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#3713: On the spelling of "youn" - Antoine queries (fwd)




From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

Could someone PLEASE explain to me why the spelling of
"yon" (English word "one") came to be "officially" adopted
in Haiti as "youn".  Florence Délimon reports categorically:

The official spelling in ALWAYS "youn", she wrote.

I am not arguing that it is not... I did not KNOW that this
was the case. But what was the thought or logic behind this?
I have spoken Creole all my life, and I have ALWAYS
pronounced and mostly heard the word pronounced as
"yon" (phonetically).  I have also HEARD the following
variations:

- Yon ti gason (a little boy)
- On ti gason (same as above)
and sometimes, but not often, I could swear I hear the "you"
sound, like in:
- you ti krebete (a smallish person)

but what is the morpho-phonemic justification for "youn" ??
does it rhyme with moun (people)?
Could someone please explain the logic of this particular
standard, and why the spelling "yon" was rejected in favor
of "youn"?  I am all ears...