Pale met la pa anyen, se aksyon ki konte
How to use it?
Use it with pronouns.
Zafè w or zafè pa w means it's your responsibility
Zafè l or zafè pa l means it's his responsibility
Zafè yo or zafè pa yo means it's their responsibility, it's on their heads
Get it?
Example:
Your friend has a bad habit of riding his bike without a helmet and every time you talk to him about it he doesn't listen. He knows the danger of riding without a helmet but he just doesn't care. So you'll say: Zafè pa w! Whatever happens to you is your fault!
another example:
Your other friend refuses to come to work on time and knows that she'll lose her job if she doesn't change this bad habit, but she doesn't care .... zafè pa l!
another example:
If they fall asleep on the job they'll get fired but they don't care and fall asleep anyways ....zafè pa yo!
one more example:
I might get arrested if I drive with a suspended license but I drive anyway.....zafè pa m! it's my responsibility....my business
Manke yon moun dega means to be disrespectful toward someone, to be discourteous, to be "out-of-line"
Timoun nan ap manke m dega.
The kid is being disrespectful toward me.
Se madan marye m ye wi, apa w ap manke m dega!
I'm a married woman, you're being offensive!
Ti gason t ap manke manman l dega.
The boy was being rude to his mother.
Pa manke n dega tande.
Don't be rude to us
Apa w ap manke moun dega.
You are being rude.
"lang lou- heavy tongue is also use for lisp "
Mandaly says:
Yes thanks :)
Haitians also use 'lang lou' to describe a heavy language accent:
Lang li lou lè l ap pale Kreyòl.
Also they use 'lang lou' to describe someone that's unable to talk because of a strange anxiety or when in the presence of an evil being (people experience that in a dream state or when they're in between being asleep and awake):
Pandan m sou kabann nan, nan fènwa a, mwen santi te gen de zombi nan pye kabann nan. Lang mwen vin lou, m pa t ka pale.
Hello, I know that "evanwi/evanoui" means to faint or to pass out. However, what are other words or verbal phrases or synonyms for "to faint" in creole? Examples, "He always faints at the sight of blood." or "She almost fainted from the pain." or "I thought he'd faint when I kissed him."
Mandaly says:
We say endispoze, fè endispozisyon, or pèdi konesans in H. Creole.
Li endispoze
Li fè yon endispozisyon
Li pèdi konesans
I have never used evanoui - it sounds French
What are words or related words for "computer hacker" in creole? For example, "Even if a hacker is successful at breaking into a system, they can't deface the web site." or "The problem with protecting computer systems today is that the enemy is not a teenage hacker in a darkened bedroom." What are words for "to hack" in creole? For example, "Anyone, even a child with limited or no computer know-how, can use these packages to hack into your systems." or "When I logged into the social network, I discovered I'd been hacked." or "He hacked the firm's personnel database."
mandaly says:
We use pirat and pirate
You said:
"What are words for "whistleblower" or "informant"? For example, "We owe it to a small group of brave whistle-blowers that we know about the infractions at all." or "When with due circumspection Napoleon was informed that Moscow was empty, he looked angrily at his informant, turned away, and silently continued to walk to and fro."
Mandaly says:
We say rapòtè, akizatè, denonsyatè, espyon
Non, we do not have any other expressions with - sou lang.
but other expressions you can find with lang are:
vire lang - to change you word/story, to recant a story
lang alèlè - motormouth, blabbermouth
chat pran lang - cat's got one's tongue
bay kout lang - to to make false or damaging statements against someone
Rete - to stop, to remain, to stay, ...
"Kobyen mango ki rete nan panye a?"
"Ki kote w rete?"
"Rete la. Pa deplase."
Wete - to take out, to remove
"Wete kiyè a nan bouch anvan w pale."
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Mèsi deske w te vini (singular)
Mèsi deske nou te vini (plural)
I want to thank you for coming.
Mwen remèsye w deske ou te vini.
I wanted to thank you for coming.
