[Localization] Localization for Haiti (Kreyol)

[Edward Cherlin]

On 1/12/08, Marvin Demuth <marvindemuth at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> At 05:11 PM 1/9/2008, Edward Cherlin wrote:
>
> >What language name did you use? I believe that "Kreyol" is the
> >accepted name and spelling in Kreyol for Haitian Creole French, and
> >that "Aiysyen" is also acceptable.
>
> I have done some more research.  Searching the United Nations web
> site, I found that there are 464 references to Creole.  There are only five
> references to Kreyol.  There are zero references to Aiysyen.
>
> The USAID/Haiti page refers to Creole.

These are in no way normative for the people of Haiti. Google, while
not normative, is at least unbiased.

about 1,680,000 for haitian creole
about 461,000 for kreyol
about 230 for aiysyen   <--misspelled at Ethnologue.org
about 451,000 for ayisyen
about 221,000 for kreyol ayisyen
about 179,000 for kreyol-ayisyen

So, more or less equal in usage for kreyol and ayisyen, and lots of
places where the names are used together. Aiysyen was an error I
copied from Ethnologue.

The Wikipedia Kreyol Main Page/Paj Prensipal says

Ou nan Wikipedya kreyòl ayisyen, ansiklopedi lib ki egziste nan divès lang.

The Haitian Embassy Web site, http://www.haiti.org/,  says

Official Languages: Creole, French

The site is mostly in English and standard French, but has examples of
Kreyol. I can  understand this written form somewhat, and expect that
I could read my way into it in a day, but I know from experience that
I can't understand a word of spoken Ayisyen. Presumably I would in a
week or two, if I went there.

"Mesdames, Messieurs, Honorables Senateurs et Députés..."

http://www.haiti.org/diskou.htm

DISKOU PREZIDAN REPIBLIK LA
NAN OKAZYON OUVÈTI
SESYON ÒDINÈ PALMAN AN
PALÈ LEJISLATIF

8 JANVYE 2007

Medam, Mesye, Onorab Senatè ak Depite, Konstitisyon an mande m, chak
dezyèm lendi janvye, pou m pale ak Nasyon an atravè noumenm, Senatè,
Depite ki reprezante l, pou m di kijan m wè sitiyasyon peyi a, men
sitou ki pèspektiv pou peyi a.

Ki sitiyasyon peyi a, jodia ? Repons la pa difisil. Li nan tout radyo,
nan tout televizyon, Nan tout jounal, nan tout lari a. Tout moun
konnen l, tout moun ap repete l...

> My Haitian friend, Jude Augusma, who grew up in rural Haiti, tells me that
> the common people say Kreyol.
>
> Perhaps, the terminology should be Creole (Kreyol).

There are a lot of Creoles. I suggest

Haitian Creole (Kreyòl)

If we are going to use the native name for the language we should
spell it correctly.

Library of Congress version of ISO 6.9-2
http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/code_list.php

3LA    2LA    English                                 French
hat  	ht  	Haitian; Haitian Creole  	haïtien; créole haïtien

and in Kreyòl, it would presumably be

Kreyòl; Ayisyen

> Marvin Demuth
>
> I hope to have some thoughts of the keyboard layout soon.

How would it differ from French AZERTY? Are there any extra accented letters?


-- 
Edward Cherlin
Earth Treasury: End Poverty at a Profit
http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay