The popularity of Haitian Creole has soared in recent years. People from all over the world are showing their interest in learning the language. More learning resources and opportunities in the internet era are making Haitian Creole accessible to all learners who want to learn more about the language and culture of Haiti.
However, amidst this new wave of enthusiasm for Haitian Creole, there are a lot of misconceptions and confusion surrounding the language. In this article, we’ll cover four of the most common misconceptions and offer some clarifications.
- Haitian Creole Isn’t a Real Language
Haitian Creole is a natural language that evolved through the mixing and simplification of different parent languages. The most notable contribution to Haitian Creole vocabulary comes from French. Because Haitian Creole borrows so much of its vocabulary from French, it’s often considered to be just an off-shoot of its parent language.
But besides French, Haitian Creole also contains some distinguishing elements, mostly coming from West African languages such as Fongbe and Igbo. Haitian Creole has enough unique linguistic traits to be considered a separate language from both French and other neighboring languages.
Like other recognized languages in the world, Haitian Creole also has other important traits that make it a “real” language. Haitian Creole has been standardized and is regulated by the Akademi Kreyòl Ayisyen. It’s also an official language in Haiti, and a recognized minority language in other parts of the world, including in the USA and Canada.
- Haitian Creole Is a Dialect of French
The distinction between a language and a dialect is usually a matter of political debate. Sometimes, dialects of the same language are so different from the standard language, that they don’t allow for clear communication. In other cases, official languages of different countries are so similar to one another that they’re mutually intelligible.
The classification of Haitian Creole as a “French Creole” is often a source of confusion. And as we’ve already stated, Haitian Creole borrows most of its vocabulary from French. To be more precise, roughly 90% of Haitian vocabulary comes from 18th century French.
With so much semantic similarity, a lot of people have been pressed to conflate Haitian Creole with a French dialect. However, while classified as a “French Creole”, Haitian Creole is not considered a French dialect.
Haitian Creole, despite its French origin, has developed in a very different direction in terms of grammar, syntax, and phonology. Standard Haitian Creole and French aren’t mutually intelligible. Furthermore, Haitian Creole, like French, has its own dialects.
- Haitian Creole Is Broken French
This misconception is also related to the previous point we’ve touched on. There are two official languages in Haiti. One of them is Haitian Creole. The other is French. Both languages share the vast majority of their vocabulary. In Haiti, French is used in most institutions but spoken by a minority of people.
Haitian Creole, while an official language, is still not receiving the same recognition in schools, in the media, or other institutions. It’s spoken by most of the country’s population, but it’s still regarded as a low-status language and as inferior to French.
These social attitudes, combined with the different grammar and spelling of Haitian Creole, often lead to the erroneous conclusion that Haitian Creole is a form of “broken” French, a sociolect of the lower classes. But, as we’ve already discussed, Haitian Creole and French are separate languages, despite their common vocabulary.
The unique characteristics and the simplified grammar of Haitian Creole aren’t a result of “broken” French, but of different linguistic influences. The spelling, phonetic, and grammatical differences between the two languages come from West-African languages, English, Portuguese, and Spanish.
- Haitian Creole and Creole Are the Same Thing
We often use the terms “Haitian Creole” and “Creole” interchangeably for the sake of brevity. However, these two terms are not to be confounded. They’re not the same thing, and using them as such can cause quite a bit of confusion.
The term “Creole” refers to a certain type or group of languages. There are multiple “Creole” languages in the world. They all share one common characteristic— the way they originate. Creole languages are the result of the mixing and hybridization of two or more languages. A highly simplified and regular grammar is another shared trait.
The exact number of Creole languages spoken worldwide is unknown. However, since the 16th century, there have been at least 100 developing creoles documented. Haitian Creole is just one of these many creole languages. It belongs to the family of “French-based Creoles”, together with Seychellois Creole, Antillean Creole, Mauritian Creole, French Guianese Creole, and many more.
Conclusion
The similarities between French and Haitian Creole are often highlighted when discussing and teaching Haitian Creole. However, these similarities begin and stop at the vocabulary. Putting so much emphasis on the shared lexicon of these two languages has caused quite a lot of confusion for new learners.
The takeaway is that Haitian Creole is a complete, standardized, and independent language. It has its own linguistic characteristics, grammar, spelling, and syntax, as well as dialects and regional variations.