The Depreciation of Haitian Creole and Haitian Code Switching

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The depreciation of haitian creole and haitian code switching

La depreciación del creole haitiano y el cambio de código haitiano

Patrick Pierre1

Recepción: 06 de agosto de 2020 Aceptación: 15 de octubre de 2020

1 Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas (ESPE), Quito, Ecuador. [email protected]

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The depreciation of haitian creole and haitian code switching

La depreciación del creole haitiano y el cambio de código haitiano

patrick Pierre

Key words: Creole language, Haitian Creole, Lexifier, Code-switch, Depreciation.

Palabras clave: Idioma Creole, Creole haitiano, Lexificador, Cambio de código, Depreciación.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to dominance, it was the language of the give an overview of Haitian code-switch- plantations’ masters. These two lan- ing as a diglossic country and Haitian guages have remained the official lan- Creole depreciation as the native languages of Haiti in which Haitian people guage of Haiti. The history of the Hai- Code-switch when using either French tian Creole language developed by or Haitian Creole. However, Creole has enslaved west African in the plantation become the language of depreciation, in of the Island, during the slave rebellion another term a marginalized language. for the revolution after several attempts In this study a qualitative and descriptive conspiring for their freedom. After the analysis have been carried out through embarkation of the French Colony in social medias such as Instagram, Twitter, the Island to settle from 1659 till 1804, Facebook and You-Tube to collect data French has become the language of on Haitian code-switching by observ-

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ing one of the Haitian Ex-presidents, Mr. his opponent Mme Mirlande Hyppolite Joseph Michel Martelly who is also a Manigat in 2011 before he won the elec- famous singer. Some video links will be tion, interviews with national and inter- provided to observe the code-switch- national journalists about political and ing of the president Michel Martelly in artistic movement and his performance different situations such as debates with on stage as a singer.

Resumen

El propósito de esta investiga- palabras, un idioma marginalizado. En ción es dar una descripción general del este estudio se ha realizado un análisis cambio de código haitiano como país cualitativo y descriptivo a través de re- diglósico y la depreciación del Creole des sociales como Instagram, Twitter, haitiano como lenguaje nativo de Hai- YouTube y Facebook para recopilar da- tí. La historia del idioma Creole haitiano tos sobre el cambio de código haitiano, desarrollada por esclavos africanos oc- mediante la observación de uno de los cidentales en diversas plantaciones de ex-presidentes haitianos, el Sr. Joseph la isla, durante la rebelión esclavista por Michel Martelly, quien es también un la revolución, luego de varios intentos cantante famoso. Se proporcionarán conspirando por su libertad. Una vez algunos enlaces de vídeo para obser- que la Colonia Francesa se asentó en la var el cambio de código del presiden- isla desde 1659 hasta 1804, el francés se te Joseph Michel Martelly en diferen- ha convertido en el idioma dominan- tes situaciones como debates con su te, por ser el idioma de los dueños de oponente Mirlande Hyppolite Manigat las plantaciones. Ambos se consideran en 2011 antes de ganar las elecciones, idiomas oficiales de Haití por lo que al entrevistas con periodistas nacionales usarse, la gente cambia de código. Sin e internacionales sobre su labor como embargo, el Creole se ha convertido en político y artista, así como su desempe- el idioma de la depreciación, en otras ño en el escenario como cantante.

