Haitian Creole#cite note-Article5-20

The word creole comes from the Portuguese term {{lang|pt|crioulo}}, which means "a person raised in one's house" and from the Latin {{lang|la|creare}}, which means "to create, make, bring forth, produce, beget".{{cite web |title=Creole |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |url=http://etymonline.com/?term=creole |url-status=live |archive-url=https://timetravel.mementoweb.org/memento/20160121191947/http://etymonline.com/?term=creole |archive-date=21 January 2016 |editor-first=Douglas |editor-last=Harper }}{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ftkuAAAAYAAJ|title=Créolologie haïtienne: latinité du créole d'Haïti : créole étudié dans son contexte ethnique, historique, linguistique, sociologique et pédagogique. Volume 1 of Livre du maître|editor=Archer, Marie-Thérèse|page=7|year=1998|publisher=Impr. Le Nata|access-date=11 October 2020}} In the New World, the term originally referred to Europeans born and raised in overseas colonies (as opposed to the European-born peninsulares). To be "as rich as a Creole" at one time was a popular saying boasted in Paris during the colonial years of Haiti (then named Saint-Domingue), for being the most lucrative colony in the world.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-NxL6AoBZ20C&q=to+be+rich+like+a+creole+haiti&pg=PA489|title= America's Irresistible Attraction: Beyond the Green Card|editor= Dinga, John S.|page=489|year=2011|publisher=Trafford Publishing|isbn=9781426961250|access-date=11 October 2020}} The noun Creole, soon began to refer to the language spoken there as well, as it still is today.

{{Main|Creole language#Creole genesis}}

Haitian Creole contains elements from both the Romance group of Indo-European languages through its superstrate, French, as well as influences from African languages.{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LhPxHG8cLowC&pg=PA304 |title=Lenition and Contrast: The Functional Consequences of Certain Phonetically Conditioned Sound Changes |pages=112; 301–304 |last=Gurevich |first=Naomi |date=2004 |publisher=Routledge |chapter=Appendix A: Result Summary |location=New York |isbn=978-1-135-87648-7 |lccn=2004051429 |oclc=919306666 |ol=5731391W |quote=Name: ... Haitian Creole ...; Phylum: ... Indo‑European...}}{{cite web |url=http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/general/ie-lg/Italic.html |title=Indo‑European Languages: Italic Family |last1=John |first1=Vijay |last2=Slocum |first2=Jonathan |date=2014 |website=Linguistics Research Center |publisher=University of Texas at Austin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151006025330/http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/general/ie-lg/Italic.html |archive-date=6 October 2015 |url-status=dead }} There are many theories on the formation of the Haitian Creole language.

One theory estimates that Haitian Creole developed between 1680 and 1740.{{cite web |last1=Spears |first1=Arthur K. |title=Haitian Creole chapter from the book: Languages and Dialects in the U.S.: Focus on Diversity and Linguistics (pp.180–195) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/338675782 |website=Research Gate |publisher=Routledge |access-date=24 November 2023}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_D91RqW-CFYC |title=Creole Genesis and the Acquisition of Grammar: The Case of Haitian Creole |last=Lefebvre |first=Claire |date=2006 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |pages=53–57, 190 |isbn=978-0-521-02538-6 |lccn=2006280760 |oclc=71007434 |ol=7714204M }}{{Cite book |url=http://webcat1.library.ubc.ca:80/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=8119102 |title=Pidgins, Creoles and mixed languages: an introduction |last=Velupillai |first=Viveka |date=2015 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=9789027252715 |series=Creole language library |location=Amsterdam; Philadelphia |pages=198 }} During the 17th century, French and Spanish colonizers produced tobacco, cotton, and sugar cane on the island. Throughout this period, the population was made of roughly equal numbers of {{lang|fr|engagés}} (white workers), {{lang|fr|gens de couleur libres}} (free people of colour) and slaves.{{Cite journal |last=Singler |first=John Victor |date=1996 |title=Theories of Creole Genesis, Sociohistorical Considerations, and the Evaluation of Evidence: The Case of Haitian Creole and the Relexification Hypothesis |journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=185–230 |doi=10.1075/jpcl.11.2.02sin }} The economy shifted more decisively into sugar production about 1690, just before the French colony of {{lang|fr|Saint-Domingue}} was officially recognized in 1697. The sugar crops needed a much larger labor force, which led to an increase in slave trafficking. In the 18th century an estimated 800,000 West Africans were enslaved and brought to Saint-Domingue. As the slave population increased, the proportion of French-speaking colonists decreased.

Many African slaves in the colony had come from Niger-Congo-speaking territory, and particularly speakers of Kwa languages, such as Gbe from West Africa and the Central Tano languages, and Bantu languages from Central Africa. Singler suggests that the number of Bantu speakers decreased while the number of Kwa speakers increased, with Gbe being the most dominant group. The first fifty years of {{lang|fr|Saint‑Domingue|italic=no}}'s sugar boom coincided with emergent Gbe predominance in the French Caribbean. In the interval during which Singler hypothesizes the language evolved, the Gbe population was around 50% of the kidnapped enslaved population.

Classical French ({{lang|fr|français{{nbsp}}classique}}) and {{lang|fr|langues d'oïl|italic=no}} (Norman, {{lang|fr|Poitevin|italic=no}} and {{lang|fr|Saintongeais|italic=no}} dialects, Gallo and Picard) were spoken during the 17th and 18th centuries in {{lang|fr|Saint‑Domingue|italic=no}}, as well as in New France and French West Africa.{{cite book |title=Issues in the Study of Pidgin and Creole Languages |last=Lefebvre |first=Claire |pages=240–241 |date=2004 |chapter=The linguistic situation in Haiti at the time Haitian Creole was formed |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_wbzAPZ7ZrYC&pg=PA240 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |series=Studies in language companion series |volume=70 |doi=10.1075/slcs.70 |isbn=978-1-58811-516-4 |issn=0165-7763 |lccn=2004041134 |oclc=54365215}} Slaves lacked a common means of communication and as a result would try to learn French to communicate with one another, though most were denied a formal education. With the constant trafficking and enslavement of Africans, the language became increasingly distinct from French. The language was also picked up by other members of the community and became used by the majority of those born in what is now Haiti.

{{further|Creole French}}File:Costumes de Differents Pays, 'Negre and Negresse de St. Domingue' LACMA M.83.190.354.jpg planter of Saint-Domingue with his wife]]

In Saint-Domingue, people of all classes spoke Creole French. There were both lower and higher registers of the language, depending on education and class. Creole served as a lingua franca throughout the West Indies.{{cite book |title=The Road to Louisiana: The Saint-Domingue Refugees, 1792–1809|author=Carl A. Brasseaux, Glenn R. Conrad|year=1992|publisher=Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana|location=New Orleans|pages=4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15, 21, 22, 33, 38, 108, 109, 110, 143, 173, 174, 235, 241, 242, 243, 252, 253, 254, 268}}

{{blockquote|{{lang|ht|L'Entrepreneur. Mo sorti apprend, Mouché, qué vou té éprouvé domage dan traversée.

Le Capitaine: Ça vrai.

L'Entr: Vou crére qué navire à vou gagné bisoin réparations?

Le C: Ly té carené anvant nou parti, mai coup z'ouragan là mété moué dan cas fair ly bay encor nion radoub.

L'Entr: Ly fair d'iau en pile?

Le C: Primié jours aprés z'orage, nou té fair trente-six pouces par vingt-quatre heurs; mai dan beau tem mo fair yo dégagé ça mo pu, et tancher miyor possible, nou fair à présent necqué treize pouces.{{cite book |title=Manuel des habitans de Saint-Domingue|author= S.J. Ducoeurjoly|year=1803|pages=363, 364 }}}}}}

{{blockquote|The Entrepreneur: I just learned, sir, that you garnered damages in your crossing.

