Saint Lucian Creole French , known locally as Patwa is the French-based Creole widely spoken in Saint Lucia. It is the vernacular language of the country and is spoken alongside the official language of English. Kwéyòl is a sub-variety of Antillean Creole, and like other varieties spoken in the Caribbean, it combines the syntax of African language origins and a vocabulary primarily derived from French. Like its similar Dominican counterpart, the English language has influenced the vocabulary of the creole. There has also been a recorded syntactical influence of the Carib language. It remains in widespread use in Saint Lucia across the island. Though it is not an official language, the government and media houses present information in Kwéyòl, alongside English.
Origins
Saint Lucia was first settled by Amerindian groups,more recently the Caribs, and subsequently colonised by the French and British, who changed hands of control of the island fourteen times. The British first attempted to colonise the island in 1605, but were killed or driven out by the Caribs inhabting the island. French groups gradually began to colonise the island so that by 1745, the French had regained control of the island and established functional administrative settlements. Like other forms of Antillean Creole, Saint Lucian Creole emerged from the development of a form of communication by African slaves on Caribbean plantations, made by combining French vocabulary with the syntax of the various native African languages of the slaves. From French groups immigrating from Martinique, a form of Creole was imported and adopted by the black population living in small, remote mountain settlements as a vernauclar. Ownership of St. Lucia changed between the French and British between 1778 and 1802, until the British gained complete control of the island in 1803, and was formalised by the Treaty of Paris in 1814. English became the official language of the country, though Kwéyòl remained in widespread use throughout the island and was the sole language of the majority of the population. Kwéyòl monolingualism increasingly became less common over time, due to the precedence of English within the education system, which became more accessible to the general population through the mid-1960s.
History
It is a subvariety of Antillean Creole, which is spoken in other islands of the Lesser Antilles and is very closely related to the varieties spoken in Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. The intelligibility rate with speakers of other varieties of Antillean Creole is almost 100%. Its syntactic, grammatical and lexical features are virtually identical to that of Martinican Creole, but like its Dominican counterpart, it includes more English loanwords than the Martinican variety. Like the other Caribbean Creoles, Saint Lucian French Creole combines a syntax of African and Carib origin with a vocabulary derived primarily from French. In addition, many expressions reflect the presence of an English Creole and Spanish influences in the language. It is not considered to be mutually intelligible with Standard French, but it is intelligible with the other French creoles of the Lesser Antilles. It is related to Haitian Creole, which has a number of distinctive features, but both are still mutually intelligible. It is still widely spoken in Saint Lucia, but the actual number of speakers appears to have declined in the past decades. In the mid-19th century it was exported to Panama, where it is known as San Miguel Creole French and is now moribund.
Orthography
The Kwéyol writing system contains 24 letters, representing 32 phonemes. This writing system used in St.Lucia and Dominica differs slightly from that used in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The letters Q and X are not used and the letter R only appears in English loan words. The letters C and U never appear alone and are always part of the digraphs Ch and Ou. Digraphs These are combinations of letters which represent one sound. An En On represent the three nasal vowels /ã/, /ẽ/, /õ/ respectively. Ch Dj Ng Tj represent the consonants /ʃ/, /d͡ʒ/, /ŋ/, /t͡ʃ/. Ou represents the vowel /u/.
