dominated West African slaves, while the lexical base came largely from the dominating. French colonizers. ..... far from French. Arguments were ..... themselves as "colored French" and have spoken of Haiti as the "fille ainte de la. France" [the ...
Pragmatics 2:3.427-443 International PragmaticsAssociation
THE ''REAL'' HAITIAN CREOLE: METALINGUISTICS AND ORTHOGRAPHIC CHOICE' Bambi B. Schiefferin& Racheile charrier Doucet
1.Introduction Languagecan be examined as a rich resource for understanding the ways in which speakersrepresent themselves,how they represent others, and how they are representedby others. In this paper we explore a set of language beliefs in conjunction with languagepractices of Kreydl speakeis. We are interested in how metalinguistic telms used by Haitians regarding varieties of spoken Kreydl manifest themselvesin debatesregarding which orthography best repreients the language. This is followed by ananalysisof competing orthographies in teims of how tt rnit" the languagelooi andwhich soundsare.givengraphi- representation.We view "ythe pro..r, of Jreiting an orthographyfor Kreydl not is u n"utril activity which simply reduces an oral language to witten form, but as an important symbolicvehicle for'representing its speak"ers In termsof national and international identity. We propose thai conteste-d orthographies beviewedas sites of contestedidentitiesiather ittun ur neutral academicor fnguistic arguments without political, social or educationalconsequences. We suggestthat the debatesregarding the soundsof Kreydl as well as how those sounds should be written areabout different representationsof its speakers.These different arguments and the 1 we refer to the languagein the title of the article in the form that is most familiar to an Englishspeakingaudience,Haitian creole. However,in the body of the text we refer to the language as Kreydl, the way it is referred to by Haitians, and we have chosen to write it and our own transcriptions using the official orthography (lPN). we have, of course, maintained the original orthographies usedin publishedsources. Thiscollaborativeprojectgrewout of an investigation -the of Kreydllanguageusein New york City, whichwas then extendedto Port-au-Prince.During course of transcribingaudiotapedfamily interaction data with native speakers,the issueof orihographicconventions arosefrequently.This in mnjunctionwith nativespeakers'metalinguisticcommeniariesabout the participants'speech led us to investigate the relationshipsbenveenvarietiesof speakingand orthograptry.nes'earch methodsinclude theuseof historical,sociolinguisticand ethnographicdata.we would like to thank the many Haitians whoparticipatedin our rproject and freelysnireo rheir views about Kreydl and other topics with us; thespencerFoundation and New York University(Researchchallenge Fund) for supporting this research; and Michel Degraff,Paul Garrett andJohn Singlerwho provideo tretprufcommentson earlier versions of this paper.
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and Rachelle Charlier Doucet
languageideology that underliesthem have historical socio-politicalroots which are played out in familial, educational,and political contexts.Examining the complex and often paradoxicalvaluesassociatedwith thesedebatesis critical to understandingthe ways in which Haitians evaluate each other and think about themselves. Kreydl, like other creole languages,still paysthe price of its origins. By-products of European colonizationof the New World, creolelanguagesdevelopedon plantations from the forced contact between European mastersand their African slaves.According to most creolists,the basic grammaticalstructure of Kreydl was contributed by the dominated West African slaves,while the lexicalbasecame largely from the dominating French colonizers. Like many other creole languages,Kreydl continues to exist in a complex political and social relationshipto a standardlanguage,in this case French, which since 1918 has been the official languageof education and government in Haiti. Formerly, sociolinguistsdescribedthe relationshipbetween Haitian French and Kreydl as diglossic:both were consideredvarietiesof the samelanguage,used by speakersin different social contextsfor different functions.Haitian French was viewed as the high prestige form and Kreydl as the low prestige form. However, Haiti is better described as a nation predominantly composed of trvo linguistic communities - the minority Kreydl/French bilingual elite (7Vo)and the monolingualKreybl urban and rural masses with varying degreesof linguistic interaction betweenthe two. There are approximately 6 million Kreydl speakersin Haiti and its diasporacommunitieslocated in New York City, Miami, Boston and Montreal, and elsewhere.
2. Kreybl speechvarieties and metalinguistics The metalinguisticterms of a speechcommunitiescan serve as a starting point for investigatingattitudestoward languagevarietiesand the speakersassociatedwith them. Haitians maintain complicatedattitudestowardboth Frenchand Kreydl, many of which become apparent when examiningthe metalinguisticterms used both popularly and 'smooth scientificallyto refer to varieties of spoken Kreydl. Kreydl sw4 Kreydl', Kreydl 'rough 'vulgar rdk Kreydl', Kreydl fransize'FrenchifiedKreydl', and gwo Kreydl Kreydl' are metalinguisticterms central to the debatesabout orthography.2 Kreydl fransize is a term used to refer to the variety of Kreydl spoken by educated urban bilinguals (Vernet 1989: 20). They contrast their Krqdl fransize with gwo lOeydl'rough, vulgar Kreydl', which they sayis spokenby uneducatedurban people and peasants.Both terms refer not only to the phonology,vocabularyand intonational contours of the speechitself, but also to the nonverbalgesturesused by speakersof each variety. Uneducated speakers,however,prefer the term bon Kreydl 'good Kreydl' to refer to the variety that they themselvesuse, though they know the other terms. Depending on their own language socializationexperiencesand social networks, educated speakers can recognize Kreydl rdk, but are not always able to produce it. 2 SeeLudwig 1989and Schieffelin and Doucet ms for a comparisonof similarmetalinguistic termsin Haiti, Martinique,Cuadaloupe, Mauritius and the Seychelles.