The Captain: That's true.

The Entrepreneur: Do you believe that your ship needs repair?

The Captain: It careened before we left, but the blow from the hurricane put me in the position of getting it refitted again.

The Entrepreneur: Is it taking on a lot of water?

The Captain: The first days after the storm, we took on thirty six inches in twenty four hours; but in clear weather I made them take as much of it out as I was able, and attached it the best we possibly could; we're presently taking on not even thirteen inches.}}

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File:Flag of Haiti (1964–1986, civil).svg]]

{{blockquote|{{lang|ht|Haïti, l'an 1er, 5e, jour de l'indépendance.

Chère maman moi,

Ambassadeurs à nous, partis pour chercher argent France, moi voulé écrire à vous par yo, pour dire vous combien nous contens. Français bons, oublié tout. Papas nous révoltés contre yo, papas nous tués papas yo, fils yo, gérens yo, papas nous brûlées habitations yo. Bagasse, eux veni trouver nous! et dis nous, vous donner trente millions de gourdes à nous et nous laisser Haïti vous? Vous veni acheter sucre, café, indigo à nous? mais vous payer moitié droit à nous. Vous penser chère maman moi, que nous accepté marché yo. Président à nous embrassé bon papa Makau. Yo bu santé roi de France, santé Boyer, santé Christophe, santé Haïti, santé indépendance. Puis yo dansé Balcindé et Bai chi ca colé avec Haïtienes. Moi pas pouvé dire vous combien tout ça noble et beau.

Venir voir fils à vous sur habitation, maman moi, li donné vous cassave, gouillave et pimentade. Li ben content si pouvez mener li blanche france pour épouse. Dis li, si ben heureuse. Nous plus tuer blancs, frères, amis, et camarades à nous.

Fils à vous embrasse vous, chère maman moi.

Congo, Haïtien libre et indépendant, au Trou-Salé.{{cite book |title=La Nouveauté No. 38|author=L. Bouchard|date=8 October 1825|pages=3, 4}}}}}}

File:Comte Coriolan Dérival Lévêque.jpg

{{blockquote|Haiti, 1st year, 5th day of independence.

My dear mother,

Our ambassadors left to get money from France, I want to write to you through them, to tell you how much we are happy. The French are good, they forgot everything. Our fathers revolted against them, our fathers killed their fathers, sons, managers, and our fathers burned down their plantations. Well, they came to find us, and told us, "you give thirty million gourdes to us and we'll leave Haiti to you? (And we replied) Will you come buy sugar, coffee, and indigo from us? You will pay only half directly to us." Do you believe my dear mother, that we accepted the deal? Our President hugged the good papa Makau (the French ambassador). They drank to the health of the King of France, to the health of Boyer, to the health of Christophe, to the health of Haiti, to independence. Then they danced Balcindé and Bai chi ca colé with Haitian women. I can't tell you how much all of this is so beautiful and noble.

Come see your son at his plantation, my mother, he will give you cassava, goyava, and pimentade. He will be happy if you can bring him a white Frenchwoman for a wife. Tell her, if you please. We won't kill anymore whites, brothers, friends, and camarades of ours.

Your son hugs you, my dear mother.

Congo, free and independent Haitian, at Trou-Salé.}}

Haitian Creole and French have similar pronunciations and also share many lexical items.{{Cite book|last=Hall|first=Robert Anderson|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5MYRAAAAIAAJ&dq=haitian+creole+origin&pg=PA11|title=Haitian Creole: Grammar, Texts, Vocabulary|date=1953|publisher=American Anthropological Association|language=en}}{{cite book |last=Lagarde |first=François |title=Français aux Etats-Unis (1990–2005): migration, langue, culture et économie |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXscYwsV2sAC&pg=PA137 |date=2007 |publisher=Peter Lang International Academic Publishers |isbn=978-3-03911-293-7 |page=137 |language=fr |chapter=5. Langues §{{nnbsp}}1. Locaters §{{nnbsp}}1.2. Immigrés |oclc=122935474 |lccn=2008271325 |series=Transversales |volume=20 |location=Bern, Switzerland |quote={{lang|fr|le français et le créole haïtien ... sont des langues différentes « non-mutuellement intelligibles »}}}} However, many cognate terms actually have different meanings. For example, as Valdman mentions in Haitian Creole: Structure, Variation, Status, Origin, the word for "frequent" in French is {{lang|fr|fréquent}}; however, its cognate in Haitian Creole {{lang|ht|frekan}} means 'insolent, rude, and impertinent' and usually refers to people.{{cite book |title=Haitian Creole : structure, variation, status, origin |last=Valdman |first=Albert |publisher=Equinox |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-84553-387-8 |location=Equinox |page=14}} In addition, the grammars of Haitian Creole and French are very different. For example, in Haitian Creole, verbs are not conjugated as they are in French. Additionally, Haitian Creole possesses different phonetics from standard French; however, it is similar in phonetic structure. The phrase-structure is another similarity between Haitian Creole and French but differs slightly in that it contains details from its African substratum language.

Both Haitian Creole and French have also experienced semantic change: words that had a single meaning in the {{nowrap|17th century}} have changed or have been replaced in both languages. For example, "{{lang|ht|Ki jan ou rele?}}" ("What is your name?") corresponds to the French "{{lang|fr|Comment vous appelez‑vous ?}}". Although the average French speaker would not understand this phrase, every word in it is in fact of French origin: {{lang|fr|qui}} "who"; {{lang|fr|genre}} "manner"; {{lang|fr|vous}} "you", and {{lang|fr|héler}} "to call", but the verb {{lang|fr|héler}} has been replaced by {{lang|fr|appeler}} in modern French and reduced to a meaning of "to flag down".

Claire Lefebvre proposed the theory of relexification, arguing that the process of relexification (the replacement of the phonological representation of a substratum lexical item with the phonological representation of a superstratum lexical item, so that the Haitian creole lexical item looks like French, but works like the substratum language(s)) was central in the development of Haitian Creole.{{Cite journal |last=Lefebvre |first=Claire |date=1997 |title=Relexification in Creole Genesis: The Case of Demonstrative Terms in Haitian Creole |journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=181–201 |doi=10.1075/jpcl.12.2.02lef |issn=0920-9034 }}

The Fon language, also known as the Fongbe language, is a modern Gbe language native to Benin, Nigeria and Togo in West Africa. This language has a grammatical structure similar to Haitian Creole, possibly making Creole a relexification of Fon with vocabulary from French. The two languages are often compared:{{cite book |last=Lefebvre |first=Claire |date=1986 |chapter=Relexification in Creole Genesis Revisited: the Case of Haitian Creole |editor-last1=Muysken |editor-first1=Pieter |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Norval |title=Substrata Versus Universals in Creole Genesis |location=Amsterdam |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAkYez_Kv7IC&pg=PA279 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing Company |isbn=978-90-272-5221-0 |pages=279–301 |lccn=86018856 |oclc=14002046 |ol=5268669W |series=Creole Language Library |volume=1 |doi=10.1075/cll.1.13lef |issn=0920-9026}}

There are a number of Taino influences in Haitian Creole; many objects, fruit and animal names are either haitianized or have a similar pronunciation. Many towns, places or sites have their official name being a translation of the Taino word.