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Introduction

The Haitian language, like others, the native’s possessions and made them has suffered the scorn that is too often become slaves, who had to work for the shown toward its speakers and their colonists, in their own farms. According culture (Spears & Berotte Joseph, 2010). to (Arsenault & Christopher, 2016) "As However, the main purpose of this study the indigenous population was dying of is based on Haitian Creole, as a depreci- abuse and disease, African slaves were ated language; and Haitian code-switch- brought in; the first 15,000 Africans ar- ing, between French and Haitian Creole. rived in 1517". The colonist thought it Haitian Creole, is precisely mentioned, was necessary to bring those Africans to because there are different Creole lan- work in their plantations in order to grow guages used around the world. Besides crops to export back to Europe. As slaves Creole has been depreciated during the were needed, those colonists decided to last decades. Interest has been laid on it travel to Africa to purchase slaves. It was as a real language. Creole has an amaz- when the transatlantic slave trade began ing story which lays behind it, by looking during the 15th century. When African back to the history of Creole. It has been men and women with no exception developed as a language throughout were captured to be sold to those col- the era of colonialization. That is to say, onists. No one could get support from that Creole language has its base and the authorities because the system was root through the European and the Af- corrupted. They were more interested rican languages, since Creole started to in their profits rather than in the human develop during the epoch of slavery. values (Manning, 1992). Human beings Making reference to the discovery of have turned into goods. African profits in America, Haiti was the first one to be dis- selling human as slaves rose. The author- covered in December 1492 and baptized ities, for example, were able to intervene with the name of Island of Hispaniola, with tolls and taxes in exchange for pro- which means Little Spain, because the tection of the trade. Slaves´ trading, that Island of Haiti, which is now divided into is, human beings have become the cap- Dominican Republic in the east and Haiti tives to be sold to masters of the plan- in the west, was considered "La Perle des tations. These capture and distribution Antilles", which means the pearl of the structures provided the social pressures Antilles. (Uzo, 2016) By then, the system encouraging new generations of Africans of slavery began to emerge by grabbing to participate in enslavement (Manning,

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1992). After all, the captured Africans had cate with each other, by that time. It was to live the worst part of their lives during of course, considered as a dialect, be- the voyage and even after they reached cause back then, there was no structure land. They could never imagine what created yet for its use and it also allowed they would go through. They had to be them to do, what it is called in sociolin- transported during months. During this guistics, code-switching. The Creole lan- time, they had to endure all kinds of mis- guage is formed and derived from dif- treatments . If everyone could see it that ferent other languages, such as: French, way, slavery involved suffering, sacrifice, English, the African Dialects, Spanish, hate, and acceptance of all kinds. They Portuguese, etc. Haiti has evolved in a even sacrifice their own children invol- very different direction to get their free- untarily in their attacks to slave raiders. dom, which was gotten by rebelling They could not think of any rescue, hope, against their masters. They organized se- or voice to cry. Their unique hope was to cret meeting, since they couldn’t speak wait until fate determines what it pre- the same language. They had to use this served for their lives. new dialect in order to understand each As the African slaves came from other’s ideas and plans. Then, Creole different tribes, different dialects were language started to develop. When a spoken in the plantations. French was language is called Creole, linguists are re- spoken by the Colonists, which caused the ferring to a new language that emerged slaves to be exposed to French and used it out of language contact situation, in to communicate with their masters. which the speakers had limited resources for learning each other’s language(s) It has been suggested that with the (Spears & Berotte, 2012, p. 8). Analyzing arrival of fresh massive contingents of the languages mentioned previously, African slaves during the peak years the basic lexicon of Creole language is of the expansion of the plantations in typical but it is not always derived from the contact language went through a colonial language, which was often a various stages of development, to the dialect of a European language. Some- point of becoming the shared means thing important to know, is that the lan- of communication in the slave popu- guage that is the source of the vocabu- lation (Chaudenson, 1979, p. 57). lary is called the lexifier or superstrate. Regarding the Creole spoken in The slaves from different tribes different places of the world, Haiti has started to use that dialect to communi- remained one of the countries where

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Creole is the most spoken language, and carried out on the previous Haitian pres- somehow it is sometimes called "Haitian ident named Joseph Michel Martelly to Creole". The purpose of this study is to analyze how Haitian people code-switch reflect on how Creole has beendegrad - in both Creole and French. Information ed by a marginalized group, and how it about his personal life will be mentioned is code-switched into French, in Haitian as a Haitian citizen and also his life, as conversation. An observation will be one of the most famous Haitian singers.