choice 429 and orthographic Metalinguistics Uneducatedspeakerscan recognizeKrqtdl fransize,but not speak it spontaneously: 'smooth Kreydl', the sociolect Fattier-Thomasdistinguishes betweenKrqtdl.rwA of the bilingual educatedminority, and Krqdl rdk'rough Kreydl', the variety spoken by the monolingual masses(1984: 39). Lofficial also uses the term l*qdl rlk, which he describesas"le niveau ressenticomme le plus rude de la langue" (1979:118) [the level felt to be the roughest of the language]. While these metalinguistic terms are mentionedin the sociolinguisticliterature on Kreydl (Valdman 1988,1989a,b, 199L), andare commonly known by Haitians in a variety of social classes,the words rdk, swa, andgwo are not listed in the various Kreydl dictionaries in their metalinguistic usage. It is informativefor later discussionsof the orthography to elaborate on the semantics of theseexpressionsbecausethey carry important cultural meanings. 'smooth' (Fr. soie) as a singlelexicalitem is primarily used as an adjectival Swc 'hair' modifierof cheve and refers to fine, straight hair. The opposite of.cheveswa in thisreferentialsenseis chevegrenn'tightlycurled,kinky hair' (Fr. crdpu).Men are also saidto be swa'smooth'if they are well-mannered,educated,emotionallyeven and are pleasingto women (ndgsa a swo'that guy is smooth'),a positive description.^Spaas anadverbialmodifier refers to the smoothmannerin which some action is carried out. For example,one saysof a car which runs smoothly and is problem free, machin sa a macheswa.Yet another example,paleswa'speaksmoothlyand persuasively',describes speechwhich is flowing, regardless of the social or educational background of the speaker. Krqdl rdk is not strictly opposedto lheydl swa, though these two terms are often (Fattier-Thomas1984;Valdman 1989a,b, 1991).Outside of its referenceto contrasted speech,the primary meaning of the word r?k is agricultural and refers to fruit or vegetables which are not yet ripe but ready to pick. When referring to persons,rdk is oftenapplied to a child in the senseof appearing older than he or she actually is. Additionally,r?k refers to strength,particularlyin men. Unlike swa, which can modiS 'speak a rangeof actions,rdk is only used to describea manner of speaking:pale rCk 'speak smoothly'. Pale rdk also indexes a verbal roughly',is the opposite of pale swa styleof directness,in contrastto the more indirect style of pale swa. Yet another way to refer to stylesof indirection is the Kreydl expressionpale French'.The cultural meaningof this expressionis somewhatdifferent franse'speaking frompale swa.Palefranse emphasizesspeakingindirectly (in either French or Kreydl), with the implication of tricking someone through the use of beautiful sounds, obfuscatedspeech, or irrelevant arguments.The result may be confusion for the listener.Depending on the speakersand the context,what soundsgood Qtaleswa or palefranse) can be viewed as potentially deceptive. The differencesbetweenKreydl swa and Kreydlrek that are most relevant in the orthographicdebateslie in the degreesof similaritiesto French phoneticcharacteristics (Fattier-Thomas1984: 40-41). Kreydl swa can be most generally characterized as retainingthe front-rounded vowels lol, lcel, /ii/ where Kreydl r?k would use the nonroundedvowels lel and /i/. Another marker of.Kreydl svvais the use of postvocalic lrl
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Bambi B. Schiefetin and Rachelle Charlier Doucet
at the ends of words, absent in the rCk variety.3Also relevant is the prevocalic Haitian lrl and its possiblerealization as a more labialized l'xl in three main contexts: lol, ldl, l tl . Since 1986,with the liberation of the press and increasedaccessof the masses to the media, there has been a shift in values associatedwith these speech varieties. Monolinguals try to imitate the prestigiousform, Krqdl swa. Fattier-Thomas (1987) remarks that some bilinguals, in particular politicians, try to modiff their usual Krqdl swa to sound more like the popular variety Kreydl rdk in an attempt to identiff with the masses. For both categories of speakers, this is met with little success.Whereas previously Krqdl swa and Krqdl fransize were both considered desirable modes of speaking,Kreydl r?k and gwo lheydl are now given value in some progressivecircles where claims of authenticity and rootedness in cultural identity are asserted.As this is happening, the term bon Kreydl is becoming an alternative to l?eydl rdk and gwo Krqdl, becausethe latter two have long standingnegative connotations.Bon l{rqdl is now the term used in Haiti to refer to the genuine Kreydl spoken by the masses. While these metalinguisticnotions are worth consideringon their own, it is useful to investigate their pragmatic implications and links to other symbolic systems. Many Haitians and non-Haitians view Kreydl as a simplified form of French, at best. Others claim it is not a real language at all, but a mixture of languageswithout a g"ammar. It has been characterized as lacking in abstract terms, inadequate for scientific, philosophical or logical thought. For most of its history Kreybl has not been considered adequate for government, schooling or Western religious services.These ideas about Kreydl have not only had important repercussionsfor the ways in which monolingual Kreydl speakers have been viewed, but have also had important c()nsequencesfor the codification and functions of written Kreydl. As we will see, the question of the nature and meaning of theselanguagevarietiesin Haiti and who speaks them is at the core of the orthography debates that have been going on in Haiti for more than sixty years,and which, despite the claims of many linguiststhat the question is closed, provokes reactions among linguistsand educators.The debate on the use of Kreydl itself, and particularly on the use of Kreydl in schools,is broader and is taken up by parents and teachersin addition to writers and media people. The issuesof orthographyand use,we will argue,are connectedthrough broader ideologicaltenets.
