Haitian Kreyol Dialect, or a language

Anne

In 1961 Kreyol was recognized as one of Haiti’s official languages along with French.  Haitian Kreyol is based on French and other languages such as Spanish and some west African languages. It is often described as a “French Dialect” or as a “broken French.” I have always asked myself if Kreyol was a broken French, why do people who speak French do not fully understand when someone speaks in Kreyol? 

In Haiti, only 10% of the population speaks French, and a Haitian who speaks Kreyol is sometimes unable to understand another Haitian speaking French. It is unlikely to see the opposite because in Haiti the colonizing language has been prioritized over the Kreyol. Within Haiti there are three forms of dialect of Kreyol:  the northern dialect of Kreyol, spoken in Cap-Haitian, the second-largest city; the Central dialect, spoken mainly in Port-au-Prince, which is the capital of Haiti, and also spoken by the majority of the population, and finally the southern dialect, spoken in “Les Cayes,” another big city located in the south. 

Like any other language, Kreyol has its own and distinctive grammar that is different from French. One such example is the use of verbs, we do not have subject verb agreement and there are also no verb tenses. Instead we have markers that precede the verb to indicate the tense. For instance, we use “te” to indicate the past tense, “ap” for progressives, and “pral” for the future

 It has always fascinated me, here in Montreal to see how other communities embrace their culture and speak and teach their language to their children. Why it is not the same in the Haitian Community that lives in Montreal? There is a misconception that Haitian parents have, the fact that Kreyol is similar to French, they believe teaching their children Kreyol would hurt their schooling. Another reason is that Haitians are not proud of Kreyol, even though the language contributed the Haitian in 1804 to the victory of their independence in 1804. We are not proud also at a young age we learn that our mother tongue is synonymous of inferiority. This is so clear that in Haiti we live with three unwritten rules. 

            1^strule:  You will never speak Kreyol to your parents unless you are eighteen years or older.  

               2^ndrule:  You will never approach a girl in Kreyol unless it is your sister, and this is of course in the absence of your parents.

               3^rdrule: Never ever speak Kreyol in school.

On that note, I remember when I was in elementary school, if someone spoke Kreyol in the classroom the teacher will punish the student. She/He will give us a sentence stating the following: “JE NE DOIS PAS PARLER CRÉOLE À L’ÉCOLE” (I MUST NOT SPEAK CREOLE IN SCHOOL), that we had to write 100 times or less signed by our parents, so they know we were disturbing the class for speaking in Kreyol. As you are reading this, you’re probably shocked and confused and start questioning why Haitians are being punished for speaking their own language. Yet, I still don’t know the answer to that and I can assure you that no one does. For one thing, I must say as a young Haitian, it’s that Haitian people make their own rules and obey by them.  I, myself am a victim of these “Haitian rules” because until now it is sometimes difficult to read and write Creole as fluently as I should.