Haitian Creole

1. THE TRANSLATION INDUSTRY Universal Translation Services 2021 Haitian Creole

2. Human Impact We are often too focused on the differences to see that everything in the world is connected in one way or another. Even the human population originated from the same ancestors. It was only when they migrated to different regions of the world that the differences began to develop. Today, we have put everything inside different categories. We have labels and classes for things. But in truth, most of these things have the same origins or have come in contact with each other in the past. When you trace back to thousand or million years, you will find that most things interact with each other. The same is true for languages. When people of different communities meet, and they have to interact, they come up with linguistic solutions that can benefit both parties. Universal Translation Services 2021

3. Haiti Modern-day Haiti was once a French colony. It won its independence long before the other Latin American states. It was during the French Revolution that the slaves and the rest of the population decided to revolt against their occupiers. It was a successful attempt as it ended with the country winning its independence. After that, Haiti became the first country in the time of colonization to abolish slavery. However, things did not get better for the country after independence. Political instability has kept Haiti from progressing economically, which is why it is one of the poorest states in the world today. The earthquake of 2010 that killed over 250,000 citizens also destroyed the infrastructure and sent the country back a thousand years. The situation has not improved in the past ten years. The French colonists brought slaves from Africa to work on the sugarcane plantations of Haiti. The work of the slaves brought huge profits to the French, which made Haiti the richest colony. In order to communicate with the French, the slaves came up with a language that is the official language of the country today. Universal Translation Services 2021

4. Haitian Creole African slaves spoke various indigenous languages, while the French only knew their tongue. As a result, there was a linguistic barrier between the slaves and their colonists. In an attempt to learn the vernacular, the Africans ended up creating a new tongue known as Haitian Creole. Creoles are tongues that are created by combining a European vernacular with African languages. In the case of Haitian Creole, it was French and a combination of African tongues. But over the years, it has been influenced by other vernaculars like Portuguese, English, and Spanish. Universal Translation Services 2021

5. The Status of Haitian Creole The French did not approve of the language as they considered it disrespectful to their tongue. They discouraged its use by the natives. However, the vernacular continued to grow and became the main medium of communication between the Haitians. But after independence, Haitians started to view the language as a reminder of their dark past. They considered it a relic from the past, which was proof of the sufferings they had endured. Government officials continued using Standard French in their speeches to distance themselves from Haitian Creole. Even schools continued to use French as their medium of instruction until the year 2000. But things have changed since then. The government has started paying attention to the language and encouraged its use. The citizens of the country have also started using the vernacular in their everyday conversations, which is why it has over 10 million native speakers in Haiti today. The number of speakers worldwide is 12 million, which makes the tongue the most popular modern creole. Universal Translation Services 2021

6. Facts About Haitian Creole • Here are some interesting facts about this French-based creole: • The vocabulary of the tongue was taken from 18th century French, which is something it has retained even after two centuries. • Since it is closer to 18th century French, it does not bear any resemblance to the modern French. This is why the two vernaculars are not mutually intelligible today. This feature makes it different from other creoles and daughter languages. Even the grammar style of Haitian Creole is completely different from French. • Experts thought that this tongue would go extinct after the French left the colony. The Africans had plenty of other languages to pick from, but due to the lack of a common vernacular among them, they decided upon Haitian Creole. • In this tongue, definite articles come after the noun, which is a unique feature that differentiates it not only from French but also English, where the articles always come before the nouns. • Articles in this tongue are pretty interesting and not only because of their relationship with the nouns. They are also used to make words plurals. They are added after words to make them plural in Haitian Creole instead of adding ‘s’ and ‘es’ to them as we do in French. Universal Translation Services 2021

7. Due to the unique features of the creole and its relationship with French, it is an interesting topic of conversation among linguists. Many studies it to understand its connection with French and to figure out why it has stayed relevant after all these years. Translating this vernacular is a tough job due to its features that make it both similar to and different than French. However, a native speaker will be better at the job than other experts. People who have been speaking the tongue since birth will be better suited to the job of translating it. So, only natives should be hired to handle linguistic problems. Universal Translation Services 2021

8. More like this... Our Blog https://www.universal-translation-services.com/our-blog/ Our Website https://www.universal-translation-services.com/ Contact us! info@universal-translation-services.com