3. Writing Kreybl The first accounts of written Kreydl date back to the late eighteenth century, when Kreybl was used for both official and literary purposes.One of the earliest records of written Kreydl was issuedby a French delegatefrom Bonapart's regime, Sonthonax.It is an abstract (from the French) of the proclamation to the slavesabolishing slaveryin 7794.This, and other documentsat the time, were read to the nonliterate population 5 The exceptionis in the Northern dialect,which has this postvocalicfeature throughout (Hyppolite 1949;Orjala 1970).
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anddid not circulateas written documents.The orthographyusedin this documentand othersresemblesa simplified French spellingin use at the time and is best viewed as inventedad hoc as it had no basis in any systematicconventionsfor representing the soundsof Kreydl. This approach, representing Kreybl as a diminished or simplified versionof French, persistedwell into the 1930sand reflected many ideas about the natureof Kreydl and its speakers.a Orthographic debates began in Haiti in the late 1920sand have involved many differentpositions (D6jean 1980a;Pressoir 1947).As of 1980eleven proposed spelling systemscould be identified. Nonetheless,despite apparent diversity, three main kinds of proposalscan be identified:(1) Thosewho take a pro-etymologicalor anti-phonemic view;(2) those who support a pro-phonemic approach; (3) those in an intermediary camp, proposing a phonemic orthography but with some concessionsto French spelling.s The first widely recognized system was proposed in 1940 by a Protestant missionary, Ormonde McConnell, who had done work in adult literacy in rural Haiti. It used33 symbols and was phonemic (Ddjean 1980a: 19-20): oral vowels: nasal vowels: semi-vowels: consonants: digraphs:
\ I
' \
aeei aed
o du
ily w u (in the dipthong ui) bdfghjklmnprstvz sh gn
ln 1943McConnell was joined by an American literacy expert, Frank l.aubach, who was not familiar with Kreydl, and together they revised McConnell's original spellingsystem.The secondversion, called McConnell-l^aubach,was also a phonemic orthography.It used the same alphabet as McConnell's with the following differences: the ou instead of u to represent the sound lul as in Kreydl dou (Fr. dow); and ch insteadof sh to represent the sound /5/ as in Kreydl chante (Fr. chanter). This spelling systemwas used in the literacy campaignsponsoredby the government of Elie Irscot. Thematerials,almost all inspired from Protestantreligioustexts,were designedto bring salvationand light to the Haitian rural masses. The Haitian scholarPressoir(1947)stronglycriticizedthe McConnell-l-aubach orthography mainly becauseof the absenceof the front-roundedvowels lrj,l,lol, lel, lcr-l; the broad use of the "Anglo-Saxon"letters w and y; and the use of the circumflex to mark the nasalizedvowels. As French uses the letter n to indicate nasalization,a Frenchdiacritic was used but with a different application. This systemwas called by someKreydl bwa-nan-nen'Kreydl with a wooden stick on its nose' becauseof the abundance of circumflexes.The term bwa-nan-nen refers t0 putting a small wooden pincer, like a clothespin, on the face or ear of someonewho a Hoffman (1939)reviewsthe developmentof literaryworls in Haiti. 5 Debatesregardingorthographyin Mauritiusand Martiniqueshowsimilar divisionsbetween thoseadvocatinga phonemicbasisand thosearguingfor an etymologicalone.
