Dominican Creole French

Dominican Creole
kwéyòl, patwa
Native to Dominica
Native speakers
 43,000 (1998)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 None (mis)
Glottolog None
Linguasphere 51-AAC-ccg

Dominican Creole French is a French-based creole, which is the generally spoken language in Dominica.[2] It is highly mutually intelligible with its much more widely spoken immediate neighbor, Antillean Creole, of which it might be considered a distinct variety.

History

It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of the Lesser Antilles and is very closely related to the varieties spoken in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Grenada and parts of Trinidad and Tobago. The intelligibility rate with speakers of other varieties of Antillean Creole is almost 100%. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole, though, like its Saint Lucian counterpart, it includes more English loanwords than the Martinican variety. People who speak Haitian Creole can also understand Dominican Creole French, even though there are a number of distinctive features; they are mutually intelligible.

Like the other French-based creole languages in the Caribbean, Dominican French Creole is primarily French-derived vocabulary, with possible African and Carib influences to its syntax. In addition, many expressions reflect the presence of an English Creole and Spanish influences are also present in the language.

In 1635, the French seized Guadeloupe and Martinique and began establishing sugar colonies. Dominica, for its part, had not been colonized because all attempts to colonize it had failed. Before 1690, lumberjacks (English and French) had traveled to Dominica for its forest resources. Subsequently, French from Martinique and Guadeloupe and their slaves settled in Dominica by establishing small farms of coffee, cotton, wood, and tobacco. Creole thus develops among the slaves, Dominican Creole thus comes from the mixture of the Creoles from Guadeloupe and Martinique, and then it is enriched further with Amerindian and English words. From now on, the Creole would stay until the present. Despite the future transfer of the island to the English and the addition of English words, the Creole remains strongly French in Dominica and despite what is said, is his place in the center of the Dominicans culture. The underdevelopment of the road system in Dominica hindered for a long time the development of English, the official language of the country, in isolated villages, where Creole remained the only spoken language.[3]

Classic or Current changes

We must remember that Creole developed in the French slavery plantation environment. While Africans pronounced the French language the best they understood with their own accents, not all its consonants would be reproduced exactly the same. The "R" was realized as "W". Commonly, the Creole countries that have French as their official language no longer retain this characteristic; however, the islands sold to the English do retain this usage.

Pronoun Kwéyòl

English Créole Remarks
I Man, Mwen, An The three forms are perfectly synonymous
you(singular) Ou/Vou
He/She I Creole has a neutral pronoun that can be synonymous with him or her.
He Misyé Exemple: Misyé pa djè ni tan: he hardly has much time.
She (Unmarried Girl) Manmzèl Exemple: Manmzèl pa djè enmen jwé :she does not like playing much.
We Nou
You(plurial) Zòt, Zò This is not a "you" of familiarity. Zò est utilisé en Guadeloupe
They Yo Exemple: Yo ka Jwé : they play.

Pour la Template:3e personne du singulier neutre "I" il est à noter également que contrairement à d'autres créoles antillais, l'utilisation de "li" en pronom personnel non-réfléchi est quasiment absente.[4]

Alphabet Kwéyòl

Créole Transcription

API

 !Prononciation standard
g /g/ hard G like in Garage
h h use like in Ham
i i Pronouced lik "ee" as in see
j /ʒ/ Sound does not exist in english, but pronounced as "J" in French.. Same sound as J in "Je"
k k Replaces hard "C", "Qu". K as in Kick
w r W replaces R in some words derived from French, but in Creole they are two different letters.
s s Replaces the soft "C" and pronounced like "S" in Soft
y y pronounced like "Yuh" as in Yuck
z z Replaces "S" when used between vowels, and pronounced as in Zebra
an an nasalized sound use in French. Does not exist in english
àn ane Pronounced as a nasalized sound with an emphasis on the "N" "ane" in English
ann   an français avec n nasalisé (comme dans ennui en français).
anm   French with nasalised m.
ay aï Pronounced as "eye" in English
in ine jamais nasalisé comme en français.
en ain toujours nasalisé.
enn   Pronounced as in Garden
on   Sound does not exist in English. It is a nasal on as used in French.
onm   Nasal sound + M. Pronounced like bum
onn   Nasal sound + N. Pronounced like on
ch   Pronounced as "Sh" in English
a a pronounced as a short a as in Cat
b b Pronounced as B en English
f f Pronounced as F in English
d Pronounced as D in English Like Dog
m Pronounced as M in Englsih Like Man.
n Pronounced as N in English Like Never
Ò Pronounced as "Or" as in More
R Often replaced by W in beginnings of words, but pronounced as Racquet
P Pronounced as in Pea
T Pronounced as in Tea
V Pronounced as in Volcano
W Pronounced as in Water

