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# Towards a Network-based Approach to French-Creole Diachrony

Rasul Dent, Thibault Clérice, Pedro Ortiz Suarez, Benoît Sagot

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## To cite this version:

Rasul Dent, Thibault Clérice, Pedro Ortiz Suarez, Benoît Sagot. Towards a Network-based Approach to French-Creole Diachrony. SPCL 2025 - Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics Summer Meeting, Society for Pidgin and Creole Linguistics, Jun 2025, Mona, Jamaica. hal-05376418

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https://inria.hal.science/hal-05376418v1

Submitted on 21 Nov 2025

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Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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RÉPUBLIQUE
FRANÇAISE

Liberté
Égalité
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Inria

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# Towards a Network-based Approach to French-Creole Diachrony

Rasul Dent

Supervised by

Thibault Clérice, Pedro Ortiz Suarez, Benoît Sagot
ALMAnaCH - Inria Centre Paris, COLaF project
<figure><img src="image_7.png" /></figure>

# Outline

## 1. Overview

a. Motivation

b. Related Work

c. Position

d. Method

## 2. Pronouns and Pluralization

a. Singular Pronouns

b. Pluralization

## 3. Imperfective aspect

a. Être/esse qui

b. Ka and ke
Motivation

* French-based Creoles (FCs) are split between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans

o Atlantic Ocean (AO): Louisiana, Haiti, Lesser Antilles, French Guiana

o Indian Ocean (IO): Mauritius, Réunion, Seychelles

* Why are specific traits shared between the AO and IO?

o Mau. X Lou. X Gui. - pronouns

o Mau. X Hat. - TMA markers

* Why do they differ the way they do?

o Synchronically, there are zone-specific traits

Namely pluralization and non-French vocabulary

o Important differences even within zones

Nouns in Haiti and Fr. Guiana

■ Verbs in Réunion and Mauritius
<figure><img src="image_8.png" /></figure>

# Related Work

* 2 main explanations

* Genetic descent (proto-Creole)?

* Nautical "patois"/pidgin (Faine, 1939; Hull, 1992)

* Senegalese pidgin (McWhorter 2000; Parkvall, 1999 - for Lou and Mau)

* Convergent evolution (French base % contact universals)?

* Successive approximations (Chaudenson, 1981)

* Polygenetic pidginization (e.g. Baker, 1990)

* 1 non-explanation

* Direct diffusion (Caribbean <-> 10)
<figure><img src="image_9.png" /></figure>

# Hypothesis - Linkage with Geographical and Temporal Components

## Three overlapping zones of shared features

* Americas

* Indian Ocean

* <u>Transoceanic</u> - 18th century

* TMA Markers, but also pronouns *mo* and *to*

* Divergence (inheritance), convergence? - probably combinations

* Direct diffusion - underexplored

## Two key variables - possessive pronouns and imperfective markers

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Verbs 1 (Ka)</th><th>Verbs 2 (Ape)</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>Pronouns 1 (so X)</th><td>Fr. Guiana</td><td>Indian Ocean, Louisiana</td></tr><tr><th>Pronouns 2 (X-(a)-li)</th><td>L. Antilles</td><td>Haiti</td></tr></tbody></table>
<figure><img src="image_10.png" /></figure>

# Method - Computational Comparative Philology

* **Philology**

* We *assume* that most features existed the whole time - what changes are the proportions

* We assert this by *finding* direct attestations (preferably in different zones)

* **Comparative**

* How do we know a parent language when we see one?

* By (re)constructing it

* Relax some constraints of trad. CM

* Decenter phonology

* Allow simultaneous options

* **Computational**

* Use computers (keyword matching) to search mass-digitized libraries/archives

* Molyé corpus (Dent et al., 2024)
<figure><img src="image_11.png" /></figure>

# Towards an 18th Century Feature Pool*

* **Surface features**

* \*somewhat different from Mufwene e.g. (2002)

* **"Insider" Data - Traditional focus**

* **Literary Foreigner Talk - crude but abundant**

* Attested in *long* diachrony (since ~1200s)