Background of Haitian Creole

Since Haiti is a diglossic coun- who arrived from Africa to the bay of try. "A geographical point of view, most Port-au-Prince the capital of Haiti by Creoles are spoken in areas of coloni- boat, were called "dirty handsome” or zation fairly close to the equator" (Bak- "dirty skin”. The word bossale is, pre- ker, 2004, p. 2). Before the discovery of cisely, the slaves of Africa, who were the Island there were the Indigenous brought for slave trade, to the planta- and aborigines’ ethnic groups settle- tions of Haiti and who, based on their ments, right after the Island had be- struggles, sufferings and hopes, were come colonized to exploit its wealth, also called the wild. where strong workers were needed for For the American people (USAID, the exploitation. Back then, in the 17th 2018), since the Island of Santo Domin- century, there was a deal named "Black go was a major producer of coffee, to- trade" or "trade of slaves", which was to bacco and sugar, Croix-des-Bossales was bring some Africans to Haiti in order to the largest food and trade market at the work on their lands. There was a spe- time. As time went by, the slaves started cific place, where they were taken, to to rebel, and they were immediately di- be sold and then became slaves. This vided into different groups, so that they was named "Croix-des-Bossales". The could not be able to communicate with Croix-des-Bossales market is historically each another, and it was when, the the oldest market where slaves freshly Haitian Creole was born (Bonenfant, landed from slave ships and were sold. 2011). Haitian Creole, a French-based It was also the place of agricultural vernacular language, was developed in products supply. But where does the the late 17th and the early 18th centu- word "Bossales" come from? The slaves, ries. It developed mainly on the sugar-

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cane plantations of Haiti, from contacts Island, pre-colonies, colonies and between French colonists and African post-colonies (Hispaniola, 2017). slaves. However, the language also has some words linked to the primitive lan- However, this logic does not al- guage of the native Indian people from ways apply. For example, in some Do- India, who settle in Haiti before the minican textbooks, the Island is simply discovery of Haiti by Columbus, which called "Isla de Santo Domingo”, although was called the "Quisqueya or Bohio". All it comes from the pre-Columbian period Haitian schoolchildren learned in their or more remote geological periods. An- geography and history textbooks that other source for researching the mean- our Island was originally called "Haiti, ing of the word Haiti is the African tra- Quisqueya or Bohio” (Doucet, 2011) and dition along with the Haitian language. that these were the names used by the The history of the Haitian-Creole Arawak (or Taino) aborigines inhabiting language has proven that the existence the Island, when Christopher Colum- of the language is uncertain during the bus arrived. For most Dominican his- Pre-Columbian era, because the Taino In- torians, the Taino name of the island is dians, who migrated from India to Haiti, Haiti, while for others, the original name were the first inhabitants of this island. would rather be "Quisqueya or Bohio”. And they had their own language, which These Taino names would, therefore, was totally different from Haitian-Creole, have a character of original authenticity even though few Indian words, such as: and refer, in the popular imagination, to roukou (wookoo), banbou (bamboo), an idyllic past when the Island was the mabouya (mabooya) are still being used "Paradise of the Indians”. in the language. "The language of the Then the Conquest and Coloni- inhabitants of Haiti follows the language zation came, and within this, the names universals components (lexicon, mor- imposed by the Europeans: phology, semantics and syntax) like all human languages" (Bonenfant, 2011). It La Espanola, Hispaniola, Santo Do- is now widespread among both linguists mingo imposed by the Spaniards and non-linguists, that Creole languages and Saint-Domingue imposed by the form an exceptional class on phyloge- French. A convention, tacit among netic and/or typological grounds. It also some historians, is that these diffe- has non-linguistic (sociological) implica- rent names are used to designate tions, such as the claim that Creole lan- different periods in the history of the guages are a "handicap” for their speak-

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ers, which has undermined the role that socioeconomic development of mono- Creoles should play in the education and lingual Creolophones (Degraff, 2005).

