Can you tell me how you would translate "kina yo." I know it is hard to answer this without knowing the context. In context it sounds something like "the locals." But can you perhaps elaborate or be any more precise for me about its meanings and connotations? I am doing a translation of an oral history of an elderly Haitian from 1987. Thanks!

You will hear this type  of expression in Northern Haiti.

1. kina yo (kinan yo) - theirs, or it can be their family

   Sa se kinan m - This is mine; This is my race, my family

    Sa se kinan nou - This is ours


2. Northerners tend to "an" or "a" before their possessive adj.
    for example:
   We usually say:
Liv mwen.
OR
Sa se liv mwen.
   A person from the North might say:
Liv an mwen.
OR
Sa se liv an mwen.

3. Here's another example:
    We usually say:
Sa se papa li.
    But the Northerner might say:
Sa se papa a li.

4. And one more example:
   We usually say:
Ayiti se peyi nou.
   The Northerner might say:
Ayiti se peyi an nou.

So, when you see "kin an yo" or "kin an mwen", it's as if they were saying:  kin an yo → their kin (their own) or kin an mwen → my kin (my own)

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