Ou sot tande l atravè pwogram radyo morisyen samdi 19 fevriye. Diana fèt nan Il Moris epi l imigrean(n) Ostrali an 1966, men li di konsa ke l toujou pasyone de kreyòl. Pou kapab konprann lang sa a pi byen, ki youn nan lang matèrnèl li, li pousuiv yon seri etid lengwistik. Bi li se pou enspire jèn morisyen pou vin pran konsyans de eritaj kiltirèl yo e sitou, pou fyè de lang kreyòl yo pale. Diana ap konplete kounyeya doktora l (PhD) sou kreyòl morisyen nan «Université de Queensland».

Poukisa enterè sa a nan kreyòl?

Lengwis yo, pandan lontan, ta iyore etid lang kreyòl yo paske lang sa yo pa t konsidere kòm vrè lang men kòm yon seri «langues bâtardes», ak fòm kowonpi yo ta vin genyen apati lang ke yo pran nesans (ou devlope). Yo ta fè n konnen ke lang sa yo se moun san edikasyon, san kilti ki ta pale yo.

Sèten lengwis ta fè konnen ke jenèz (fòmasyon) lang kreyòl yo se yon fenomèn esepsyonèl, e ke rechèch sou yo kapab sèvi pou esplike kòman moun akeri lang sa yo.

Donk yo ta di, kapasite pou pale lang se ta sa ki diferansye moun de lòt espès. E youn nan mistè ke syans lengwistik ap chèche rezoud se: kijan yon timoun ki poko gen senkan kapab aprann gramè konplè lang matènèl li; kòman li reyisi pale l san fot gramatikal – avan menm l ale lekòl pou aprann règ gramatikal yo!

Kibò tèm kreyòl la soti ?

Tèm kreyòl la, avan, li te vle di ‘moun ras blanch ki fèt nan koloni yo'. Jodiya, tèm nan refere tou a lang ki pale nan koloni sa yo kote Ewopeyen te tabli yo pou plantasyon sik, kafe ak koton kote yo te itilize esklav ki soti Afrik. Nou ka site: Ayiti, Jamayik, Matinik, ak zile nan Oseyan Endyen.

Lang kreyòl yo, esansyèlman, se yon seri lang ibrid (mikse) ki soti nan kontak ak lòt lang ki kapab yon lòt tip byen diferan. Nan il Moris, nou ka premye pwente dwèt sou fransè ak kèk lang afriken, tandiske nan Jamayik se ta angle ak kèk lang afriken.

Jodiya nan il Moris, tèm ‘kreyòl' la refere a popilasyon an ki orijin afriken, li refere tou a lang kreyòl la.

Men èske lang kreyòl sa yo se vrè lang?

Kisa yon vrè lang ye? Yon lang se yon mwayen pou kominike ki gen ladan l yon vokabilè, ak yon gramè, sètadi yon seri règ ki konekte mo yo e ki fòme yon seri fraz avèk yon sijè, yon vèb, yon objè, elt. Nan yon òd byen presi.

Òr lang kreyòl yo gen yon gramè, youn ki konplèks tou ou semp menm jan ak anglè ou fransè, oubyen nenpòt lòt lang nan lemonn. Dayè, definisyon tèm kreyòl la tèlkòm ‘lang nouvo ki soti nan kontak ak lòt lang', fè lang anglè a yon kreyòl, yon lang ki pran nesans apiti kontak vyolan ant lang sèltik la ak lang jèmanik yo pandan Saksyon, Jit e Ang yo te envayi Grann Bretay.

De mèn, definisyon tèm dyalèk la, ki vle di ‘varyete rejyonal yon lang' fè ke nou kapab klase ansyen fransè, italyen ak panyòl kòm dyalèk laten vilgè. Sa k fè fransè vin tounen yon lang prestijye se paske se te fòm dyalèk ki t ap itilize nan «Ile de France», e ke Pari te vin kapital la.

Yon lòt tèm ki anplwaye souvan lè yo refere a kreyòl, se patwa. Patwa a se yon varyete lokal yon lang, e trè souvan se yon popilasyon riral ki anplwaye l kote yo ta pèsevwa kilti avèk nivo edikasyon yo tankou yon bagay enferyè pa rapòk ak a milye anviwonnman an. Jamayiken rele kreyòl yo pale a ‘patwa'.