Lexifiers

The grammatical structure of a and lexifier structures. Some empha- Creole often deviates, considerably, from size that Creoles are continuations of that of its lexifier. The question arises the lexifiers, and those adhere to this whether there was, or is indeed, a qual- idea, which are called superstrates, in itative difference between language literature. Others stress the influence of learning involved in the creation of a speakers of other languages, for exam- Creole and first language learning (Piet- ple Papuan or Oceanic languages, in the er & Norval, 1986, p. 232). The answer to case of Pacific Creoles. and the mother this question will be extremely difficult, tongues of Africans, including slaves, and but taking into consideration the Gen- the Caribbean, English, French and Span- esis of Creole, there are neither linguis- ish, as lexifiers. Such languages are called tic nor historical reasons, for assuming substrates if they are no longer spoken in that there was a qualitative difference the Creole- speaking communities. Ac- between the language learning of the cording to Michaelis (2008), cited in (Bak- first native speakers of Haitian and first ker & Daval-Markussen, 2004). "A number language learning, under usual circum- of structural features found in Creole stances. As Haitian Creole was, clandes- may be due to universals, for instance tinely, developing French words started statistical universal such as patterns of to be modified to give birth to Creole. grammaticalization, the result of which Creolists disagree on the reasons why may differ among Creoles compared to there are differences between Creole non-Creoles".

Sample text in Haitian Creole

Tout moun fèt lib, egal ego pou la konsyans epi nou fèt pou nou aji youn diyite kou wè dwa. Nou gen la rezon ak ak lot ak yon lespri fwatènite.

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Translation

All human beings are born free another in a spirit of brotherhood and equal in dignity and rights. They (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of are endowed with reason and con- Human Rights). science and should act towards one

Code-switch

Since Haiti is a diglossic coun- cational institutions, in fact, although try, the term code-switching occurs Creole was intertwined with the so- frequently in the language; however, ciocultural practices of the Voodoo it does not mean that Haitian people religion, instrumental in the Haitian only code-switch in French and Creole, Revolution , and also by far the most whether they are in or out Haiti. Accord- widespread language in colonial ing to this view (Dejean, 2015), Haitian times, its role, status, and use have Creole is considered to be nothing more always been controversial (Alcenat, than a non-standard form of French. 2018). Thus, it is interesting to see how Haitian people code-switch according to their Well, Creole and French, which needs in situational and social factors. has long been more valued by the Hai- As mentioned earlier, the purpose of this tian elite, have been linked throughout study is to observe how Haitian Creole Haitian history in a project of domina- has been devalued and the way Haitian tion. In spite of this, it is recognized and people code-switch between each other admitted that Creole has been a dis- when two or a group of Haitians are in- criminated language in Haiti. One of the teracting. Talking about Creole, reasons is the fact that, in Haiti, there is a strong dominant social class. This means, In 1804, Haiti experienced its glorious the high social class known as the elite, beginning as the first independent has been subjected to eliminate it. It black nation in the Western Hemis- is claimed that Creole is part of Haitian phere; but the leaders did not see fit identity because it tells who they are and to provide a place for the creole lan- where they are from. It is the language guage in its legal, political, and edu- that flows in Haitians´ veins. However,

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during the 21st century, Creole has lived Thus, Creole and French have become a a great transformation. Now, it is consid- brother and sister language. Nowadays, ered as the first, national and official lan- there is no single Haitian who uses the guage of Haiti. Every single Haitian must Creole without using a French word and be proud to speak Creole everywhere. vice versa.

