Guadeloupean Creole

I thank Patriciane for this translation of my poem into Guadeloupean Creole (Patwa, Kréyòl Gwadloupéyen, Kréyòl Gwadloup, Antillean Creole)!

Guadeloupean Creole which is 85% with a French lexical base, is spoken in the archipelago of the islands of Guadeloupe, and by the Guadeloupean diaspora.

For the remaining 15%, its vocabulary comes mainly from indigenous Caribbean languages, West African languages, Indian languages, Spanish and English.

The Creole of Guadeloupe, which is recognized as a regional language, coexists with French, and Guadeloupeans are both French-speaking and Creole-speaking.

This cohabitation is a factor of enrichment and differentiation between languages, often linked to social status.

As with Martinican, there are several variations. People who live in the countryside have a different Creole than those who live in the city, with an accent that is also different.

Regarding Creole, considered a patois, people often have a pejorative view of it, while French enjoys a completely different aura.

For around forty years, its spelling has been gradually fixed, and little by little its teaching has been put in place, because it was important to revaluate a language that was too often demeaned.

Today it is taught in Kindergarten.

The Guadeloupe Islands Archipelago, which is made up of five main islands: (Basse-Terre (Karukera) and Grande-Terre (Cibuqueira) separated by an Inlet "la Rivière Salée" (Aboukétoutou), Marie-Galante, la Désirade, les Saintes), is located in the Caribbean, and has a little over 400,000 inhabitants.

Basse-Terre and Grande-Terre are two quite different islands, since unlike Grande-Terre, which is flatter, Basse-Terre is a much more mountainous and even volcanic island (Soufrière is a still active volcano).

Pointe-à-Pitre located to the west of Grande-Terre, is the main city.

To the north of the Archipelago, we find Montserrat and Antigua, and to the south, the island of Dominica, which separates Guadeloupe from Martinique.

In addition to tourism, Guadeloupe (Gwadloup) gets its resources from agriculture (sugar cane, bananas, sweet potatoes, cotton), and fishing.

Christopher Columbus was the first European to land on Guadeloupe, and all the colonization that followed decimated the indigenous Caribs (Kanina, Kalina) who lived on the Island.

The series of wars between the French and the English, and the deportation into slavery of populations from West Africa, will shape its future.