Èske lang kreyòl yo sanble?

Se yon fè ki trè enteresan ke kreyòl Ayiti a, ki lokolize nan lòt bout mond lan, trè pwòch (ak) kreyòl il Moris la - alòske kreyòl il Lareyinyon an, ki tou pre a, trè diferan. Sa vin esplike, yon fason, ke lang kreyòl il Moris ak Ayiti te fòme nan yon seri kondisyon sosyo-istorik ki similè. Sètadi, pandan jenèz (fòmasyon) lang sa yo, te gen apeprè menm pousantaj mèt ki te pale fransè, e esklav ki te soti nan menm rejyon an(n) Afrik.

Nontrèman nan ka il Lareyinyon, te gen plis Fransè pase esklav, e kreyòl reyinyonè ta plis sanble yon dyalèk fransè ke kreyòl Ayisyen a ou kreyòl morisyen an.

Èske gramè lang kreyòl yo sanble ak gramè fransè a?

Plis pase 90% (katrevendis pou san) vokabilè kreyòl morisyen an soti nan lang fransè, epoutan, li pa fasil pou Fransè yo konprann kreyòl – se paske se yon lang ki toutafè diferan; se pa yon dyalèk fransè, oubyen mwens fransè ki ta mal pale.

Te gen kèk chanjman rapid ki te fèt byen bonè nan jenèz lang kreyòl yo, e chanjman sa yo te vin genyen apre yon enfliyans radikal sou devlopman gramè nouvo lang sa yo.

Lang kreyòl yo pran nesans apati efò popilasyon esklav la pou pale lang mèt li. Premye efò yo abouti a yon mwayen kominikasyon primitif, san estrikti, yon senp echanj mo ke yo rele nan jagon lengwistik, yon ‘pidjin'. Nou dwe ajoute tou, isit, avan yo te rekrite esklav yo nan diferan rejyon Afrik, yo te pale lang diferan. Sa te fèt pa esprè pou yo pa t òganize yo youn lòt de fason pou pa t leve kont mèt yo.

Òr timoun ki pitit esklav sa yo te tande yon ‘pidjin' k ap pale, sètadi yon fòm trè pwòch e byen senp yon seri mo fransè. Se apati pidjin sa a, ti pa ti pa, pandan ane yo, yon gramè vin devlope e ke lang kreyòl la vin tounen lang matènèl yon nouvo kominote.

Ki chanjman sa yo ki te fèt?

Pa egzanp, atik defini «le/la/les» (an fransè) e atik patitif yo «de/du/des» vin fè pati entegral yon seri non. Atik sa yo an fransè sèvi pou diferansye sengilye ak pliryèl, maskilen ak feminen, elt. Se yon seri nosyon semantic inivèsèl ke lespri imen an dwe kapab esprime, e ki esprime nan yon fason, yon lòt nan tout lang ki egziste sou latè. Sa k te dwe fèt, nan nouvo lang, se twouve yon seri mwayen pou esprime diferans ak similarite sa yo.

Egazanp chanjman ki fèt:

«La table devient latab. (l'article défini la est remplacé par Ø – zéro)»

Met dite lor latab. [CH: Met te sou tab la]

Mets le thé sur la table.

Nou konnen ke atik fransè a «la» vin fè pati entegral mo a paske nou di

enn latab (une table) e non enn tab. [CH: yon tab]

Nan ka demonstratif yo, «ce/cette/ces», se advèb fransè a «là» ki devlope l kòm mak ‘denifi' an, e li plase apre non an:

«Cette table devient latab la». [CH: Tab sa a tounen tab la]

Cette table là devient sa latab la. [CH: Tab sa a tounen tab sa a]

Pou pliryèl menm, gen yon bagay trè enteresan ki pase. Mo fransè a «bande» touven «bann» epi l jwe yon wòl doub: mo sa a esprime non sèlman pliryèl, men tou pliryèl defini. Pa egzanp:

Li ti trouv zako manz banan.

Il a vu des singes manger des bananas. [CH: Li te wè senj ap manje bannann]

Il s‘agit d'un nombre indéfini de singes et de bananes. [Yon nonb endefini, en palan de senj ak bannann]

Li ti trouv bann zako manz banan.

