#1148: Re: HUD's snaffu -- Haitian creole vs. creole (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>

I just read the complete story behind HUD's snaffu, and the rather painful
and racist endeavor whereby Haitian Creole was translated as Jamaican
creole. Capital "C" vs. small "c." What a comedy of errors, worthy of a
Languichatte or a Maurice Sixto. Well, that should convince most
<corbetters.> The translators used the linguists' approach: creoles are
not "Creole." Know what? Quite a few of us have argued for "Haitian." It
does not matter what people call it; that's what it is. HUD's translators
(in Toronto), made an honest mistake. They consulted with the Canadian
government, and were told that Jamaican creole (patois) is far more common
than Haitian Creole (in Toronto). No one has said that it is also an
offense to many Jamaicans.