Mwen te vle remèsye w deske ou te vini.
Thanks for stopping by.
Mèsi pou visit la.
Lari a tou blanch.
The street is deserted.
Lari tou blan ak lanèj
The street is covered in snow.
One of the meaning of 'blanch' in Haitian Creole is vacancy, lack of (something) or desertedness:
Bay teren an blanch.
Bay kay la blanch
to leave
pase yon nuit blanch
to have a sleepless night
a more meaningful relationship with Jesus
yon relasyon ki pi serye avèk Jezi
 |
| aplikasyon pou aksan fòs la |
You know how important these foreign characters are, don't you?
You want to write pòt (door) but you end up writing pot (to bring)
or maybe it takes an average of 5 keystrokes to achieve these: À à È è Ò ò
and you don't want to go through all that.
So here's a trusted link for adding an app on your PC that will make writing the characters easier.
Once you've install the app, all it will take is to press on the corresponding letters twice on your keyboard, and you're there.
You may toggle the ALT + K key to make the app ACTIVE or INACTIVE depending whether you're writing Kreyòl or other languages.
The program produces an audible confirmation of its mode (double BEEP Haiti keyboard; single BEEP USA keyboard).
A Haitian flag icon is added if you wish to use it as the icon for the app.
This app comes to you compliment of Guyto Bichotte who created it. Thanks Guyto.
Link: https://www.facebook.com/download/810020792417711/AyitiEtaziniKybd.zip
Haitians us manman as an interjection (and papa too):
Adye manman!
Adye papa!
And they also use it to say big, huge, massive
(They use papa the same way too.)
yon gwo manman kay
yon manman bèf
yon manman kanson
etc...
You said:
As you know, I am focusing on the official orthography. I want to get to the point, where I can read words from the way they are written; not because I already know them. I want get to the point, where I can write them; not because I have already seen them. So, we have the word "cheve" for hair. Now, if I am not mistaken the pronunciation is the same as the French "cheveux". However, "e" in "cheve" would not seem to rhyme with the "e" words like "peyi", "kwe", and "vle". But use of "è" would seem wrong too, since the syllables in "cheve" don't rhyme with the words "mèt", "fèt", and "lèt". And so, I am not sure how the proper pronunciation of "cheve" is arrived at from the use of this spelling; unless of course, I am mispronouncing the word as French? Thanks!
Mandaly says:
Haitians say 'cheve' or 'chive' and it's not pronounced like the French word 'cheveux'
We use the Haitian Creole letter 'e' to say 'cheve'. Remember that the french sound 'eux' does not exist in H. Creole.
You said:
Okay, I am going back to beginning 2010, because I think its the best way to review. <<<àn pronounced like the "an"sound in "Liliane" - Please say outloud: bekàn, soutàn, avwàn, lamàn>>> Clearly this letter has been dropped from the Official Orthography with what has it been replaced? I am thinking maybe "yen"? Thanks!
Mandaly says:
The accented 'a' tells us that 'an' and 'àn' are pronounced differently.
Egzanp: pan, pàn, and pann are each pronounced differently. They each have their own meaning too.
"What are words for "appeal" and "to appeal" in this context? Here are examples as a noun, "My lawyer said the court's decision wasn't correct and that we should file for an appeal." or "their appeal was denied in the superior court." or "The decision was reversed on appeal." Here are examples as a verb, "He appealed, arguing that there was not enough evidence to convict him." or "She lost the case and appealed the following month." or "We plan to appeal the court's decision." or "The ruling can be appealed within 30 days." or "The verdict was appealed to a higher court." or "He was found guilty but appealed immediately."
Long kou ke pis machin nan te frape m - The car just barely missed me.