Il a vu les singes manger des bananas. [CH: Li te wè senj yo ap manje bannann]

Itilizasyon «bann» vin fè zako non sèlman yon non pliryèl, men yon pliryèl defini – sètadi kounyeya, se yon gwoup senj ki vin familye a moun k ap pale a e moun k ap koute yo.

Yon timoun 5 ane, ke gramè lang matènèl li se kreyòl, konnen egzatteman kilè pou l sèvi san atik la, kilè l dwe sèvi ak atik la, ou sa…la, ak bann elt. Timoun nan konen kilè pou l di:

Met dite lor latab. [CH: Met te sou tab la]

Ou

Met dite lor latab la.

Ou ankò

Met dite lor sa latab la.

Li konnen tou ke yo pa di bann dite paske «te» pa yon non ki kapab konte. Timoun nan konnen ke «la» plase nan fen non an, menmsi gen yon adyetif ki modifye non an, pa egzanp:

La tab rouz la.

Toutefois, si menm timoun sa a konn pale fransè tou, l ap plase atik defini an avan non an epi l ap di pa e.g «la table rouge» e non «table rouge la».

Lòt bagay trè enteresan ki pase nan jenèz lang kreyòl gen pou wè ak vèb yo. Konjigezon yo disparèt trè vit paske esklav yo konnprann kisa mange ye, men konjigezon tankou: «Je mang e, j'ai mang é, je mang eais, je mang erai», se yon seri pati superflues vèb la ki pa ajoute yon bagay a vrè siyifikasyon mo a.

Nan kreyòl, gen sèlman 2 fòm vèb la – fòm long ak fòm kout:

Mo pu manze. [CH: Mwen pral manje]

Mo pu manz banan. [CH: Mwen pral manje bannann]

«Je vais manger des bananes/de la banane».

Lè gen yon objè ki vin apre vèb la, yo sèvi ak fòm kout la, otreman, se fòm long lan. Yon jenn timoun ki pale kreyòl kòm lang matènèl se yon bagay tou natirèl (sa fèt pa ensten).

Konjigezon fransè a, toutefois, sèvi pou esprime prezan, pase, fiti, elt., e ankò se yon seri nosyon semantik inivèsèl ke moun dwe kapab esprime atravè lang nan. Oubyen sa k pase an kreyòl, kote konjigezon yo disparèt fè? Nou wè yon sistèm makè prevèbal ki devlope pou esprime tout nosyon tan an:

Mo finn manz enn banan. [CH: Mwen (te) manje yon bannann]: «J'ai mangé une banane».

Mo fek manz enn banan. [CH: Mwen fèk manje yon bannan]: «Je viens de manger une banane».

Mo ti manz enn banan. [CH: Mwen te manje yon bannann] : «J'avais mangé une banane».

Mo pe manz enn banan. [CH: M ap manje yon bannann]: «Je suis en train de manger une banane».

Mo pu manz enn banan. [CH: Mwen pral manje yon bannann]: «Je vais manger une banane».

Remake kijan tèm kreyòl yo pi senp – c'est vraiment ingénu. Sa k pi enteresan an ankò se fason kijan makè prevèbal sa yo jwenn pou esprime yon seri nosyon trè konplèks de ankyon an lè l fèt:

Mo ti pe dormi. [CH: Mwen ta pe dòmi]

«J'étais en train de dormir».

Mo ti fek pe manz enn banan. [CH: Mwen te fèk ap manje yon bannann]

Makè vèbal sa yo gen yon òd fiks nan tout lang kreyòl yo – nou pa kapab di:

*Mo pe ti dormi (*signifie que ce n'est pas une forme grammaticale) [CH: Sa endike ke se pa yon fòm gramatikal]

Sa ki trè enteresan, sèke nan tout lang kreyòl yo sou latè, konjigezon vèb yo disparèt epi yon sistèm makè prevèval devlope pou esprime yon seri nosyon très subtiles de aksyon an pa rapò a moman kote fraz la élucidée. Timoun ki pale kreyòl ap konnen egzatteman lòt makè sa yo ki annafè ak tan, e l ap esprime l san oken fot gramatikal – avan menm l aprann règ yo nan yon liv gramè.

