Thursday, March 03, 2005
Learning to be an American in Haitian Creole is a daunting task
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
In my meanderings through the library literature desk I came upon a government pamphlet ("Keyson ak Repons") in a strange language, obviously answering questions about public assistance. Checking it on the Internet soon revealed that the language was Haitian Creole, and a University of NYS Regents Exam of 2002 in US History and Government provided more information about its strange orthography and French-based phonetics. In fact, reading it became intriguing, like a puzzle and a review of one's knowledge of the past.
Haitian Creole, a French-based language, is not hard to figure out. The Regents exam, with its names of famous Americans and guessable wars, events and places will lead you into a memory tour of recent US history. Prezidan Franklen D. Wouzvelt and Dezyem Ge Mondial link up to Ari Twoumann and Ge Kore. Then come Prezidan Ayzannove, Treti Vasovi involving Inyon Sovetik and East Ewop, Josef Makati (think of Aktivite Anti-Amerikan), followed by Kenedi (think Kiba and Be Kochon), Lindonn B. Jonnsonn, Ge Vyetnam and Gran Sosyete. Richa Niksonn leads to Fod, Kate, Regann, G. Bouch, Bil Klintonn and finally Jej Bouch.
With a little thinking one can step back into the past and figure out Ge Revolusyone, Doktrin Monwo of 1823, Tribinal Siprem and Chief Justice Jonn Machal, then, skipping in time, Ge Sivil, and, further up the road, Preezidans T Wouzvelt, Taf, Wilsonn, Premye Ge Mondial, the Trete Vesay, Lig Nasyon and Pwoyibisyon, followed by Koulidj, Adin and Ouve (toughies, turn out to be Harding and Hoover) Sekurite Sosyal and Gwo Depresyon.
Local history is not neglected, the reformers Jenn Adanms, Jakob Riyis and Ida Tabel come in for a mention. In Black histori, we have Bouker T. Wachingtonn and W.E.B. Dibwa.
While resolving the puzzles has been great fun, the entire concept begs some questions. We are prompted to ask, once more, whether the untrammeled multi-ethnic and multi-lingual education systems help or hinder the Americanization process? Do they speed up the integration and socialization of new arrivals, or do they favor ethnic cliques and ghettos, exacerbating the need for social services?
Looking specifically at the Haitian Creole language, it is evident that the children must learn to identify and spell historic names and events twice, a process that slows down learning and integration process. Do the students lose points if they spell Eisenhower's name in English, or misspell the Creole, Ayzannove? And finally, where and when in the course of the istwa of the Konstitusyon of this country, Etazini, did we lose our mission, Emma Lazarus?
About this Creole language, it is spoken by 7.5 million people in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Florida and Washington Heights, NY. It is a mixture of French and several African languages, Wolof and Gbe predominating, and there are two main dialects, Fablas and Plateau.. The phonetic spelling of the letter R as a W when rolled deep in the throat is bizarre. The origins of orthography are uncertain, it uses a modified Latin alphabet, codification is even more uncertain. Since 1943 there have been newspapers, poetry and literature published in this Creole, and five colleges in the US teach courses in or about it. Since 1961, reaffirmed in 1980, it is the official language of Haitians, however defined.
The University of NYS Regents High School examinations system, which, incidentally, offers tests of English, French, German, Italian, Hebrew and Latin proficiency to fulfill the language requirement, permits the exams to be taken in English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean and Haitian Creole. While some of those languages have alphabets and orthographies of their own, the ones using our common Latin alphabet ordinarily spell common nouns in the original orthography. If the codifiers of the Haitian language have chosen to use the unique (nationalism-driven?) spelling of common nouns, one thinks that it would behoove the Regents system to include, perhaps in parentheses, the accepted English spelling of proper nouns, and to accept the English orthography in the students' answers.
The author (wallydobelis@yahoo.com) invites further information and comments.
After writing the article, Wally Dobelis has obtained information that the 2005 NYS Regents History exam in Haitian Creole now uses the English orthography for proper nouns. Whether this is a spelling modification only for the Regents exam purposes alone, or the language itself is moving into modernity and relevance, voluntarily or otherwise, remains a fascinating question. A mystery? Is Jej Bouch involved? Comments are still invited.
