Does Haitian Creole
have Its Own 'Language' Rules?


Haitian creole isn't as old as several other languages in the world. 


Haiti Language


But it's a language in itself.

It was born when slaves from St-Domingue (now Haiti)
created a communication tool, using elements of mainly French and their original tribal languages from Africa.


Creole is not only young. It differs so much from French -or 
Haitian French - that it's a completely new tongue
that comes with its own internal grammar and words.


Let's take a common example: the familiar subject-verb-complement formula
that you find in every language (of course, in different orders)
 is clear below in creole:


Mwen renmen w!
I Love You!



Now let's get a taste of some useful kreyòl expressions...


Common Conversational Haitian Creole Phrases and Sentences


The Haitian Language has a phonetical alphabet, so this makes it easy to read it in writing; especially when the text is in the official Creole alphabet  they adopted around 1979-1980.

since the sounds are very close to what you find in French and English, non-creole speakers who know these languages should really give Kreyòl a shot.

When you first meet someone

  • Ou  (pronounced: /yu/ - You.

  • Mwen  (pronounced: /mwɛ̃ n/ - I.

  • Bonjou!  (pronounced: /bonʒu/) - Good Morning!

  • Bonswa!  (pronounced: /bonswa/) - Good afternoon! (also used for: good evening!)

  • Sak pase?  (pronounced: /sak pase/) - What's up?

  • Nap boule!  (pronounced: /nap bule/ It's all Good! Given as answer to the informal "sak pase".

  • Kouman w ye?  (pronounced: /kumanwye/) - How are you doing? More formal than "sak pase".

  • Mwen byen.  (pronounced: /mwɛ̃ byɛ̃ /) - I'm fine. Given as an answer to kouman w ye?

  • Kote w rete?  (pronounced: /kotewrete/) - Where do you live?

  • Ki bò w moun? or Moun ki bò w ye?  (pronounced: /kibɔwmun/) - I'm from...

  • M kontan wè w!  (pronounced: /mkontãwɛw/) - Glad to see you!

  • Na wè!  (pronounced: /Na wɛ/) - See you later.

If the spelling can be that easy, isn't Kreyòl an interesting language to learn?
You bet it is!



Return from Haitian Creole to Haitian Culture Homepage