Haitian Creole developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in the colony of Saint-Domingue, in a setting that mixed speakers of various Niger–Congo languages with French colonists.{{cite book |last=DeGraff |first=Michel |author-link=Michel DeGraff |title=Comparative Creole Syntax: Parallel Outlines of 18 Creole Grammars |chapter-url=http://web.mit.edu/~linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2007hc-ccs.pdf |date=2007 |publisher=Battlebridge |location=London |isbn=978-1-903292-01-3 |pages=101–102 |chapter=Kreyòl Ayisyen, or Haitian Creole ('Creole French') |editor-last1=Holm |editor-first1=John |editor-link1=John A. Holm |editor-last2=Patrick |editor-first2=Peter L. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150731175451/http://web.mit.edu/~linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2007hc-ccs.pdf |archive-date=31 July 2015 |url-status=live |oclc=192098910 |ol=12266293M }} In the early 1940s under President {{lang|fr|Élie Lescot|italic=no}}, attempts were made to standardize the language. American linguistic expert Frank Laubach and Irish Methodist missionary H. Ormonde McConnell developed a standardized Haitian Creole orthography. Although some regarded the orthography highly, it was generally not well received.{{cite journal |first=Pierre-Michel |last=Fontaine |date=1981 |title=Language, Society, and Development: Dialectic of French and Creole Use in Haiti |journal=Latin American Perspectives |volume=8 |pages=28–46 |issue=1 |doi=10.1177/0094582X8100800103 |issn=0094-582X |jstor=2633128 |s2cid=145302665 |oclc=5724884282 }} Its orthography was standardized in 1979. That same year Haitian Creole was elevated in status by the Act of 18 September 1979.{{cite web |url=http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/amsudant/haiti-loi-1979.htm |title=Haïti: Loi du 18 septembre 1979 |website=Chaire pour le développement de la recherche sur la culture d'expression française en Amérique du Nord |publisher=Université Laval |location=Québec City |language=fr |trans-title=Haiti: Act of 18 September 1979 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727195106/http://www.axl.cefan.ulaval.ca/amsudant/haiti-loi-1979.htm |archive-date=27 July 2015 |url-status=live |quote={{lang|fr|L'usage du créole, en tant que langue commune parlée par les 90 % de la population haïtienne, est permis dans les écoles comme instrument et objet d'enseignement.}} }} The {{lang|fr|Institut Pédagogique National}} established an official orthography for Creole, and slight modifications were made over the next two decades. For example, the {{nowrap|hyphen (-)}} is no longer used, nor is the apostrophe.{{cite book |last=Védrine |first=Emmanuel W. |date=2007 |orig-year=1st pub. 1994 |chapter=Òtograf ofisyèl la |chapter-url=http://potomitan.info/vedrine/koudey.pdf#page=131 |url=http://potomitan.info/vedrine/koudey.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407185537/http://potomitan.info/vedrine/koudey.pdf#page=131 |archive-date= 7 April 2015 |title=Yon koudèy sou pwoblèm lekòl Ayiti |trans-title=Official spelling |language=ht |edition=2nd |location=Boston |page=131 |isbn=978-0-938534-28-0 |lccn=94-65943 |oclc=37611103 |quote={{lang|ht|Nou suiv sa yo rele ‘òtograf ofisyèl’ la lan tout sa li mande. Tout liv oubyen dokiman {{lang|fr|Éditions Deschamps|italic=unset}} sòti respekte òtograf sa a alalèt. Yon sèl ti eksepsyon petèt, se kesyon apostwòf nou pa anplwaye aprè de gwoup kòm {{nowrap|‘m ap’ (m'ap)}}; {{nowrap|‘sa k ap fèt?’}} {{nowrap|(sa k'ap fèt?)}}|italic=yes}} }}{{rp|131}}{{rp|185–192}} The only accent mark retained is the grave accent in {{angbr|è}} and {{angbr|ò}}.{{rp|433}}

The Constitution of 1987 upgraded Haitian Creole to a national language alongside French.{{cite book |last=Valdman |first=Albert |editor-first=Elisabetta |editor-last=Zuanelli Sonino |title=Literacy in School and Society: Multidisciplinary Perspectives |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mywBCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA59 |date=1989 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4899-0909-1 |page=59 |chapter=The Use of Creole as a School Medium and Decreolization in Haiti |doi=10.1007/978-1-4899-0909-1 |quote=In 1979, by a presidential decree, Haitian Creole was officially recognized as classroom medium and as school subject at the primary level. In the 1983 Constitution it was upgraded to the level of national language with French. |oclc=646534330 |series=Topics in Language and Linguistics |lccn=89-35803 |ol=9382950W}} It classified French as the {{lang|fr|langue d'instruction}} or "language of instruction", and Creole was classified as an {{lang|fr|outil d'enseignement}} or a "tool of education". The Constitution of 1987 names both Haitian Creole and French as the official languages, but recognizes Haitian Creole as the only language that all Haitians hold in common.{{cite journal |last=Hebblethwaite |first=Benjamin |date=2012 |url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite%202012%20JPCL.pdf#page=9 |title=French and underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and development: Educational language policy problems and solutions in Haiti |journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages |volume=27 |pages=255–302 |quote=Article 5 of the ... Constitution of 1987 ... recognizes Creole as the sole language that unites all Haitians. |issue=2 |issn=0920-9034 |doi=10.1075/jpcl.27.2.03heb |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727200835/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite%202012%20JPCL.pdf#page=9 |archive-date=27 July 2015 |url-status=live }}{{rp|263}}{{cite web |url=http://sdn.mefhaiti.gouv.ht/lois/CH87/CH_P01.php#A5 |title=La Constitution de 1987, Article 5 |trans-title=Constitution of 1987, Article 5 |date=1987 |language=fr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912034618/http://www.sdn.mefhaiti.gouv.ht/lois/CH87/CH_P01.php#A5 |archive-date=12 September 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=31 July 2015 |quote={{lang|fr|Tous les Haïtiens sont unis par une Langue commune : le Créole.}} }} French is spoken by only a small percentage of citizens.

Even without government recognition, by the end of the 19th century, there were already literary texts written in Haitian Creole such as {{lang|fr|Oswald Durand|italic=no}}'s {{lang|fr|Choucoune|italic=yes}} and {{lang|fr|Georges Sylvain|italic=no}}'s {{lang|ht|Cric?{{nbsp}}Crac!|italic=no}}. {{lang|fr|Félix Morisseau-Leroy|italic=no}} was another influential author of Haitian Creole work. Since the 1980s, many educators, writers, and activists have written literature in Haitian Creole. In 2001, Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry was published. It was the first time a collection of Haitian Creole poetry was published in both Haitian Creole and English.{{cite book |title=Open Gate: An Anthology of Haitian Creole Poetry |last=Laraque |first=Paul |date=April 2001 |publisher=Curbstone Press |isbn=978-1-880684-75-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/opengateantholog00paul }} On 28 October 2004, the Haitian daily {{lang|fr|Le Matin|italic=yes}} first published an entire edition in Haitian Creole in observance of the country's newly instated "Creole Day".{{cite journal |last=DeGraff |first=Michel |author-link=Michel DeGraff |url=http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2005fallacy_of_creole_exceptionalism.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421020826/http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff2005fallacy_of_creole_exceptionalism.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2015 |url-status=live |title=Linguists' most dangerous myth: The fallacy of Creole Exceptionalism |journal=Language in Society |volume=34 |issue=4 |date=2005 |issn=0047-4045 |doi=10.1017/S0047404505050207 |pages=533–591 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid=145599178 }}{{rp|556}} Haitian Creole writers often use different literary strategies throughout their works, such as code-switching, to increase the audience's knowledge on the language. Literature in Haitian Creole is also used to educate the public on the dictatorial social and political forces in Haiti.