Numbers (Counting in Créole)

0 Nòt/Zéwo
1 yon
2 dé
3 twa
4 kat
5 senk
6 Sis
7 sèt
8 wit
9 Nèf
10 dis
11 wonz
12 douz
13 twèz
14 katòz
15 Kinz\tjenz
16 Sèz
17 disèt
18 dizwit
19 diznèf
20 ven
21 ventéyon
22 venndé
23 venntwa
24 vennkat
25 vennsenk
26 vennsis
27 vennsèt
28 venntwit
29 ventnèf
30 twant
31 twantéyon
32 twantdé
33 twantwa
34 twantkat
35 twantsenk
36 twantsis
37 twantsèt
38 twantwit
39 twantnèf
40 kawant
41 kawantéyon
42 kawantdé
43 kawantwa
44 kawantkat
45 kawantsenk
46 kawantsis
47 kawantsèt
48 kawantwit
49 kawantnèf
50 senkant
51 senkantéyon
52 senkantdé
53 senkantwa
54 senkantkat
55 senkantsenk
56 senkantsis
57 senkantsèt
58 senkantwit
59 senkantnèf
60 swasant
61 swasantéyon
62 swasantdé
63 swasantwa
64 swasantkat
65 swasantsenk
66 swasantsis
67 swasantsèt
68 swasantwit
69 swasantnèf
70 swasantdis
71 swasantwonz
72 swasantdouz
73 swasanttwèz
74 swasantkatòz
75 swasantkenz
76 swasantsèz
77 Swasantdisèt
78 swasantdizwit
79 swasantdiznèf
80 katwèven
81 katwèventéyon
82 katwèvendé
83 katwèventwa
84 katwèvenkat
85 katwèvensenk
86 katwèvensis
87 katwèvensèt
88 katwèvenwit
89 katwèvennèf
90 katwèvendis
91 katwèvenwonz
92 Katwèvendouz
93 Katwèventwèz
94 Katwèvenkatòz
95 Katwèvenkenz
96 Katwèvensèz
97 katwèvendisèt
98 katwèvendizwit
99 katwèvendiznèf
100 san
200 Dé san
300 Twa san
400 Kat san
500 Senk san
600 Sis san
700 Sèt san
800 Wit san
900 Nèf san
1 000 mil
2 000 Dé mil
3 000 Twa mil
4 000 Kat mil
5 000 Senk mil
6 000 Sis mil
7 000 Sèt mil
8 000 Wit mil
9 000 Nèf mil
10 000 Di mil
100 000 San mil
1 000 000 = yon milyon 1 000 000 000 = yon milya

1 234 = yon mil + dé san + twantkat

30 153 = twant mil + san + senkantwa

412 489 = (kat san douz)mil + kat san + katwèvennèf

12 356 734 = (douz) milyon + (twa san+senkantsis)mil + sèt san+twantkat

Ordinal Numbers

First = pwémyè

Second = dézyènm

Third = twazyènm

All others are formed like this: Number + [yènm]

Days of the Week

Days of the Week by position
pwémyè dézyènm twazyènm katwiyènm senkyènm sisyènm sètyènm
Dimanch Lindi Madi Mèkwédi Jédi Vandwédi Sanmdi/Sabat

Months of the Year

Months of the Year
Janvyè
Fèvwiyé
Mas
Avwil
Mé
Jwen\Jen
Jwiyè\Jiyè
Out\awou
Sétanm
Òktob
Novanm
Désanm

Colors

Red Wouj
Black Nwè
White Blan
Gray Gwi
Purple Vyolèt
Orange Zòwanj
Yellow Jòn
Blue Blé
Brown Kako/mawon
Green Vè
Pink Wòzé

Verbes

There are verbs well known for their frequent use in Creole. As Creole is made by the fusion of different languages and cultures, pronunciation is the basis of language training. The negative is formed by adding the "pa" in front of the verb whereas there are two exceptions (below).

