You said:
"what are words for "roommate"(apartment,
hospital, camp, etc)?
Also, I had a discussion with my dad; he said that the
word "mis" can mean "nurse", nurse aide or assistant, or a female nurse" and
that "enfimye" is use for "male nurse" and "enfimyè" is used for female nurse.
Of course, we use "nès" for both male and female nurse because of the prevalence
of the english language and because of the haitian diaspora in the United
States. I am well aware of that one, but I beg to differ with the word "mis"
because I tend to reserve that for a nurse(male or female). I am not sure what
are words for "nurse assistant" except that I say "mis asistan" or "enfimiye or
enfimyè assistant" or "nès asistan". I am not sure if they are correct. Can you
sort all of this out and also supply the appropriate words for all of them and
then some?"
Mandaly says:
roommate -
kolokatè, kolokatris
Your father is right about the word 'mis'.
Mis is derived from miss/mistress which is the title for a young woman. I think it might have eased into the H. Creole language as hospital patients (and soldiers) were calling for the nurse "Miss!" at a time when male nurses were not popular yet.
When I was growing up I do recall women saying, "M pral fè mis lè m gran." "Se yon mis ou ye?"
I would prefer to use
enfimye or
enfimyè for male nurses.
Nurse asistants are called
oksilyè, èd swayan.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words