Consonants Phonetic notes 1. This sound only occurs in a select few loan words from English ex. radyo /ɹadjo/ radio. 2. In many varieties of Creole most notably rural dialects the voiced velar fricative /ɣ/ merges with the velar approximat /w/. In this article we will use the written standard for Saint Lucian creole which does not indicate the distinction between the two phonemes. 3. The voiced palatal fricative /ʒ/ alternates in many words with the unvoiced glottal fricative /h/: /manʒe/>/manhe/ to eat, /ʒape/>/hape/ to bark /ʒadẽ/>/hadẽ/ garden Vowels
Antillean Creole
Dominican Creole French
Grenadian Creole French
Haitian Creole
Grammar
Personal Pronouns
Kwéyòl makes no distinction in case in its pronouns like in English so 'mwen' can mean I, me, or my. The form 'an' is uncommon and only rarely heard although its use is quite widespread in the Creole spoken in Guadeloupe. The pronouns above can be used as a sentence subject; mwen ka palé kwéyòl, object: nonm-lan bo'y or as possessives: papa yo malad. The weak forms occur after vowels: palé ba'y! mwen wè'w. Contractions with the pronoun mwen M’a - mwen pa Ng’a - mwen ka N’a - mwen ka Ng’ay - mwen kay N’ay - mwen kay M’òkò - mwen pa ankò
Possessive Adjectives
In Creole possessive adjectives are placed after the noun. Ou 'your' and li 'his, her, its' become w and y after a vowel. Unlike in English and French possessive adjectives can be used in addition to the indefinite and definite articles: jan mwen 'my friend' anjan mwen 'a friend of mine' jan mwen-an 'my friend' The use of the definite article evokes a different connotation jan mwen would refer to my friend as opposed to someone else's friend whereas jan mwen-an would refer to a specific friend who had been previously mentioned at some point prior in the conversation
Possessive Pronouns
Interrogatives
Ki is used as an interrogative adjective placed before a noun meaning 'what' or 'which': Ki chimiz ou simyé? Which shirt do you prefer? Kilès is an interrogative pronoun. Kilès ou simyé? Which one do you prefer? Kilès used as a subject directly before a verb is followed by the relative pronoun ki: Kilès ki pli gwo? Which is bigger? When ki moun is used as a subject and comes directly before the verb it is followed by the relative pronoun ki: Ki moun ki di'w sa? Who told you that? but Ki moun ou yé? Who are you? Ki moun used to mean 'whose' directly follows the noun in question: Had ki moun ou ka lavé? 'Whose clothes are you washing?'
Nouns
Nouns in Kwéyòl are invariable, they do not inflect for case or number. There is no grammatical gender, unlike French.
Indefinite
Definite
Singular
an wòch
wòch-la
Plural
wòch
sé wòch-la
Articles
The indefinite article is an, on, yan or yon An mabwiya A house lizard On bétjin A barracuda Yan zé An egg Yon fèy A leaf The definite article may take the form -a, -la, -an, or -lan depending on the sounds of the final syllable of the noun it qualifies. It comes after the noun. latè a the earth tab la the table mouton an the sheep nonm lan the man
Verbs
Verbs in Creole are invariable and are not conjugated. Instead tense and mood are expressed using various particles placed before the verb.
ø the absence of a particle indicates the simple past: pwèt-la bwè kafé the priest drank coffee
It also indicates the present perfect, this difference inferred through context: pwèt-la bwè kafé the priest has drunk coffee There is a group of verbs, mostly modals and verbs of emotion which do not follow this rule and instead express the present tense when used on their own. These verbs are: ni 'to have' sa 'to be able to' pé 'to be able to' vlé 'to want' konnèt 'to know' sav 'to know' enmen 'to love' kontan 'to like' hayi 'to hate' simyé 'to prefer' kwè 'to believe' dwé 'to owe' wigwété 'to regret' Mak ni an pil lahan 'Mark has a lot of money' Kilès kay ou simyé? Which house do you prefer? Ou vlé witounen denmen 'You want to return tomorrow'
ka This particle expresses the simple present, present continuous as well as habitual present
Tibway-la ka wè kabwit-la The by sees the goat Fanm-lan ka déjnen The woman is having breakfast Lapli ka tonbé an chay an livènaj It rains a lot during the rainy season Serial Verbs A feature which Saint Lucian French Creole shares with other West Atlantic Creole languages is the ability to string verbs together. A main verb may be combined with a select group of verbs of motion I kouwi alé lékòl He went to school running.
Irregular verbs There are only three irregular verbs in Creole alé, gadé and the copula sé.
Alé has a second form ay. There is no change in meaning and the two forms are interchangeable.
Alé also forms a contraction with the verb particle ka; ka alé kalé ka ay kay.
Gadé has two forms in the imperative: ga and gadé although gad may sometimes be heard as well.
Sé is irregular in that it does not take verb particles. Instead the verb particles itself are used in place of a verb only in the present tense is it present. The present tense has two forms, one used before a noun and the other used when it is placed at the end of a sentence
In the present sé is not used to link a noun and a predicative adjective. It is used before a noun. Nonm-lan ho. The man is tall. but: I sé an nonm ho. He is a tall man. The past tense also has two forms either the past tense particle té or the form sété with these forms being interchangeable.
Tense
Form
Present
ø, sé, yé
Past
té, sété
Future
kay
Conditional
té kay
The future and conditional forms ké and téké are not used in Saint Lucia but can be heard on other islands where Creole is spoken.
