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2. Human Impact
We are often too focused on the differences to see that
everything in the world is connected in one way or
another. Even the human population originated from the
same ancestors. It was only when they migrated to
different regions of the world that the differences began
to develop. Today, we have put everything inside
different categories.
We have labels and classes for things. But in truth, most
of these things have the same origins or have come in
contact with each other in the past. When you trace
back to thousand or million years, you will find that most
things interact with each other. The same is true for
languages. When people of different communities meet,
and they have to interact, they come up with linguistic
solutions that can benefit both parties.
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3. Haiti
Modern-day Haiti was once a French colony. It won its
independence long before the other Latin American states. It was
during the French Revolution that the slaves and the rest of the
population decided to revolt against their occupiers. It was a
successful attempt as it ended with the country winning its
independence. After that, Haiti became the first country in the time
of colonization to abolish slavery.
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However, things did not get better for the country after independence. Political instability has kept Haiti
from progressing economically, which is why it is one of the poorest states in the world today. The
earthquake of 2010 that killed over 250,000 citizens also destroyed the infrastructure and sent the
country back a thousand years. The situation has not improved in the past ten years.
The French colonists brought slaves from Africa to work on the sugarcane plantations of Haiti. The work
of the slaves brought huge profits to the French, which made Haiti the richest colony. In order to
communicate with the French, the slaves came up with a language that is the official language of the
country today.
4. Haitian Creole
African slaves spoke various indigenous languages,
while the French only knew their tongue. As a
result, there was a linguistic barrier between the
slaves and their colonists. In an attempt to learn the
vernacular, the Africans ended up creating a new
tongue known as Haitian Creole.
Creoles are tongues that are created by combining
a European vernacular with African languages. In
the case of Haitian Creole, it was French and a
combination of African tongues. But over the years,
it has been influenced by other vernaculars like
Portuguese, English, and Spanish.
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5. The Status of
Haitian Creole
The French did not approve of the language as they considered it
disrespectful to their tongue. They discouraged its use by the natives.
However, the vernacular continued to grow and became the main medium of
communication between the Haitians. But after independence, Haitians
started to view the language as a reminder of their dark past.
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They considered it a relic from the past, which was proof of the sufferings they had endured.
Government officials continued using Standard French in their speeches to distance themselves from
Haitian Creole. Even schools continued to use French as their medium of instruction until the year 2000.
But things have changed since then. The government has started paying attention to the language and
encouraged its use. The citizens of the country have also started using the vernacular in their everyday
conversations, which is why it has over 10 million native speakers in Haiti today. The number of
speakers worldwide is 12 million, which makes the tongue the most popular modern creole.
6. Facts About Haitian Creole
Here are some interesting facts about this French-based creole:
• The vocabulary of the tongue was taken from 18th century French, which is something it
has retained even after two centuries.
• Since it is closer to 18th century French, it does not bear any resemblance to the modern
French. This is why the two vernaculars are not mutually intelligible today. This feature
makes it different from other creoles and daughter languages. Even the grammar style of
Haitian Creole is completely different from French.
• Experts thought that this tongue would go extinct after the French left the colony. The
Africans had plenty of other languages to pick from, but due to the lack of a common
vernacular among them, they decided upon Haitian Creole.
• In this tongue, definite articles come after the noun, which is a unique feature that
differentiates it not only from French but also English, where the articles always come
before the nouns.
• Articles in this tongue are pretty interesting and not only because of their relationship
with the nouns. They are also used to make words plurals. They are added after words to
make them plural in Haitian Creole instead of adding ‘s’ and ‘es’ to them as we do in
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7. Due to the unique features of the creole and its relationship with
French, it is an interesting topic of conversation among linguists. Many
studies it to understand its connection with French and to figure out
why it has stayed relevant after all these years.
Translating this vernacular is a tough job due to its features that make
it both similar to and different than French. However, a native speaker
will be better at the job than other experts.
People who have been speaking the tongue since birth will be better
suited to the job of translating it. So, only natives should be hired to
handle linguistic problems.
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