#3621: DeGraff vs. Grey : Xavier comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Ednair Xavier <zantray@bellatlantic.net>

I choose to ignore the religious arguments made by both debaters, for
now. Linguistically speaking, however, DeGraff is correct and Grey is
wrong. "Sans bout" means nothing, or is a nonsense, in Créole. In
French, however, since "sans" means "without", and "bout" means "end",
extremity or limit", "sans bout" means "without end...".

DeGraff is also right in pointing out that in Créole it is "san" that
means "without", and also the number "100"; "sans", on the other hand,
means "sense". Which one did Grey want to use? Was it a mistake or a
misspelling? As for "bout", it has the same meaning in Créole as it has
in French. So, the real problem lies in the (mis-)use of "san/s". 
Finally, "Manbo" is correct, not "mambo", as French orthography
requires. 

One does not have to be a native Haitian, Créole-educated and fluent
speaker -although that would quickly help settle issues of knowledge and
credibility- in order to write intelligently about Haitian history or
Créole linguistics. Perhaps, one only needs to be intellectually honest
about one's own limitations and recognize the need to be taught and to
learn. 

Yet, if Grey is working on another language, or has discovered quite an
esoteric way of writing Créole, disregarding all the advances made in
modern Créole linguistics and orthography, I (who took great pains to
write, based on the current orthography, a Créole Primer on a mini-grant
from Princeton U.in the late 1980's) would beg her to share her
knowledge with me and those of my ilks in a more exhaustive manner.