22584: White: Spelling, orthography & pronunciation (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

[Corbett requests you write to White directly:  Folks, this post goes
beyond Haitian Creole into comparative work with Bantu languages.  I just
don't have time to add that topic to the Haiti list.  Please reply to
White DIRECTLY and not to the list.  Thanks,   Bob ]

From: Tim White <timwhite@rockisland.com>

Bantu languages, and some West Atlantic languages, routinely or sometimes
begin words and syllables with blends unfamiliar to the Indo-European ear
and tongue: gb-, mw-, kp-, nd-, mf-:
ba-ntu
wa-tu-tsi
Gba-nga
kwa-nza
Are any listeners aware of such pronunciation survivals or echoes in Kreyol?
More telling, do Haitians ever apply such pronunciation to words originating
in Kreyol, or to borrowed words adapted/adopted into Kreyol? If so, is the
position of the stressed syllable (or lack of a stress) a factor?
The model would be something like the following. Please note I am not
suggesting any particular pronunciation by my spelling or syllabication of
these words--I'm asking others for comment:
ka-nzo (vs. kan-zo)
ma-mbo (or ma-nbo, if you please)
hou-ngan
zo-mbi
I have a related question about, for example, lwa vs. loa. Do these two
spellings represent merely competing orthographical transliterations
attempting to best designate the same sound, or do they reflect actual
differences (regional, historical, etc.) in pronunciation?

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Corbett" <corbetre@webster.edu>
To: "Haiti mailing list" <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
Sent: Wed, Jun 30, 04 5:46
Subject: 22562: DeGraff: Re: 22557: Mambo Racine responding again to
spelling of "Mambo" - Re: 22524: (fwd)



From: Michel DeGraff <degraff@MIT.EDU>


> It has nothing to do with whether the person is a Creole linguist either -
> the fact is that the word is pronounced MAM-bo, both "m's" are
> pronounced. Come to Jacmel! Point at me. Ask, "Who is that
> woman?" Most people here know me,  they will say to you, "Mambo
> Kati", MAM-bo KA-ti. The "th" sound they can't pronounce, but the
> M's, certainly.

Let's take this report at face value.  The pronunciation "MAM-bo
KA-ti" with stress on the first syllable of each word, as in English,
clearly violates the rules of Haitian Creole phonology.  Creole stress
patterns are different from English stress patterns. In bona fide
Haitian Creole words (e.g., "Manbo" and "Mari"), the stress goes on
the last syllable (e.g., "man-BO ma-RI").