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BambiB. Schiffilin andRachelle CharlierDoucet
loses at each round of dominoesor cards and is still done today in urban as well as rural areas of Haiti. Kreydl bwa-nan-nenref.ersboth to the way the words look in their written form and to how they were to be pronouncedwhen read. Pompilus (1973:25) suggestedthat the appellation bwa-nan-nenwas suggestedby the literacy instructors to help their students remember that the circumflexrepresentednasalization.Pressoir claimed (1947) that this new orthography was good for "savages"who spoke a gros crdole'rough creole'. One characteristicgenerallyadmitted of rural Kreydl is extended nasalization(Lofficial 1979: 118). Although systematic,the McConnell-l,aubach orthography was contested by many educated Haitians because of its associationwith Protestantism and its "American" look - a sensitivepolitical issue,sinceAmericanshad occupiedHaiti from 1915-7934(Pressoir 1947).Those Haitians did not want any reminders of this American presence, not even in the writing system. They were not happy about the novel representationof nasalizedvowels through the use of the circumflex,which treated these nasal sounds differently from the ways in which they are represented in French. This made the representationof Kreydl appear strangeand foreign, and in particular, far from French. Arguments were made that this orthography would inhibit learning French, a goal in educationalcircles. Pressoir,who was the leader of the opposition against McConnell-Laubach's systembut was himself in favor of a pro-phonemicorthography,introduced a number of changes.He eliminated the circumflexto indicate nasalizationand introduced the letter n in its place. In spite of the fact that the "Anglo-Saxon"letters k, y, and w looked "too American", he nonethelessretained the letter k instead of choosingthe letter c (as in French) to representthe sound M, and also kept the letter y together with the letter i to represent the semi-consonantljl (D6jean 1980a: 185), as in for example, ay)'yesterday'.Instead of the letter w, however,he used the digraph ou to representboth the vocalic sound lul and the semivocalicsound r'd, thus adopting the French orthographicconventionfor representingthosesounds.Pressoiralsointroduced the hyphen to distinguishbetweenthe nasalizedvowelsas in lpdl and (non-nasalized) vowelswhich are followed by the nasalconsonantlnl, as for example inpa-n (Fr. panne 'mechanical breakdown').Pressoir'ssystemused the following alphabet of 30 symbols (D6jean 1980a:183): oral vowels: nasalvowels: semi-vowels: consonants:
a e e I o ou an in on ily ou u (in the dipthong ui) b d f gjklmnprstvz
digraph: ou
gn digraphs:ch
Pressoir'sorthographywas adoptedwith some modifications.It has been used primarily by governmentagenciesfor more than 30 yearsin adult literacyprogramsand was consideredquite satisfactory (D6jean1980a:182;F6rdre t977:59; Pompilus1985: 163). American missionaries, however, used a modified McConnell-Laubach orthographyfor Bible translationand instruction.In literarycircles,independentwriters wishing to write in Kreydl createdtheir own orthographicsystems,more or lessclose to French etymologyand orthography,thus contestingthe Pressoirsystem.There was
Metalinguistics andorthographic choice 433 n0 consensus about orthography. In the 1970sthere was increasingsocial and political pressureto change the socialorder of the nation and changethe languageof instructionand literacyin schools from French to Kreydl. Once Kreydl was officially introduced by law in the schools in t979,it was vital that the Haitian government unify Kreydl orthography. To do so, it established as the official orthography a systemdevelopedby Haitian linguistsfrom the InstitutP6dagogiqueNational (IPN) in collaboration with French linguists from the Universit6Ren6 Descartes.The official orthography has an alphabet of 32 symbols: oralvowels: nasalizedvowels semi-vowels: consonants:
a e e i o d ou an en on oun w y u (in the dipthong ui) b, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, flg, p, r, s, t, v, z
In this orthographythe soundlEl is representedby en. It retainsonly one accent mark,the grave for ldl and ld,l.The letter y is used to represent the sound /j/. For the back-roundedvowel lul the representationis ou. The use of hyphens and apostrophe areoptional,as is the representationof the prevocaliclwl as either the letter w or the letter r before the vowels lol, lol, 16l,lul (for example, gwo or gro). In 1980 this orthography,called dtograf /PN or dtograf oftsyel or more simply dtograf Krqdl, was madeofficialon a trial basisby a communiqu6of the Ministry of Education on January 30,1980.After four years of experimentation,the governmentwas supposedto take a definitivedecision.The four years have long since passed,but no official document asyet has either endorsedor discreditedthe official orthography.The systemis still contested by some linguistsand provokes passionatereactionsamong the public for to be discussedbelow. reasons One of the major goals of the McConnell-l-aubach orthography was that it be easyto learn and use by the monolingualmasses.For Pressoirthe major ideological concernwas that the orthography not look American and function as a bridge to literacyin French. When the dtograf Krqdl was introduced in 1979, the linguistic ideologyregardingKreydl itself had changedsignificantly,and this affected the attitudes peopleheld toward the orthographyas a representationalsystem.Unlike the periods of adultliteracycampaignswhere Kreydl was treatedsimply as a transitionaltool to be usedfor the achievementof other goals,by 1979Kreydl was thought about not only in thecontextof literacy,but more generallyas the languageof instruction as well as an objectof instruction.The image of Kreydl, both spokenand written, and consequently itsrole in the social and political life of Haitians,had changed.
4. Interpretation of the debates Whyis the issueof the Kreydl orthographyso important to Haitians?The matter is not simplywhether to write, for example, the Kreydl word for bread lEl with e Qten) or i (pin)or ain @ain) like in French "pain".The underlyingissueis about representations of selfand representationsof the nation.
