Martinican Creole

Here I present my little love poem translated into Martinican Creole (Martiniquan Creole, Kreyòl Matinik, Kreyòl Matnik) by Mady.

This Creole, in addition to a large diaspora, is of course spoken in the West Indies and more precisely in the Lesser Antilles, on the island of Martinique, where it is an official language with a regional language status.

In Martinique it is very widely used, in the same way as French, by the population of the island. This coexistence, with the resulting exchanges, continues to enrich this Creole.

First reserved for daily oral communication, while French also contained the administrative dimension, today Martinican is written and an official spelling is gradually established.

If the lexical base of this Creole is 85% French, the other lexical borrowings come mainly from West African languages (mainly the Gbé languages), but also from Spanish, English and indigenous Amerindian languages.

In Martinique in the central zone, richer than the north and the south, the trend is towards a more Frenchified Creole than in the other two parts.

The Creoles of Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia and Dominica are close enough to be mutually intelligible.

Even if respect in families and for elders is very important, it should be noted the absence of "vouvoiement" in Martinican Creole.

Martinique (Matinik, Matnik, Matinino, Ioüanacéra, Joüanacaéra, Wanakaéra) is an island in the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies, between Dominica and Saint Lucia.

Martinique is part of French territory and European Union. The word Martinique comes from the word Matinino given to the island by Christopher Columbus.

Matinino was then transformed into Madinina which means "The island of flowers"... And Martinique is best known under the old name of Madinina (hence the translator's first name: Mady).

Before the arrival of Columbus in 1502, the Island was populated by the Kalinago Indians. A little over one hundred and thirty years later, the French with Belain d'Esnambuc, created their first colony there.

To the north of Fort-de-France, the main city, the area is made up of reliefs of volcanic origin (Mount Pelée) and is very humid, while to the south, we find a drier climate and less reliefs.