Depreciation

The Haitian Creole, which is the an institutional setting to do something mother tongue of all the Haitian people: as paperwork, the one that speaks in born, raised and lived in Haiti, has been French will probably be the one assisted depreciated and devalued, that is, it has first. Since French has prevailed, some been stigmatized in the society. In ad- people even forget that historically, Cre- dition to this, there are some groups of ole was the language which led Haitians people who take the history for granted, to the path of being free from the slav- which means, that to ignore the Haitian ery. Haiti has been recognized, as the Creole language is to ignore the Haitian first country with afro-americans in the history. That is to say, the existence of world, which got its independence in Haitian Creole has a lot to do with Hai- 1804. Creole was the language, secretly tian history. If Haitian people are free to- used, when they had to meet to conspire day, it is a due to Creole, because it was against their Masters, for the revolution. the language they employed to commu- Haitian Creole is predominant- nicate and conspire against their masters ly used by most of the population. It is for freedom. At this point, to consider the language used in everyday conver- factors or reasons why people underesti- sation. It tells Haitians exactly who they mate this wonderful heritage, left by the are, their origins, their culture, and their ancestors to the Haitian people, may be identity. It is the language used to ex- said that it is something insane, illogical, press: their feelings, happiness, and an- absurd and thankless. In Haiti, as men- ger, socially talking. On the other hand, tioned previously, Creole is somehow, a when you refer to: educational, political language of no value as many people and economic factors, Creole has in- think. They think that using this language deed no value for some people because will take you to nowhere, which is wrong. this is how it has been marginalized For example, if two Haitian people go to since the beginning. This is something

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that Haitians should not think about if nity. This is how these people are really they speak Creole. Some people think, mistaken, since they only focus on good they are not educated people, which is speech but not on positive actions. To not true. This is a crucial situation which show you how Creole was not regarded the language is going through. And it as an important language, it was not an makes you believe that if you are not official language, "as French was. It was educated or illustrated, you are not able not until 1987, that Creole was granted to occupy any important position to official status" (Holmes, 2013, p. 103). serve the country. Well, it is just a matter Every Haitian patriot inside and outside of how well you can speak French with- Haiti should feel proud to use it and rep- out taking into account how competent resent that wonderful language as part that person can be to serve a commu- of their identity.

Methodology

The research method used for observing the former Haitian president’s this study is descriptive and qualitative. speech through You-Tube videos, which Data was collected from March 2020 by are listed in the chart below.

N°. LINKS TOPICS

1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMW64Ol-roI Video clip after leaving the presidential mandate 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-laZN-rl8w Video clip with code-switch in French and Creole https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5wlTL- 3 Concert in Chile in 2017 4mm4 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1kGpNB_Bvg Musical Interview of Michel Martelly with his three sons https://www.youtube.com/watch?- Interview with the president Michel Martelly in a visit to Paris to 5 v=d-HpuMhWzkA talk about the earthquake which affected the country Interview with the president Michel Martelly about his plan as a 6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0qAW4VIC48 president with a Canadian Journalist Debate with both candidates Michel Martelly and Mrs. Mirlande 7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evUnps8OqJI Manigat before the elections in 2011with code-switching

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As it can be observed, in the first in the sixth link, the president Martelly link, Michel Martelly first released his vid- was accompanied with some police, of- eo clip, as an artist, months after he left ficials and ministers of his government, the five years mandate. In the second in a province of the country. He was in- link, there is also a video clip where he terviewed by a Canadian journalist. The sings expressing his feelings while he is interview was about his plans and the code-switching in both French and Cre- things he had done during the first year ole. In the third video, he was in a con- of his mandate. Regarding the last link, cert in Chile, singing for the Haitian peo- it is a debate between Michel Martelly ple living in Chile, where it can be seen with his opponent Madam Lesly Mani- how laid-back he is when performing on gat, where code-switching in French and stage. In the fourth link, Michel Martelly’s Creole was used. three sons are having an interview in a This study was selected to ana- show called CHOKARELLA. In this inter- lyze the president discourse in different view, Michel was also invited; neverthe- contexts. This analysis was be based on less, his sons did not know that he was male sociolinguistic discourse patterns. going to be there in the show, as they Michel was chosen, purposely, to make are famous singers as well as their father. the speech observation on code-switch- They were invited to talk about their new ing, because he is known as one of a Hai- album. On the other hand, in the fifth tian legendary. Referring to legendary, link, Michel Martelly, as the president there are two aspects that must be tak- of Haiti, was having an interview with a en into account: his political and artistic French Radio station in Paris-France. He aspects. Also, on stage performance will talked about the economic situation in be observed through photographs col- Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. Also, lection from google.

