Friday, August 1, 2014

Ok, this is an odd question, but you're always so helpful, maybe it'll be fun for you, epi w te ede'm anpil le mwen t'ap aprann kreyol. I made a bet with a Haitian friend of mine that he doesn't know how to spell every single word in Creole. After looking through my Creole dictionary, I realized this may be a bad bet on my part! I know Creole is very easy and logical to spell, but are there any exceptions? Can you suggest a few Haitian Creole words which either break the rules (are there any?) or are particularly difficult? Mesi davans! Si mwen genyen, m pral remesye w, men nou pap parye pou kob. N'ap parye pou yon rum sour!

If your friend knows his Creole world you might never get a taste of that rum.
But you can still win the bet.

Words people can misspell easily are
Beny (bath)
Benywa or beywa (washtub)
Words with “ro” which should be “wo” as in “ayewopò” intead of “ayeropò”
Words that begins with “h”:
Hountò (angel)
Hinghang (dissension)
Hèn (hatred)

Also very easy to misspell is “wa”, most people spell it “rwa” but it should be “wa”
To throw your friend off a little, don’t just say “wa”, ask him to spell “wa Nebidkadneza” so that he focuses on the second word :)


Bòn chans .
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Ki jan ou di "moun sòt" an Angle? Mwen wè li anpil nan liv Pwovèb la. Komàn li se diferan de "moun fou" oubyen "mechan"?

moun sòt may mean naïve people, foolish or mindless people
moun fou means crazy or insane individual
moun mechan means wicked, malicious, evil people


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

Ki jan ou di "moun sòt" an Angle? Mwen wè li anpil nan liv Pwovèb la. Komàn li se diferan de "moun fou" oubyen "mechan"?

moun sòt may mean naïve people, foolish or mindless people
moun fou means crazy or insane individual
moun mechan means wicked, malicious, evil people


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

Alright I have a lot of questions for you to answer so please bear with me. 1) I'm going to Haiti very soon, and I am bringing fabric in order to get some pants made. As far as going to a tailor (taye?), what words should I know applying to clothes (width for example).

Tailortayè
Widthlajè
Length - longè

2) What does danre, ra mean?
     danrevegetables, produce
     raclose to, close to the edge of

3) How do you say "Are you sure"?
   “Eske ou sèten?”

4) I tried using the word pyeje around my parents and they aren't familiar with it. What other words can be used?
   mete pyèj, tann pyèj

5) When you're buying things in Haiti, in what currency is the price usually
labeled?Dola or goud?
    Goud, or dola Ayisyen (Haitian dollar)

6) Konspirasyon?
   Or konbinazon,konplo?
   plot, conspiration

7) Janbe?
To cross, to move across, to cut across

8) How do you say weird, strange, and awkward?
    dwòl



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

Like I’ve said before, isn’t it a waste of time to learn Creole to communicate with Haitians when you can learn French and be equipped to communicate with Haitians and peoples from hundreds of countries.

Though you make a lot of sense, in 2010 the youth group leader from a church planned a visit to Haiti. They downloaded a lot of materials in French and translated a lot of the sentences to be used in conversation for games especially (like soccer, basketball, jumping ropes, etc..) – and had a hard time getting understood – they had to use a Haitian Creole interpretor and could not use any of the French materials they brought with them. Isnt it better to communicate with the people in a language they understand so that the people are comfortable communicating with you too?
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

I'm working my way through Marc Prou's book, SpokenHaitian Creole for Intermediate Learners. Will you please explain this dialog to me? A young boy: Sispann fè politik non, baton n'ap chèche. Alò, ou gen kote wi pou ou ta pran baton, gade gwosè w. A girl: Mezanmi oh! Ala yon ti moun frekan! M ta ka manman ou, epi w'ap gade gwosè m. The young boy: m pa di ou pa ta ka gran sè m, men afè manman an bliye sa. Thank you, Mandaly.