• {{lang|fr|Louis-Philippe Dalembert|italic=no}} (b. 1962), poet and novelist
• {{lang|ht|Frankétienne|italic=no}} (1936-2025), poet, playwright, painter, musician, activist
• {{lang|ht|Ady Jean-Gardy|italic=no}} (b. 1967), international press activist
• {{lang|ht|Josaphat-Robert Large|italic=no}} (1942–2017), poet, novelist and art critic
• {{lang|fr|Félix Morisseau-Leroy|italic=no}} (1912–1998), poet and playwright
• {{lang|ht|Elsie Suréna|italic=no}} (b. 1956), writer and visual artist
• {{lang|ht|Lyonel Trouillot|italic=no}} (b. 1956), poet and novelist

Although both French and Haitian Creole are official languages in Haiti, French is often considered the high language and Haitian Creole as the low language in the diglossic relationship of these two languages in society. That is to say, for the minority of Haitian population that is bilingual, the use of these two languages largely depends on the social context: standard French is used more in public, especially in formal situations, whereas Haitian Creole is used more on a daily basis and is often heard in ordinary conversation.{{cite journal |last=Férére |first=Gérard A. |date=March 1977 |title=Diglossia in Haiti: A Comparison with Paraguayan Bilingualism |jstor=40653330 |journal=Caribbean Quarterly |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=50–69|doi=10.1080/00086495.1977.11671912 }}

There is a large population in Haiti that speaks only Haitian Creole, whether under formal or informal conditions:{{blockquote|French plays no role in the very formal situation of a Haitian peasant (more than 80% of the population make a living from agriculture) presiding at a family gathering after the death of a member, or at the worship of the family lwa or voodoo spirits, or contacting a Catholic priest for a church baptism, marriage, or solemn mass, or consulting a physician, nurse, or dentist, or going to a civil officer to declare a death or birth.|source=Yves Dejean{{cite journal |last=Dejean |first=Yves |date=1983 |title=Diglossia revisited: French and Creole in Haiti |journal=Word |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=189–213 |doi=10.1080/00437956.1983.11435744 |oclc=5845895993 |issn=0043-7956 |doi-access=free }}{{rp|192}}}}

In most schools, French is still the preferred language for teaching. Generally speaking, Creole is more used in public schools,{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Nicole A. |title=Creole Languages |journal=Encyclopedia of Race and Racism |date=2013 |url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/galerace/creole_languages/0?institutionId=3205 |access-date=23 October 2019}} as that is where most children of ordinary families who speak Creole attend school.

Historically, the education system has been French-dominant. Except the children of elites, many had to drop out of school because learning French was very challenging to them and they had a hard time to follow up.{{citation needed |date=September 2017}} The Bernard Reform of 1978 tried to introduce Creole as the teaching language in the first four years of primary school; however, the reform overall was not very successful.{{cite book |title=World Education Encyclopedia: A Survey of Educational Systems Worldwide |url=https://archive.org/details/worldeducationen0003unse |url-access=registration |date=2002 |publisher=Gale Group |isbn=978-0-02-865594-9 |location=Detroit, Michigan }} The use of Creole has grown; after the earthquake in 2010, basic education became free and more accessible to the monolingual masses.{{citation needed|date=September 2017}} In the 2010s, the government has attempted to expand the use of Creole and improve the school system.{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/02/06/haitian-schools-expand-use-of-creole-language?offset=50 |title=Haitian schools expand use of Creole language |last=Daniel |first=Trenton |date=6 February 2013 |work=US News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730114936/https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2013/02/06/haitian-schools-expand-use-of-creole-language?offset=50 |archive-date=30 July 2017 |url-status=dead }}{{cite journal |last=Hebblethwaite |first=Benjamin |date=2012 |title=French and underdevelopment, Haitian Creole and development |url=http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite%202012%20JPCL.pdf |journal=Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages |volume=27 |issue=2 |pages=255–302 |doi=10.1075/jpcl.27.2.03heb |issn=0920-9034 |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-date=27 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150727200835/http://users.clas.ufl.edu/hebble/Hebblethwaite%202012%20JPCL.pdf |url-status=dead }}

Haitian Creole has a phonemic orthography with highly regular spelling, except for proper nouns and foreign words. According to the official standardized orthography, Haitian Creole is composed of the following 32 symbols: {{angbr|a}}, {{angbr|an}}, {{angbr|b}}, {{angbr|ch}}, {{angbr|d}}, {{angbr|e}}, {{angbr|è}}, {{angbr|en}}, {{angbr|f}}, {{angbr|g}}, {{angbr|h}}, {{angbr|i}}, {{angbr|j}}, {{angbr|k}}, {{angbr|l}}, {{angbr|m}}, {{angbr|n}}, {{angbr|ng}}, {{angbr|o}}, {{angbr|ò}}, {{angbr|on}}, {{angbr|ou}}, {{angbr|oun}}, {{angbr|p}}, {{angbr|r}}, {{angbr|s}}, {{angbr|t}}, {{angbr|ui}}, {{angbr|v}}, {{angbr|w}}, {{angbr|y}}, and {{angbr|z}}.{{cite book |title=The Haitian Creole Language: History, Structure, Use, and Education |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xbGzLuBvWwC |date=2012 |publisher=Lexington Books |location=Lanham, Maryland |page=100 |chapter=II. Structure and Use §{{nnbsp}}4. Orthography |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xbGzLuBvWwC&pg=PA100 |first1=Nicholas |last1=Faraclas |first2=Arthur K. |last2=Spears |first3=Elizabeth |last3=Barrows |first4=Mayra Cortes |last4=Piñeiro |editor1-first=Arthur K. |editor1-last=Spears |editor2-first=Carole M. Berotte |editor2-last=Joseph |isbn=978-0-7391-7221-6 |lccn=2010015856 |oclc=838418590 |orig-year={{nowrap|1st pub. 2010}}}}{{rp|100}} The letters {{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|u}} are always associated with another letter (in the multigraphs {{angbr|ch}}, {{angbr|ou}}, {{angbr|oun}}, and {{angbr|ui}}). The Haitian Creole alphabet has no {{angbr|q}} or {{angbr|x}}; when {{angbr|x}} is used in loanwords and proper nouns, it represents the sounds {{IPA|/ks/}}, {{IPA|/kz/}}, or {{IPA|/gz/}}.{{rp|433}}

