Haitian Creole vocabulary Puns

Granted, they need to update it but I think if it got enough interest he might add more content hopefully

Bon swa, r/Haiti!

I'm looking to get your thoughts, opinions, and concerns when it comes to using Haitian Kreyól for every day technology use (e.g. texting friends, using a search engine, writing e-mails, etc.). Do you use Kreyól for digital communications at all? Or do most people switch to French for this, and if so, why? Do Haitians want language technology for Kreyól?

My Background: I am a PhD student, working on extending language technology to various creole languages. By "language technology", I mean any piece of software designed to make using language easier. These are technologies like spell-checkers, grammar-checkers, Google Translate, Google search engine, e-mail Spam detection, etc. As for creoles, I just think they're really neat. And I think current language technology is overly dominated by so-called "prestigious" languages, like English and French, and so for my PhD work, I'm trying to figure out what creole speakers actually want and need from language technology, so I can go do that. As an outsider to your community, I don't want to just assume what you want/need, and make something worthless haha.

Anyway, some specific questions that I have for you all, are below. Feel free to answer as much, or as little, as you want. I'm really grateful for any insight!

• Is there a want/need for more language technology for Kreyól?
• Kreyól has non-standardized spelling and grammar. Do you think this is a "problem" that needs to be solved, in order for Kreyol to be used in more technological settings? Or, instead, do you think it's a positive feature of the language, and its language tech that needs to adapt? Or something else entirely? It seems like a bit debate in Haiti, based on this post from ayibopost .
• What sorts of language technologies do you even want?
• Is there anything that you'd like me (a technologist who is ignorant about many things about Kreyol and Haiti!!) to be aware of, before I start making technology for Haitians?
• Any concerns you have?

Edit - If you found this topic interesting, please consider taking my 5 minute survey, in English or French! It would really help me out if people could fill it out <3, but I also appreciate all your replies in the thread here.

Mesi! (And thanks to the mods for letting me add the link survey!)

Growing up I actually thought creole was the name of the language. But later on I learn other countries have their own creoles.

So when other people ask me what do I speak I would say Haitian Creole. After I would say that they would get even more confused.

I do understand why they get confused. It’s like asking a person that looks mix what they are and they just say “ oh I am mix”

Telling them “ oh I speak Haitian Creole” doesn’t really tell anybody anything.

So now when people ask me what languages I speak I tell them French creole Instead.

In my opinion it’s very logical to just call it French creole. A better solution would be to just give Haitian Creole a name.

What’s your opinion?

Have you had any experience listening to people speaking in their respective Creoles? How does it sound to you? Can you understand certain words?

I'm planning on learning Haitian Creole & I've been looking for any comics online that is in Creole (example: a webtoon comic). However, I can't find anything. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Does anyone know a website with free Haitian Creole lessons? The only thing that I found only had single words or full sentences lists, but no actual explanations/break down.

Hi everyone! New follow here.

I'm working on a story and I'm going to introduce a set of characters that are a part of this club. And while I was thinking of names I came up with "Nwazo" to mean black bird. It's a combination of Nwa and Zwazo, Nwazo. And I know a more accurate translation would be Zwazo Nwa, but I'm really tied to Nwazo admittedly because of the shorter length (thinking of having one character go by Nwazo as their name too, so something short is ideal).

I like having this stylized name for the group, but I also don't want the name to be so far from Haitian linguistic trends that it comes off as completely unrecognizeable. I want people to be able to read this and think "Oh look, a little rep for Haiti! Cool!" And while I'm planning other stuff in this story to represent Haitian culture, I still want this to be as close to "real" as possible.

So, to any native Kreyol Ayisen speakers, how does Nwazo look? Do you think people most familiar with the language would be able to figure out it's two root words? Does it look too un-like Kreyol to pass? Or have I stumbled upon some inappropriate word that I never learned in my Haitian Creole class? (lol)

I'm working on kreyòl and would love to chat with a native speaker that can correct me. I'm happy to do the same for you.

It was set to launch on June 1st, but then it seems like the developers just quit updating anything at all. I've been waiting for that course for literally years now. <sigh>

UPDATE: At the very least Duolingo have gone in there and updated the release date to show 02/22/2022. Not holding my breath, but it'd sure be nice.

