Antillean Creole French

Antillean Creole
kreyol, kwéyòl, patois
Native to	French Antilles, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, Trinidad & Tobago
Native speakers	unknown (1.2 million cited 1998–2001)
Language family	French Creole Antillean Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: gcf – Guadeloupean Creole acf – Saint Lucian / Dominican Creole scf – San Miguel Creole French (Panama)
Glottolog	less1242
Linguasphere	51-AAC-cc (varieties: 51-AAC-cca to -cck)

Antillean Creole is a French-based creole, which is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of Carib and African languages.

Antillean Creole is related to Haitian Creole but has a number of distinctive features; however, they are mutually intelligible. The language was formerly more widely spoken in the Lesser Antilles, but its number of speakers is declining in Trinidad and Tobago and Grenada. While the islands of Dominica and Saint Lucia are officially English-speaking, there are efforts to preserve the use of Antillean Creole, as well as in Trinidad & Tobago and its neighbour, Venezuela. In recent decades, Creole has gone from being seen as a sign of lower socio-economic status, banned in school playgrounds, to a mark of national pride.

Since the 1970s, there has been a literary revival of Creole in the French-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles, with writers such as Raphaël Confiant and Monchoachi employing the language. Edouard Glissant has written theoretically and poetically about its significance and its history.

Antillean Creole is spoken, to varying degrees, in Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Îles des Saintes, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts), Saint Martin, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, French Guiana, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela (mainly in Macuro, Güiria and El Callao). Dominican, Grenadian, St. Lucian, Trinidadian, Brazilian (Lanc-Patuá) and Venezuelan speakers of Antillean Creole call the language patois.

Antillean Creole has approximately 1 million speakers and is a means of communication for migrant populations traveling between neighbouring English- and French-speaking territories.

History

Pierre Belain d'Esnambuc was a French trader and adventurer in the Caribbean who established the first permanent French colony, Saint-Pierre, on the island of Martinique in 1635. Belain sailed to the Caribbean in 1625, hoping to establish a French settlement on the island of St. Christopher (St. Kitts). In 1626, he returned to France, where he won the support of Cardinal Richelieu to establish French colonies in the region. Richelieu became a shareholder in the Compagnie de Saint-Christophe, created to accomplish this with d'Esnambuc at its head. The company was not particularly successful, and Richelieu had it reorganized as the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique. In 1635, d'Esnambuc sailed to Martinique with one hundred French settlers to clear land for sugar cane plantations.

After six months on Martinique, d'Esnambuc returned to St. Christopher, where he soon died prematurely in 1636, leaving the company and Martinique in the hands of his nephew, Du Parquet. His nephew, Jacques Dyel du Parquet, inherited d'Esnambuc's authority over the French settlements in the Caribbean. Dyel du Parquet became governor of the island. He remained in Martinique and did not concern himself with the other islands.

The French permanently settled on Martinique and Guadeloupe after being driven off Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint-Christophe in French) by the British. Fort Royal (Fort-de-France) on Martinique was a major port for French battle ships in the region from which the French were able to explore the region. In 1638, Dyel du Parquet decided to have Fort Saint Louis built to protect the city against enemy attacks. From Fort Royal, Martinique, Du Parquet proceeded south in search for new territories and established the first settlement in Saint Lucia, in 1643, and headed an expedition which established a French settlement in Grenada in 1649.

Despite the long history of British rule, Grenada's French heritage is still evident by the number of French loanwords in Grenadian Creole and the Fench-style buildings, cuisine and places name (Petit Martinique, Martinique Channel, etc.)

In 1642, the Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique company received a 20 year extension of its charter. The king would name the governor general of the company, and the company would name he governors of the various islands. However, by the late 1640s, Mazarin had little interest in colonial affairs and the company languished. In 1651, it dissolved itself, selling its exploitation rights to various parties. The Du Paquet family bought Martinique, Grenada, and Saint Lucia for 60,000 livres. The sieur d'Houël bought Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, La Desirade and the Saintes. The Knights of Malta bought Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin, which were made dependencies of Guadeloupe.

In 1665, the Knights sold the islands thatthey had acquired to the newly formed (1664) Compagnie des Indes occidentales.

Dominica is a former French and British colony in the Eastern Caribbean about halfway between the French islands of Guadeloupe (to the north) and Martinique (to the south). Christopher Columbus named the island after the day of the week on which he spotted it, a Sunday (dies Dominica in Latin), on 3 November 1493. In the 100 years after Columbus's landing, Dominica remained isolated. At the time, it was inhabited by the Island Caribs, or Kalinago people, and over time, more settled there after being driven from surrounding islands, as European powers entered the region.

In 1690, French woodcutters from Martinique and Guadeloupe begin to set up timber camps to supply the French islands with wood and gradually become permanent settlers. France had a colony for several years and imported slaves from West Africa, Martinique and Guadeloupe to work on its plantations. The Antillean Creole language developed.

France formally ceded possession of Dominica to Great Britain in 1763. The latter established a small colony on the island in 1805. As a result, Dominica speak English as an official language while Antillean Creole is still spoken as a secondary language because if Dominica's location between the French-speaking departments of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

In Trinidad, the Spanish, in possession of the island, contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado being their focus. Trinidad was perfect for its geographical location. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the Spanish king Charles III on 4 November 1783.

Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from just under 1,400 in 1777. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony despite its French-speaking population.