Kòman ou esplike sa?

Les similarités frappantes ant gramè lang kreyòl yo ki pale nan lemonn pouse yon seri lengwis pou postuler sou nouvo lang sa o ki a reprezante yon approximation de sa yon lengwis byen koni ki gen pou non Noam Chomsky ta rele ‘Gramè Inivèsèl', e ki ta fè pati entegral kapasite pou pale lang. Malgre diferans sipèfisyèl yo, tèlke diferan vokabilè, diferans fason yo pwononse mo yo, elt. Tout lang nan lemonn pataje sèten eleman ‘Gramè Inivèsèl la. Presizeman, se sa ki pèmèt jenn timoun aprann lang matènèl yo, menm jan yo aprann mache – se tout yon bagay natirèl (ki fèt pa ensten) e sa pa gen anyen pou wè ak entelijans.

Nan kad jenèz yon lang kreyòl, kèk lengwis ta postulent ke se timoun ki fèt esklav yo ta rive kreye, apati yon pidjin ak kèk eleman ‘Gramè Inivèsèl la', yon lang ki gen yon gramè konplèks tankou nenpòt lòt lang nan lemonn.

Enterè nan lang kreyòl yo donk pran sous yo nan lefèt ke etid jenèz yo kapab petèt sèvi pou rezoud sèten mistè ki egziste toujou konsènan kapasite pou pale lang e ke analiz yo ta petèt revele estrikti ‘Gramè Inivèsèl' la.

Kèk lòt pwen pou diskisyon:

• Yon timoun kapab akeri nenpòt valè lang si l espoze a yo avan l atenn laj senkan.
   
• Si yo bay yon timoun pèmisyon pale kreyòl, sa pa vle di pou otan li p ap ka pale lòt lang an menm tan.
   
• Èske l ta pi fasil pou timoun aprann li ak ekri nan lang matènèl yo?
   
• Yon fwa yo akeri baz alfabetizasyon, li pi fasil pou yo aprann lòt lang.

Nou bezwen Morisyen yo konprann ke lang matènèl yo se pa ‘une langue bâtarde', men yon lang li gen dwa granmoun li, yon mwayen enpòtan pou kominike.

Nou ta ka swete pale plis de lòt lang kreyòl ki vin fè pati de idantite peyi a tankou kreyòl ayisyen ak papyamennto – gen ti nòt kout apre ki diskite sa – eskize m pou melanj fransè ak anglè (nan tèks orijinal la)!

Kreyòl (ayisyen)

Kreyòl (ayisyen) se lang nasyonal Repiblik Ayiti; 7milyon moun pale l an(n) Ayiti e apeprè 1milyon Ayisyen k ap viv aletranje. Yon minorite Ayisyen pale fransè tou; yo aprann li lekòl ou lakay yo men yo ta konsidere kreyòl, kòm mwayen prensipal pou kominike, kòm senbòl idantite nasyonal yo.

Jodiya an(n) Ayiti, kreyòl rekonèt kòm yon lòt lang ofisyèl bò kote fransè. Li gen òtograf ofisyèl li kounyeya. Yo itilize l deplizanpli nan edikasyon e nan medya a. Rekonesans li kòm lang nòmal avèk itilizasyon espansyon l vle di pou majorite Ayisyen ke l ta sèl lang pou kapab patisipe nan lavi politik e ekonomik peyi yo.
Sous : A. Valdman, "Creole: The national language of Haiti' in Footsteps, 2(4), 36-39. Disponib nan: http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html [Aksè, 15 janvye 2005]

Papyamennto

Papyamennto (Kiraso) se yon lang kreyòl ki devlope nan panyòl, pòtigè, anglè, fransè, olanndè ak lang Afrikdelwès; yo ta di li pran nesans nan 17tyèm syèk pou ta fasilite esklav ki sot nan diferan rejyon an(n) Afrik ansanm ak mèt yo, ak pwòp esklav parèy yo kominike youn ak lòt.

Inik pami lòt lang kreyòl, ke premyèman ba klas nan sosyete a pale nan peyi tèlke Sirinam, Ayiti, Jamayik ak Lababad, papyamennto se sèl lang kreyòl ki pale a tout nivo. Li vin fè pati de yon idantite.