"Mandaly, The Official Alphabet which was approved, I think, in 1979 has letters: "ou" and "w". At times, I have seen the English word "you" written as "ou" in Creole, and at other times, written as "w". Also, when I have seen it written as "w" it is not always in the situation where it might form a spoken sound contraction (such as "kisa w ap manje?"). So, how should I write, "I haven't seen you for a while"? M pa we ou or M pa we w Furthermore, when we talk about contractions, there are mandatory contractions and optional contractions. When should optional contractions be written? For example: "I would like" Mwen ta renmen ... or M ta renmen ... Are there any rules as to when optional contractions should be employed in writing? (Because in English unless you are writing in vernacular, you should avoid contractions.) Part of what I am asking is should contractions which are optional be uncontracted and left to the reader only if the passage is being read out loud? (As I know the guiding principle is that we write as we speak/pronounce.) If I am writing a text book on computer programming in Creole is there a more formal style in which to write or should I write as if I were talking to a class? (This is not a totally hypothetical question, since I have considered the preparation of educational materials.) Thank you! PS: I am very excited to see so many Haitians now writing their language. When I first learned/taught in the 1970s, it was very much a "chicken and the egg" situation. If no Haitians could read Creole, then who would be there to read literature and text books in Creole? If no Haitians could write Creole, then who would author our literature and text books. And so, back around 1970/80, myself, the other volunteers, and priests who ran the the community center firmly believed the key to Haiti's future was Creole literacy and broad public education. I am truly happy to see that there has been progress."
Mandaly, I originally posted this in English on Facebook (a general group for Haitians & non-Haitians who want to
improve their Creole), but I have yet to receive an answer. I will keep it in
English, since this is a Web site for everyone to learn Haitian Creole.
I
learned to write in the late 1970's. At that time, one could say that there was
no standardization for writing Creole, or one could say there were many
competing standards for writing Creole! One linguistic paper I read said that
as of 1980 there were as many as 11 such standards!
I learned to read/write a
system known as Pressoir-Faublas or Faublas-Pressoir. I haven't really spoken
Creole for more than 30 years. But I want to read/write/speak again! The
current Official System is based on work by the IPN. So, I am in the process of
learning IPN. No, longer: "mouin ékri Kréyòl-la", but "mwen ekri Kreyòl
la".
I have no trouble with the phonemes of IPN. But I have a lot of
confusion when it comes to punctuation. Around 1980, I had learned the
following rules for punctuation:
Contractions with a verb:
Mouin ap di li
-> M-ap di-l
Definite articles:
liv la -> liv-la
Possesives:
liv
mouin -> liv-mouin
liv mouin an -> liv-mouin-an
Other contractions
(unknown):
Si ou fè sa -> S'ou fè sa
My confusion with IPN is that I have
seen some orthography documents describing the use of ' and - similar to the
above. Whereas others saying that you never use "siy sa yo" (these
signs).
So, in the cases above what is the correct Official
Orthography?
When a shortened pronoun like "mwen" appears not as a
contraction, then how is it written? For example:
Mwen pale Kreyòl. -> M
pale Kreyòl? M' pale Kreyòl?
I am quite confused. I have tried looking at
the writing of others, but I do see some variation. Thus, I am asking what is
official and correct?
By the way, I have no social or political attachment to
any orthography. Having said that:
* I do feel that the punctation I learned
does make reading easier as word grouping is easier to see and parse out in a
sentence quickly.
* My personal expertise is in computer systems. If we want
to see computer engines do a better job with machine translation of our
language, then including additional syntactic information to aid the parsing
software is important. Understanding Creole is highly dependent on word order
and grouping, since there are no conjugations, morphemes, etc... Thus, it seems
machine translation of Creole is very hit or miss (as they say in Spanish "mas
menos que mas"; more miss than hit). (BTW, as I know Chinese and it is highly
syntactic like Creole, translation engines also perform extremely poorly on
Chinese, as well.)
Nenpòt sa m te aprann depi lontan lontan; an tout ka, m ta
renmen ekri lang mwen korèk! :)
Mèsi anpil!"
Mandaly says:
1. We've agreed not to use apostwòf or tirè:
M pale Kreyòl.
M ale.
Eske w ap vini demen?
Kite m an repo.
Papa m pa la.