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Pro-etymologistsargue that Kreydl must stayas closeas possibleto the French orthographic system.The reasoningthat underlies this position is that French and Kreydl will always coexist in Haiti and thus it is logical to facilitate the learning of French through Kreydl. This idea is usuallyexpressedby the image of an "orthographic bridge" which will help avoid the confusionwhich might result for Kreydl monolinguals as well as the bilinguals from the use of two totally different systemsfor languages which, they think, are quite similar. Kreydl orthography, they assert,must also reflect Kreydl's origin - the French language.Those who aligned themselveswith the proetymologistposition include mainly literary people and membersof the intelligentsia, primary and secondaryschool teachers,and many parentsfrom the middle classesas well as the lower classeswho were concernedabout the introduction of Kreydl in schools. Pro-phonemicistsinsist that Kreydl must be written in a coherent, systematic, and logical way. A Kreydl orthography must be easy to learn as well as completely independent from the French orthographic system. Since the target groups are monolingual Kreydl speakerswho do not read French, theoretically they can learn any orthography, and the most straightforwardKreydl systemis the easiestfor the not-yetliterate monolingualsbecausethe only relevant facts are Kreydl facts.The orthography should represent the soundsof their Kreybl. The pro-phonemicistsare comprisedof those who adopted and used, even if with slight variations, Pressoir's orthographic system and, since 1980, the dtografKreydl. Most who adopt this approach are people involved in adult literacy and/or children'sliteracyprogramsin Haiti and in the United States.Representativesof this camp are the Haitian government;the Catholic and Protestant Churches; linguists including Vernet and Ddjean; and also independent writers. The opinions of this group are not homogeneous,and D6jean, for example,in order to put an end to "useless"discussions, acceptedthe official orthography,though with reservations(1980 a,b,c). A third position,which advocatesan intermediatesolution,is representedby the Haitian linguists and educators Pompilus (1973) and t official (1979). From their perspectivethe orthographyshouldbe phonemicbut wheneverpossibleshould usethe sameconventionsas the Frenchorthographyto representsoundssimilar in French and Kreydl. Their reasoning is that French and Kreydl coexist in Haiti, and one day the country will be totally bilingual. Their main goal is to include the front-rounded vowels (usually associatedwith the speechof bilinguals) in the phonetic description of Kreydl and to provide a graphic representationfor each of them. Pompilus's reasonsfor this are that many non-educated people also pronounce those vowels in their everyday speech,and eliminating the vowelswill result in the rejection by many people of the orthography itself and of the use of Kreydl for instruction(1973: 30). It is difficult to reconcile Pompilus'sproposal for an intermediate orthography which should integrate the front-roundedvowelswith his declarationthat it would be illusory to take the variety of the urban educatedas the standard (cited by D6jean 1980a: 170). This contradictionrevealsthe tension of creating a bridge between the past (etymology) and the future (when Haiti will be totally bilingual) at a time when the present itself is so full of conflict. Lofficial argues that it is better to prevent
Metalingubtics
and onhographic choice
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potentialproblemssinceit is likely that with the influenceof schoolsand the media the occurrenceof the front-roundedvowelswill increase(1979: 118).Thus it is better to anticipate the difficulties that could arise from two totally different systems and integrate the front-rounded vowels now. The Haitian linguist F6rdre advocates somethingquite similar with his proposalof an "ethno-orthography"(1974:23), that is, an orthographyculturally and sociallyacceptable- an orthography which must include the front-roundedvowels,which are not just marginal sounds(Ibid: 50).
5. Discussionof the arguments The statusof Kreydl and the orthographicdebatesare closelyrelated to questionsof representation at both the nationaland internationallevels.Orthographicissuescan be includedwithin a broader framework of languageideologies- the cultural beliefs that underlielanguagepractices,choicesand attitudes of a people. Most of the discussions that have taken place in Haiti from 1930to 1990can be traced to ideologiesabout the inherentsuperiority of the French languageand are connectedto ideologiesabout the superiorityand refinement of French culture based on the achievementsof the great Frenchwriters of two past centuries:the Century of Reason (17th century) and the Century of the Enlightenment (18th century). Ideas of the clarity, exactness,logic, rationality,natural order, and richnessof the French languageas contributing to the greatness of French civilization (Grillo 1989;Swiggers1990)were echoed and defended by many Haitian writers. The notion that the French languageis superior to all others was transmitted to the French colonies and survived in the minds and practices of both the ex-colonizers and ex-colonized.Schools in Haiti, which until recently remained exclusively in the handsof the French clergy, played an important role in keeping this idea strong. After its independence Haiti tried to reject anything that was reminiscent of France. Norktheless the new nation kept the French language and - also copied French administrativeand organizational structuresin order to survive.oSince that time, the newruling classeshave maintained two contradictory positions in their relationship to Europe,particularly to France: hatred and fear at one pole, admiration and emulation at the opposite pole. The same ambivalenceis reflected in Haitians'attitudes toward French and Kreydl, and it is in this light that the importance given to the issue of Kreybl orthographycan best be understood. If we look carefully, we will see that the debate is not purely about how to write Kreydl, i.e., how to represent graphically the sounds
6 Hoffm"n (1934) explainsthat the Haitians were awareof the paradoxinherent in their conscious imitation of thosewho had causedthem so muchsuffering,the French."[Theyl ... attempted to resolveit by assertingthat they had beenoppressedin mlonial timesnot by the French,but by the colons,a disreputableminority of adventurers recruitedfrom the dregsof Frenchsociety.."(p.59).These werenot the sameFrench of the metropolewho epitomizedculture and civilization.We thank Paul Garrettfor pointing this out.
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and Rachelle Charlier Doucet
of Kreydl. It is about the conceptionof Kreydl itself as a "language"and as an element of Haitian national identity. It is about how Haitians situate themselvesthrough languagesat the national and international levels.It is about the notions of.Ayisyenite 'Haitianness', of authenticity, nationalism and legitimacy. The battle over the orthographycannot be understoodif we do not situateit in its socialcontext.The dual linguistic systemis a manifestation of the dual social systemexistingin Haiti. From the perspectiveof the different orthographicpositions,all of which have social,political, cultural and symbolicimplications,two issuesare taken up: the questionof the "sounds" and the question of the "look" of Kreydl .