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• There are no silent letters in the Haitian Creole orthography.
• {{Anchor|à}}All sounds are always spelled the same, except when a vowel carries a grave accent {{nowrap|{{angbr|`}} before {{angbr|n}}}}, which makes it an oral vowel instead of a nasal vowel:
• {{nowrap|{{angbr|en}} for {{IPA|/ɛ̃/}}}} and {{nowrap|{{angbr|èn}} for {{IPA|/ɛn/}}}};
• {{nowrap|{{angbr|on}} for {{IPA|/ɔ̃/}}}} and {{nowrap|{{angbr|òn}} for {{IPA|/ɔn/}}}}; and
• {{nowrap|{{angbr|an}} for {{IPA|/ã/}}}} and {{nowrap|{{angbr|àn}} for {{IPA|/an/}}}}.
• When immediately followed by a vowel in a word, the digraphs denoting the nasal vowels ({{angbr|an}}, {{angbr|en}}, {{angbr|on}}, and sometimes {{angbr|oun}}) are pronounced as an oral vowel followed by {{IPA|/n/}}.
• There is some ambiguity in the pronunciation of the high vowels of the letters {{angbr|i}} and {{angbr|ou}} when followed in spelling by {{angbr|n}}.{{cite journal |title=Le statut des voyelles nasales en Créole haïtien |journal=Lingua |date=2002 |pages=437–438 |last=Cadely |first=Jean‑Robert |author-link=Jean-Robert Cadely |language=fr |trans-title=The Status of Nasal Vowels in Haitian Creole |volume=112 |issue=6 |doi=10.1016/S0024-3841(01)00055-9 |issn=0024-3841 |quote=L’absence d’opposition distinctive dans la distribution des voyelles hautes ainsi que le facteur combinatoire illustré ci-dessus amènent certains auteurs ... à considérer les voyelles nasales {{IPA|[ĩ]}} et {{IPA|[ũ]}} comme des variantes contextuelles de leurs correspondantes orales. Toutefois, l’occurrence dans le vocabulaire des Haïtiens de nombre de termes qui se rattachent pour la plupart à la religion vaudou contribue à affaiblir cette analyse. Par exemple, dans la liste des mots que nous présentons ... il est facile de constater que les voyelles nasales hautes n’apparaissent pas dans l’environnement de consonnes nasales:
  {{bracket|{{IPA|ũɡã}}}} ‘prêtre vaudou’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|ũsi}}}} ‘assistante du prêtre/ de la prêtresse’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|ũfɔ}}}} ‘sanctuaire du temple vaudou’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|hũ}}}} ‘tambour’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|oɡũ}}}} ‘divinité vaudou’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|ũɡɛvɛ}}}} ‘collier au cou du prêtre vaudou’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|bũda}}}} ‘derrière’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|pĩɡa}}}} ‘prenez garde’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|kaʃĩbo}}}} ‘pipe de terre’
  {{bracket|{{IPA|jũ/ũ nɛɡ}}}} ‘un individu’}} Common words such as {{lang|ht|moun}} ("person") and {{lang|ht|machin}} ("car") end with consonantal {{IPA|/n/}}, while very few words, mostly adopted from African languages, contain nasalized high vowels, as in {{nowrap|{{lang|ht|houngan}} ("vodou priest")}}.
• The diphthong {{IPA|/ɥi/}} is extremely rare, and maybe only exists in the common word uit (← French huit) "eight". Most other instances of this diphthong have been replaced by {{IPA|/wi/}}, e.g. fwi (← fruit) "fruit", nwit (← nuit) "night".

The first technical orthography for Haitian Creole was developed in 1940 by H. Ormonde McConnell and Primrose McConnell, Irish Methodist missionaries. It was later revised with the help of Frank Laubach, resulting in the creation of what is known as the McConnell–Laubach orthography.{{cite journal |url=http://journals.linguisticsociety.org/elanguage/pragmatics/article/download/387/387-681-1-PB.pdf |title=The 'Real' Haitian Creole: Ideology, Metalinguistics, and Orthographic Choice |last1=Schieffelin |first1=Bambi B. |last2=Doucet |first2=Rachelle Charlier |date=September 1992 |journal=Journal of Pragmatics |volume=2 |issue=3 |pages=427–443 |doi=10.1525/ae.1994.21.1.02a00090 |issn=0378-2166 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150728140830/http://journals.linguisticsociety.org/elanguage/pragmatics/article/download/387/387-681-1-PB.pdf |archive-date=28 July 2015 |url-status=live }}{{rp|434}}{{cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Helen|title=Dictionary of Irish Biography|date=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|editor1-last=McGuire|editor1-first=James|location=Cambridge|chapter=Frances Elaine ('Primrose') McConnell in Beckett, George Francis|editor2-last=Quinn|editor2-first=James}}

The McConnell–Laubach orthography received substantial criticism from members of the Haitian elite. Haitian scholar Charles Pressoir critiqued the McConnell–Laubach orthography for its lack of codified front rounded vowels, which are typically used only by francophone elites.{{rp|436}} Another criticism was of the broad use of the letters {{angbr|k}}, {{angbr|w}}, and {{angbr|y}}, which Pressoir argued looked "too American".{{rp|431–432}} This criticism of the "American look" of the orthography was shared by many educated Haitians, who also criticized its association with Protestantism.{{rp|432}} The last of Pressoir's criticisms was that "the use of the circumflex to mark nasalized vowels" treated nasal sounds differently from the way they are represented in French, which he feared would inhibit the learning of French.{{rp|431}}

The creation of the orthography was essentially an articulation of the language ideologies of those involved and brought out political and social tensions between competing groups. A large portion of this tension lay in the ideology held by many that the French language is superior, which led to resentment of the language by some Haitians and an admiration for it from others.{{rp|435}} This orthographical controversy boiled down to an attempt to unify a conception of Haitian national identity. Where {{angbr|k}} and {{angbr|w}} seemed too Anglo-Saxon and American imperialistic, {{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|ou}} were symbolic of French colonialism.{{cite journal |title=Signs of Identity, Signs of Discord: Glottal Goofs and the Green Grocer's Glottal in Debates on Hawaiian Orthography |last=Romaine |first=Suzanne |author-link=Suzanne Romaine |date=2002 |journal=Journal of Linguistic Anthropology |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=189–224 |doi=10.1525/jlin.2002.12.2.189 |issn=1055-1360 |jstor=43104013 |quote=For some opponents of the official orthography, {{angbr|k}} and {{angbr|w}} are tainted with the perceived stigma of being Anglo-Saxon and smack of American imperialism. The French symbols {{nowrap|{{angbr|c}} and {{angbr|ou}}}}, however, are allied with colonialism.}}{{rp|191}}

When Haiti was still a colony of France, edicts by the French government were often written in a French-lexicon creole and read aloud to the slave population. The first written text of Haitian Creole was composed in the French-lexicon in a poem called Lisette quitté la plaine in 1757 by Duvivier de la Mahautière, a white Creole planter.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVg6AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA230 |title=Studies in French Applied Linguistics |editor=Ayoun, Dalila |page=230 |year=2008 |isbn=978-90-272-8994-0 |publisher=John Benjamins Publishing |access-date=4 September 2017}}{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UNgxtsjOIf4C&pg=PT257 |title=Beyond the Slave Narrative: Politics, Sex, and Manuscripts in the Haitian Revolution |editor=Jenson, Deborah |page=257 |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84631-760-6 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |access-date=4 September 2017}}

Before Haitian Creole orthography was standardized in the late 20th century, spelling varied, but was based on subjecting spoken Haitian{{nbsp}}Creole to written French, a language whose spelling has a complicated relation to pronunciation. Unlike the phonetic orthography, French orthography of Haitian{{nbsp}}Creole is not standardized and varies according to the writer; some use exact French spelling, others adjust the spelling of certain words to represent pronunciation of the cognate in Haitian{{nbsp}}Creole, removing the silent letters. For example:
{{lang|ht|Li ale travay nan maten}} ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} "He goes to work in the morning") could be transcribed as:

• {{lang|ht|Li ale travay nan maten}},
• {{lang|ht|Lui aller travail nans matin}}, or
• {{lang|ht|Li aller travail nans matin}}.

Haitian Creole grammar is highly analytical: for example, verbs are not inflected for tense or person, and there is no grammatical gender, which means that adjectives and articles are not inflected according to the noun. The primary word order is subject–verb–object as it is in French and English.

Many grammatical features, particularly the pluralization of nouns and indication of possession, are indicated by appending certain markers, like {{lang|ht|yo}}, to the main word. There has been a debate going on for some years as to whether these markers are affixes or clitics, and if punctuation such as the hyphen should be used to connect them to the word.{{rp|185–192}}

Although the language's vocabulary has many words related to their French-language cognates, its sentence structure is like that of the West African Fon language.

