Kreyòl

Kreyòl, also known as Haitian Creole, is a French-based creole language spoken primarily in Haiti. It developed during the 17th and 18th centuries on the island of Hispaniola, as a lingua franca among enslaved Africans, European colonists, and Indigenous populations. The language combines a simplified French lexicon with syntactic and phonological features from West African languages, as well as influences from Taíno and Spanish.

The standard form of Haitian Kreyòl was formalized in the early 20th century by linguists and educators, and it has since been codified with a set of spelling rules and grammar conventions. Today it is recognized as an official language of Haiti alongside French, used in education, media, and daily communication. Kreyòl is estimated to have 10–12 million native speakers and several hundred thousand second-language speakers worldwide, with diaspora communities in the United States, Canada, France, and the Caribbean.

Linguistically, Kreyòl exhibits subject–verb–object word order, lacks grammatical gender, and incorporates extensive African morphological patterns. Its vocabulary is largely cognate with French, yet it features many unique lexical items. The language has been the subject of sociolinguistic research on language contact, identity, and education. Haitian Kreyòl remains a vital cultural marker, fostering unity among Haiti’s diverse population and serving as a medium for literature, music, and oral tradition.