26776: Hermantin(news)FACTS ABOUT CREOLE, OR KREYOL (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005

FACTS ABOUT CREOLE, OR KREYOL


• Haitian Kreyol is usually called French Creole because the bulk of the 
vocabulary is from old and modern French. The phonology, however, isn't 
completely French. For instance, there is no ''c'' in the Kreyol alphabet.

• In addition to French, there are words that are Spanish, English and West 
African in origin. West African linguistic influences include the Wolof and Ewe 
languages. There also are hundreds of words from the Kikongo language, spoken 
by people from the former French west-central African colony, the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo.

• In the Caribbean, French Creole is widely spoken in Haiti, Guadeloupe, 
Martinique, Dominica and St. Lucia. It's also spoken in French Guiana in South 
America, and on the islands of Réunion and the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean.

• The word Koukouy is a Haitian Kreyol word that means fireflies; it is Spanish 
in origin.

• Creole Language Schools in South Florida:

Miami Dade Community College 305-237-8888

Broward Community College 954-201-7400

SOURCE: Max Manigat, who lives in Miramar and is a former professor of history 
and Creole languages at City College of New York. He is currently writing a 
book exploring the history and origin of Haitian Kreyol words.