Haitian Creole

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

kale

Kale (inf. form) - to peel, to expose, to beat up on

Kale (adj, past tense) - peeled, exposed, unprotected

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"Yon gwo manman malet - a big mother suitcase" Is that right? It doesn't make sense to me.

That's because 'manman', in this case, doesn't mean mother. It means 'huge'.

example:

yon gwo manman vag - a huge wave.

yon gwo manman malèt - a large suitcase

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In the word "Madanm" is the "n" silent? Or do yo pronounce the "n" with the "m"?

n is silent, but 'an' is considered a nasal vowel.
'an' is pronounced like "uh".

madanm - pronounced like mah-duh-m

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SO how would you explain this to a Creole student when the sentences only use one verb? Ex: Corn was planted. Mayi plante. or I am going home. M ale lakay. or I will see you tomorrow? M ap we w demen? All 3 ex use PS and PP. No helping verb used.

You're right, no infinitive form is used here.
Corn was planted - Yo te plante mayi (past tense of the verb 'to plant')
I am going home. - M prale lakay (PP of verb 'to go')
I will see you tomorrow. - M ap wè w demen. (Future form of verb 'to see')

Examples of instances where infinitive form is used:
They're going to plant corn. - Yo prale plante mayi.
I am going to go home. - M pral ale lakay.
I am going to see you tomorrow. - M prale wè w demen

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Counting Numbers 1 to 20

Link for Video: Counting Numbers from 1-20

Link to download Audio portion only: http://limanecasimi.audioacrobat.com/download/a723b319-525a-d1cb-6aa0-ffe5f4de37a5.mp3

Numbers used in audio and video:

en (1)
de (2)
twa (3)
kat (4)
senk (5)
sis (6)
sèt (7)
wit (8)
nèf (9)
dis (10)
onz (11)
douz (12)
trèz (15)
katòz (14)
kenz (15)
sèz (16)
disèt (17)
dizwit (18)
diznèf (19)
ven (20)

trant (30)
karant (40)
senkant (50)
swasant (60)
swasanndis (70)
katreven (80)
katrevendis (90)

san (100)
de san (200)
twa san (300)
kat san (400)
senk san (500)

mil (1000)
de mil (2000)
twa mill (3000)
kat mil (4000)
senk mil (5000)

What Are You Going To Do Tonight?

Using Haitian Creole 'm pral' to indicate an event that'll occur in the future.

Download link for audio:
http://limanecasimi.audioacrobat.com/download/409cf9c0-e03e-071d-dea9-b69803d0aaf1.mp3

Listen and follow along (Intermediate Level)

Bonswa tout moun!
Good evening everyone!

1. M pral rele manman m.
    I'm going to call my mom.

2. M pral tann ou.
    I'm going to wait for you

3. M pral manje yon pòm.
     I'm going to eat an apple.

4. M pral mande l sòti.
     I'm going to ask her/him out.

5. M pral chache yon travay.
    I'm going to look for a job.

6. M pral kouche.
    I'm going to lie down.

7. M pral bezwen plis.
     I'm going to need more

8. M pral sonje ou.
     I'm going to miss you.

9. M pral wè si ou kapab
    I'm going to see if you can.

10. M pral repoze.
    I'm going to get some rest.

Mèsi e orevwa.
Thank you and goodbye.

Monday, May 16, 2011

chat in past tense

chat - koze, pale

chatted - te koze, te pale

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how to say, 'that's very nice.'

Generally, we would say:
That's very nice - Se trè byen. se trè janti

But depending on what you're describing as "nice", the adjective might vary in Haitian Creole.

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