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Friday, October 26, 2012

What does the idiom 'mete dlo nan bouch li' mean?

mete dlo nan bouch → cautious, tactful and reserved in speech

Jenny pa yon moun ki mete dlo nan bouch li pou li pale.
Jenny is not someone who puts water in her mouth so she can talk (literally)
Jenny is an outspoken person.

Misye pa mete dlo nan bouch li pou'l pale.
The man does not put water in his mouth in order to speak. (literally)
He's not afraid to speak his mind.

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comment on dit en français : " Pi bonè se granm matin " ?

kreyòl: Pi bonè se granm maten.
Angle: The early birds catches the worm.
Franse: Le monde appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tòt.
Franse: L'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tòt.
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Good to see you (in Creole)

what does ou ka relem mean?

Ou ka rele m.
You may call me.
You can call me.

M'ap lakay mwen pita.  Ou ka rele'm si w vle.

Non m se Emmanuel, ou ka rele'm Manno.
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"Days of bread" in Creole?

Is it "Days of unleavened bread"?

Days of unleavened bread
Jou pen san leven yo
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN CREOLE

Happy Birthday Bòn Fèt, Bòn Anivèsè

See other posts with HAPPY BIRTHDAY

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A YEAR OLDER (in Creole)

a year olderyon ane anplis, ennan anplis

She is a year older than me.
Li gen ennan anplis mwen.
Li gen yon ane anplis mwen.

I am a year older than her.
Mwen gen yon ane anplis li.

That makes you a year older, right?
Sa fè w genyen yon ane anplis, pa vre?
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kijan sa tradwi an angle:ou gen dwa di ou pa'p ede'm, men ou pa kapab di ou pa't konnen sa ap fini mal pou mwen.

You may say you won't help me, but you cannot say that you didn't know it was going to end badly for me.
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Degaje is the first pronominal verb I have seen in Kreyòl? Are there others?

Yes, most definitely.  Here are some of them:

Absteni → to abstain from
Si nou absteni nou de moun sa yo, n’ap mennen yon lavi pezib.
If you abstain from these people, you'll live a peaceful life.

Adonnen → to devote self to
Apre mari l te mouri, li te adonnen li a timoun li yo.
After her husband died, she devoted herself to her kids.

Atann → to expect, to foresee
Mwen pa’t atann mwen a sa.
I wasn't expecting this.

Debouye → to manage
Apre li te jwenn travay la, li te debouye li ase byen.
After he found the job, he managed quite well.

Depeche → to hurry up
Si ou pa depeche ou, m’ap kite w dèyè.
If you don't hurry, I'll leave you behind

Kalme → to calm down, to take it easy, to maintain composure
Lè ti bebe a wè manman li, li te kalme l byen vit.
When the baby saw his mom, he quieted down quickly.

Konpòte → to behave
Li te konpòte li byen.
He behaved well.

Konfòme → to conform
Apre patwon an te ba li yon avètisman, li te konfòme li ak inifòm travay la
After the boss gave he a warning, she finally conformed to the work dress code.

Kontante → to be satisfied, to be gratified
Li pa’t gen premye pri a, men li te kontante li ak sa yo te ba li a.
He didn't win the first prize, but he was gratified with what they gave him.

Pèmèt → be bold enough, take a risk, dare

Apre sa li te fè a, li te pèmèt li vin pale avè’m.
After what she did, she had the nerve to come and talk to me.

Pran plezi → to enjoy self
Nou te pran plezi nou nan fèt la.
We enjoyed ourselves at the party.

Raple → to recall
Mwen pa raple mwen.
I don't recall.

Reziyen → to give in, to relinquish
Li sispann lite ak maladi a.  Li reziyen li pou l mouri.
She stopped fighting the disease.  She accepted that she will die.

Twonpe → to miscalculate,  to misjudge, to make a mistake
Mwen te panse ou te papa tifi a.  Mwen te twonpe m.
 I thought you were the girl's father.  I made a mistake.


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Do you have the lyrics for Holiness Holiness is what I long for in Creole

I have found the Creole version (or one of the Creole versions) in the GSC (Groupe Soldats de Christ) songbook. It's #76 in the Volume 2 portion of the book.

Sentete, sentete se sa m'ap chèche
Sentete, sentete, se sa mwen vle
Sentet, se sa ou vle nan mwen

Pran lavi'm e chanje'm
Pran kè mwen e fòme'm
Pran volonte'm, transfòme'm
Nan ou, pou ou Senyè
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Glad to see this blog. My children grandmother speaks Creole and trying to teach them some basic. Where should I start?

Glad to meet you :)

How old are the kids?  Do they spend a lot of time with their grandmother?  Does their grandmother speak mostly Creole and some English?  Does she speak Creole to them? Perhaps you may reinforce (in your home) the Creole phrases that they learn at their grandmother's by repeating it to them at the dinner table,in the car on the way to school, or as you say good night at bedtime.  You may also post on the door of your fridge, each week, a couple of Creole words or sentences you want them to master for that particular week. Also there are some great children's books at the Haitian bookstores (educavision.com).  A Haitian Creole bedtime story would be awesome (even if they hear the same story every night :)
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please translate.. ap gen anpil blan kap la wap tou jwen youn tou destin manje trop baz

The last four words don't make sense

Ap gen           | anpil  |   blan               | k'ap            | la.
There will be | many | white people  | that will be | there.
There will be many whites there.

W'ap      |  tou                 | jwenn | youn | tou
You will | conveniently | find    | one   | also
You will conveniently find one too.

destin   | manje  | twòp         | baz
destiny  | eat      | too much  | base
does not make sense to me :-\

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What is Sa k te fe mean? I'm trying not to translate word for word, but I always have trouble with these. To me, it says that had happened, or it had happened. Is this correct?

You almost got it.... :)
Usually when you see the "SA" used like that in an interrogative sentence, chances are it is a contracted form of  H.Creole interrogative pronoun KISA (what).

Just like these examples:
Sa k pase?
Which is contracted from
Kisa ki pase?
What's happening?

another example:
Sa w vle?
Which is contracted from:
Kisa ou vle?
What do you want?

One more example:
Sa sa ye?
which is contracted from:
Kisa sa ye?
What this is? (literally)
What is this?

So
Sa k te fèt?
is contracted from
Kisa ki te fèt?
What had happened?
What happened?

or, if not used in question form, may be translated as that which (what):

Sa k te fèt lopital la se te yon mirak.
Sa ki te fèt lopital la se te yon mirak.
That which happened at the hospital was a miracle.
What happened at the hospital was a miracle.


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...people with an excellent spirit (in Creole)

What is an "excellent" spirit?

people with an excellent spirit
moun de konfyans ki gen bon jan ak bon mannyè  (earnest people with good manners)
moun serye ki frengan (earnest and highly spirited people)
moun frengan (highly spirited people)

I wonder what you're using this phrase for?
ex:
We're looking for people with an excellent spirit.
N'ap chache moun de konfyans ki gen bon jan ak bon mannyè.


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No question, but I am so excited to have found your blog, and I am happy that it is still active. I listened to a couple of lessons last week, but will start digging in this week. Good luck to you.


Mèsi anpil.
I hope the blog wlll be useful to you.

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