Prepositions
a - at, on, to
abò - onboard, on, in
òbò Yo mouté abò minibous-la. They got into the bus.
adan - 1) inside, in 2) out of, out from
1) I mété kwéyon-an adan pòch li. He put the pencil in his pocket. 2) I sòti mouchwè adan pòch li. He took the kerchief out of his pocket.
akòdans - according to, in accordance with
Yo pa ka viv akòdans pawòl Bondyé. They are not living according to God's word.
alapòté - alongside, beside, next to
Kon kannòt-la wivé alapòté tjé-a, péchè-a mawé kòd-la vitman. When the boat arrived alongside the dock the fisherman tied the rope quickly.
Nou wè'y anmitan lawi-a. We saw him in the middle of the street.
anpami - among
I té ka séwé anpami sé moun-nan. He was hiding among those people.
ant - between
Motoka-a ant légliz-la èk lékòl-la. The car is between the church and the school.
antiwan, antiwans - except
Ou pé pwan tout sé liv-la antiwan sé sala. You can take all the books except those ones.
apwé - after
Yo antwé yonn apwé lòt. They entered one after the other.
asou - 1) on top of 2) off of, off from 3) toward 4) about, concerning
1) Bonm-lan asou mach-la. The bucket is on the step.2) Gwanmanman mwen tiwé chòdyè-a asou difé-a. My grandmother took the cooking pot off the fire. 3) Polis-la maché asou nonm-lan. The police officer walked towards the man. 4) Mwen pa lontan palé asou politik. I don't like talking about politics. asisou
ba, ban, bay - for
Fè sa ba li. Do that for him. Fanm-lan achté an bonbon ban mwen. The woman bought me a cake. Nou kay fè'y bay zòt. We'll do it for you.
bò - alongside, beside, next to
Wétjen-an vini bò tjé-a. The shark came near to the dock.
bòdaj - alongside, beside, next to
Sé chouval-la té ka pozé bòdaj chimen-an. The horses were resting next to the road.
dapwé - according to
Dapwé'w mwen té ka pasé an ti chimen. You thought I was walking on the small path.
dépi - from, since
1) Dépi ansyen dat nonm ka jwé gwenndé. People have played dice since ancient times. 2) I té ni gwo dlo dépi Bèson pou wivé Kastwi. There was flooding from Bexon to Castries.
dèwò, dòwò - outside
Chyen-an dèwò kay-la. The dog is outside the house.
dèyè - 1) behind 2) after
1) Machann-nan dèyè yan pyébwa. The vendor is behind the tree. 2) Sé chyen-an ka kouwi dèyè chat-la. The dogs are running after the cat.
di - of
I alé Langlitè a laj di ventan. He went to England at the age of twenty. Sé gwanmoun-nan ka palé di politik. The elders are talking about politics.
douvan - in front of, before
Ou pé mouté montany-lan ki doubout douvan'w-la. You can climb the mountain that stands before you.
èksèpté, asèpté - except
Sé polis-la awèsté toutmoun ki té adan kay wonm-lan èksèpté nonm sala. The police arrested everyone who was in the rum shop except that man.
é, èk, èvè, èvèk, èp, épi - with
Mak té alé an vil épi manman´y. Mark went to town with his mother. Nou kontan twavay èvèw. We like to work with you.
hòd - from, away from
1) Fanm-lan ka wété dis kilomèt hòd twavay li-a. The woman lives ten kilometres from work. 2) Tounen hòd péché zòt! Turn away from your sins!
jis, jik - until, as far as, up to
Jis ki koté ou ka wivé Up to which point are you going
konsèné - about, concerning
Mwen té kay vlé palé ba'w konsèné ich ou. I would like to speak to you about your child.
kont - 1) against 2) about, because of
1) Nou kont lwa nèf-la. We are against the new law. 2) Mwen faché kont bonm-lan ki tonbé-a. I am angry about the bucket that fell.
lanmen, lenmen - from
Yo achté tout ba'ay lanmen'y. They bought everything from him.
ofon - at the bottom of
Chatou ka viv ofon lanmè-a. Octopuses live at the bottom of the sea.
olyè - instead of
Chwézi wòb sala olyè sala. Choose this dress instead of that one.