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Participants/sample

Figure 1. Michel Martelly in 2011 (with original members, guitar player Alex Tropnas and bass player Welton De- sire). As a politician, you can clearly clear to distinguish that he code-switches a lot when he is giving a public speech. Normally, he tends to code-switch more when he is being interviewed in Cre- ole, which means, he tries to use a lot of French words while he syntactically uses Creole; however, it can be seen that when he is being interviewed in French, his code-switching is reduced. Source: Wikipedia (2020) Being a singer has made him gain the popularity he needed to become Michel Martelly, better known the president. In this case, we are not as "Sweet Micky”, was born on February talking about code-switching, because 12, 1961 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he is a of course, his lyrics have a mix of Cre- Haitian performing and recording artist, ole, French, and sometimes English, as composer, and musical sociopolitical ac- well. However, in some of his songs he tivist. Martelly served as President of Hai- has texts written only in French, Creole ti after winning the presidential election and English. In his interviews, as an art- in 2011. Martelly is more popularly and ist, code-switching is more frequent in affectionately known as "Sweet Micky,” a his speech. And of course, when he per- moniker sometimes used interchange- forms, he code-switches depending on ably to refer to himself as well as his band the audience.

Findings

Further details are given here in both French and Creole, as two official to understand better the information languages of Haiti. As mention earlier, found during the observation of the for- before he became the president of Hai- mer Haitian president’s code-switching, ti, the population proclaimed him as the

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president of "Haitian Kompa" which is In this link, you can see that one the typical music of Haiti. of his songs titled "Fragile" from his al- This link is about a video clip re- bum "I don’t care" in 1993, he is singing leased in 2019 after leaving the power in both French and Creole. At the begin- titled "Manvi mangew" It means: "I feel ning of the video 0.45s to 1mn.35s he is like eating you”. singing in French, then he code-switch- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMW64Ol-roI es in Creole until 1mn56, then back to In this video clip he is singing in French, and vice versa. Creole expressing his feelings. There is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-laZN-rl8w no code-switching in this clip.

Transcript of code-switching

French: Elle a des yeux couleur Music has given him a great pop- d’argent, elle est fragile comme un en- ularity; however, he has been strictly crit- fant, tu feras de l’amour et d’affection. icized nationally and internationally for Son regard transpire l’innonce d’un coeur his behavior as a singer, regardless his at- qui ne peut pas soufrire, mais qui plutôt titude, this did not prevent him from be- voudrait sourire. Et moi le soir quand je coming a president of the nation. When m’en dorme je pense à ce petit coeur he is on stage performing as a singer, it frivol et je voudrais toucher son corps. can be noticed that he has a different Creole: Pa manyen mwen fò, pa personality. It is not easy to believe but it metem sou a, pa manyen mwen la a… is true. When he is on stage, performing according to the words he uses, you can Figure 2. Michel Martelly performing on stage as a singer ask yourself How he could have become the president of a nation?. It should be admitted that his style has also given him a lot of fame. Many people like him for the way he sees things- He is a real and authentic person. And most of the people like this about him. In this link below, he was performing in Chile in December 2017, where Source: Staff (2019) you can see some of the situations men-

