22496: Antoine: The Kathy Grey's stand on Haitian Creole

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Guy S. Antoine <guyantoine@haitiforever.com>

Kathy Greys says:
"There is plenty of incorrect orthography floating around
in some people's attempts at contemporary Haitian Creole."

OK, I'll bite.  However, we all know that spelling is not
religion.  Spelling is not Vodou, neither it is passed on to
the College of Cardinals through the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit. What makes spelling correct or incorrect is
the orthographic system on which it is based.  I offered
my system of reference.  Would Kathy be considerate
enough to offer hers?

The argument that one has to become an initiate and
spend 10 years studying Vodou before having the
competence to make valid points about one's own
language is startling to say the least.  Like Kathy, and
unlike Bob Corbett, I have adopted the spelling "Vodou".
I cannot force my choice down the throat of English
speakers who spell it in every conceivable and seemingly
inconceivable manner.  Nor those of French speakers
who traditionally spell it "Vaudou".  French and English
spelling systems offer very little consistency.  Haitian
Creole and Spanish are a thousand fold more consistent.
When Haitian speakers argue about whether to spell the
religion name Vodou or Vodoun, it's based on phonetics
(some hear "ou" and some hear "oun") and not on
religious authority.

Let's talk about our systems of reference, PLEASE.

As far as I know, there have been 3 major ones:
1) McConnell-Laubach, dating from the 40's,
2) Pressoir-Faublas, dating from the 50's and
3) IPN, dating from the 80's, and most  prevalent
today in our school system and current literature.

Does Kathy know of another system and does her
Vodou rank, status, and experience confer her the
authority to challenge the system that is in effect,
and that has been officially adopted by the Haitian
Government, since January 1980 (through the
Duvalier, Aristide, Preval, and all sorts of de facto
governments, democratic or dictatorial, constitutional
or otherwise)?  Is there such a thing as a LINGUISTIC
AUTHORITY IN THE VODOU RELIGION?
I have never heard of one, and truthfully, if there is one,
I would be most interested to learn about it and how
that specific authority came about in our society.

So, once again, the system of reference which I use is
the one established by the Joseph Bernard 12/79-01/80
decree, to which Haitians are (FOR ONCE!) complying
ACROSS THE BOARD, in schools, in churches, in the
press and all sorts of official and unofficial publications,
in a new Bible edition as well as current publishing
standards (except for most Haitian Konpa CD's, which
title their songs according to yet another system called:
"TOUT VOUM SE DO" (whatever the hell we please-
we don't give a sh--!)  I trust that Kathy Grey's system
is different from the Konpa/COMPAS system or is it?

In November of 2002, armed with a perfectly valid
group license issued to Global Exchange, San Francisco,
California, I visited the Haitian-Cuban community of
Camaguey, Cuba (something for which the U.S. has
given me much grief, even though I am an American
citizen and was traveling WITHIN my legal rights).
Since then, I have managed to occasionally (when they
will let me) correspond by e-mail and regular mail with
that EXTRAORDINARY Haitian community in Cuba.
I am happy to report that they write to me according to
the IPN standards.  With the support of others in my
group, I have since sent them numerous books written
in Haitian Creole (again, IPN) which they currently use
in Haitian Creole courses for their kids in Camaguey,
Cuba.  No politics, here.  I have engaged in this for
purely cultural reasons, and wish that the current US
administration would give me a break in that regard.
The reason I mention this here is to impress that HC
standards go well beyond the borders of Haiti cheri!

Forget about "Mambo" for a minute, since I have been
duly informed that there is no "manbo" in all of Haiti.
Then, let's move on to the word "Racine" and "Sans".
In which Haitian Creole orthography system are they
spelled in that manner???  Please, try hard not to evade
this very specific question.  It's not a religious one, it's
not a sexist one, it's not a racist one.  It's as basic as
could be.

What HC orthography system is used in conjunction
with "Racine" and "Sans" among the four that I cited:
McConnell-Laubach, Pressoir-Faublas, IPN, or
"TOUT VOUM SE DO"?  If not those four, then
which?

Guy S. Antoine or Gi Antwàn (AntwAn)
Open the Windows on Haiti's Language
http://haitiforever.com/bbs/index.html