In my meanderings through the library literature desk I came upon a government pamphlet ("Keyson ak Repons") in a strange language, obviously answering questions about public assistance. Checking it on the Internet soon revealed that the language was Haitian Creole, and a University of NYS Regents Exam of 2002 in US History and Government provided more information about its strange orthography and French-based phonetics. In fact, reading it became intriguing, like a puzzle and a review of one's knowledge of the past.
Haitian Creole, a French-based language, is not hard to figure out. The Regents exam, with its names of famous Americans and guessable wars, events and places will lead you into a memory tour of recent US history. Prezidan Franklen D. Wouzvelt and Dezyem Ge Mondial link up to Ari Twoumann and Ge Kore. Then come Prezidan Ayzannove, Treti Vasovi involving Inyon Sovetik and East Ewop, Josef Makati (think of Aktivite Anti-Amerikan), followed by Kenedi (think Kiba and Be Kochon), Lindonn B. Jonnsonn, Ge Vyetnam and Gran Sosyete. Richa Niksonn leads to Fod, Kate, Regann, G. Bouch, Bil Klintonn and finally Jej Bouch.
With a little thinking one can step back into the past and figure out Ge Revolusyone, Doktrin Monwo of 1823, Tribinal Siprem and Chief Justice Jonn Machal, then, skipping in time, Ge Sivil, and, further up the road, Preezidans T Wouzvelt, Taf, Wilsonn, Premye Ge Mondial, the Trete Vesay, Lig Nasyon and Pwoyibisyon, followed by Koulidj, Adin and Ouve (toughies, turn out to be Harding and Hoover) Sekurite Sosyal and Gwo Depresyon.
Local history is not neglected, the reformers Jenn Adanms, Jakob Riyis and Ida Tabel come in for a mention. In Black histori, we have Bouker T. Wachingtonn and W.E.B. Dibwa.
While resolving the puzzles has been great fun, the entire concept begs some questions. We are prompted to ask, once more, whether the untrammeled multi-ethnic and multi-lingual education systems help or hinder the Americanization process? Do they speed up the integration and socialization of new arrivals, or do they favor ethnic cliques and ghettos, exacerbating the need for social services?
Looking specifically at the Haitian Creole language, it is evident that the children must learn to identify and spell historic names and events twice, a process that slows down learning and integration process. Do the students lose points if they spell Eisenhower's name in English, or misspell the Creole, Ayzannove? And finally, where and when in the course of the istwa of the Konstitusyon of this country, Etazini, did we lose our mission, Emma Lazarus?
About this Creole language, it is spoken by 7.5 million people in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean, Florida and Washington Heights, NY. It is a mixture of French and several African languages, Wolof and Gbe predominating, and there are two main dialects, Fablas and Plateau.. The phonetic spelling of the letter R as a W when rolled deep in the throat is bizarre. The origins of orthography are uncertain, it uses a modified Latin alphabet, codification is even more uncertain. Since 1943 there have been newspapers, poetry and literature published in this Creole, and five colleges in the US teach courses in or about it. Since 1961, reaffirmed in 1980, it is the official language of Haitians, however defined.
The University of NYS Regents High School examinations system, which, incidentally, offers tests of English, French, German, Italian, Hebrew and Latin proficiency to fulfill the language requirement, permits the exams to be taken in English, Chinese, Spanish, Russian, Korean and Haitian Creole. While some of those languages have alphabets and orthographies of their own, the ones using our common Latin alphabet ordinarily spell common nouns in the original orthography. If the codifiers of the Haitian language have chosen to use the unique (nationalism-driven?) spelling of common nouns, one thinks that it would behoove the Regents system to include, perhaps in parentheses, the accepted English spelling of proper nouns, and to accept the English orthography in the students' answers.
The author (wallydobelis@yahoo.com) invites further information and comments.
After writing the article, Wally Dobelis has obtained information that the 2005 NYS Regents History exam in Haitian Creole now uses the English orthography for proper nouns. Whether this is a spelling modification only for the Regents exam purposes alone, or the language itself is moving into modernity and relevance, voluntarily or otherwise, remains a fascinating question. A mystery? Is Jej Bouch involved? Comments are still invited.
# posted by Wally Dobelis @ 12:11 PM 