Origin

In the slavery era, Africans were assigned to the slavery plantations in the French Antilles; the French of their slave masters and their native tongues were somewhat useless as a method of communication since they spoke different languages. As a result, they were forced to develop a new form of communication by relying on what they heard from their colonial masters and other slaves.

Sporadically, they would use words they thought they heard their colonial masters speak and combine them with their African expressions and sentence structure. Thus, new words were fashioned and given meaning.

Gradually, the new method of communication amongst the slaves spread across the regions of the Caribbean. The creole languages (French for "indigenous") progressively grew into a more recognisable language.

Varieties

Dominican Creole French

The Dominican Creole French is a creole French, which is the generally spoken language in Dominica.

It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of the Lesser Antilles and is very closely related to the varieties spoken in Martinique, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. The intelligibility rate with speakers of other varieties of Antillean Creole is almost 100%. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole, but like its Saint Lucian counterpart, it includes more English loanwords than the Martinican variety. People who speak Haitian Creole can also understand Dominican Creole French. Even though there are a number of distinctive features; they are mutually intelligible.

Like the other Caribbean Creoles, Dominican French Creole combines syntax of African and Carib origin with a primarily French-derived vocabulary.

Saint Lucian Creole French

The Saint Lucian Creole French is a French-based creole, which is the generally spoken language in Saint Lucia.

It is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of the Lesser Antilles and is very closely related to the varieties spoken in Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole.

Like the other Caribbean creoles, Saint Lucian French Creole combines syntax of African and Carib origin with a primarily French-derived vocabulary. In addition, many expressions reflect the presence of an Spanish influence are also present in the language. The language can be considered to be mutually intelligible with French creoles of the Lesser Antilles and is related to Haitian Creole, which has nonetheless a number of distinctive features.

It is still widely spoken in Saint Lucia. In the mid 19th century, it was exported to Panama, where it is now moribund.

Grenadian Creole French

The Grenadian Creole French is a variety of Antillean Creole French. In Grenada, and among Grenadians, it is referred to as Patois or French Patois. It was once the lingua franca in Grenada and was commonly heard as recently as 1930 when even children in some rural areas could speak it. In the 21st century, it can be heard only among elderly speakers in a few small pockets of the country. They are becoming fewer and fewer because, unlike St. Lucia and Dominica which lie close to the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, Grenada does not have French-speaking neighbours to keep the language alive. A generation or two ago, the use of Grenadian-English was frowned on by teachers and parents, but a look at the history gives some understanding as to why conversations today are so liberally sprinkled with a collection of picturesque creole words and phrases.

French, or French Creole, was the language of the large majority of the inhabitants, slaves and estate owners. Though the new British administrators spoke English, French was predominant.

Trinidadian French Creole

Trinidadian French Creole is a French-patois of Trinidad spoken by descendants of the French Creole migrants from the French Antilles.

The Cedula of Population of 1783 laid the foundation and growth of the population of Trinidad. French planters with their slaves, free coloureds and mulattos, from the French Antilles of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe and Dominica, migrated to Trinidad during the French Revolution. The immigrants establishing local communities of Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin, Cascade, Carenage, Laventille, etc. Trinidad's population jumped to over 15,000 by the end of 1789, from just under 1,400 in 1777. This exodus was encouraged by the French Revolution.

In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population. Today, the Trinidadian French Creole can be found in regional pockets among the elders, particularly in the villages of Paramin and Lopinot.

Examples

Road sign in residential area in Guadeloupe. Slow down. Children are playing here.

• Hello - bonjou /bonzu/ (from "bonjour").
• Please - souplé /su plɛ/ (from "s'il vous plaît").
• Thank you - mèsi /mɛsi/ (from "merci").
• Excuse me - eskizé mwen (from "excusez-moi").
• Rain is falling - lapli ka tonbé / lapli ap tonbe (Haitian) / (from "la pluie qui est/a tombé").
• Today is a nice/beautiful day - jodi-a sé an bel jounin / yon bel jou jodi-a bel (from "aujourd'hui c'est une belle journée").
• How are you/how are you keeping - ka ou fè? (Guadeloupe) / sa ou fè? (Martinique) sa k ap fèt? (Haitian).
• Anne is my sister/mother/wife - Ann sé sè/manman/madanm (an) mwen
• Andy is my brother/father/husband - Andy sé fwè/papa/mari (an) mwen
• He is going to the beach - i ka alé bodlanmè-a/laplaj (from "il va aller au bord de la mer/à la plage")

Samples

Below are samples of St. Lucian Creole French taken from a folktale.

Pwenmyé ki pasé sé Konpè Kochon. I di, "Konpè Lapen, sa ou ka fè la?"

Konpè Lapen di'y, "Dé ti twou yanm ng'a (=mwen ka) fouyé bay ich mwen pou mwen bay ich mwen manjé."

Konpè Kochon di, "Mé, Konpè, ou kouyon, wi! Ou vlé di mwen sa kay fè yanm?"

An inaccurate English translation from the same source:

First to pass was Konpè Kochon (Mister Pig). He said, "Konpè Lapen (Mister Rabbit), what are you doing there?"

Konpè Lapen told him, "I am digging a few holes to plant yams to feed my children."

Konpè Kochon said, "But, Konpè, you're too foolish! You mean to tell me you can grow yams there?"

External links

• Antillean Creole Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words (from Wiktionary's Swadesh list appendix)