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tioned above. He gave positive advice to Interview with Michel Martelly as all the Haitian people living in Chile and president told them to behave positively. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MY5wlTL4mm4 Figure 4. The President of Haiti with the president of the United States Figure 3. Festival months after leaving his presidency in 2016

Source: Reinartz (2019) Source: Clark & Charles (2014) In this link below, there is an interview with Michel Martelly, "Sweet Micky" This link shows an interview accompanied with his three sons. They in French with the president Michel are talking about their projects about Martelly on a French channel, with music. And he is also talking about the no code-switching. Having an inter- experiences he had had with his sons in view on a French channel means that different occasions, traveling from city code-switching is not likely to happen to city, for festivals and concerts. He also because the interviewer does not speak mentions, that as a hardworking person, any Creole; however, if there is a term he had to teach his sons to work hard with no translation, quotation can be and to be responsible in their lives and used for reference, whereas when it is an in decisions making. He is being inter- interview with Haitian national channel viewed by a journalist named Karel, one code-switch usually happens. of the well-known Journalist in Haiti. This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-HpuMhWzkA interview was in Creole; however, there In this link below you can ob- were some code-switched French words serve that in this interview there is no such as: voilà pourquoi, comme si, parce code-switching because he was inter- que, que ce soit, en parlant de, etc. viewed by a Canadian Journalist. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1kGpNB_Bvg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0qAW4VIC48

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This link shows that there is a de- The transcript of example of code- bate between the two candidates be- switch from the link attached above fore the election in 2011. In this debate, Creole Martelly: Rapidman map a great range of code-switching by the di ke o mwen, menm lè kob sa a mwen President Michel Martelly and some jour- te idantifye a li pa disponib e mwen gen nalists when answering the questions, yon plan poum te retire anba tant e can be noticed. mwen pat mansyone lot kòb nou idanti- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evUnps8OqJI fye deja ki evalye a $10 milion le mwa ke In this debate, in minute 1:30s, nou ka kreye. the Journalist asked him a question French Martelly: Nous même a about how he could lead a country if he travers des revenus de l’état. could lose three Houses in Miami for not Creole Martelly: Sa se youn, being able to manage his assets. How- e map profite di nou ke travay ke map ever, in the journalist question, it can fè a kòm madam Manigat te kontan be clearly heard, both French and Cre- poum pot fich yo pou li. Mwen ka di ole. As he answered the questions with nou se model travay yo nou konmanse code-switching, he did not deny that he fè kounye a poun ka konen kòm resous has lost the houses, but he mentioned poun ka travay. that it is normal because everyone make Journalist French and Creole: mistakes in this life, even Donald Trump Bon map tou presize ke mwen pa yon has lost some of his assets. Besides he redackè chef de Journal le maten, je suis said he is not responsible for his assets. plutôt directeur general du journal, c’est His Lawyer Mrs. Natasha Magloire is re- une precision importante, mwen gen sponsible for managing all his assets, so yon question pou Mesye Martelly, eeee he told the journalist if he needs extra gen anpil chif ki tonbe la a, en fait ou details, he could contact his lawyer. pale de yon bonne gestion de ressource Also, he said that losing three houses de l’état pouw ka jwenn anpil kob pouw will not make any differences in his life. fè saw bezwen fè yo notamment à partir As a singer, he has had some success- des cent premiers jours. Genyon article ki ful concerts and he has had some bad sortir nan Miami le 7 Mars, voici l’article, ones, as well. This is the way life is. He ki fait état de Mesye Martelly qui n’est pas mentioned that life goes on and he is tout à faire un bon gestionnaire de ces ready to become the president of Haiti propres avoirs financiers e ke 3 mezon and change the country. labank oblige sezi, ou pa peye normal-