  • vlé (lé) = vouloir / pé = able : note that negation is an exception for "le" and "pe" which become "le pa" and "pe pa"
French Kwéyòl More Information
to be Sé /Yé Come from French "C'est" and "Y est"
to have NI
to give bay Come from bailler(to lease) which was used a the time
Want vlé/lé
to be able pé

Les temps des verbes

All verbs in Creoles are built with predicates except for some exceptions that do not require the presence of ka.

Verb French Présent Past incomplete past Future Near Futur Conditional Translation
ni, tini(En Guadeloupe) to have Mwen ni Mwen té ni lajan Mwen té ka ni lajan Mwen ké ni lajan Mwen k'ay ni lajan Mwen té ké ni lajan I have, I had, I will have money.
enmé/émé to love Mwen enmé'w Mwen té enmé'w Mwen té ka enmé'w Mwen ké enmé'w Mwen k'ay enmé'w Mwen té ké enmé'w I love you
sav(é) to know how to do something Mwen sav Mwen té sav Mwen té ka savé Mwen ké sav Mwen k'ay savé Mwen té ké savé I know, I knew, I will know
hayi hate, detest Mwen hayi misyé Mwen té hayi li Mwen té ka hayi misyé Mwen ké hayi li Mwen k'ay hayi li Mwen té ké hayi misyé I detest the guy.
konèt to know someone personally Mwen konèt boug-la Mwen té konèt li Mwen té ka konnèt boug-la Mwen ké konèt li Mwen k'ay konnèt Mwen té ké konnèt boug-la I know the guy.

Des exemples :

Mwen sé Pyè I am Pierre.
Mwen ni di dola I have ten dollars.
Ou sé Jak You are Jacque?
Pol é Mwen sé fwè Paul and Me are brothers.
Nonm nwè-a mwen yé I am a man that is black

Les Articles

L’article défini

When using the article, we add it after the name which differs from what we see in the French syntax. "La" follows nouns that end with a consonant or "y". When a name ends with a vowel, it is followed by "a" only.

Nonm-la The Man
Fanm-la The Woman
Payay-la the Papaya
Lawi-a The Street
Zaboka-a The Avocado

L’article indéfini

L’article indéfini a deux formes. Le masculin « yon » et la féminine « yonn » par exemple.

Yonn tab a table
Yon nonm a man

Le pluriel

Le pluriel de l'article se forme en ajoutant « sé + nom + la/a ». La même règle applique en mettant l’article défini après le nom.

Sé nonm la The Men
Sé fanm la The Women
Sé timoun la The children.
Sé lawi-a The streets

Comment poser une question

Posant les questions sont très facile an Kwéyòl. Vous pouvez articuler avec l'intonation de votre voix pour poser un question. Ex. Ou malad?? / Vous êtes malade??

Si vous préférez, le tableau dissous vous montre tout les mots utilisaient en indiquant les questions.

Kwéyòl French
ki which
kimoun\kilès who
kijan\Kimannyè How
Kilè\Kitan When
Kisa What
Pouki/Poutji Why
Konmen/Konmbyen How much
Koté Where
Ès\Èské Asking a question

Noté: « ki » is not normally used alone but in combination with other words via elision..

Des Examples
Kwéyòl French
Kimoun ou yé? Who are you??
Koté ou alé Where are you going?
Kijan ou yé? How are you?
Kilè i yé? What time is it?
Konmen sa? How much is that?
Es ou Dominitjin? Are you (Dominican/Dominiquais)?
Kisa ou fè la? What are you doing there?
Pouki ou mandé mwen sa? Why are you asking me that?

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ Saint Lucian Creole French (Dominica) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    2. ↑ "The Creole Language of Dominica". Retrieved 31 March 2014.
    3. ↑ Lennox., Honychurch, (1995). The Dominica story : a history of the island. London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333627768. OCLC 60126665.
    4. ↑ Créole martiniquais
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