Sous : Curaçao.com, disponib nan: http://www.curacao.com/info/language.html

[Aksè, 15 janvye 2005]

Nou ta apresye kòmantè w sou tout sa ki di anlè yo.

Diana Guillemin, Louis de Lamare

dianamg@bigpond.com, mlamvohe@bigpond.net.au

Koutwazi
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.
P.O.B. 255962
Dorchester, MA 02125-5110 (U.S)
e_vedrine@hotmail.com , e_vedrine@yahoo.com

Interview with Diana Guillemin
"The Creole language"

(English translation: Emmanuel W. Védrine)

Texte originaire

Diana was born on the island of Mauritius and migrated to Australia in 1966, but she thinks that she has a passion for Creole. In order understand this language better, one of her native languages, she started some studies in Linguistics. Her purpose is to inspire the Mauritian youth to be conscious of their cultural heritage and specially, to be proud of their Creole language. Diana is currently completing a Ph.D on Mauritian Creole at Queensland University.

Why this interest in Creole ?

• Linguists have, for a long period of time, ignored the study of creole languages because these languages were not considered as true languages, but as hybrid languages with corrupted forms of the languages from which they were evolved. One was of the opinion that these languages were only spoken by people who had no education and culture.
   
• However, linguists now are of the opinion that the genesis of these creole  languages is an exceptional phenomenon, and that their study can serve to explain how humans acquire language.
   
• The ability to acquire a language is, in deed, what differentiates humans from other species. And one of the mysteries that Linguistics has been trying to solve is how a child, before reaching the age of five, can have learned the complete grammar of his mother tongue, how that child succeeds in speaking it without grammatical errors – even before attending school to learn the grammatical rules!

Where does the term Creole come from?

• The term Creole, in the past, meant 'person of white race, born in the colonies'. Today, the term also applies to the languages spoken in these colonies where Europeans have established themselves for sugar, coffee and cotton plantations, making use of slaves from Africa. It also concerns Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, and the islands of the Indian Ocean.
   
• The creole languages are essentially mixed languages coming from contact with other languages that are of a very different type. In Mauritius, it's about the very first contact between French and African languages whereas in Jamaica, it's English and some African languages. In Mauritius today, the term 'creole' applies to the population of African descents as well as the Creole  language.

But are these Creole languages real languages?

What is a real language? A language is a means of communication consisting of a vocabulary, and a grammar; that is to say, rules to joint the words and to form phrases with a subject, a verb, an object, etc. in a specific order.

• The Creole languages have a grammar that is also as complex or as simple as the English or the French one, or any other language in the world. First, the definition of the term 'creole' such as 'new languages issued from a contact between different languages' makes English a creole language, a language born from a violent contact between the Celtic language and Germanic languages at the time of the invasion of Great Britain by the Saxons, the Hessians and the Anglos.
   
• The same way, the definition of the term 'dialect', meaning a 'regional variety of a language' makes it so that we should classify Old French, Italian and Spanish as dialects of vulgar Latin. The fact that the French language had become so prestigious is that it was the form of dialect in use in l'Ile de France, and Paris has become the capital city.
   
• Another term that is often used when referring to Creole is 'patois'. Patois is a local variety of a language, and is often used by a rural population whose culture and level of education are perceived as inferior to those in surrounding milieus. Jamaicans call their Creole ‘patwa'.

Do languages look alike ?

• This is quite an interesting fact that the creole language of Haiti, located on the other end of the world, is so close to Mauritian Creole, however the creole language of Reunion (close to Mauritius ) is quite different. It is understood in part the fact that the creoles of  Mauritius and Haiti were formed in similar socio-historical conditions. That is, at the moment of the genesis of these languages, there was about the same percentage of masters who spoke French and slaves who came from the same regions in Africa.
   
• In the case of Reunion on the contrary, there were much more French than slaves, and the Reunionian Creole resembles  much more a French dialect than the Creole of Haiti or that of Mauritius.

Do the Creole grammars look like the French one?

• More than 90% of Mauritian Creole vocabulary came from French, however the French have problem understanding Creole  – that is because it's a different language; it is not a dialect of French, or again less broken French (français mal parlé).
   
