Possessive pronouns had
the unmeaning syllable _quien_ before them, as, _Nous gagne quien a
nous_, for _Nous avons les notres_; and demonstrative pronouns were
changed in this way: _Mo voir z'animaux la yo_, for _J'ai vu ces
animaux_, and _Ci la yo qui te vivre,_ for _Ceux qui ont vecu._ A few
more examples will suffice to make other changes clear. A negro was
asked to lend his horse; he replied, _Mouchee_ (Monsieur), _mo pas gagne
choual, mais mo connais qui gagne ly; si ly pas gagne ly, ly faut mo
gagne ly, pour vous gagne_: "Massa, me no got horse, but me know who got
um; if him no got um, him get me um for you." _Quelquechose_ becomes
_quichou; zozo = oiseau; gournee = combattre; guete = voir; zombi =
revenant; bouge = demeurer; hele = appeler,_ etc.[M]
[Footnote M: Harvey's _Sketches of Haiti_, p. 292. See a vocabulary in
_Manuel des Habitans de St. Domingue,_ par L.J. Ducoeurjoly, Tom. II.
Here is a verse of a Creole song, written in imitation of the negro
dialect:--
Dipi mo perdi Lisette,
Mo pas souchie Calinda,[A]
Mo quitte bram-bram sonette,
Mo pas batte bamboula.[B]
Quand mo contre l'aut' negresse,
Mo pas gagne z'yeu pour ly;
Mo pas souchie travail piece,
Tou qui chose a moue mouri.
The French of which is as follows:--
Mes pas, loin de ma Lisette,
S'eloiguent du Calinda;
Et ma ceinture a sonnette
Languit sur mon bamboula.
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