There are six pronouns: first, second, and third person, each in both singular, and plural; all are of French etymological origin.{{cite thesis |url=https://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/saint-martin_weston_200508_ma.pdf#page=17 |title=Les formes des pronoms personnels de l'haïtien et leur place en comparaison avec celles du français |date=2005 |pages=9–11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427032723/http://getd.libs.uga.edu/pdfs/saint-martin_weston_200508_ma.pdf#page=17 |archive-date=27 April 2016 |url-status=live |first=Weston |last=Saint Martin |language=fr |oclc=155834626 }} There is no difference between direct and indirect objects.

{{notelist}}

Definite nouns are made plural when followed by the word {{lang|ht|yo}}; indefinite plural nouns are unmarked.

Possession is indicated by placing the possessor or possessive pronoun after the item possessed. In the Capois dialect of northern Haiti, {{lang|ht|a}} or {{lang|ht|an}} is placed before the possessive pronoun. Note, however, that this is not considered the standard Kreyòl most often heard in the media or used in writing.Tézil, David. 2019. The nasalization of the Haitian Creole determiner La in non-nasal contexts: a variationist sociolinguistic study. PhD dissertation, Indiana University.

(Têzil 2019, p. 9, notes: "[T]his variety is frequently subject to depreciative [sic] attitudes, as Capois speakers face the predominance of Port-au-Prince Creole...")

Possession does not indicate definiteness ("my friend" as opposed to "a friend of mine"), and possessive constructions are often followed by a definite article.

The language has two indefinite articles, {{lang|ht|on}} and {{lang|ht|yon}} (pronounced {{IPA|/õ/}} and {{IPA|/jõ/}}) which correspond to French {{lang|fr|un}} and {{lang|fr|une}}. {{lang|ht|Yon}} is derived from the French {{nowrap|{{lang|fr|il y a un}}}} {{nowrap|("there is a")}}. Both are used only with singular nouns, and are placed before the noun:

In Haitian Creole, the definite article has five forms,{{cite book |last1=Heurtelou |first1=Maude |last2=Vilsaint |first2=Féquière |title=Guide to Learning Haitian Creole |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vYz_NUPIbC4C&pg=PT28 |edition=2nd |date=2004 |publisher=Educa Vision |location=Coconut Creek, Florida |language=en, ht |page=[https://archive.org/details/guidetolearningh0000heur/page/28 28] |chapter=Atik defini ak atik endefini |isbn=978-1-58432-108-8 |oclc=56117033 |lccn=2007362183 |url=https://archive.org/details/guidetolearningh0000heur/page/28 }}{{rp|28}} and it is placed after the noun it modifies. The final syllable of the preceding word determines which form the definite article takes.{{cite book |last=Cadely |first=Jean-Robert |title=Recent Development in Creole Studies |series=Linguistische Arbeiten |volume=472 |date=2003 |publisher=Max Niemeyer Verlag |location=Tübingen, Germany |page=20 |chapter=Nasality in Haitian Creole |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=reoiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA20 |editor-last=Adone |editor-first=Dany |doi=10.1515/9783110948318.5 |isbn=978-3-11-094831-8 |issn=0344-6727 |oclc=5131095031}}{{rp|20}} If the last sound is an oral consonant or a glide (spelled 'y' or 'w'), and if it is preceded by an oral vowel, the definite article is {{lang|ht|la}}:

If the last sound is an oral consonant and is preceded by a nasal vowel, the definite article is {{lang|ht|lan}}:

If the last sound is an oral vowel and is preceded by an oral consonant, the definite article is {{lang|ht|a}}:

If the last sound is any oral vowel other than i or ou and is preceded by a nasal consonant, then the definite article is also a:

If a word ends in {{lang|ht|mi}}, {{lang|ht|mou}}, {{lang|ht|ni}}, {{lang|ht|nou}}, or if it ends with any nasal vowel, then the definite article is an:

If the last sound is a nasal consonant, the definite article is {{lang|ht|nan}}, but may also be {{lang|ht|lan}}:

There is a single word {{lang|ht|sa}} that corresponds to English "this" and to "that" (and to French {{lang|fr|ce}}, {{lang|fr|ceci}}, {{lang|fr|cela}}, and {{lang|fr|ça}}). As in English, it may be used as a demonstrative, except that it is placed after the noun that it qualifies. It is often followed by {{lang|ht|a}} or {{lang|ht|yo}} (in order to mark number): {{lang|ht|sa a}} ("this here" or "that there"):

As in English, it may also be used as a pronoun, replacing a noun:

Many verbs in Haitian Creole are the same spoken words as the French infinitive, but there is no conjugation in the language; the verbs have one form only, and changes in tense, mood, and aspect are indicated by the use of markers:

{{Main|Copula (linguistics)#Haitian Creole}}

The concept expressed in English by the verb "to{{nbsp}}be" is expressed in Haitian Creole by three words, {{lang|ht|se}}, {{lang|ht|ye}}, and sometimes {{lang|ht|e}}.

The verb {{lang|ht|se}} (pronounced similarly to the English word "say") is used to link a subject with a predicate nominative:

The subject of a sentence with {{lang|ht|se}} might not be included. In which case, the sentence is interpreted as if the subject were {{lang|ht|sa}} ("this" or "that") or {{lang|ht|li}} ("he", "she" or "it"):

To express "I want to be", usually {{lang|ht|vin}} ("to{{nbsp}}become") is used instead of {{lang|ht|se}}.

{{lang|ht|Ye}} also means "to{{nbsp}}be", but is placed exclusively at the end of a sentence, after the predicate and the subject (in that order):

Haitian Creole has stative verbs, which means that the verb "to{{nbsp}}be" is not covert when followed by an adjective. Therefore, {{lang|ht|malad}} means both "sick" and "{{nowrap|to be sick}}":

The verb "to have" is {{lang|ht|genyen}}, often shortened to {{lang|ht|gen}}.

The verb {{lang|ht|genyen}} (or {{lang|ht|gen}}) also means "there is" or "there are":

The Haitian Creole word for "to know" and "to know how" is {{lang|ht|konnen}}, which is often shortened to {{lang|ht|konn}}.

{{lang|ht|Fè}} means "do" or "make". It has a broad range of meanings, as it is one of the most common verbs used in idiomatic phrases.

The verb {{lang|ht|kapab}} (or shortened to {{lang|ht|ka}}, {{lang|ht|kap}} or {{lang|ht|kab}}) means "to be able to (do something)". It refers to both "capability" and "availability":

There is no conjugation in Haitian Creole. In the present non-progressive tense, one just uses the basic verb form for stative verbs:

When the basic form of action verbs is used without any verb markers, it is generally understood as referring to the past:

{{lang|ht|Manje}} means both "food" and "to eat", as {{lang|fr|manger}} does in Canadian French{{citation needed|date=September 2017}}; {{lang|ht|m ap manje bon manje}} means "I am eating good food".