Sa se liv mwen.
Si w fè sa m p ap kontan.
2. The Haitian Creole grammar punctuation follows the French punctuation rule.
3. Here's a link that will prove helpful. Be sure to check out Dr. Degraff's postscript at the end of the booklet: http://on.fb.me/1zyovCk
Mandaly, Okay. I cannot help myself! I have yet another question on how to write properly. I was looking at one of your answers to me, and you wrote, "Antouka". I was just writing to you, and I wrote "an tout ka". Of course, you know why I did this, because I know (in the back of my head) that this is at least three separate words in French. Even in Creole (if we forget French), "tout" and "ka" both can stand by themselves as separate words. My question: is when are words combined as you have done and when are words separated when dealing with common expressions? Thanks!
Mandaly says:
Thanks for letting post this video TiWill. I was moved by this video. Learning math, science, or reading comprehension in H. Creole from books that are written in H. Creole is huge positive change for Klas Fondamantal in Haiti. I hope that Haitians and foreigners will take the time to learn more about Center of Hope Haiti School.
It does not mean anything in H. Creole that I know of. It's not and original H. Creole name.
....kanta pou ti bononm sa a .... - as for this guy
....kanta pou mwen menm ...... - as for me
.....kanta pou sa ..... - as for that
"Mandaly,
Mèsi anpil pou repons ou a.
Vè 1970/80 mwen te aprann ekri Kreyol la sèvi ak sistenm Pressoir-Faublas.
(Mouin té konn ékri Kréyòl-la konsa.) Mwen te fèt nan NYC. M pa janm we peyi
Ayiti. Mwen te konn volonte nan sant kominite pou ede rèfije yo. Mwen ansanye
klas otograf Kreyòl la. Ositou, mwen montre rèfije pale Angle sinmp.
Pa gen
Ayisyen isit di tou. Gen anpil moun etranjè. Men majòrite se blan Mèriken ou
byin Èropyen. Ou pa we nèg nwa souvan.
Gen dè semin, m te vin manm
"Facebook" pou m ta fè konesans Ayisyen. Madam mwen se Chinwa li ye. Se pou
rezon sa, m pa t pale Kreyòl depi lontann lontann.
Gen sèlman youn semin, m
te komanse etidye otograp ofisyel (IPN). M konnen nivo mwen tre ba. Chak jou m
ap fè ti progre.
Vè 1970/80 m te patisipe nan manifèstasyon pou di gouvman
Mèriken pa ede rejim Duvalier. Ositou pou klasifye Ayisyen kòm rèfije Kiben yo:
rèfije politik; pa rèfije ekonòmik. Rejim nan deja gin foto mwen (ak anpil lòt
moun); m pa vle mouri nan Forte Dimanche. Vè 1980s, mwe travay isit pou militè.
Se isit m fè konesans madam mwen. Apre mariye li, m pa gen anpil kontak ak
kominite Ayisyen.
Se sa ki istwa mwen."
Mandaly says:
Istwa w sanble ak istwa yon moun ki egzile lwen ras li men, malgre tout, mwen wè ou fè anpil zefò pou patisipe nan kominite Ayisyen an kit yo te Nouyòk (New York), Ayiti (Haiti) oubyen sou entènèt la. Mwen etone tande ou pako janm mete pye Ayiti. Ou pale bon Kreyòl la. Konpliman. .....Sanble lonbrit te antere Ayiti :)
Wi sa te toujou fè kè m mal lè Meriken te konn Akeyi Kiben enpi yo voye Ayisyen tounen lakay yo paske yo di se pou GRANGOU yo t'ap kouri. Mwen te toujou panse, "Wi, se pou grangou yo t'ap kouri. Yo pa prizonye politik. MEN .... SE PWOBLEM POLITIK PEYI A KI TE LAKOZ DEZOLASYON EKONOMIK LA. Donk, men jan ak Kiben yo se pwoblèm politik ki t'ap fè nou kite peyi nou tou." Antouka......