At the 30:06 mark of “Strange Flyers Around Portland, Oregon” (link) Nexpo identifies the phrase “9 goéh 5 jit” as being Haitian Creole. Am I not getting some in-joke here, or is he being serious? I’m pretty sure (read: 90-100%) it’s the Min-nan dialect of Chinese (also known as Hokkien, Hoklo or Taiwanese). It does indeed mean “September 5th” (literally “9 month 5 day”), though.

Hi!

I knew a Haitian person whose nickname had nothing to do with their real name and I wonder if it has any meaning or it's just a name. They couldn't explain it to me cause they were young and didn't understand much English. I also won't be able to write it in the correct way so I hope someone will understand it: Ki/ña (keeña) - ñ like in Spanish

mèsi

Not in the creepy way. More in the, "Let's go back and visit where our story began" kind of way. Where it all started. Thanks in advance!

I am trying to learn Haitian Creole and looking for sources of comprehensible input. I prefer using podcasts or youtube videos something that I could just play in the background. I am having trouble with finding sources of content with just speakers speaking haitian creole, not just the basic introductory courses. If anyone has any podcasts in Haitian Creole or other fun and interesting content in haitian creole can you let me know about it.

Thanks

One of the most important things to do while learning a language is to read constantly, so if you are learning Haitian Creole and haven't encounter something to read that caught your attention I invite you to check this article which offers a list of book written in Haitian Creole.

And if Haitian Creole is your native language, better yet, now you have a list of books to check!

Liv an kreyòl ayisyen pou granmoun / Books in Haitian Creole for Adults (bookshop.org)

1. Sòt pa touye w, men li fè w swè – Literally, stupidity won’t kill you, but it’ll make you sweat.
2. Sezi kou berejèn – Very surprised; literally, surprised as an eggplant.
3. Depi djab te kaporal – Literally, “ever since the Devil was a corporal.” Figuratively, since the beginning of time.
4. Mare sòsis – Literally, to tie your sausage together with someone else’s. Figuratively, to be in cahoots with someone.
5. M a di w sa Kasayòl te di bèf la – Literally, “I’m going to tell you what Cassagnol told the cow.” When you want to curse someone out without doing it directly.
6. Pitit trannde dan – Literally, “a child with thirty-two teeth.” In a report from 1979 by Konpè Filo, sex workers from Port-au-Prince explained that they referred to their pimps as “children with thirty-two teeth” because they were all grown up but still depended on women for everything.
7. Benyen san kache lonbrit – Literally, bathing without hiding your belly button. Letting it all hang out, not having any secrets.
8. Panzou – Traditionally, a children’s game in which you slap someone’s hand, often to make them drop something. Panzou came to mean coup d’état, referring to the way the army seized power from Haiti’s democratically-elected government in 1991. The perpetrators of the coup, accordingly, were panzouyis (panzouists).
9. Mete absè sou klou – Literally, putting an abcess on top of a boil. Figuratively, making a bad situation worse.
10. Nou se lanmè, nou pa kenbe kras – A proverb, and of Radio Haiti’s slogans. Literally “We are like the sea, we wash away the dirt.” It means “we reveal the truth, we don’t keep secrets.”
11. Nou pa manje lajan Chango, nou pa manje manje bliye – Literally, “we don’t consume Chango’s money, we don’t eat the food of forgetfulness.” Figuratively, “we’re not taking part in corruption and we never forget.”

This comes from this article, if you want a more in depth explanation (and a bonus expression) check it out!

Although they have been getting closer to finishing the tree, the course itself will not be ready for release just yet. They still have to write up and enter all the tips, record all the audio, and look over the tree to make revisions. They must ensure that we are releasing content that is aligned with the Haitian Creole Insitute in order to ensure our course aligns with the official grammar of this very much spoken language. They are excited to be approaching the end of our time of adding sentences into the course.

To any linguists with knowledge of French and Haitian Creole: are there any interesting archaic vocabulary words or grammatical features of earlier French that Haitian Creole has retained in some way? I’ve recently started learning it as someone who already speaks French, and it’s truly a fascinating language.

Looking for a Haitian Creole interpreter in the ABQ/SF area to assist in translating for detainees in the Torrence county detention center next week. Asking on behalf of a friend that does not have Reddit. If you or anyone you know can help, please let me know and I’ll help get you connected.

If you're looking to learn Kreyòl while cooking some delicious food then here I let you a Liv resèt that you're going to love.