5.I. The sounds of lbeydl The first disagreement is about the sounds that the alphabet should represent, particularly about the existenceor non-existencein Kreydl of four front-rounded vowels, /ti/ as in French tu; lol as in French peu; lcpl as in French boeuf; I I as in French un. The existenceor non-existenceof the front-roundedvowels is viewed by many (includingD6jean, Lofficial) as the "dividingline" betweenthe educatedminority and the masses,between rural and urban. But to this is linked a more profound question of representationand legitimacy.Which variety of the languageshould be standardizedand codified? This technical question has its counterpart in the sociopolitical arena.It hasbeen answeredby anotherquestion:Which variety constitutesthe "real", "authentic" Kreydl? Consequently,who is the real Haitian and whose interests must be taken into accountand served?Not surprisingto anyone,thesequestionsrefer to the strugglesfor power that have gone on between Noirs 'Blacks' and MulAtres 'Mulattos' since colonial times and the strugglesfor upward social mobility by the masses. Whether the front-rounded vowels are the apanage'exclusivedomain' of a minority of educated bilinguals as D6jean argues,or whether they are also used by monolingualsas F6rdre, Pompilusand l-official assert,what interestsus in the debate is the role of prestige marker ascribedto them by the population. D6jean himself documentsmany casesof hypercorrectionin the speechof monolingualKreydl speakers (1980a:124-125).Fattier-Thomasalsonotesthe useof hypercorrections(related to the front-rounded vowels) in commercialadvertisementsto establisha kind of complicity with the public (1984: 41). This is to saythat for both bilingualsand monolingualsthe front-roundedvowelshave a highly marked and symbolicvalue.' For the educatedand non-educated urban dwellers, the front- rounded vowels are associatedwith the nonrounded vowels which are consideredtheir antithesis,and function as prestige markers,the front-roundedonesbeing the prestigiousforms.For example,considerthe following pairs:
7 Bourdieu's ideas (1975, lg7g, lg82) concerningprestigelanguage,and symbolic capital illuminatethis argument.
Metalinguisticsand onhographicchoice
Kreydl
opposition front-rounded dui lnl- lil bleu lol - lel peu lel - lel
front unrounded din ble pD lindi
French front-rounded du iz bleu peur lundi
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English rice blue fear Monday
These pairs are not minimal pairs. They are variants which are found in social dialectsand they function as social markers. The use of the front-rounded series is with educatedclasses,good manners,and harmonioussounds,whereasthe associated secondseriesis associatedwith popular usage,rough manners,strident and even vulgar sounds.Metalinguistic terms are used to qualify the second series,the nonrounded vowels,and reflect the low esteem associatedwith these sounds.To pronounce a nonroundedvowel when a rounded vowel is expectedis to make a mistake,and when onemakes this error, Haitians will say that one has a bouch su or bouch si 'sour/acidic mouth'or, more elegantly said,bouch surette'puckeredmouth'. This is related to the ideathat these nonroundedvowels have intrinsicallydisagreeablesounds,and these are labled .tu or si 'sour/acidic'.Other meaningsof si or su in Kreydl refer to the taste of lemonsand other acidic or unripe fruits, and milk or other kinds of food that can turn sour. People can also have a disagreablesour smell, expressedas nCgsa a santi si 'that man smells sweaty'.These examplesshow the connection of the words salsi with the idea that something which has been agreeablehas turned disagreeable,sour, bad. The negative attitudes toward the nonrounded vowels also explain the hypercorrectionsoften made by non-educatedspeakerswhen they try to affect a certain degreeof education and good mannersby avoidingthe marked soundseven in cases wherethere are no alternates.The expressionsbouchsa and bouch si as well asbhk sulsiand dj\l sulsi, of which bdk si and djdl si are the rCkvariety and have the pejorative senseof 'disgustingtrap', are used to describewhat speakersdo and how they sound whenthey hypercorrectthese vowels in their speech.Those ideas are internalized,it mustbe stressed,by members of both ends of the socialladder who react with equal vigor against the official decision to eliminate the front-rounded vowels and to generalize the use of the sulsi sounds.They do not want their children to acquire "bad habits"(i.e*, bouch su), but rather to speak elegantly and as closely to French as possible (Jean-Charles1987;Zlphir 1990).It is reasonableto suggestthat an important assumptionunderlying the rounded-nonroundedvowel question is that Kreydl is a deformationof French and that French is the model to imitate, Both the linguistswho designedthe official orthographyand the governmentwhich implemented it consider the front-roundedvowels as "marginalsounds".No graphic representationof them is includedin the alphabet because,saysVernet for example, "ll ne faut pas apprendred I'enfantdessonsqu'il neprononcepas quotidiennementdanssa languematemelle"(1980: 43-44).[One need not teach a child soundsthat he does not pronounce in his mother tongueeveryday.]Ddjean has expresseda similar idea: "Choisir un sysftmegraphique qui intdgreles voyellesafieieures anondies, c'est augmentersa dfficult€ d'apprentissage pour I'immensemajoitd des Haitiens" (1980a: 172-173).[To choose a graphic system
