French Guiana Creole
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French Guiana Creole is a French-lexified creole language spoken in French Guiana, and to a lesser degree, in Suriname and Guyana. It resembles Antillean Creole, but there are some lexical and grammatical differences between them. Antilleans can understand and speak
French Guiana Creole. The diffences consist of more French and Brazilian Portuguese influences (due to the proximity of Brazil and Portuguese presence in the country for several years.) There are also words of Amerindian and African origin. There are Guianese communities in Suriname and Guyana who continue to speak French Guiana Creole.
It should not be confused with the Guyanese Creole language, based on English, spoken in neighbouring Guyana.
[edit] Orthography and phonology
French Guiana Creole is largely written using the French alphabet, with only a few exceptions. 'Q' and 'X' are replaced by 'k' and 'z' respectively. 'C' is not used apart from in the diagraph, ch, where it stands for /ʃ/ (the word for horse is chouval, similar to Standard French's 'cheval.') Otherwise, it is replaced by 'k' when it stands for /k/ (Standard French's 'comment' (why) is written 'kouman) and 's', when it stands for /s/. Silent 'h' is never written, unlike in Standard French, where it remains for etymological purposes.
French Guiana creole does not have many of the characteristic sounds of Standard French. The letter 'j' (/ʒ) is pronounced /z/ instead. There is no /y/ sound either. 'Y' is pronounced as /i:/ and written as 'i.' Thus, the word 'usé' in standard French is written as 'isé.' The diagraph /wɑ/ is pronounced as /ɔ/: 'moi' (me) is pronounced as /mɔ/. One should also note that French Guiana Creole is a non-rhotic patois with no nasal vowels, and thus all R sounds and nasals are dropped from borrowings from other languages: bonjour, pronounced /bɔ̃ʒuːʁ/ in standard French, is rendered /bonzu/.
[edit] Examples
| French Guiana Creole (IPA) | Metropolitan French | English |
|---|---|---|
| Boujou /bonzu/ | Bonjour | Hello; Good day |
| Souplé /suː plɛ/ | S'il vous plait | Please |
| Mèsi /mɛsi/ | Merci | Thank you |
| Mo /mɔ/ | Moi, me, je | Me, I |
| To /tɔ/ | Toi, te, tu | You |
| Li /li/ | Lui, le, il | Him, he |
| Roun /ruːn/ | Un, une | One |
| Eskuzé mo /es'kuːzɛ mɔ/ | Escusez-moi | Excuse me, pardon me |
| Lapli ka tombe /la'pliː ka tomb/ | Il pleut | Rain is falling |
| Jod-la a roun bel jou /zod'la a ruːn bel zu/ | Aujourd'hui, il fait beau | Today is a beautiful day |
| Sa to fé? /sa tɔ fɛ/ | (Comment) ça va? | How are you? |
| Anne a mo manman /an a mɔ 'manman/ | Anne est ma mère | Anne is my mother |
| Andy a to frè /andi a tɔ frɛ/ | Andy est mon frère | Andy is my brother |
| li ka alé a laplaj /li ka alɛ a la'plaz/ | Il va aller a la plage | He's going to the beach |
| Languages derived from French see also French-based creole languages |
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In the Americas: Haitian Creole (kreyòl ayisyen) • Michif • Lanc-Patuá |
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