1.
“A young boy: Sispann fè politik non, baton n'ap chèche. Alò, ou gen kote wi pou ou ta pran baton, gade gwosè w. “

Pulling the sentence apart:
Sispann fè politik non...stop the bureaucracy won’t you
Baton n’ap chèche... [baton nou ap chache (when not contracted)] – the club you looking for (lit.) – You looking for a beating (thrashing)
Alò, ou gen kote wi pou ou ta pran baton... – thus, you have place, yes/indeed, to sustain a beating (this sentence implies that the person is on the heavy side and can sustain a beating because he/she'll can absorb a blow on the fat on their body rather than on their bony part. It can be a sexual suggestion too … if people are referring to how curvy one is)
Gade gwosè w ... – look how curvy/fat you are

Putting the sentence back together:
Sispann fè politik non, baton n'ap chèche. Alò, ou gen kote wi pou ou ta pran baton, gade gwosè w. Stop being political wont you? You must be looking for a beating. Indeed you do have room to sustain a couple of blows. Look how plump you are.

2.
A girl: Mezanmi oh! Ala yon ti moun frekan! M ta ka manman ou, epi w'ap gade
gwosè m.
pulling te sentence apart:
Mezanmi oh!Oh my God! or Oh man! or Geez! Or Wow! Or Oh my!
Ala yon timoun frekan! – ala (how!) frekan (insolent) – What what a rude child!
M ta ka manman ouI could be your mother
epi w'ap gade gwosè* m. – and you’re looking at how plump I am.
*gwosè means size

Putting the sentence back together:
Mezanmi oh! Ala yon ti moun frekan! M ta ka manman ou, epi w'ap gade
gwosè m.Oh my! What an impertinent child! I could be your mother and you’re looking at my curves.

3.
The young boy: m pa di ou pa ta ka gran sè m, men afè manman an bliye sa.
pulling te sentence apart:
M pa di ou pa ta ka gran sè mI don’t say you couldn’t be my big sister.
Gran sè – older sister
Gran sè m – my older sister
Men afè manman an - but that business of mother
bliye saforget about it.

Putting the sentences back together:
M pa di ou pa ta ka gran sè m, men afè manman an bliye sa. – I don’t deny that you could be my big sister, but you could not pass for my mother, forget about that!


 ..........
“A young oy: Sispann fè politik non, baton n'ap chèche. Alò, ou gen kote wi pou ou ta pran baton, gade gwosè w. Stop being political wont you? You must be looking for a beating. Indeed you do have room to sustain a couple of blows. Look how plump you are.

Girl: Mezanmi oh! Ala yon ti moun frekan! M ta ka manman ou, epi w'ap gade
gwosè m.Oh my! What an impertinent child! I could be your mother and you’re looking at m curves.

A young boy: M pa di ou pa ta ka gran sè m, men afè manman an bliye sa. – I don’t deny that you could be my big sister, but you could not pass for my mother, forget about that!”



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

Kijan ou di "lavished" an kreyòl?

It depends on what the context is.
I am thinking "repann", "simen", "simaye", "benyen".

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

Nou te pwofite moman an pou fè ti koze , e reviv tan lontan. (Can you please translate the above word by word ?) kamsahamnida

Nou te pwofite moman an pou fè ti koze ,
We profited the moment to make a little chat (literaly)
We took advantage of the moment to chat a little

e reviv tan lontan.
And relive old time

And reminisce about old times

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

How would you translate the following, in Creole: "Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." "Formal education will make you a living,Self education will make you a fortune." Thank you!

"Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity." 
"Lè w kwaze opòtinite ak preparasyon ou jwenn chans."

"Formal education will make you a living,Self education will make you a
fortune."
Edikasyon ou resevwa lekòl va ba w ase pou viv.
Edikason ou resevwa nan eksperyans ou fè va anrichi w.

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

Se poutèt sa m'ap di nou: Jou jijman an, y'a peni nou pi rèd pase moun lavil Tir ak moun lavil Sidon yo. Can you please translate into English? " peni nou pi red pase" kamsahamnida

Bonjou, Kijan ou ye?

I think this is supposed to be “pini pi rèd pase”. With “pini” which means to “punish

The word we should look at here is “rèd” which means “stiff, strenuous, severe, though, hard, etc..”

...pini nou pi rèd pase – ...to punish you more severely than ….

Jou jijman an, y’ap pini nou pi rèd pase moun lavil Tir …..
On judgement day you’ll be punished more severely than the people of Tir …..


The English translation is passive, the Creole is not.

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