Haitian Creole – English Dictionary

1 ++++ Haitian Creole EnglishDictionarywithBasic English Haitian Creole AppendixJean Targ teandRaphael G. Urciolo++++ Haitian Creole EnglishDictionarywithBasic English Haitian Creole AppendixJean Targ teandRaphael G. Urciolodp Dunwoody PressKensington, Maryland, ++++ Haitian Creole English DictionaryCopyright 1993 by Jean Targ te and Raphael G. UrcioloAll rights part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any informationstorage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the inquiries should be directed to:Dunwoody Press, Box 400, Kensington, MD, 20895 : 0-931745-75-6 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 93-71725 Compiled, edited, printed and bound in the United States of AmericaSecond PrintingiIntroductionA variety of glossaries of Haitian Creole have been published either asappendices to descriptions of Haitian Creole or as booklets.

2 As far as full-fledged Haitian Creole - English dictionaries are concerned, only one has beenpublished and it is now more than ten years old. It is the compilers hope thatthis new Dictionary will go a long way toward filling the vacuum existing inmodern Creole following new features have been incorporated in this Haitian Creole - English The definite article that usually accompanies a noun is indicated. We urgethe user to take note of the definite article singular ( a, la, an or lan ) whichis shown for each noun. Lan has one variant: Most English words that are of the same origin as Creole words aremarked with an asterisk (*). This feature will help users to recognize moreeasily Creole words that are identical or close to their English An English translation is supplied for the numerous Creole sentences thatserve as examples.

3 In addition to the regular examples, selected literaryillustrations are provided. These are sentences taken from eighteen selectedworks of Creole literature (novels, plays, poetry, religious writings, etc.).The following is a list of the reference codes assigned to these works in thisdictionary, followed by the names of the authors, the titles in italics, and theyear of publication: , Th odore, Anna (1962) , Th odore, La Haine au Service de l Amour(1963)CELESTIN- lestin-M gie, Emile, Lanmou pa gin Bary , part I(1984, Second Edition)CELESTIN- lestin-M gie, Emile, Lanmou pa gin Bary , part II(1977)CELESTIN- lestin-M gie, Emile, Lanmou pa gin Bary , partIII (1981) jean, Yves & Paul, Evangile Dimanche ac F tt(1962) , Dieudonn , Sept Fleurs Soleil (1963) , Bobomasouri (1984) , D zafi (1975) , P lin-T t (1978) , Troufoban (1978)MORISSEAU- , F lix, Antigone (1953)MORISSEAU- , F lix, Diacoute (1953) , N ap Li (1964) , R v.

4 J., L Evangile chaque Dimanche (1960) , Pauris, Nan Lonbray Inosans (1985) , Charles Fernand, S t Po m ki s t nan M n(1954) , Georges, Cric? Crac? (1901)Alphabetical OrderThe alphabetical order for the Haitian Creole and the arrangement of thedictionary is:A B Ch D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y ZHeadwords and VariantsBecause the process of standardization of Haitian Creole is not complete,many headwords have several variants, and often the compilers have had todecide which ones to numbers ( 1 2 3 ) placed next to certain successive headwordsindicate that they are homonyms or simply the same word in differentcontexts or grammatical of speechiiiAbbreviations used to indicate the parts of speech will be found in the list ofabbreviations which immediately precedes the entries of the letter A.

5 Onlytwo observations are ) French and Creole dictionaries designate some verbs as pronominal verbs(abbreviation: vpr). The user of this Dictionary should remember that vprstands for v b pronominal (pronominal verb).b) Creole uses as descriptive adjectives many of the French descriptiveadjectives and has created others which are easily identifiable. But in Creolea great number of other words or groups of words are treated as descriptiveadjectives by commonly being used with an attributive function. In thepresent state of research, one cannot always tell with absolute certainty thoseCreole words used as attributives, which are purely descriptive adjectives,and those which are not. For instance, F lix Morisseau-Leroy wrote in hisplay Antigone, Gan ch f ki ch f pase ch f (There are chiefs who are morechief than other chiefs).