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that includes the front rounded vowels is to increasethe difficulty of its learning for the majority of Haitians.] This implies that the front-rounded vowels sounds are difficult, (if not impossible),to pronouncefor monolinguals.Thus, those soundsshould not figure in the alphabet in order not to embarrassand marginalize the majority of speakers. By advocating the use of the front-rounded vowels, D6jean expresseshis socio-political militantism: anyone who proposes to include them is "rdactionnaireet 'reactionary 4litiste" and elitist' and aims at promulgating a class and cultural imperialism(1980a:175). To a lesserextent,the sameprestigeissueholds for the use of certain nasalized forms. For many words, there is a choice between a less nasalizedform and a more nasalizedform; for example agrondm'agronomist' (educatedvariety) versusagronndm (non-educatedvariety). The double n marks the pronunciation as extendednasalization which has rural connotations."Excessivenasalization"is considereda characteristicof rural speech and is felt to be vulgar (rak) [nfficial 1979: 118).The ti diksyonnelcrqdlfranse (Bentolila 1976) chose the nasalized forms as "characteristic" of Kreydl, as indicated by the spelling of the word "diksyonn|".The dictionary has been controversial in Haiti and largely rejected. A set of implicit oppositionsand contradictionsemergesfrom the debatesabout the sociolectsand standardizationof Kreydl. The educatedare characterizedas being urban, of the higher social classes,elegant, civilized and speaking Kreydl swa, all of which is desirable for both bilinguals and monolinguals. The uneducated are characterizedas rural (habitan) from the lower classes,speakingKrqdl rdk, bouch sulsi, all of which is undesirable (for both bilinguals and urban monolinguals) but desirable for many nationalistsand progressives(linguists,intellectualsand politicians). The sound systemleads directly into the core of the debate about social classes, legitimacy and authenticity.If we push the idea of authenticityto its limits, the following question emerges:What soundsare those of the real, authentic Kreydl? What is the real, authentic Kreydl? Thus, who is the real, authentic Haitian? The dominated "Africanized" massesor the dominant "Frenchified"elites?Is there a "pure" Kreydl? We see that the ideologicalbasisof such questionscan lead to a vicious circle. While question of the soundsof Kreydl lead us to issueslocated primarily at the national level, questionsabout the "look" of Kreydl can be situated at an international level and involve the relationship of Haiti with other countries. Here the focus is on issuesof nationality,independenceand autonomy.
5.2. The look of Kreydl The pro-etymologists center their arguments around the issue of the roots of Kreydl. According to them, Kreydl, derived from French, must reflect its origin, and should be easily.classifiedby its appearanceinto a world languagefamily, that of the romance languages(Archer 1987).An etymologicorthographywill be helpful for learning French later, sinceFrench will alwaysbe spokenin Haiti. Haiti must not forget its membership 'French in the francophonie speakingcommunity'.To adopt an "Anglo-Saxonlook"
andorthogaphicchoice 439 Metalinguistics representedby the "non-[.atin"lettersw, k, and y is to deny that membership(Archer 1987).According to the most fervent pro-etymologists,the use of the three above mentionedletters gives Kreydl a weird aspect,and even worse, will prevent the easy learningof French for both bilinguals and monolinguals.The most zealous prowho also present themselvesas zealousnationalists,think that the Angloetymologists, Saxon orthography has been imposed upon the Haitian people by imperialist powers.Thisidea, expressedin t947, pointed to McConnell and l-aubach as agents of the United States, the first imperialist power. As later echoed by Archer (1987), the purposeof the United Stateswas clear: to eliminate French in order to introduce English,a task that would be accomplishedthrough the anglicization of Kreydl. The United Statesalso wanted to substituteProtestantreligion for the Catholic faith and Vodoureligions.Their interestin literacyis only basedon their desireto sell Bibles and convertHaitians to their own religion. Still, according to Archer, the aim of the French, the secondimperialist power, in this endeavour is not very clear, but it is still worthwhile to raise the question: why the suddeninterest of the Western powers in the vernaculars,in the Caribbean as well as in other parts of the world? Why this insistencein using the vernaculars in education?Archer calls for vigilance and the retention of French and an "etymological Kreydl system".Not everyonewho is pro-etymologicalexpressessuch extreme ideas as fucher, but there is clearly a defensive reaction or a discomfort about foreign intervention in matters that Haitians consider strictly domestic. The same rejection (D6jean 1980a) or mistrust (lnfficial 1979) is also found in the other camps. Among the most contestedletters is the k, which not only representsthe danger of United States imperialism but has even been claimed to represent the threat of communism.8Deiean (1980a) reports that the literacy activistshave been accusedof beingdisguisedcommunist agentsby a governmentofficial under F. Duvalier's regime. Here is revealeda fear of a sudden"wake up" of the masses.Dej€an also reports that a militant communist accusedthe same orthography of being "bourgeois,r€actionaireet macoute"(1980a:55). The underlying assumption of the pro-etymologistsis that the orthographic systemof the language must be linked to a culture, to a tradition. The most extreme assumptionis that Kreydl needsFrench to rely on and that French must be given credit for its contribution. On the contrary, answersthe opposite pro-phonemic group, no nationality,religion, culture or political allegiancecan be ascribedto single letters like w, k, y. An orthography is just an arbitrary and conventional system, and from a linguisticpoint of view a writing systemshould be neutral (D6jean 1980a).Thus, the pro-phonemicgroup advocatesan orthographytotally new and independent for Kreydl. From their perspective,the choice of a phonemic systemis scientificallyjustified; it is the more rational and the simpler way of writing Kreydl, which should avoid the errors 8 It is interestingto note that the letter k is ascribedanothervalue in the developmentof Papiamentu, the creole languagespokenin Aruba, Bonnaireand Curacao,to mark "African ancestryn (Winer1990:26 fn l), while in the United Statesit is usedby blackpowermovementsand other groups asa markerof social protestagainstundemocraticpractices,as in "Amerika'.