owon, oliwon - around
Nou maché tout owon vilaj-la ka chaché timanmay sala. We walked all around the village looking for that child. alantouotou
pa - by, through
1) Bondyé sové nou pa lagwas li. God saved us through his grace. 2) Yo ka vann zowanj dé dòla pa liv. They sell oranges for two dollars a pound.
pou - for, in order to, ni pou - must
1)Tantant mwen wété la pou dé nanné. My aunt lived there for two years. 2) Machann-nan vann dé bwapen ba li pou sis dòla. The vendor sold him two breadfruits for six dollars. 3) Nou wimèsyé'y pou vizité nou. We thanked him for visiting us. 4) I vini pou étidyé. He came to study. 5) Sé pou nou alé an hòtè chaché manjé. We have to go to the country to look for food. 6) Ou ni pou éséyé. You have to try.
pwé, opwé - near
Légliz-la pwé lapòs-la. The church is near the post office.
san - without
I kouwi jik bòdlanmè-a san soulyé.He ran all the way to the sea side without shoes.
silon - accordng to
Silon jij-la nonm-lan té koupab. According to the judge the man was guilty.
I ka maché vizavi wout-la. He is walking in line with the road.
Vocabulary
The Vocabulary of LC is mostly derived from French with important contributions from English and West African languages. English Derived Vocabulary
Word
Meaning
English
Word
Meaning
English
akennsin
type of freshwater fish
Atkinson/Tilapia
mitin
meeting
amèn
amen
motoka
car
motor car
bak
to reverse
back
nòlaj
knowledge
baka
supporter
backer
nòs
nurse
banndjo
banjo
panyt
pint
bék
flat bread cooked on hot plate
bake
pennsil
penis
pencil
bèlibann
cinch, girth
bellyband
pitj
to pave with asphalt
pitch
bésin
basin
plasta
bandage
plaster
bol
ball, cricket
bowl
plég
plague
bway
boy
plén
aeroplane
chéd
shed, shelter
shade
pwotèkté, potèkté
to protect
chlen
25 cents
shilling
radyo
radio
diskasyon
discussion
rèkòd
record
djal
attractive girl or woman
girl
roro
uproar, tumult
row
djip
jeep
sayd
side
djòb
job
sentdjòn
Saint John flower
Saint John
djòs
just
slak
loose
slack
dòla
dollar
stéchann
police station
station
drayv
to drive
swing
swing
èkstré
X-ray
switi
sweetie, candy
sweetie
fak
gardening fork
fork
taks
tax
faktri
factory
tanmadòz
tomatoe
fama
farmer
taya
tire
fas
to fast
tép
tape
fin
thin
tim
team
flas
thermos
flask
tin
can
tin
fridj
fridge
titj
to teach
gòg
liquor
grog
titja
teacher
hèlsenta
health centre
tiyéta
theatre
ilèkté
to elect
tjiki
nosy
cheeky
ka
care
tjok
clogged
choked
kanmèl
camel
tjòkanblòk
haphazardly
chockablock
kanp
camp, camping
camp
tou
too
kapa
small change
copper
trakta
tractor
kawozin
kerosene
tròk
truck
kés
court case
case
vann
van
kòlvèt
culvert
waflé
to raffle
konpyouta
computer
waya
wire
kòrèk
good, OK, well
correct
widjèkté
to reject
layt
light
light
wivòlva
revolver, pistol
revolver
mannwa
warship
man of war
wòf
wharf
misték
mistake
yis
yeast
Creole is a language historically and primarily spoken in rural areas. As such it has a large assortment of words related to nature, agriculture and fishing Zannimo - Animals Jibyé - Birds
http://www.saintluciancreole.dbfrank.net/dictionary.htm St. Lucian Creole Bible http://www.potomitan.info/dictionnaire/index.php Creole - French Dictionary http://www.creolica.net/Le-vocabulaire-creole-utilise-dans http://www.potomitan.info/divers/arbres.html Tree Names in Latin French and Martinique Creole http://creoles.free.fr/Cours/proverb.htm Creole Proverbs http://onechapteraday.fr/des-proverbes-creoles/ Creole Proverbs http://pedagogie.ac-guadeloupe.fr/langues_vivantes_regionales_lvr Learning Material in Guadeloupe Creole https://www.ac-guadeloupe.fr/circonscriptions/bouillante/index5a.htm Kreyol an Mouvman