6 Evidently, while the word ch f in the middle isattributive, it is not a descriptive adjective but a noun. However, not all casesare as clear-cut as this one. More research on Creole s descriptive adjectivesis necessary. In the meantime, we borrow from a predecessor the designationattrib for both descriptive adjectives and closely related words used and compound wordsWhile single words will be easy to find in any Creole Dictionary , it is adifferent matter when it comes to compound words. The difficulty lies withthe fact that some concepts which are expressed in French by compound words(arc-en-ciel = rainbow) or by groups of words (mal de t te = headache)become a single word in Creole (lakansy l, malt t).

7 There is a generaltendency for writers to put together as one word in Creole all of these groupsof French words that form one single concept or one tightly connectedexpression, but the process is still on-going. What one author writes as oneword, another still considers as two. Sometimes the same author connects ordisconnects the parts of a compound word or of an expression according to theinspiration of the moment. For instance, the great innovator Franketiennewrote the following sentences. In his play, P lin-T t: Ou konn gou dy l pa tap janm ale lan you estasyon soul z l. In his novel, D zafi: Soul z l, nou ravitaye lan pousy nan labou anba sol y anba lapli. In theplay, he wrote soul z l as one word; in the novel, as two.

8 Until Creolebecomes fully standardized, each lexicographer will have to make Featuresiva) In the cases when we use the ( ) sign between single letter personalpronouns and the following or preceding word ( , M a w l = I ll see him),other authors use a hyphen (-) or no sign at ) We have used the Creole spelling Vodou in the English definitions inplace of the English word voodoo, because we are referring to the Vodoureligion and not the hocus pocus of magic and witchcraft attached to theEnglish word ) The standard form of Haitian Creole is the one spoken in Port-au-Prince,the capital. A few colloquial words from other areas (the North, the city ofJ r mie in the South) have been gratefully acknowledge the help we received from Emile C lestin-M gie, D sir, Mrs.

9 Jacqueline Julien Targ te, and many corrections or suggestions will be taken into account and gratefullyacknowledged in a future , Alain, et al. Ti Diksyonn Krey l-Franse. Port-au-Prince: EditionsCara bes, 1976. 511 , Robert. Le Lexique du Parler cr ole de la R union. 2 vols. Paris:Librairie Honor Champion, 1974. 1249 of God (Mennonite). Creole - English Dictionary : A Basic : 1971. 56 , Harold The Drum and the Hoe: Life and Lore of the Haitian : California University Press, 1960. [Contains a glossary ofCreole terms, pp. 357-61.]D partement de l Agriculture d Ha ti. Identification des Plantes d Ha ti parleurs noms cr oles. 1930. 23 , Jules. Dictionnaire fran ais-cr ole. Ottawa: Les Editions Lem ac Inc.

10 ,1974. 487 pp. Faine, Jules. Philologie Cr ole. Second edition. 1937. 320 pp. [Contains aglossary of Creole terms.] FAYO (See Urciolo, Raphael G.)vFombrun, Odette Roy. Comment transformer le Vocabulaire fondamentalCr ole-Fran ais en Vocabulaire fran ais. 54 , P. Georges Coll. Diccionario Kr y l-Espa ol, Espa ol-Kr y l. SantoDomingo: Intituto nacional de pastoral, 1979. 67 , Kate. Haitian Creole Newspaper Reader. Wheaton, Md: DunwoodyPress, 1990. 210 pp. [Contains a glossary of Creole terms.]Jeanty, Edner A. Diksyon Kr y l. Port-au-Prince: La Presse Evang lique,1985. 110 , Robert A. Haitian Creole . Menasha, Wisconsin: The AmericanAnthropological Association, 1953. [Contains a glossary of Creole termspp.]