* Multiple recognizable conventions emerge and die

* Moi y (en) a - West Africa and French Indochina - 19th-20th century

* Moi qu'est / qu'a / qu'à - French Antilles - late-18th/mid-19th century

* Moi ⊘ - Saint-Domingue, late 18th century

* Moi l(i)être - Germanic Europe - 17th century

* *Useful* for tracing awareness of specific features

* **"Para-Creole" - officials/adventurers/enthusiasts - idiosyncratic**

* **Alloglot Europeans - (Non-Oïl) Brittany and the Low Countries**
Pronouns and Pluralization

<figure><img src="image_12.png" /></figure>
<figure><img src="image_13.png" /></figure>

# Singular Pronouns (APiCS Summary)

## Mauritian and Louisianan singular pronouns nearly identical

<table><thead><tr><th>Gloss</th><th>Hat</th><th>Gui.</th><th>Lou.</th><th>Mau.</th><th>Réu.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1SG.SUBJ</td><td>mwẽ</td><td>mo</td><td>mo</td><td>mo</td><td>mwẽ</td></tr><tr><td>1SG.OBJ</td><td>mwẽ</td><td>mo</td><td>Mwẽ, mò</td><td>mwa</td><td>a-mwẽ</td></tr><tr><td>2SG.SUBJ<br>[fam/pol]</td><td>u</td><td>to</td><td>to/vu</td><td>to/u</td><td>(v)u<br>[twe, to] marg.</td></tr><tr><td>2SG.OBJ<br>[fam/pol]</td><td>u</td><td>to</td><td>twa/vu</td><td>twa/u</td><td>a-(v)u [a-twe]</td></tr><tr><td>3SG.SUBJ/O<br>BJ</td><td>li</td><td>(l)i</td><td>li</td><td>li</td><td>li</td></tr><tr><td>3SG.POSS</td><td>X-li</td><td>so X</td><td>so X</td><td>so X</td><td>Sõ X</td></tr></tbody></table>
<figure><img src="image_14.png" /></figure>

# Pluralization (APiCS Summary)

* 3PL Pluralization is a clear division between AO and IO

* AO uses (diachronically) 3PL + DEF (la) in 2 main subpatterns

* IO has homophonous 2/3PL pronoun and *ban* plural marker

* Key aspect of Chaudenson's *Bourbonnais* hypothesis and rebuttals

<table><thead><tr><th>Gloss</th><th>Ant.</th><th>Hait.</th><th>Gui.</th><th>Lou.</th><th>Mau.</th><th>Réu.</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1PL</td><td>nu</td><td>nu</td><td>nu</td><td>nu(zot)</td><td>nu</td><td>(a)nu</td></tr><tr><td>2PL</td><td>zot</td><td>nu / zot</td><td>zot</td><td>(vu)zot</td><td>zot</td><td>(a)zot</td></tr><tr><td>3PL</td><td>jo</td><td>jo</td><td>je</td><td>je</td><td>zot</td><td>(a)zot</td></tr><tr><td>Plural marker</td><td>se X DEF</td><td>X [DEF] 3PL</td><td>X 3PL-DEF (fused)</td><td>X [DEF or DEM] 3PL</td><td>ban X [DEF]</td><td>le/ban X [DEF]</td></tr><tr><td>Example</td><td><b>Sé</b> gwo boug-la</td><td>zanmi <b>la yo</b></td><td>zwazo-ya</td><td>*(le) moun <b>sa-ye</b></td><td><b>ban</b> zafer</td><td>le ros <b>le/ban</b> marmayo</td></tr></tbody></table>
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Plural *li*

* **Early 19th century Mauritius** - Ferragan, chef de brigands vol. II (Lorquet, 1827)

* Astore *zautes* dansé autour çà di feu -là: *li* santé, *li* crié, *li* faire son tapaz

* ‘Now *they* dance around that fire: *they* sing, *they* shout, *they* make their noise’

* **[A]galéga (Mau. Dependency)** - Auguste Le Duc, 1835 (Pourcelet, 1994, cited in Kriegel 2023)

* *zenfants* qui manqu’ respect à vié di mound’, Bou Dié va pini *li*.

* ‘Children who do not respect their elders, God will punish *them*’

* **Similar strategy in Newton Forster** - (Marryat trans. by Defauconpret, 1837)

* Both a pronoun and article

* *Li vaisseau i belle*

* ■ *The ship it* (is) pretty

* Mais *li matelots* ni pas cré *yo* esclaves, *li* après chanté : Bretons, jamais (3x) esclaves!
## Eux and zot

* 3PL zot is rare but attested in Americas

* Mo' méchant! Mé **zautres** là-bas pis que moin! **Yé** si pourri **yé** pas capable fait mo' salut!

