The Depreciation of Haitian Creole and Haitian Code Switching

The Depreciation of Haitian Creole and Haitian Code Switching

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] REVISTA PUCE. ISSN: 2528-8156. NÚM. 111 3 NOVIEMBRE DE 2020 - 3 MAYO DE 2021, PATRICK PIERRE, PP. 71-91 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 lan- guages 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- 73 THE DEPRECIATION OF HAITIAN CREOLE AND HAITIAN CODE SWITCHING 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. 74 REVISTA PUCE. ISSN: 2528-8156. NÚM. 111 3 NOVIEMBRE DE 2020 - 3 MAYO DE 2021, PATRICK PIERRE, PP. 71-91 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, 75 THE DEPRECIATION OF HAITIAN CREOLE AND HAITIAN CODE SWITCHING 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 resourc- es 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 76 REVISTA PUCE. ISSN: 2528-8156. NÚM. 111 3 NOVIEMBRE DE 2020 - 3 MAYO DE 2021, PATRICK PIERRE, PP. 71-91 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.

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