• There have been some rapid changes very early in the genesis of creole languages, and these changes had later, a radical influence  on the development of the grammar of these new languages.
   
• The creole languages were born from efforts by the slave population to speak the language of their masters. The very first efforts lead to a primitive means of communication (with no structure, a simple exchange of words that is) called, in the linguistic jargon, a 'pidgin'.  It should be added here that these slaves have been recruited from different regions of Africa, and that they spoke different languages. That was a planned fact so that they would not be able to organize, among themselves, a revolt against their masters.
   
• Yet, the offsprings of these slaves heard a spoken ‘pidgin' and that is an approximation of French words that are quite simplified. It was from that pidgin, little by little, during these years, a grammar has been developed, and that Creole become the mother language of a new community.

What are the changes that have taken place?

For example, the definite determiners le/la/les and partitive determiners de/du/des have become integral parts of nouns. These determiners in French are used to differentiate singular from plural, masculine from feminine, etc. They are universal semantic notions that the human mind should be able to express, and that are expressed in one way or another in all the languages of the world. Finding ways to express contrasts was needed in the new language.

Some examples of changes that have taken place are:

La table? latab the table (the definite determiner is substituted by Ø – zero)

Met dite lor latab (put tea on table)

Mets le thé sur la table (Put tea on the table)

We know that the French determiner has become an integral part of the word because people say  "enn latab"  (une table | table) and not "enn tab".

In the case of the 'demonstratives' ce/cette/ces [this (masc. sing)/ this (fem. sing)/ these], it is the French adverb "là" that is developed as definite marker, and it follows the noun:

Cette table ? latab la (table the)

Cette table là ? sa latab la (this table the)

As for plural, what happens is quite interesting. The French word "bande" (band) has become "bann" and plays two roles: this word is not only a plural form, but also the plural determiner. For example:

Li ti trouv zako manz banan
Il a vu des singes manger des bananes
(He saw apes eating bananas)

It's about indefinite number of apes and bananas.

Li ti trouv bann zako manz banan
Il a vu les singes manger des bananes
(He saw the apes eating bananas)

The use of "bann"  makes "zako" not only a pluralized noun, but a definite plural – that is,  it's about now of a group of apes that are familiar to the person who is speaking and those who are listening.

A 5 years old child, whose mother language is Creole,  knows exactly when to make use of the zero determiner, when "la" should be used, or when to use " sa…la, de bann" etc. The child knows when to say:

Met dite lor latab (put tea on table)

Or

Met dite lor latab la   (put tea on table the)

Or again

Met dite lor sa latab la (Put tea on this table the)

He/she knows also that one cannot say "bann dite" because tea is not a countable noun. The child knows that "la" is placed at the end of the noun, even if there is an adjective that modifies the noun, for example:

La tab rouz la (the table red the)

However, if this same child also knows (how to speak) French, he/she will place the definite article before the noun, and will say for example "la table rouge" (the red table) and not "table rouge la" (table red the).

Another interesting thing that happens in creole genesis concerning the verbs is that the conjugations disappear very early because the slaves understood what it is to only eat, but the conjugations such as “ Je mange, j'ai mangé, je mangeais, je mangerai ” (I eat, I have eaten, I was eating, I will eat) are unnecessary parts of the verb that don't add up to the true meaning of the word.

In Creole, there are only two forms of the verb – the long and the short one:

Mo pu manze
Je vais manger
(I am going to eat)

Mo pu manz banan
Je vais manger des bananes/de la banane
(I am going to eat bananas/ a banana)

When there is an object that follows the verb, the short form is used, otherwise, it's the long form. A young child whose native language is Creole knows that instinctively.

