French Guianese Creole

French Guianese Creole
Guyanais, Patwa
Native to	French Guiana
Native speakers	150 000  (2012)
Language family	French Creole Antillean Creoles French Guianese Creole
Language codes
ISO 639-3	gcr
Linguasphere	51-AAC-cd (varieties: 51-AAC-cda to -cdd)

French Guiana, where French Guiana Creole originates.

French Guianese 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 generally understand French Guiana Creole, though the notable differences between the créole of French Guiana and the créoles of the Caribbean may cause some instances of confusion. 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 nearby Guyana.

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. This sound is pronounced [i] and written 'i'. Thus, the word 'usé' in standard French is written 'isé.' The diagraph [wɑ] is pronounced [ɔ]: 'moi' (me) is pronounced [mɔ]. One should also note that French Guiana Creole is a non-rhotic language 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].

Examples

French Guiana Creole (IPA)	Metropolitan French	English
Boujou /bonzu/	Bonjour	Hello; Good day
Souplé /suː plɛ/	S'il vous plaît	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 /esˈkuːzɛ mɔ/	Excusez-moi	Excuse me, pardon me
Lapli ka tombe /laˈpliː ka tomb/	Il pleut	Rain is falling
Jod-la a roun bel jou /zodˈla 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 ˈmanman/	Anne est ma mère	Anne is my mother
Andy a to frè /andi a tɔ frɛ/	Andy est ton frère	Andy is your brother
Li ka alé a laplaj /li ka alɛ a laˈplaz/	Il va aller à la plage	He's going to the beach
Mo pa mélé	Je m'en moque	I don't care