Mwen apresye kòmantè ou. Kontinye konsa. M'espere tande w ankò.
Yon gwo kout chapo bay tout fanmi ou kote ou ye a.
Gen anpil chanjman ki fèt nan lang nan depi 30 lane sa a. Men sanble ou kenbe konpa w ak Kreyòl la. Konpliman, kenbe la piga w lage.
Mwen poko jwenn yon "language exchange" pou Ayisyen kominike ak lòt Ayisyen nan bi pou kenbe Kreyòl yo sou konpa. Si w bezwen kominike ak Aysisyen ou va jwenn yo nan "chat room" sou entènèt la oubyen nan "meetup" ki fèt anpèsonn.
Eske ou te janm tounen vizite peyi w pandan trant lane sa yo?
Nou kontan vre paske nou genyen Jezi
Se yon zanmi ki p ape janm bliye nou
Nan ladetrès, nan maladi, nan ladoulè
Jezi lave'm, li delivre m
Li retire m anba vye peche kote mwen te ye
Mèbyeneme annou chante pou Jezi
Lajenès annou louwe Letènèl
Mèfrè ze sè annou pa dekouraje
An nou kenbe fèm jouk Jezi vini n ap kenbe lafwa
Jezi bon
Mwen santi l nan nanm mwen
Mwen santi l nan tout kò mwen
........
Mwen p'ap di zetwal fwi non :)
Haitians call it karanbòl
If you've never prepared this plant before you should stay away from it. If you're in a country other than Haiti there are plenty of cheap laxatives in drugstores. If you're in Haiti and have no drugstores (fanmasi) nearby find a doctor or a medicine man (doktè fèy). If you're not sure of how to take it don't use it - I know I wouldn't
Here's a a link to an in-depth look at the Haitian Creole orthography:
Aprann òtograph Kreyòl la
The link address is: http://on.fb.me/1zyovCk
You may also click on the picture to see this little booklet.
You were wrong.
Sa ou kwè sa a ye?
What do you believe this is?
What do you think this is?
Sa w kwè ki pase la a?
What do you believe happened here?
Sa kwè li fè?
What do you think she did?
Sa w kwè k te rive (contraction)
or
Sa ou kwè ki te rive?
or
Kisa ou kwè ki te rive?
What do think happened?
Sa w kwè li te di m?
What do you think he told me?
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Ou gen rezon
You are right.
Kilès ki gen rezon e kilès ki pa gen rezon?
Who's right and who's wrong?
Ravèt pa gen rezon devan poul.
Roaches are at a disadvantage when facing chickens.
Se mwen ki gen rezon.
I'm the one who's right.
Li gen rezon devan w.
He's got a leg up on you.
Ou pa fè respè w, se pousa ou p'ap janm gen rezon devan bèlmè w.
You don't respect yourself, that's why you'll never have the upper hand when dealing with your mother in law.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Absolutely! All Haitians whatever their origin, East, West, North of South of Haiti, will understand spoken Creole ...as long as it is Haitian Creole. Northern or southern Haitian Creole accents won't prevent you from following a conversation. Some vocabulary words may not be the same in the North and South, so ask about these words if you hear them.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Li te trè dou avè m.
de la detresse a l'esperance
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Lafwa se fòs
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
deryen
padekwa
It's our pleasure.
Se tout plezi nou.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
They are Lyric fillers.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Batay la se pou L'etènèl rete an silans.
Ou mèt eseye depi jodi pou rive demen se pa anyen w'ap regle
Pito'w lage batay la nan men Letènèl
Izrayèl te devan lanmè wouj
Farawon dèyè l, l'ap mache al rankontre l
Kijan pou yo fè? Ki moun ki kab delivre yo?
Te gen yon men envizib ki t'ap gide Moyiz avèk pèp Izrayèl la
Touswit Letènèl pale, se te delivrans.
Amalèk parèt sou Izrayèl pase pa dèyè'l atake'l ak gwoup li yo
Moyiz monte sou montay, moun yo te desann al batay
Amalèk pa't kapab reziste chak fwa Moyiz leve men'l anlè bay Bondye
Viktwa batay la te la nan men Letènèl.
Sayil pa't kab sipòte David paske Bondye te chwazi'l pou'l t'al ranplase'l
David pran lafuit, Sayil dèyè'l pou touye'l
David epanye lavi Sayil pandan'l t'ap dòmi
Li pa't mete men sou li.
Sayil mouri, Letènèl te delivre David
Anpil fwa Kretyen yo konn panse se yo menm ki kapab mennen batay la.
Se sa ki fè pafwa yo konn pèdi batay la
Aprann lage batay la nan men Letènèl
Se li menm ki konnen sa l'ap fè
Bay Letènèl batay la, w'a gen laviktwa
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
"This is interesting as I noticed when I lived in Haiti that there is often a pretty wide variation in pronunciation because of location, class, and the casualness of conversation, not to mention the natural shift in pronunciation over time. Take for example the word 'bagay.' in my experience the 'g' is dropped more often than not. But it is never spelled 'baay.' Sometimes the first vowel is dropped, too, so that it is pronounced 'bay.' For example, 'ou wè bay la m fenk achte?' Do you think that we are starting to see a drift between written and spoken Creole, where written Creole isn't actually purely phonetic? "
Mandaly says: We'll see. time will tell.
The same thing happens to 'janm" where some Haitians drop the "j" and it sounds like an "h"
Kote w ye m pa janm wè w konsa?
This also happens to the g in "gason"
Kote ti gason sa a prale?
etc...
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Kèlkeswa sa w fè a w'ap toujou echwe depi se pou satisfaksyon moun w'ap fè l.
Fè tèt ou kontan se bagay ki pi senp ou te kapab fè.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Haiti and the international community's dealings with Haiti will be much better off once this is understood and celebrated.
I have just spent several months in France, and honestly, I think Haiti is as francophone as France is anglophone.
Yes, most people in France know some English. Many people in Haiti know some French. By presuming it is ok to use only English in France, you are dismissive of the cultural legitimacy of their language.
If you presume it is ok to use only French in Haiti, you are dismissive of the cultural legitimacy of Haitian Creole. "
-TiWil
Mandaly says: Thank you TiWil. It needed to be said. Some foreigners are misled into thinking that they will be prepared to navigate in this Caribbean island if their French is good only to find out that they were wrong.
This happened to a group of missionaries in the summer of 2010. They were leading a youth group to Haiti and had searched the internet for French songs and leaflets - when they got to Haiti there were a lot of confusion.
I guess if you're going to deal with the very few elites and political officials then your French will open some doors in Haiti, but if you want to deal with the people then you need to use the Creole language.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Li pale Angle kou rat. - He / She speaks English extremely well.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
bèl, delika, atiran, kokèt, admirab
I would translate that as:
bèl zye delika manman w
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
"This is actually not a question. I just want
to express my appreciation for the time and effort that goes into this blog site. I have been using your site as a resource for a WHILE now (maybe 2 years) and it has been an enormous help to me!! I think it probably takes a lot to be diligent and consistent with something like this, and I just want you to know how grateful I am to you, as I'm sure, many others are as well!! For the last 5 years, I have worked with an orphanage on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. I travel there maybe a couple times a year. At first, even though I didn't understand a WORD that was said, it was absolutely amazing getting to know the kids and watching them grow --- that is, until body language and hugs could no longer bridge the gap left by the language barrier. I was desperate to communicate with them on a deeper level and this blog site has been a HUGE aid in helping me do just that!! Mwen toujou gen anpil aprann, men, kounyea lè m wè timoun yo, mwen ka konprann majorite yo di mwen a e piti a piti map aprann kiminike kè mwen avèk yo. Thank you for what you are doing here :) God bless!!"
Mandaly says: Mèsi anpil. I appreciate your comment. Kontinye aprann toujou :)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
