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Sunday, December 2, 2012

I found these words in a Kreyòl grammar book in a section called "Mo Konpoze." The words are: dekiprevyen, dekilakyèl, kikeseswa. What are the composed elements of these words?

kikeseswa composed from French qui que ce soit which means whoever in French
dekilakèl composed from French words de qui laquelle.  Laquelle (f.) or lequel (m.) is French for which one?
dekiprevyen composed of French words de qui previent. Previent (inf. prevenir).  The translation for prevenir, here, is to advise, to inform

using them in a Creole sentence:
kikeseswa whoever, anyone, no one
1. Moun sa yo pa gen respè pou kikeseswa.
    These people have respect for no one.

2. Peyi Etazini gen yon lame vanyan.  Yo kapab goumen ak kikeseswa.
    The US has a strong army.  They can fight with whoever.

dekilakèl (also dekilakyèl) what (usually communicated with a "what the hell" attitude)
3. Dekilakèl lajan w'ap pale a?
    What money are you talking about?

4. Ou te imilye m devan tout moun.  Dekilakèl zanmitay ki ta ka janm genyen antre nou?
     You humiliated me in front of everyone.  What friendship could there ever be between us?

dekiprevyen → the why, the motive, the reason, justification
5.  Mwen bezwen konnen dekiprevyen tout kòlè sa.
     I need to know the reason for all this anger.

6. Dekiprevyen?
    Justify this.
    Inform me
    Tell me why
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what is creole ragagann?

ragagann to the limit, all the way, completely

The basket was completely packed
Panye a te plen ragagann.
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sale ...?

sale (adjective, verb)→ salty (egzanp: manje sale, pwason sale, vyann sale); to salt, to cure, to season

Kèk egzanp fraz ki ekri ak mo "sale" a:

1. Manje sale pa bon pou lasante.  Si w manje manje ki gen twòp sèl tout tan, sa kapab koze ou soufri ak tansyon.
2. Nan mòn Ayiti, nou pa gen frijidè.  Se pousa nou sale pwason yo pou prezève yo.
3. Dantis la te di'm pou'm rense chouk* dan'm ak yon ti dlo sale lè'm rive lakay mwen.

*chouk dan (stump of a tooth)
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My dad told me that there is unemployment in haiti. I do not believe that so would you tell me about

I can understand why you don't believe it.  It's because unemployment in Haiti is disguised under the name epidemi :-\  Just think, if half, or even ten percent of the people who had emigrated from the country didn't do so... if they had decided to stay in Haiti, work, raise a family.... how different their life would be.
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How to translate word horny? Thank you!!

horny (aroused?) - Haitians use many different terms: eksite, sou sa, limen, toulimen, cho, anmanche, bande (the last 2 terms for males with erection)
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Saturday, December 1, 2012

Mwen dòmi 100/p (in English please)

If you translated that in English, the meaning would be lost in translation.
You can only read this in Creole in order for it to make sense.
This should read Mwen dòmi san sou p (with the number 100 written over the letter P - like a fraction)
Anyways, it means I went to sleep without supper.
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Bouch granmoun santi, men pawòl li pa santi? WTF...?

Se konsa wi.  Sa se yon ekspresyon Kreyòl ki vle di ke pawòl granmoun gen anpil sajès ladan li.
Yon granmoun viv plis lane pase'w.  Pa konsekan, li fè plis eksperyans nan lavi a E li wè pi lwen pase w.
Majorite pèp Ayisyen gen anpil respè pou granmoun lontan (old folks).
Kon w wè granmoun ap pale, tout moun fè silans, tout moun bese tèt.
Gen de Ayisyen ki menm panse ke kèk granmoun ka lage madichon sou ou si tèlman pawòl yo gen valè.
Konsa, menm si bouch granmoun nan ta santi, pawòl li se bèl trezò nèt.

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I know that 'rale' means 'to pull', but what doe it mean here: "li fè yon bon jan RALE sou sijè sekirite lekòl la"

fè yon bon jan raleto discuss in depth, to go into great details, to go a great distance
1.
"Li te fè yon bon jan RALE sou sijè sekirite lekòl la"
"He/She spoke extensively on the subject of school security"


yon bon rale also means a good distance, a little far
2
   Magazen an yon bon rale sot isit la. Ou pa ta dwe ale apye. Ale sou bekàn pito.
   The store is a good distance from here.  You shouldn't walk. Take your bike instead.


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But why is the la following jan w vle'l la?

It represents a definite article.  In this case it'll either be "a" or "la" depending on whether it comes after the subject pronoun "li" or its contracted form "l".

Jan  |  w   | vle   | li   | a.
or
Jan  | w    |  vle   | l   | la.
way   | yo  | want  | it   | the.

The way you want it
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May I have your email address? I have a rather lengthy question regarding teaching Haitian children to read Creole. Bobbie

What is the meaning of Simeon?

Kesyon sa odela fòs mwen... li depase kapabilite m.  Menm si m te ka reponn li, mwen pa ta konnen rezon dèyè repons lan.
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Friday, November 30, 2012

How is "however" translated in Creole in this piece here: "...however you want it" I am not sure I want to use NENPOT JAN for this. thanks!

O O!  I was going to suggest Nenpòt jan w vle'l 
If you don't want to use nenpòt jan, then you can say jan w vle'l la.

However (in whatever way?) adverb → nenpòt jan, nenpòt fason, nenpòt mannyè
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I am looking for a Haitian Creole Christmas religious folk song to use as part of a christmas show from around the world. Can you suggest one. I will need the sheet music

When you say RELIGIOUS, does that include Protestant, Roman Catholic, Voodooistic (not necessarily Satanic)?  There's a slight difference in Haiti.

For secular Christmas music (not necessarily traditional) - you'll find hundreds of songs from the KONKOU CHANTE NWÈL pool of songs from Haiti.

Most of the traditional Christmas songs that Haitian CHRISTIANS sing in CHURCH did not originate from Haiti.  Most of these were translated to French or Creole. But if you're looking for a popular H. Creole Christian song it would be Depi Lontan Nan Bètleyèm.

But for beautiful Haitian Creole Christmas folk songs, I'd recommend Nwèl Payizan or Nwèl Pou Yo from Claudette et Ti Pierre.  And I am sure every Haitian would agree that Lionel Benjamin's H. Creole  song Abdenwèl is a traditional classic.

For a music sheet of any of these songs, I can tell you right now that it will be almost impossible to find one that's readily available.
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Lang pa gen zo?

No siree!
It's a Haitian Creole expression.
Lang pa gen zo (the tongue has no bone).  It is malleable... flexible.  Therefore it can be tamed.
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What does "ki te" mean in Creole?

ki → relative pronoun that, who, which...
te → past tense indicator
ki te (two words?) (part of a sentence?) who was, which were, that was, etc...

1. Mesye ki te chita la se papa'm.
    The man who was sitting here is my father.

2. Sa se pa kamera ki te nan katalòg la.  Ou te vann mwen move kamera a.
    This is not the camera that was in the catalog.  You sold me the wrong one.

Kite (one word) → leave, quit or separate (relationship)

3.  Magda ak Lionel pa rete ansanm ankò.  Yo kite.
    Magda and Lionel don't live together anymore.   The separated.

4. Mario te kite Evelyn paske yo pa ka antann yo.
    Mario left Evelyn because they can't see eye to eye.

5.  Ak kilè n'ap kite?
     What time are we leaving?

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