* `I'm bad! But **them** over there are even worse! **They** are so rotten that **they** can't get me saved!` (Dawson, 1912)

* 1799 archival Reu. has eux-(autres) (Chaudenson, 1981)

* Le jour que moi va dire va tuer eux autres
    * 'The day that I will say go kill **them**'

* Ça pour faire venir fous les blancs pour nous tuer **eux-autres** à la Comédie
    * 'That's to make the white people go crazy so we can kill **them** at la Comédie'

* Nou va tuer a **eux**
    * 'We will kill them and turn against **them**'
<figure><img src="image_16.png" /></figure>

# Louisiana and Vietnam

* Robin (1807) reports that *ly* replaces most pronouns besides *moi, toi, vous*, and *nous+* articles in Louisiana
  * Doesn't give examples of plural pronoun

* Stageberg (1956) describes basically same system in Pidgin French in 1940s Haiphong (Northern Vietnam)

* Reinecke (1971) notes more 3PL variation in South/Central Vietnam
  * Specifically comments that *livre à moi* is used by people with some instruction (vs. *moi/mon livre*)

<table><tr><td>Moi</td><td>nous</td></tr><tr><td>Toi, vous</td><td>vous</td></tr><tr><td>Lui [elle - South]</td><td>Ils, lui (Haiphong) | eux, elles, zautres, lui + # (South VN)</td></tr></table>
<figure><img src="image_17.png" /></figure>

Plural (L)i in Foreigner Talk

* <u>Ly</u> disent que c'estre marié troy foye - Monsieur de Pourceaugnac (1669)

o 'they say' that he be married three times

* <u>ils</u> faire frère avec <u>eux</u> - Friday/Vendredi in Robinson Crusoe (1720)

o 'They are like brothers to them' (lit. 'they make brothers with them')

* Le monsieur général et Bénard ... <u>Ly</u> plumer la poule comme diable

o 'The general and Bénard ... they pluck the chicken like devil(s)'

o <u>Rime anglaise</u> contre les officiers généraux <u>de la Martinique</u> (1721)
# Ban in the Americas

* 19th century Louisiana - Ban(d) means "a lot/much"

* Tou ça yé ki vini fé in *ein bande conte* en ho moin

* 'all those who came to tell a *bunch of lies* about me' (Fortier, 1895 - his translation)

* ... fé li *bande complimen*

* 'compliment him as highly as you can' (Fortier, 1888 - his translation)

* Yé fé *si bande di train* (Fortier, 1887)

* 'They made *so much noise'*

* Thomas (1869, p. 83) suggests a similar situation in Trinidad, but is ambiguous

To express "crowd," or "multitude," the Creoles employ *bâne*, (Fr. *bande*) band, or *rafale*, before the nouns denoting the objects; as, *yon bâne mounes té là*, a *crowd* of persons were there, Fr. *une foule de personnes y étaient*;—li *baie yon rafale cappars*, he gave a *great quantity* of coppers, Fr. *il a donné une quantité de sous*.
<figure><img src="image_18.png" /></figure>

# My Interpretation

1. Lesser Antilles (settled first), distinguish 3PL and DEM.PL

a. Keep French *fusional circumfix*

2. Haiti, Fr. Guiana (and Grenada), Basilectal Lou - More analytic

a. 3 distinct morphemes - DEM DEF 3PL

b. Initially keep the circumfix (Gui), later delete/postpose things (Hat/Lou)

3. "Trans-oceanic" - number often unmarked (cf. French)

a. Number distinction in 2 / 4 pronouns optional

b. *Ban(d)* competes with other options meaning "much" (e.g. *(an)pil*)

4. Napoleonic Wars, Haitian Revolution weaken ties between zones

a. Indian Ocean *tendencies* harden into true isoglosses over 19th and 20th centuries
Imperfective Aspect (WIP)

<figure><img src="image_19.png" /></figure>
## Two main markers and two marginal patterns

1. Ape - Haiti, Mauritius, Louisiana

a. Mainly PROG, also FUT in Haiti in particular

b. Etymology is straightforward - être après (à) faire `to be doing'

2. Ka - Lesser Antilles + Fr. Guiana - Closely tied with future marker *ke*

a. PROG + HAB

b. No accepted etymology yet - borrowed from a PT. Creole - Goodman (1987), McWhorter (2000)?

