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Creole in Haitian Society: Past and Present
Now, understanding the immense similarities between French and Haitian Creole lexically, it’s reasonable to question why, with so much language contact between the two, there wasn’t more syntactical borrowing between the two. When Haiti was still known as Saint-Domingue and controlled by French colonial, French was the prestige language which was exclusively spoken by the ruling class whites and by mulatto freedmen (UCLA). This led to the languages being spoken side by side throughout the history of Haiti but by two very different groups of people. French was the language of power in Haiti. It was the superstratal language while Haitian Creole was the substratal language. In many linguistic relationships, those who speak the substratal language will often attempt to learn the superstratal or prestige language to advance their status in society but when the substratal language is spoken by slaves, they have no opportunity to advance through language (Hebblethwaite+ UCLA)
But then an extraordinary thing happened. The most successful slave revolution in history occurred, ousting the French colonials from the island leading to the creation of the independent state of Haiti. After the slave revolution one would expect that this linguistics barrier, barring the vast majority of Haitians from advancing in society, would be broken down. The opposite happened however. French continued to be the prestige language of Haiti and continued to be the only acceptable discourse of politics and power in the country. This trapped 95% of the population in a state of poverty, not much better than slavery. The reason for this is that the slave revolution, while fought by the slaves against the French colonials, was orchestrated by mulatto freedmen who sought sovereignty. A law had been passed in France which enfranchised freed mulattos in the colonies, giving them the right to vote. This law was ignored by the French colonials in Haiti who sought to keep the mulattos out of political power. This caused the freedmen to incite the slaves to revolt. The irony of the situation is that the French colonials were simply replaced by the next caste of the hierarchy and the slaves who fought for their freedom remained at the bottom (Office of the Historian).
In the 1940s the President of Haiti, Elie Lescot brought in two American linguists, Frank Laubach and H. Ormond McConnell, to make a standard orthography, a codification of the sounds and letters of the language, for Haitian Creole. Their final version was criticized for being too American and thus making it harder for speakers of Haitian Creole to Learn French. This sparked a debate over the orthography as many Haitian elite saw French as the superior language (Schiefferin and Racheile).
Now, understanding the immense similarities between French and Haitian Creole lexically, it’s reasonable to question why, with so much language contact between the two, there wasn’t more syntactical borrowing between the two. When Haiti was still known as Saint-Domingue and controlled by French colonial, French was the prestige language which was exclusively spoken by the ruling class whites and by mulatto freedmen (UCLA). This led to the languages being spoken side by side throughout the history of Haiti but by two very different groups of people. French was the language of power in Haiti. It was the superstratal language while Haitian Creole was the substratal language. In many linguistic relationships, those who speak the substratal language will often attempt to learn the superstratal or prestige language to advance their status in society but when the substratal language is spoken by slaves, they have no opportunity to advance through language (Hebblethwaite+ UCLA)
But then an extraordinary thing happened. The most successful slave revolution in history occurred, ousting the French colonials from the island leading to the creation of the independent state of Haiti. After the slave revolution one would expect that this linguistics barrier, barring the vast majority of Haitians from advancing in society, would be broken down. The opposite happened however. French continued to be the prestige language of Haiti and continued to be the only acceptable discourse of politics and power in the country. This trapped 95% of the population in a state of poverty, not much better than slavery. The reason for this is that the slave revolution, while fought by the slaves against the French colonials, was orchestrated by mulatto freedmen who sought sovereignty. A law had been passed in France which enfranchised freed mulattos in the colonies, giving them the right to vote. This law was ignored by the French colonials in Haiti who sought to keep the mulattos out of political power. This caused the freedmen to incite the slaves to revolt. The irony of the situation is that the French colonials were simply replaced by the next caste of the hierarchy and the slaves who fought for their freedom remained at the bottom (Office of the Historian).
In the 1940s the President of Haiti, Elie Lescot brought in two American linguists, Frank Laubach and H. Ormond McConnell, to make a standard orthography, a codification of the sounds and letters of the language, for Haitian Creole. Their final version was criticized for being too American and thus making it harder for speakers of Haitian Creole to Learn French. This sparked a debate over the orthography as many Haitian elite saw French as the superior language (Schiefferin and Racheile).