Dominicain Creole French

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Not to be confused with Dominican Creole French, a language of Dominica.

Dominican Creole
Criollo Dominicano
Creóle
Native to	Dominican Republic
Native speakers	(39,000 cited 1980)
Language family	French Creole Circum-Caribbean French Antillean Creole Dominican Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3	–
Glottolog	None

Dominican Creole French is a French-based creole language, which was a widely spoken language in the Dominican Republic and still is in the towns of the country's border with Haiti. It can be considered a distinct dialect of Antillean Creole. Unlike many other creole languages, Dominican Creole does have grammatical genders; the language is also influenced by Spanish.

Dominican Creole was developed in the border towns of the Dominican Republic when the French took possession of the country, and later when the Haitians occupied the country. During these occupations, Spanish was prohibited, and Dominicans found a way to communicate with each other in something that sounded like French but wasn't French.

Creóle alphabet

Créole	IPA Transcription	Standard pronunciation
g	g	hard "G", as in good.
h	h	Pronounced like "H" in ham.
i	i	Pronounced like "ee" as in see.
j	ʒ	Pronounced as French J.
k	k
w	w
s	s	Replaces the soft "C" and is pronounced like "S" in soft.
y	j	Pronounced like "Yuh", as in yuck.
z	z	Replaces "S" when used between vowels. Pronounced like "Z", as in zebra.
an	ɑ̃	nasalized sound used in French. Does not exist in English.
àn	an	Pronounced as a not nasalized sound with an emphasis on the "N" or "ane" in English.
añn	ɑ̃n	A nasalized French "an" with a long "n" sound.
añ	ɑ̃m	A nasalized French "an" with a long "m" sound. Pronounced like "ahmm".
ay	aj	Pronounced like "eye" in English.
in	in	Never nasalized.
eñ	ɛ̃	Always nasalized.
eñn	ɛ̃n	Pronounced like "en" in garden.
õñ	ɔ̃	Sound does not exist in English. It is a nasal on, like the one used in French.
õñm	ɔ̃m	Nasal sound + M.
oñn	ɔ̃n	Nasal sound + N.
ch	ʃ	Pronounced like "Sh" in English.
a	a	Pronounced like a short "a", like in cat.
b	b	Pronounced like B in English.
f	f	Pronounced as F in English.
d	d	Pronounced as D in English, like in dog.
m	m	Pronounced as M in English, like man.
n	n	Pronounced as N in English, like never.
ò	ɔ	Pronounced as "or" as in more.
r	w, ɤ, ɹ	Often pronounced with a Spanish trilled “R”
p	p	Pronounced as in pea
t	t	Pronounced as in tea
v	v	Pronounced as in volcano
C	C	Pronounce as a hard “K”

Creóle pronouns

English	Créole	Remarks
I	Jú, Mõñ, Ja	The three forms are perfectly synonymous.
You (singular)	Tú/Vou
He/she	Il, Ella	Creole has a neutral pronoun that can be synonymous with "him" or "her". (Ilel)
He	Il	Example: Il á pén búcú dú tõñ (he hardly has much time).
She	Ella	Example: Ella n’em pá búcú júer (she does not like playing much).
We	Nou
You (plural)	Tú-s	Example: ‘’Tú-s vá bien’’ (You all are fine)
They	Ils, Ellas	Example: Ellas Júer (they play(f)).

Numbers

0	Zéro
1	Un
2	Dú
3	Tua
4	Catré
5	Sanco
6	Seis
7	Sét
8	Uit
9	Núf

Examples

You are going crazy= (Tú vá fú-lo)

Let's go to the park= (Alõñ vá parcu)

I speak Creole= (Ju parlé Creóle)

I'm from Dominican Republic= (Mõñ vi dú la Republica Dominicain)

References

This article "Dominicain Creole French" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Dominicain Creole French. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

📰 Article(s) of the same category(ies)

• Haitian French

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