3. e - Pointe Coupée, Louisiana

a. PROG/ (negative) FUT

4. (Le)te (k)i - Réunion
<figure><img src="image_20.png" /></figure>

# Why does this matter?

* Want to argue that

* Haitian and Mauritian share *verbal* innovations

* Lesser Antilles and Fr. Guiana - conservative

* Louisiana and Réunion - Transitional

* Thus, need to determine *how & when* ka + ke, lete ki, and e appear

* What is their relationship to one another?

* Much more intricate than pronouns
<figure><img src="image_21.png" /></figure>

Sub-hypothesis

• ka and ke are originally a and e

* ka corresponds to English Caribbean a

o Locative (<Fr. à) but generalized beyond Fr. être à

* ke corresponds to Pointe-Coupée e

o (<Fr. est?)

o NOT a contraction of kale (and probably very old)

* The k comes from a convergence of Oïl and African relativization patterns

o Lete ki illustrates the European side

o It fuses into the markers early on
<figure><img src="image_22.png" /></figure>

* Similar construction appears in St. Barts "Patois"

* Unlike Réunionese (past only), inflects for person and tense

* Two main options

* parallel Creole influence (Hull, 1992)?

* 17th century French archaism - Corne, Chaudenson

* Chaudenson gives first attestation of Réunionese c. 1715-22

* Moin la parti marron parce qu'Alexis l'homme de jardin _l'était qui_ fait à moin trop l'amour

* Present tense appears in Isabelle Meunier's 1848 translation of Poe's *The Gold-Bug*

* Li _l'est touzours qui_ fait l'ciffres

> — Y dit li n'a pas rien di tout, mais alors, à cause qu'li n'en
> a un mine qu'L'est drôle même, qu'li baisse son la tête, qu'li lève
> son z'épaules, qu'li l'est blanc comme un monde qu'l'est mort!
> Et pis li l'est touzours qui fait l'ciffres.
<figure><img src="image_23.png" /></figure>

Esse ki

* A cognate pattern to être qui exists in Walloon (Hendschel, 2012)

* il **est**eut **k'** i tuzéve

o 3SG.M COP-PST. IMPF-3SG REL 3SG .M think-PST. IMPF

o 'He was thinking'

* elle **est** tofer **k'** **ele** tchante

o 3SG.F COP.PRS-3SG always REL 3SG .F think-PRS.3SG

o 'She is always singing'

* Subordinated verb can agree with main verb or “default” to 3S

* nos **est**ans todi ki **r**ôle avå les tchamps

o 1PL COP.PRS-1PL always REL wander in DEF.PL fields

o 'We wander the countryside nonstop'
<figure><img src="image_24.png" /></figure>

## 19th Century 'Stage-Creole'

* 'Stage-Creole' (d'Ennery, 1840) (cf. Mock AAE/Irish *do be*)

* ça qu'est malsain - 'That *do be* unhealthy'

* Moi qu'avoir petits fusils - 'I *do be* having small guns'

* Vous qu'a pas besoin tant chagriner - 'You don't *be needing* to worry'

* Appears in early Français Tirailleur, replaced by y en a

* Li qu'est bon, mais li qu'est pas saud (Jardin, 1895)

* 'It is good, but it is not hot'
<figure><img src="image_25.png" /></figure>

Ka in 19th Century ‘Para-Creole’

* Marquand (1853) describes *ca* as an imperfect past and *ca aller* as future

○ Present takes no marker

○ Gives citations that contradict this analysis

o Comment ou *ca* aller? - ‘How are you doing?’

* Rouzaud (1873) sees *ka, va* and *apé* as equivalent *future* markers

○ Priest traveling between Lesser Antilles and Haiti

o *Li ka mangé = li va mangé*

■ ‘He will eat’

o Thanks to Alessandro Costantini for sharing the *Petit catéchisme en français avec le créole* ...

