Haitian Creole: Structure, Variation, Status, Origin - Softcover

Valdman, Albert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1845533887 ISBN 13: 9781845533885

Publisher: University of Toronto Press, 2015

Synopsis

Haitian Creole is the creole language with the largest number of speakers: about ten million in Haiti and two million in diaspora communities in North American, France, and the Caribbean, including the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the French overseas departments. Haitian Creole presents a comprehensive view of the structure and development of Haitian Creole. It provides a detailed analysis of the phonology and grammar of the language and points out key differences between these two fundamental aspects of the language and corresponding features of French, its original target language. The book contains a detailed description of the productive strategies of vocabulary development and deals with the origin of Haitian Creole, as well as its relationship to the other French-based creoles in Louisiana, the Caribbean, French Guiana, and the Indian Ocean. A signal innovation with regard to other descriptions of the language is the treatment of linguistic variation, both in geographical dialects and variation as determined by social factors, as well as the presentation of earlier forms of Haitian Creole, as attested by texts from the Colonial period. Another major contribution is the discussion of language planning and related issues concerning the use of Haitian Creole in education and its status relative to French, the other officially recognized language of Haiti.

About this title

About the Author

Albert Valdman is director of the Creole Institute at Indiana University and is a leading international specialist of French-based creoles. He is the author of one of the major works in the field, Le Creole: structure, statut et origine (1978) and basic reference works for Louisiana Creole and Haitian Creole, in particular, the Haitian Creole-English Bilingual Dictionary (2007).

Review

"With well over 400 pages, the work provides a well-founded overview of the current state of research and our knowledge of French-based Creole languages, and especially of creole haitien. It offers a successful summary for those familiar with the subject, a successful introduction to the subject for those not (yet) familiar with it, and a reading that is highly recommendable despite its volume." --Zeitschrift fur franzosische Sprache und Literatur "The generally very complete and detailed description of Haitian Creole will make this book a reference work in which one is likely to find information also on phenomena that other publications exclude for being peripheral. [...] The book will be helpful for researchers and students alike..." --Philipp Kramer, Sociolinguistic Studies Vol 11.1 (2017) "Fine-grained analysis like this is typical of Valdman's entire oeuvre, the essence of which is now available in this single monograph, one which I recommend highly." --George Lang, University of Ottawa, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Language 33:1

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Toronto Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1845533887
• ISBN 13: 9781845533885
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 494