87 THE DEPRECIATION OF HAITIAN CREOLE AND HAITIAN CODE SWITCHING

man, ou just pati u pa al negosye ak bank ex-president named Leslie Manigat, la, menm lopital tal fè pouswit kont ou known as one of the most intellectual menm ou pa al peye bil à partir de ces Haitians, who was also a writer. This de- donnés disponibles de vos propres ges- bate was mainly in Creole, where the tions de vos propres affaires, ki garanti 35% of French is used. nou genyen tout lagen sa yo , tout fich In this link he is being criticized sa yo wap pale ou pral jwenn yo, ou pral by some Canadian authorities because gere yo bien dès qu’il s’agit des affaires he was invited to a concert, but it was de l’état? argued that such a person cannot come Creole and French Martelly: to perform in Canada. His reputation has Très facile, premièrement la question de been seen very negatively, in some oc- l’hopitale est fausse et la question des casions, for some inappropriate words investissments elle est vraie, fòm diw he usually uses when he addresses the ke d’ailleurs pour pouvoir investir dans audience. However, he himself stated trois maisons ça coût beaucoup et Don- that he has a different audience. He has ald Trump l’a fait, il a perdu beaucoup texts for different audiences, depending d’avoir. on where he has to perform. There was no code-switching in https://www.facebook.com/tj18h/videos/339381650038949/ the first question he answered, in this In order to collect data for this debate; however, in the second question project, based on Creole language and he started talking in Creole, and sudden- code-switching between French and Hai- ly, he code-switches in French. Of course, tian Creole, it would be better to do a field the situation started to be intense and it analysis on the language being used in can be noticed a repeated use of Cre- Haiti and observe how different Haitians ole and French. If you watch the video code-switch. That’s why, the ex-president carefully you can see the behavior of Mr. of Haiti Joseph Michel Martelly was cho- Michel Martelly compared to his op- sen, so that different area of his use of the ponent Mrs. Mirlande Manigat, who is language could be observed, whether as completely different. In addition to this, a president or singer on YouTube, Tweeter, Mirlande Manigat was the wife of an Facebook, and Instagram.

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Conclusion

In general, it is important to know language that enables people from dif- that Haiti is not the only country where ferent groups to communicate. In that Creole language is spoken. It is one of epoch, the Creole used in the planta- the languages spoken in many other tions, was more likely a lingua franca, to countries around the world, in different facilitate the enslaved from West Africa forms like: Pidgin, Patois in Jamaica, Lou- to communicate. In this article, it can be isiana Creole, Guyanese Creole, Hawaiian noticed that a trajectory of the language Creole, etc. from the dawn until now, which should According to Bretons, (1996) be very appreciated; unfortunately, this cited in Bonenfant, (2011) the Haitian is not the case. It has been devalued and Creole language was developed by the stepped on as if it were a language of no enslaved West Africans in order to com- history and background. It is very communicate among themselves. That is to mon to find, English expressions used say, that the enslaved West Africans were as sentence fillers, such as: I mean, you not able to comprehend the different know, you see what I mean, in the Creole languages such as French, English, and speech of Haitians. On the other hand, Spanish used by slave owners. The rea- talking about code-switching between son for Creole to derive from different French and Haitian Creole, Haitians tend languages is that it comes from different to code-switch in every sentence they languages that were used: first, from the use. For example, Salut or Bonjour is a language of a colony of Spain; then from French word you might hear when Hai- the English of England and in the end tians greet each other; then they might French, spoken in France. A misunder- keep on saying "comment vas tu?", sting bunch of words in Spanish, French "comment ça va?", "tú vas bien?", which and English became Creole words. For in- means how are you?, usually to start stance, word "bucket" in Creole becomes a conversation even though they are "bokit", which means the linguistics link talking in Creole. Depending on the set- between Haitian Creole and English. It tings or social factors, a variety of French can be found in semantics, morphology, and Creole can be heard. The Haitian phonology, and lexicon. language is the linguistic horizon of the Creole can be considered the Haitian people, which must make every linguistic product of two or more lan- single Haitian on earth proud when us- guages that were combined to form a ing this wonderful language.

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