* Boussenard (1893) - flipped negation

o Non, ou qu'a pas aller caba, ou mangé

■ ‘No, don’t go yet, eat!’

o Mo qu'a pas mis serpents là, non

■ ‘I did/ do not put snakes there, no’
<figure><img src="image_26.png" /></figure>

# A Haitian Response

* Audain (1882) explicitly describes Rouzaud as using *bad* Martinican Creole

* Incidentally, Audain also mentions *ka* is used in Southern Haiti

* Specifically compares it to Martinique

* We found some interesting attestations

* Une visite chez Soulouque (Dhormoys, 1859)

* Y qu'a insulté nous ... y qu'a crié nous singes

* 'They insult us... they call us monkeys'

* Allé, ou qu'a réponde moi de ça assu tête ou

* 'Go, you are replying on your head'
# Martinique - A Senegalese Connection?

* Martinican Creole with *gna* instead of *ka* (Hommaire de Hell, 1858)

voici la réponse littérale de notre nègre : *Maîtresse moin, on qui save bien compté passé moin, ou peu di moins ça ; compté ti brin pour moin voi : tini you qui gna né tous les ans et you qui gna mort aussi tous les ans; di moin combien gna rété : Ma maîtresse, vous qui savez mieux compter que moi, vous pourrez me dire cela ; comptez un peu combien cela fait ; il y en a un qui n'aît tous les ans, et un qui meurt aussi tous les ans ; combien en reste-t-il? Cette ré-

* Na borrowed from Guinea-Bissau Creole

* Bétrand-Bocandé (1849)

J'ai connu au poste français de Séyou un de ces Pa-pels-manjaga que l'on appelle Portugais, qui était de-venu sergent du poste ; il n'avait pu apprendre le français, mais il avait adapté à notre langue le mécanisme de la langue créole portugaise, et se serait parfaite-ment fait entendre de quelqu'un qui en aurait eu la clef; ses commandants avaient beaucoup de peine à le comprendre. Ainsi il disait moi faire ou moi est na faire, pour dire je fais; moi ia faire, j'ai fait; moi faire va, je faisais; moi ta faire, je ferai; moi ta faire va, je ferais ou j'aurais fait.
# Senegal - Lindsay (1759)

## Imperfective a?

Of their poetry, as I can be no judge of it from their language,
I shall give you a specimen of it in broken English, such as I heard
at Goree,—being a sort of song with which they us'd to flatter the
English, after the furrendry of that island.

Frenchman a Goree,
Go Pop— pop— pop— pop—
England a Come! England a Come!
Pop, pop, pop! Pop, pop, pop! Pop, pop, pop! Pop!
* Existing comparative approaches have been limited by access to diachronic data

* Using computers we can match patterns directly

* This in turn allows us to trace individual features

* Find direct ties between Europe, Americas, Africa (and Asia)

* And situate them in time
* Check French Return Pass(es) - especially Lorient

* Dictionnaire des gens de couleur dans la France moderne

<figure><img src="image_27.png" /></figure>

Image: Gosnave, 2011
<figure><img src="image_28.png" /></figure>

Selected References

Bertrand-Bocandé, Emmanuel. "Notes sur la Guinée Portugais ou Sénégambie Méridionale'." *Bulletin de la Société de Geographie de Paris*, 3e série, vol. 12, 1849, pp. 57–93.

Chaudenson, Robert. *Textes Créoles Anciens: La Réunion et Île Maurice: Comparaison et Essai d'analyse*. H. Buske, 1981.

Faine, Jules. *Le Créole Dans l'univers: Études Comparatives Des Parlers Français-Créoles, Tome 1: Le Mauricien*. Imprimerie de l'État, 1939.

Hommaire de Hell, Édouard. "Coup d'œuil sur les conditions de la classe noire dans les colonies françaises des Antilles." *Revue de l'Orient*, vol. 7, 1858, pp. 328–39.

Lindsay, John. *A Voyage to the Coast of Africa, in 1758...*. S. Paterson, 1759. Google Books.

Lorquet, Hubert-Louis. *Ferragan, Chef de Brigands*. Pigoreau, 1827.

Marryat, Frederick. *Newton Forster*. Translated by Auguste Jean Baptiste Defauconpret, 1832. Google Books.

Reinecke, John E. "Tây Bôi: Notes on the Pidgin French of Vietnam." *Pidginization and Creolization of Languages*, 1971, pp. 47–56. Google Scholar.

Stageberg, Norman C. "Pidgin French Grammar: A Sketch." *The Modern Language Journal*, vol. 40, no. 4, 1956, pp. 167–69. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/320768.