The French conjugations, however, are used to express the present, the past, the future, etc, and here again they are universal semantic notions that human should be able to express via the language. Then, what happens in Creole where the conjugations have disappeared? One sees the development of a system of preverbal markers to express all the notions of time:

Mo finn manz enn banan
J'ai mangé une banane
(I have eaten a banana)

Mo fek manz enn banan
Je viens de manger une banane
(I have just eaten a banana)

Mo ti manz enn banan
J'avais mangé une banane
(I had eaten a banana)

Mo pe manz enn banan
Je suis en train de manger un banane
(I am eating a banana)

Mo pu manz enn banan
Je vais manger une banane
(I am going to eat a banana)

Notice how simple are the creole terms – That's really ingenuous. More interesting again, is the way the preverbal markers are joined in order to express some very complex notions of the action in time:

Mo ti pe dormi
J'étais en train de dormir
(I was sleeping)

Mo ti fek pe manz enn banan
Je venais tout juste de manger une banane
(I have just eaten a banana)

These preverbal markers have a fixed order in all creoles – one cannot say:

*Mo pe ti dormi

(*signifie que ce n'est pas une forme grammaticale)
*meaning this is not a grammatical form

What is interesting is that, in all creoles around the world, the conjugations of verbs disappear, and a system of preverbal markers is developing to express very subtle notions of the action compared with the moment where the phrase is clarified. The young child who speak Creole will know exactly the order of these markers of aspects and of time, and will express himself without grammatical error – even before learning the rules in a grammar book.

How to explain this?

The astonishing similarities between the grammar of creole languages in the world have inspired certain linguists to postulate that new languages represent an approximation of what the famous linguist Noam Chomsky calls ‘Universal Grammar, and that is an integral part of our ability to speak languages. Despite of the superficial differences, such as the different vocabularies, the different ways of pronouncing the words, etc. all languages of the world share certain elements of the ‘Universal Grammar'. This is precisely what allows young children to learn their mother tongue, similar to the way they learn how to walk – It's something that happens instinctively and that has nothing to do with intelligence.

· In the case of the genesis of a creole language, certain linguists postulate that children born of slave parents have created, from a pidgin and elements of the ‘Universal Grammar, a language with a grammar as complex as any other language of the world. So, the interest in these creole languages came from the fact that the study of their genesis will probably serve to resolve certain mysteries that still exist concerning our ability to speak languages, and that their analysis will, maybe, reveal the structure of the ‘Universal Grammar'. This is the focus of my thesis.

[Note from the translator (E. W. Védrine): the English sections below, that I put in italics, was inserted by the author in the original text in French]

Some other points we may want to raise:

• A child can acquire any number of languages if exposed to them before the age of 5.
   
• If a child is allowed to speak Creole, it does not mean that they cannot learn other languages at the same time.
   
• It is much easier for children to learn to read and write in their maternal tongue.
   
• Once they have acquired literacy skills, it is easier form them to learn other languages.
   
• The need for Mauritians to understand that their language is not ‘une langue bâtarde', but a language in its own right, an important means of communication.
   
• We may wish to talk about other creoles that have become part of the country's identity such as Haitian Creole and Papiamentu – brief notes follow – excuse mixture of French and English.

Haitian (Creole)

Haitian (Creole) is the national language of the Republic of Haiti, spoken by the 7 million of inhabitants and by about 1 million of Haitians living in Diaspora. A minority of Haitians also speak French, that they have learned in school or at hom e, in fact consider Haitian (Creole), which is principal means of communication in everyday life, a symbol of their national identity.

Today in Haiti, Creole has been recognized as a co-official language with French.  It now has an official spelling.  It is used more and more in education and the media.  Its recognition as a full language and its expanded use means that the majority of Haitians for whom it is the only language will be able to better participate in the political and economic life of their country.

Source: A. Valdman, “Creole: The national language of Haiti ' in Footsteps, 2(4), 36-39. Avaialble at: http://www.indiana.edu/~creole/creolenatllangofhaiti.html [Accessed January 15, 2005].

Papiamento

Papiamento (Curaçao) is a Creole language taken from Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, Dutch and West African, that is believed to have originated in the 17th century to enable slaves from different regions in Africa and their masters, and the slaves among themselves to communicate with one another. Unique among other Creole languages primarily spoken in lower classes of society in countries such as Surinam, Haiti, Jamaica and Barbados, Papiamento is the only Creole language that is widely spoken at all levels. It has become part of the identity.

Source: Curaçao.com, Available at: http://www.curacao.com/info/language.html [Accessed January 15 2005].

Your comments on all of the above are most welcome.

Diana Guillemin - E-mail

January 15 2005

Courtesy
E. W. VEDRINE CREOLE PROJECT, Inc.