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and aberrationsof the French orthography.It is just a conventionalsystem,and the use of w, k, y has nothing to do with Anglo-Saxonor Protestant,Russianor communism. The underlyingassumptionis that Kreydl is a languagethat can standby itself and does not need someoneelse'stradition to rely on. Consequently,the pro-phonemic group arguesthat the teachingof Kreydl must be independentfrom the teachingof French. For the militants of that group who are the most involved in literacy (D6jean, Vernet), the target is the monolingualmasses,not the educatedelites. It is interestingto note that the two most extremecamps,the pro-phonemicand the pro-etymologists, advocate the authority and neutrality of "science"for their arguments. But we have seen that there are no neutral positions,only ideologicalstances.
6. Conclusions These arguments reveal the complexity and ambivalenceof cultural definitions of Ayisyenite 'Haitianess'. As Haiti is still in the process of integrating its dual African/European heritage, there are numerous arenas where cultural duality is continually negotiated.Religion (voudou and westernreligion) is one important locus of this negotiationprocess,and language(French and Kreybl) is another.The debates about languagealso illustrate the extent to which an issuecan be politicized - in this case orthography - where intoleranceis the dominant note. With few exceptions, throughout the 19th century, the elites have defined themselves as "colored French" and have spoken of Haiti as the "fille ainte de la France" [the oldest daughter of France] or as France Noire "Black France".Although acknowledgingtheir African roots, the elites also claimed their affiliation with L^atin culture. The Indigenist School and Haitian Ethnology School affirmed that Haitian culture was Afro-l-atin but with a predominanceof African elements.African elements are associatedwith blackness,vodou, the masses.Kreydl, the only element that the educatedclaim to sharewith the masses,is the enduringsymbolof Haitian identity.But we have seen an ambivalencein the valuesattachedto Kreydl: the rdk variety is used for nationalistdiscourseon authenticityand pride, but at the same time is associated with negativeconnotationsabout thesesame masses.This ambivalenceis reflectedin the orthographyquarrel itself as well as in the wish on the part of the pro-etymological camp for a Kreydl orthographic "bridge" between the past (French) and the future (when French and Kreydl will co-existpeacefully)but with no solid foundationsin an ever changingpresent. It is noteworthy that Haiti is not the only country where languageissuesand orthography issuesin particular provoke emotional reactions.Examples abound of orthographic quarrels in industrializedsocietiesas well as in the so-calledthird and fourth worlds.eThe recent argumentsregardingthe implementationof the reform of the French orthography are a good example of how a country can stick to its 9 Regardingother orthographicbattles,seefor example,Bernabeet al. 1983;Coulmas190; Fodor and Hegdge1982-l9X);G.E.R.E.C.1982;Graves1991;Jaffe 1990;Ludwig 1989.
Metalinguistics and orthographic choice 441 orthographicicons as symbols of its identity. When a languageis codified and an orthographyis officially adopted, this is usuallyinterpreted to mean that there is one correctway to spell and write the language,and that all others are simply wrong. To designand implement an orthography is neither a simple nor neutral endeavor. It establishes norms of pronunciation as well as norms for writing. The main reason for reaction is that the elaboration of an orthography implies the choice and standardizationof one dialect over the others. And when a variety through its officialization is given the status of a standard, the users of the other varieties sometimesreact with a surprisingvirulence becausethey feel that their languagevariety is not being represented. The latest dtografKreydl is implicitly positioningthe Kreydl spoken by the masses asthe standard.This has created resistanceboth to the adoption of the orthography andto the use of Kreydl as a medium of instruction in school. The double resistance comesfrom both the massesand the educated elite minority. The massessee the officializationof written and spoken Kreydl in school as limiting their accessto French andconsequentlysocial and economic mobility. The elites, who already know Kreydl, don'tseethe point of teachingit, in any form, in school.They also hold the view that kqdl rCk and gwo Kreydl are directed toward the lowest common denominator, bringingthem down insteadof elevatingthe masses. As we have seen, the debate around the orthography takes on issues of legitimacyand authenticity. Who is meant to be represented by this otograf Krqdl, whosespeech,values, cultural identity? Which version of Kreydl can be said to be genuinelyHaitian? Is it the Kreydl swa or Kreydlfransize of the educated minority, or theKrqdl rCk, the gwo Kreydl, or the bon Kreydl, the "real Kreydl" of the masses?So weraisethis as a rhetorical questionas a way of questioningthe question:what is the realKreydl? This can only be answeredafter addressingthe question, who is the real Haitian? Any linguisticpolicy that would be exclusivelybasedon "purely linguisticfacts" takesthe risk of going the wrong way, since languageis not only an instrument of communication: languagealso carries symbolicvalues that condition social,political, andeconomicspheres.The main questionto raise,in the Haitian case,is how to give thecurrentlymarginalizedvariety of Kreydl spokenby the majority of the population, aswell as that majority itself,the effectivemeansto reversethe presentsituation.Such meansare not limited to the linguisticsphere,but necessarilyoverlap and will have consequences for all aspectsof sociallife.
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