For other tenses, special "tense marker" words are placed before the verb. The basic ones are:

Simple past or past perfect:

Past progressive:

Present progressive:

For the present progressive, it is customary, though not necessary, to add {{lang|ht|kounye{{nbsp}}a}} ("right{{nbsp}}now"):

Also, {{lang|ht|ap manje}} can mean "will eat" depending on the context of the sentence:

Near or definite future:

Future:

Other examples:

Recent past markers include {{lang|ht|fèk}} and {{lang|ht|sòt}} (both mean "just" or "just now" and are often used together):

A verb mood marker is {{lang|ht|ta}}, corresponding to English "would" and equivalent to the French conditional tense:

The word {{lang|ht|pa}} comes before a verb and any tense markers to negate it:

{{See also|Wiktionary:Appendix:Haitian Creole Swadesh list}}

Most of the lexicon of Creole is derived from French, with significant changes in pronunciation and morphology; often the French definite article was retained as part of the noun. For example, the French definite article la in la lune ("the moon") was incorporated into the Creole noun for moon: {{lang|ht|lalin}}. However, the language also inherited many words of different origins, among them Wolof, Fon, Kongo, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Taino and Arabic.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

Haitian Creole creates and borrows new words to describe new or old concepts and realities. Examples of this are {{lang|ht|fè bak}} which was borrowed from English and means "to move backwards" (the original word derived from French is {{lang|ht|rekile}} from {{lang|fr|reculer}}), and also from English, napkin, which is being used as well as {{lang|ht|tòchon}}, from the French {{lang|fr|torchon}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}}

{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2017}}

Although {{lang|ht|nèg}} and {{lang|ht|blan}} have similar words in French ({{lang|fr|nègre}}, a pejorative to refer to black people, and {{lang|ht|blanc}}, meaning white, or white person), the meanings they carry in French do not apply in Haitian Creole. {{lang|ht|Nèg}} means "a person" or "a man" (like "guy" or "dude" in American English).{{cite book |last=Katz |first=Jonathan M. |author-link=Jonathan M. Katz |title=The Big Truck That Went By: How the World Came to Save Haiti and Left Behind a Disaster |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cFKdtzGITDcC&pg=PT77 |date=2013 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-137-32395-8 |pages=77–78 |lccn=2012037217 |oclc=886583605 |ol=16813109W}} The word {{lang|ht|blan}} generally means "foreigner" or "not from Haiti". Thus, a non-black Haitian man (usually biracial) could be called {{lang|ht|nèg}}, while a black person from the US could be referred to as {{lang|ht|blan}}.{{cite journal |url=http://haitimarycare.org/Newsletter_Spring_2013.pdf#page=2 |journal=Haiti Marycare News |title=Vignettes from Jakzi |date=2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150504203203/http://haitimarycare.org/Newsletter_Spring_2013.pdf#page=2 |archive-date=4 May 2015 |url-status=usurped }}

Etymologically, the word {{lang|ht|nèg}} is derived from the French {{lang|fr|nègre}} and is cognate with the Spanish {{lang|es|negro}} ("black", both the color and the people).

There are many other Haitian Creole terms for specific tones of skin including {{lang|ht|grimo}}, {{lang|ht|bren}}, {{lang|ht|roz}}, and {{lang|ht|mawon}}. Some Haitians consider such labels as offensive because of their association with color discrimination and the Haitian class system, while others use the terms freely.

{{See also|Wikiquote:Haitian proverbs}}

Proverbs play a central role in traditional Haitian culture and Haitian Creole speakers make frequent use of them as well as of other metaphors.{{cite journal |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51577269 |title=Metaphors as Contextual Evidence for Engaging Haitian Clients in Practice: A Case Study |last1=Rahill |first1=Guitele |last2=Jean-Gilles |first2=Michele |last3=Thomlison |first3=Barbara |last4=Pinto-Lopez |first4=Elsa |date=2011 |journal=American Journal of Psychotherapy |volume=65 |issue=2 |pages=138–139 |issn=0002-9564 |pmid=21847891 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031034246/http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Guitele_Rahill/publication/51577269_Metaphors_as_contextual_evidence_for_engaging_Haitian_clients_in_practice_a_case_study/links/00b7d51a368119544d000000.pdf#page=6 |archive-date=31 October 2015 |quote=The importance of metaphors in Haitian storytelling is reflected in the value ascribed to proverbs as an important aspect of teaching and reinforcing practical wisdom and values to children and community members. The existence of two separate texts in which 999 to more than 3000 Haitian proverbs are documented serve as evidence of the importance of these proverbs and their centrality in traditional Haitian culture... |doi=10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.2011.65.2.133 |doi-access=free }}

File:Timoun Syèj (Creole).jpg{{nbsp}}(2014).]]

{{See also|Haitian Americans|Haitian Canadians}}

File:Stop the Spread of Germs updated (Haitian Creole).pdf poster about the COVID-19 prevention in Haitian Creole.]]

Haitian Creole is used widely among Haitians who have relocated to other countries, particularly the United States and Canada. Some of the larger Creole-speaking populations are found in Montreal, Quebec (where French is the official language), New York City, Boston, and Central and South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Palm Beach). To reach out to the large Haitian population, government agencies have produced various public service announcements, school-parent communications, and other materials in Haitian Creole. For instance, Miami-Dade County in Florida sends out paper communications in Haitian Creole in addition to English and Spanish. In the Boston area, the Boston subway system and area hospitals and medical offices post announcements in Haitian Creole as well as English.{{Cite web|url=https://cdn.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Contact_Us/MC09021%20Title%20VI_Version1_Creo.pdf|title=enfòmaysyan sou tit iv – haitian creole|access-date=9 August 2018|archive-date=9 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180809060141/https://cdn.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Contact_Us/MC09021%20Title%20VI_Version1_Creo.pdf|url-status=dead}} North America's only Creole-language television network is HBN, based in Miami. These areas also each have more than half a dozen Creole-language AM radio stations.{{cite web |url=http://bonpounou.com/onlinehaitianradio.html |title=Haitian Radio Stations |work=Bonpounou |date=30 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809201921/http://bonpounou.com/onlinehaitianradio.html |archive-date= 9 August 2015 |url-status=live |last=Moise |first=Raymond }}

Haitian Creole and Haitian culture are taught in many colleges in the United States and the Bahamas. York College at the City University of New York features a minor in Haitian Creole.{{cite web |url=http://www.york.cuny.edu/produce-and-print/contents/bulletin/school-of-arts-and-sciences/foreign-languages-esl-and-humanities/creole-minor |title=Creole (Minor) |date=2014 |publisher=York College |location=Jamaica, New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830210939/http://www.york.cuny.edu/produce-and-print/contents/bulletin/school-of-arts-and-sciences/foreign-languages-esl-and-humanities/creole-minor/ |archive-date=30 August 2015 |url-status=live }} Indiana University's Albert Valdman founded the country's first Creole Institute{{Cite web|url=https://frit.indiana.edu/about/creole.html|title=Creole Institute History|website=Department of French and Italian}} where Haitian Creole, among other facets of Haiti, were studied and researched. The University of Kansas, Lawrence has an Institute of Haitian studies, founded by Bryant Freeman. The University of Massachusetts Boston, Florida International University, and Indiana University Bloomington offer seminars and courses annually at their Haitian Creole Summer Institutes. Brown University, University of Miami, Tulane University, and Duke University{{cite web |title=Schedule of Classes, Fall 2015 |publisher=Duke University |location=Durham, North Carolina |page=40 |url=https://registrar.duke.edu/sites/default/files/uploaded-images/Fall%202015%2003-23-15.pdf#page=40 |date=2015 |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729173819/http://registrar.duke.edu/sites/default/files/uploaded-images/Fall%202015%2003-23-15.pdf#page=40 |archive-date=29 July 2015 |url-status=dead }} also offer Haitian Creole classes, and Columbia University and NYU have jointly offered a course since 2015.{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/KREY/W1101-20153-001/ |title=Elementary Haitian Kreyol |date=2015 |website=Directory of Classes |publisher=Columbia University |location=New York |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150830210805/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/bulletin/uwb/subj/KREY/W1101-20153-001/ |archive-date=30 August 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=30 August 2015 |quote=This course is part of the language exchange program with New York University... }}{{cite web |url=http://ilas.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2016-Spring-NYU-Courses-Approved-for-CU_6-courses.pdf |title=Institute of Latin American Studies: CU–NYU Consortium Courses: Spring 2016 |date=4 November 2015 |page=1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160107002429/http://ilas.columbia.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/2016-Spring-NYU-Courses-Approved-for-CU_6-courses.pdf |archive-date= 7 January 2016 |url-status=live |publisher=Columbia University |location=New York }} The University of Chicago began offering Creole courses in 2010.{{Cite web |url=https://clas.uchicago.edu/language_teaching/haitiankreyol.shtml |title=College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |access-date=18 January 2017 |archive-date=18 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118213425/https://clas.uchicago.edu/language_teaching/haitiankreyol.shtml |url-status=dead }}

