of two official languages of Haiti, though French maintains a higher social status. The language has a vocabulary and basic word order derived from French but distinctive phonological and grammatical structures.

1. Haitian
Creole/Kreyòl
Ayisyen
Brieanne Conklin
Chris Perkins
Language Sketch:

2. Map

3. Introduction
• Official name: Kreyòl
• Creole classification
• Population of over 7 million

4. Related Languages
• French (regional and
colloquial varieties from
17th
and 18th
centuries)
• African language
influence
– Kwa group of West
Africa
– Bantu languages of
Central Africa
• Minimal Amerindian
language influence
– Haiti (Ayiti)—Arawak
or Carib meaning ‘vast
land of mountains’
– Only very few lexical
influences

5. Sociolinguistic Background
Settlement History
• Very small aboriginal survival of Spanish rule
• ~1625 Europeans (French), along with a few African
slaves began to settle the area
• 1664 Louis XIV claimed the West of the island
• Growth of slave population due to indigo, coffee,
sugarcane, tobacco, cotton and cacao industry.
– Led to classic plantation colony with distinctive Creole
culture and Creole language
• 1697 Spanish recognition of French claim to Saint-
Dominigue (Haiti)

6. Sociolinguistic Background
Settlement History
• Slave population
– 1681~2,000 (approx. 1/3 of total pop.)
– 1791~700,000 (approx. 92% of total pop.)
• Haiti became richest French colony providing 1/3 of
French foreign trade
• Struggle for independence had already begun which
succeeded in 1803

7. Sociolinguistic Background
Sociolinguistic Variation
• Official languages: French and Haitian Creole
• All Haitians speak Haitian Creole, but only 10% are
considered bilingual in French and H.C.
• Fluency in French carries higher status
Traditional Uses
• Haitian used in everyday interactions
• French used in schools, government, official
documents, etc.
• Not allowed to be used for instruction and education
until 1979

8. Basic Word Order
• Follows SVO word order typical of
French
• Passive structure takes on common S-
Aux-V-O
• Only questions divert from French using
SVO+rising intonation exclusively

9. Morphology

10. Morphology-cont’d

11. Phonological Features
• Regional variation makes it difficult to standardize a a
phonological description...
• General phonology similar to French
• 17 consonants (Hall 1953):
Bilabial/
Labiodental Dental
Palatal
or Velar
Plosive p b t d k g
Fricative or
Sibilant
f v s z š ž
Nasal m n ŋ
Lateral l
Spirant r

12. Phonological Features
(Cont’d)
Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
e o
є ò
Open a
Other Vowels:
[an] manman
[єn] bєnyєn
[wi] uit

13. Phonological Features
(cont’d)
Determiners
• Unlike French, determiners do not reflect gender
• Instead, there are several alternants of the
determiner /la/:
la ~ a ~ an ~ lan ~ nan
• Form is selected based on phonological environment

14. Syntactic Features
Determiners and possessive pronouns occur after the
noun:
poul ki kouvri pitit li ak-zèl li
chicken REL cover little 3sg with wing 3sg
‘a hen covering her chickens with her wings’ (Arends et al)
dénié vwayaj la
last trip DET
‘the last trip’ (Hall 1953)

15. Syntactic Features
Personal Pronouns:
mwen 1sg nou 1pl & 2pl
ou 2sg yo 3pl
li 3sg
• No gender distinction
• No distinction between 1st
person plural & 2nd
person plural
• Used for subject and object

16. Syntactic Features (cont’d)
• Present tense “to be” verb not used
Li malad / Li nan jaden an
3sg sick / 3sg in garden DET
‘He is sick’ / ‘He is in the garden’
• Markers used for other tenses
Li te malad / Li te anba tab la
3sg was sick / 3sg was under table DET
‘He was sick’ / ‘He was under the table’
(DeGraff)

17. Syntactic Features (cont’d)
Negation
• French negation: “ne ...(verb)... pas”
• Haitian Creole retains ‘pa’ in negation; however, it
functions more like the French “ne”
H.C. Li pa jam tro ta pou chien anraje
3sg NEG ever too late for dog go mad (Arends et al)
French Ce n’ est jamais trop tard pour un chien enrager
It NEG is never too late for a dog to go mad
‘It’s never too late for a dog to go mad’

18. Sources
Arends, J. et al. (1995). Pidgins and Creoles: An Introduction.
Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
DeGraff, Michel. Comparativ e Creole Syntax. London, U.K.
Westminster Creolistics Series, Battlebridge Publications
--Morphology in Creole genesis: Linguistics and ideology. (2001).
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Haitians: Their History and Culture.
http://www.culturalorientation.net/haiti
Hall, R.A. (1953). Haitian Creole: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary.
Menasha, Wisconsin: American Anthropological Association.