Monday, June 24, 2013

Mandaly, I know this probably sounds juvenile at this point, but how do you say an Kreyol "My name is John", and "I am called John"? I have not ran across these questions as of yet. When I go to the HC translator, I keep getting things all over the board. Anyway, thank you much for all. Jan.

Juvenile? Non, pa ditou :)
I can get carried away when answering questions.   I hope I don't make you or anyone feel that way :)

There are many ways to say "My name is John" in HC. You were probably coming across these with the translator:

 1.
My name is John
Mwen rele John.
Non mwen se John.

2.
I am called John.
Yo rele mwen John.

3.
John is my name.
Se John ki non m.

4.
Kijan ou rele?
Kijan yo rele w?
Ki non ou?
What's your name?

5.
Ki siyati w?
Ki non fanmi ou?
What's your last name?

 Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

2 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 24, 2013 at 11:02 PM

    Mandaly,

    You never make anyone feel like they are putting you out by asking you questions! You are sooooo very accommodating. So to clarify pou mwen; why is it that "Non mwen se Jan." uses the word "no" in it? Is it just that it is a Haitian idiomatic way to say this? When I see an idiom in english, it makes no sense unless I am used to saying it, and know what it means. Kreyol Ayisyen has unintended pluses to it; It (HC) has helped me greatly to improve my
    english.

    Thanks for all.

    Jan Rachal

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    Replies
    1. MandalyJune 24, 2013 at 11:53 PM

      Great :)

      Actually the word "non", here, is not the negative response "no"; it is the HC translation for "name".
      Thus:
      non mwen → my name
      non li → his/her name

      non fanmi → family name
      non jwèt → nickname

      Non | li | se | Jezi.
      name | his | is | Jezus.
      His name is Jesus.

      ALSO,

      The verb "to name" is translated as "nonmen" in HC.

      Kijan | yo | te nonmen | pitit |la?
      How | they | named | child |the?
      What did they name the child?

      Yo te nonmen li Rachel.
      They named her Rachel.

      Eske ou rekonèt mwen?
      Do you know me?
      Wi, mwen sonje figi ou men mwen pa sonje non w.
      Yes, I remember your face but I don't recall your name.

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