{{As of|2015}}, the New York City Department of Education counted 2,838 Haitian Creole-speaking English-language learners (ELLs) in the city's K–12 schools, making it the seventh most common home language of ELLs citywide and the fifth most common home language of Brooklyn ELLs.{{cite web |url=http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/3A4AEC4C-14BD-49C4-B2E6-8EDF5D873BE4/213766/201516DemographicReportv5FINAL.pdf |title=English Language Learner Demographics Report for the 2015–16 School Year |archive-date=18 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418031925/http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/3A4AEC4C-14BD-49C4-B2E6-8EDF5D873BE4/213766/201516DemographicReportv5FINAL.pdf |publisher=New York City Department of Education |access-date=19 July 2018}}{{rp|19–20}} Because of the large population of Haitian Creole-speaking students within NYC schools, various organizations have been established to respond to the needs of these students. For example, Flanbwayan and Gran Chimen Sant Kiltirèl, both located in Brooklyn, New York, aim to promote education and Haitian culture through advocacy, literacy projects, and cultural/artistic endeavors.{{cite journal |last=Cerat |first=Marie Lily |year=2011 |title=Myths and Realities: A History of Haitian Creole Language Programs in New York City |journal=Journal of Haitian Studies |volume=17 |pages=73–91 }}

{{See also|Haitian Cubans|Languages of Cuba}}

Haitian Creole is the second most spoken language in Cuba after Spanish,{{cite web |url=http://cubajournal.co/haitian-and-creole-culture-in-cuba/ |title=Haitian and Creole Culture in Cuba |editor=Press |date=16 March 2016 |publisher=Cuba Journal |access-date=7 February 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203063119/http://cubajournal.co/haitian-and-creole-culture-in-cuba/ |archive-date=3 February 2017 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm |title=Haiti in Cuba |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630053243/http://afrocubaweb.com/haiticuba.htm |archive-date=30 June 2015 |url-status=live |website=AfroCubaWeb }} where over 300,000 Haitian immigrants speak it. It is recognized as a minority language in Cuba and a considerable number of Cubans speak it fluently. Most of these speakers have never been to Haiti and do not possess Haitian ancestry, but merely learned it in their communities. In addition, there is a Haitian Creole radio station operating in Havana.

{{See also|Haitians in the Dominican Republic|Languages of the Dominican Republic}}

{{As of|2012}}, the language was also spoken by over 450,000 Haitians who reside in the neighboring Dominican Republic,{{cite web |url=http://countryoffice.unfpa.org/dominicanrepublic/drive/InformeENI-2012-General.pdf#page=163 |title=Primera Encuesta Nacional de Inmigrantes en la República Dominicana |date=2012 |publisher=Oficina Nacional de Estadística |location=Santo Domingo |page=163 |language=es |trans-title=First National Survey of Immigrants in the Dominican Republic |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150621051704/http://countryoffice.unfpa.org/dominicanrepublic/drive/InformeENI-2012-General.pdf#page=163 |archive-date=21 June 2015 |url-status=dead |access-date=17 June 2015 }} although the locals do not speak it. However, some estimates suggest that there are over a million speakers due to a huge population of undocumented immigrants from Haiti.{{cite news |date=16 August 2005 |title=Illegal Haitians deported |url=http://dr1.com/news/2005/dnews081605.shtml#13 |work=DR1 |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150619103211/http://dr1.com/news/2005/dnews081605.shtml#13 |archive-date=19 June 2015 |url-status=live}}

As of 2009, up to 80,000 Haitians were estimated residing in the Bahamas,{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8257660.stm |title=Bahamas outlook clouds for Haitians |date=20 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528051439/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8257660.stm |archive-date=28 May 2015 |url-status=live |first=Nick |last=Davis |work=BBC News |location=London }} where about 20,000 speak Haitian Creole. It is the third most‑spoken language after English and Bahamian Creole.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/country/BS/languages|title=Ethnologue – Bahamas (18th ed.)}}

After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, international aid workers desperately needed translation tools for communicating in Haitian Creole. Furthermore, international organizations had little idea whom to contact as translators. As an emergency measure, Carnegie Mellon University released data for its own research into the public domain.{{cite web |title=Carnegie Mellon releases data on Haitian Creole to hasten development of translation tools |url=http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/01/27/carnegie.mellon.releases.data.haitian.creole.hasten.development.translation.tools |website=e! Science News |date=27 January 2010 |access-date=31 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130702160548/http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/01/27/carnegie.mellon.releases.data.haitian.creole.hasten.development.translation.tools |archive-date= 2 July 2013 |url-status=live }} Microsoft Research and Google Translate implemented alpha version machine translators based on the Carnegie Mellon data.

Several smartphone apps have been released, including learning with flashcards by Byki and two medical dictionaries, one by Educa Vision and a second by Ultralingua, the latter of which includes an audio phrase book and a section on cultural anthropology.

{{InterWiki|code=ht}}

{{Portal|Haiti|Languages}}

• Afro-Brazilians
• Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen
• Antillean Creole French
• Creole language
• Louisiana Creole French
• Michel DeGraff
• Radio Haiti-Inter

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |last=Anglade |first=Pierre |title=Inventaire Étymologique des Termes Créoles des Caraibes d'origine Africaine |date=1998 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rl9EJfAL68sC |isbn=9782296352582 |publisher=Editions L'Harmattan|language=fr}}
• {{cite book |last=DeGraff |first=Michel |author-link=Michel DeGraff |editor-last=Kenstowicz |editor-first=Michael |date=2001 |chapter=Morphology in Creole genesis: Linguistics and ideology |title=Ken Hale: A life in language |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=MIT Press |pages=52–121 |chapter-url=http://web.mit.edu/Linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff-hale-festschrift.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150729042902/http://web.mit.edu/linguistics/people/faculty/degraff/degraff-hale-festschrift.pdf |archive-date=29 July 2015 |url-status=live |isbn=978-0-262-61160-2 |lccn=00-061644 |oclc=44702224}}
• {{cite journal |last=Lang |first=George |title=A Primer of Haitian Literature in Kreyòl{{nnbsp}} |journal=Research in African Literatures |volume=35 |date=2004 |pages=128–140 |doi=10.1353/ral.2004.0046 |issue=2 |issn=1527-2044 |jstor=3821349 |s2cid=162026210 }}

{{InterWiki|code=ht}}

{{Incubator|ht|Wiktionary}}

{{Wikibooks|Haitian Creole}}

{{Wikiversity|Haitian Creole}}

• {{cite web |title=Indiana University Creole Institute |url=http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/}}
• Haitian Creole basic vocabulary (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
• [https://www.hopeforhaitischildren.org/hfhcmedia/Haitian_Creole_English_Dictionary_2nd_printing.pdf Haitian Creole-English dictionary (PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216143906/https://www.hopeforhaitischildren.org/hfhcmedia/Haitian_Creole_English_Dictionary_2nd_printing.pdf |date=16 December 2021 }}

{{Haiti topics}}

{{Languages derived from French}}

{{Gallo-Romance languages and dialects}}

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Category:French-based pidgins and creoles

Category:Languages of Haiti

Category:Languages of the Bahamas

Category:Languages of Costa Rica

Category:Languages of Cuba

Category:Languages of the Dominican Republic

Category:Languages of the United States

Category:Subject–verb–object languages

Category:Languages of the African diaspora

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