Podcastle - The Half Dark Promise: A little Creole in the Fiction makes it real interesting.

This week's work of fiction by Malon Edwards in the Podcastle, The Fantasy Fiction Podcast, is a thrilling story, The Half Dark Promise, narrated by yours truly :)
Be sure to check it out.
Here's the link: The Half Dark Promise

Podcastle: The Half Dark Promise

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

Am I phrasing this correctly? "Jis paske mwen pa konprann tout bagay, sa pa vle di mwen pa konprann anyen." -JC

Yes. it is phrased correctly.
Kenbe la :)

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

Who's maitre jean jacques? 'souer kou maitre jean jacques'?

If I understand this well, I think that mèt Jan Jak is the 'resourceful' one.
If you're going to use 'swe' in this comparison, you should say 'Bouki'.
It goes like: swe kou pitit Bouki (literally: as sweaty as Bouki's child) meaning "very sweaty".

But if you meant to say mèt Jan Jak in your comparison, we say 'degaje kou mèt Jan Jak' which means to be as resourceful as one can, to do everything in your power to take care of things.

It's two different things.

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

How would your translate "it's for for your own good" in Creole==? mesi

It's for your own good. - Se pou byen w.
I'm doing all this for your own good. - M ap fè tout sa pou pwòp byen pa w. / M ap fè tout sa pou byen w.
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

Bonjou! Mpral bwe yon tas kafe anme avew! Sa sa vle di?

bwè yon tas kafe anmè ak yon moun - gen yon konfrontasyon, regle yon dispit, twoke kòn nou pou rezoud yon dispit.

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

Mandaly mta renmen konnen si ''joumou pa donnen kalbas'' se tarduction creole ''le fer s'aiguise par le fer''?

Hi.

Joumou pa donnen kalbas, pou mwen vle di paran ak pitit toujou gen menm karaktè, dispozisyon ak mantalite. Si paran yo se move moun, yo gen tandans panse pitit lan se yon move grenn tou.

Kisa w panse?

2 comments:

willeen Jean LouisOctober 25, 2015 at 3:30 PM

Mesii anpil. Se vre se sitou granmou mkonn tande kap di timoun sa le fe on vye bagay tankou on repwoch.

Replies

MandalyOctober 25, 2015 at 3:50 PM

Wi se sa. E, sa w panse de ekspresyon, "Pitit tig se tig"?

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

Can you explain me what is "frè kot papa"? I am refering to the tropicana song.

Frè kot papa - brother on the father's side (same father, but not the same mother)



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

Yet one more questions about yo. Can you have it in the following sentence Jan rayi chat yo (as in the French: Jean déteste les chats)

Grammatically your sentence is correct.
Jan rayi chat yo correctly translates the sentence Jean hates the cats.
In French, it's ok to have 'les' (art.) before 'chats'.
Just remember that it is not necessary to add 'yo' if the noun 'chat' is no specified.

Some examples.
Jan rayi chat. - Jean hates cats.
Betty pa renmen zaboka. - Betty doesn't like avocados.
Li pa renmen gason. - She detests men.
So, there's no need to add yo to know that these nouns are plural.

But you can, of course, add 'yo' if the nouns are specified.
Kilè ou pral mennen chat yo kay veterinè a? - When will you take the cats to the veterinarian?
Mèsi pou tout danre ou pote yo, men mwen pa vle zaboka yo. Ou mèt pran yo. M pa renmen zaboka.
Thanks for all the produce that you brought but I don't want the avocados. You may have them. I don't like avocados.


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

One more question about yo Can you have yo with boku M achte boko liv yo Thank you

You can say, M achte bonkou nan liv yo. - I bought many of the books.
or
M achte bonkou liv. - I bought many books. or I bought a great quantity of books.

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

What is the expression tanbou balan? How can i use it?

Did you mean tanbou batan which means first notice, first call
literally means ...at the first beat of the drum....
at the first call,
at first warning,

egzanp:
Nou p ap pèdi tan, n ap koumanse nan gran maten. Tanbou batan fòk tout moun gen tan la, prèt pou mete men nan travay la.

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

Translation for "shortcut" in different contexts in creole? For example, "We took a shortcut home"

chemen dekoupe, wout altène, altènatif, chemen kout

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

What are words for "networking" and "to network"? For example, "To get a job in today's economy, it is important to have a strong network." and "Many people find it worthwhile to network for jobs and information."

In Haiti we call this moun pa, piston, datou, gen koneksyon :)

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

What are words for "mindful" and "mindless" in creole?

Hi, I appreciate the examples that you gave with this question - I would rather have your own original sentences with your examples, otherwise we would have to cite and give references. Thanks.

According to the example that you gave you may translate mindful as sansib, konsyan, gen konsyans, gen respè or respekte. Depending on the context of the sentence you might have to use different Creole terms for the word mindful.
As far as the word mindless is concerned, a generic term is neglijan or manfouben.

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

Sorry, this is not a language question exactly-- just could not find any information on the topic elsewhere! Is there a specific reason that women who practice vodou wear certain types of headscarves? If they give up their head wrap, what is the significance?

I am not well versed in voodoo terminology or practice.
According to Saint-Lot (2003), The garments that the vodou worshipers wear, "hats, tailcoats, kerchiefs, capes, make-up, knapsacks, canes, jewelry and machetes , among other items" contribute to the elegance of the ceremony.
Clothes color, changing costumes, or lack of clothing, all have meanings - depending on the loa that is represented and depending on the rank of the worshiper.

Check out this book that I'm referencing: Saint-Lot (2003). Vodou a sacred theatre: The African heritage in Haiti. Coconut Creek, FL: Educavision.

ISBN: 1-58432-177-6

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

My question concerns the use of yo as a plural. If you say: I saw three boys .....

“My question concerns the use of yo as a

plural.

If you say:

I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.

How woud you translate

the part: Two boys were arguing there ?

'De timoun yo' te dispite or simply

without the yo

De timoun te dispite.

Thank you very much.”

mandaly says:

Hi,

Yes, using “yo” sometimes is complicated for foreigners because we use it as 1) definite plural article (the), 2) personal pronouns (they, them), and 3) possessives (their). If you have all these elements in one sentence, that can get tricky. I think it might be helpful to not translate word for word then. If you do translate word for word, try to rephrase the sentence after translation.

“I saw three boys in the courtyard yesterday. Two boys

were arguing and the third was trying to stop them.”

Translation:

Mwen te wè twa (3) ti gason nan lakou an yè. De (2) ladan yo t ap diskite, e twazyèm nan t ap eseye mete lòd.

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