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Thursday, December 1, 2011

Two questions. 1) How do you say "deliver a baby" and 2) is it okay for foreigners to use the word "neg" in conversation with Haitians? Thank you!

to deliver a baby → akouche yon bebe
to give birth → akouche
birth (n.) → akouchman

She gave birth this morning.
Li akouche maten an.

The doctor delivered the baby.
Doktè a akouche bebe a.
or
Doktè a delivre bebe a. (pronounced day-lee-v-ray)

you will also hear:
The doctor who delivered me was excellent.
Doktè ki te akouche m nan te anfòm.

I had a busy day. I had 2 deliveries (births) in the office.
Jounen m te okipe. Mwen te gen 2 akouchman nan ofis la.

2. Yes, it is okay for foreigners to use the word "nèg" in conversation with Haitians.
The word "nèg" in Haitian Creole is equivalent to "man, guy, dude, pal, etc..."
Creole speakers will even translate "a white man" as "yon nèg blan" (which is an oxymoron), but that's the way it is: nèg means man.

See this link about other Creole expressions with "nèg".

1 comment:

  1. Curious why would yon nèg be an oxymoron?

    ReplyDelete