Dominican Creole French Explained
Dominican Creole French is a French-based creole, which is a widely spoken language in Dominica.[1] It can be considered a distinct dialect of Antillean Creole.
History
It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of the Lesser Antilles and is very closely related to the varieties spoken in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia, Grenada and parts of Trinidad and Tobago. The intelligibility rate with speakers of other varieties of Antillean Creole is almost 100%. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole, though, like its Saint Lucian counterpart, it includes more English loanwords than the Martinican variety. People who speak Haitian Creole can also understand Dominican Creole French, even though there are a number of distinctive features; they are mutually intelligible.
Like the other French-based creole languages in the Caribbean, Dominican French Creole is primarily French-derived vocabulary, with African and Carib influences to its syntax. In addition, many expressions reflect the presence of an English Creole and Spanish influences are also very much present in the language.
In 1635, the French seized Guadeloupe and Martinique and began establishing sugar colonies. Dominica, for its part, had not been colonized because all attempts to colonize it had failed. Before 1690, lumberjacks (English and French) had traveled to Dominica for its forest resources. Subsequently, French from Martinique and Guadeloupe and their slaves settled in Dominica by establishing small farms of coffee, cotton, wood, and tobacco. Creole thus develops among the slaves, Dominican Creole thus comes from the mixture of the Creoles from Guadeloupe and Martinique, and then it is enriched further with Amerindian and English words. From now on, the Creole would stay until the present. Despite the future transfer of the island to the English and the addition of English words, the Creole remains strongly French in Dominica and despite what is said, is his place in the center of the Dominicans culture. The underdevelopment of the road system in Dominica hindered for a long time the development of English, the official language of the country, in isolated villages, where Creole remained the only spoken language.[2]
Kwéyòl pronouns
| English | Creole | Remarks |
|---|
| I | Mon, Mwen, An | The three forms are perfectly synonymous. |
| You (singular) | Ou/Vou | |
| He/she | I | Creole has a neutral pronoun that can be synonymous with "him" or "her". |
| He | Misyé | Example: Misyé pa djè ni tan (he hardly has much time). |
| She (unmarried girl) | Manmzèl | Example: Manmzèl pa djè enmen jwé (she does not like playing much). |
| We | Nou | |
| You (plural) | Zòt, Zò | This is not a "you" of familiarity. "Zò" is used in Guadeloupe. |
| They | Yo | Example: Yo ka jwé (they play). |
|
Kwéyòl alphabet
| Créole | IPATranscription
| Standard pronunciation |
|---|
| g | g | hard "G", as in good. |
| h | h | Pronounced like "H" in ham. |
| i | i | Pronounced like "ee" as in see. |
| j | ʒ | Pronounced as French J. |
| k | k | Replaces hard "C", "Qu". Sounds like "K" in kick. |
| w | w | "W" replaces "R" in some words derived from French, but in Creole, they are two different letters. |
| s | s | Replaces the soft "C" and is pronounced like "S" in soft. |
| y | j | Pronounced like "Yuh", as in yuck. |
| z | z | Replaces "S" when used between vowels. Pronounced like "Z", as in zebra. |
| an | ɑ̃ | nasalized sound used in French. Does not exist in English. |
| àn | an | Pronounced as a not nasalized sound with an emphasis on the "N" or "ane" in English. |
| ann | ɑ̃n | A nasalized French "an" with a long "n" sound. |
| anm | ɑ̃m | A nasalized French "an" with a long "m" sound. Pronounced like "ahmm".[3] |
| ay | aj | Pronounced like "eye" in English. |
| in | in | Never nasalized. |
| en | ɛ̃ | Always nasalized. |
| enn | ɛ̃n | Pronounced like "en" in garden. |
| on | ɔ̃ | Sound does not exist in English. It is a nasal on, like the one used in French. |
| onm | ɔ̃m | Nasal sound + M. |
| onn | ɔ̃n | Nasal sound + N. |
| ch | ʃ | Pronounced like "Sh" in English. |
| a | a | Pronounced like a short "a", like in cat. |
| b | b | Pronounced like B in English. |
| f | f | Pronounced as F in English. |
| d | d | Pronounced as D in English, like in dog. |
| m | m | Pronounced as M in English, like man. |
| n | n | Pronounced as N in English, like never. |
| ò | ɔ | Pronounced as "or" as in more. |
| r | w, ɤ, ɹ | Often replaced by W in beginnings of words, but pronounced as racquet. |
| p | p | Pronounced as in pea |
| t | t | Pronounced as in tea |
| v | v | Pronounced as in volcano | |
Articles
Definite articles comes after the noun in Creole, unlike in French where they always precede the noun. "La" follows nouns that end with a consonant or "y". When a noun ends with a vowel, it is followed by "a" only.
| Nonm-la | The Man |
| Fanm-la | The Woman |
| Payay-la | the Papaya |
| Lawi-a | The Street |
| Zaboka-a | The Avocado | |
Numbers
Cardinal
| 0 | Nòt/Zéwo |
| 1 | yon |
| 2 | dé |
| 3 | twa |
| 4 | kat |
| 5 | senk |
| 6 | sis |
| 7 | sèt |
| 8 | wit |
| 9 | nèf | |
| 10 | dis |
| 11 | wonz |
| 12 | douz |
| 13 | twèz |
| 14 | katòz |
| 15 | kinz\tjenz |
| 16 | Sèz |
| 17 | disèt |
| 18 | dizwit |
| 19 | diznèf | |
| 20 | ven |
| 21 | ventéyon |
| 22 | venndé |
| 23 | venntwa |
| 24 | vennkat |
| 25 | vennsenk |
| 26 | vennsis |
| 27 | vennsèt |
| 28 | venntwit |
| 29 | ventnèf | |
| 30 | twant |
| 31 | twantéyon |
| 32 | twantdé |
| 33 | twantwa |
| 34 | twantkat |
| 35 | twantsenk |
| 36 | twantsis |
| 37 | twantsèt |
| 38 | twantwit |
| 39 | twantnèf | |
| 40 | kawant |
| 41 | kawantéyon |
| 42 | kawantdé |
| 43 | kawantwa |
| 44 | kawantkat |
| 45 | kawantsenk |
| 46 | kawantsis |
| 47 | kawantsèt |
| 48 | kawantwit |
| 49 | kawantnèf | |
| 50 | senkant |
| 51 | senkantéyon |
| 52 | senkantdé |
| 53 | senkantwa |
| 54 | senkantkat |
| 55 | senkantsenk |
| 56 | senkantsis |
| 57 | senkantsèt |
| 58 | senkantwit |
| 59 | senkantnèf | |
| 60 | swasant |
| 61 | swasantéyon |
| 62 | swasantdé |
| 63 | swasantwa |
| 64 | swasantkat |
| 65 | swasantsenk |
| 66 | swasantsis |
| 67 | swasantsèt |
| 68 | swasantwit |
| 69 | swasantnèf | |
| 70 | swasantdis |
| 71 | swasantwonz |
| 72 | swasantdouz |
| 73 | swasanttwèz |
| 74 | swasantkatòz |
| 75 | swasantkenz |
| 76 | swasantsèz |
| 77 | swasantdisèt |
| 78 | swasantdizwit |
| 79 | swasantdiznèf | |
| 80 | katwèven |
| 81 | katwèventéyon |
| 82 | katwèvendé |
| 83 | katwèventwa |
| 84 | katwèvenkat |
| 85 | katwèvensenk |
| 86 | katwèvensis |
| 87 | katwèvensèt |
| 88 | katwèvenwit |
| 89 | katwèvennèf | |
| 90 | katwèvendis |
| 91 | katwèvenwonz |
| 92 | katwèvendouz |
| 93 | katwèventwèz |
| 94 | katwèvenkatòz |
| 95 | katwèvenkenz |
| 96 | katwèvensèz |
| 97 | katwèvendisèt |
| 98 | katwèvendizwit |
| 99 | katwèvendiznèf | |
| 100 | san |
| 200 | dé san |
| 300 | twa san |
| 400 | kat san |
| 500 | senk san |
| 600 | sis san |
| 700 | sèt san |
| 800 | wit san |
| 900 | nèf san |
| 1 000 | mil | |
| 2 000 | dé mil |
| 3 000 | twa mil |
| 4 000 | kat mil |
| 5 000 | senk mil |
| 6 000 | sis mil |
| 7 000 | sèt mil |
| 8 000 | sit mil |
| 9 000 | nèf mil |
| 10 000 | di mil |
| 100 000 | san mil | |
| 200 000 | dé san mil |
| 300 000 | twa san mil |
| 400 000 | kat san mil |
| 500 000 | senk san mil |
| 600 000 | sis san mil |
| 700 000 | sèt san mil |
| 800 00 | wit san mil |
| 900 000 | nèf san mil | |
- 1 000 000 = yon milyon
- 1 000 000 000 = yon milya
- 1 234 = yon mil + dé san + twantkat
- 30 153 = twant mil + san + senkantwa
- 412 489 = (kat san douz) mil + kat san + katwèvennèf
- 12 356 734 = (douz) milyon + (twa san+senkantsis) mil + sèt san+twantkat
Ordinal
- 1st = pwémyè
- 2nd = dézyènm
- 3rd = twazyènm
- 4th = katriyènm
- 5th = senkyènm
- 6th = sizyènm (Notice the second "s" in "sis" is pronounced as a "z")
- 7th = sètyènm
- 8th = wityènm
- 9th = nèvyènm (Notice the "f" in "nèf" is pronounced as a "v")
All the other numbers are formed like this: Number + [yènm]
See also
References
Notes and References
- Web site: The Creole Language of Dominica . 31 March 2014.
- Book: Lennox., Honychurch. The Dominica story : a history of the island. 1995. Macmillan. 0333627768. London. 60126665.
- Book: Fountaine, Djamala. Dominica's Diksyonnè.
