Bilingual Nature: French and Creole

Before further analysis is made, we have to understand the meaning of bilingualism in communities, stable bilingualism, as well as unstable bilingualism. Bilingualism means the ability when two languages are used in a way that is effective by a community or an individual.  Stable bilingualism means a condition in a society where the domain of languages which are different tend to reserve languages for usage and functions in a clear way. Unstable bilingualism means a condition in a society where there is no clear separation of the language domain, therefore the two languages are allowed to be used across functions and domains which are various. 

French and Creole were Haiti’s two spoken languages. For membership in the elite of the Haitian, fluency in French was a criterion that is more important than colour of skin. The majority who are Creole-speaking were excluded in life of public from government, intellectual life, and politics by the use of French. For occasions that are formal, French are used in a primary way by families who are bilingual. The language of gatherings which are informal was Creole, since it was used for jokes being told and slang filled it. These qualities of informal were lacked in Haitians who spoke French. Situational which are formal were avoided of speakers of Creole, since it would be an embarrassment or a disadvantage for their French’s communication’s inability. In their speech of Creole, phrases which are French-sounding were used by some speakers of Creole in an attempt to be accepted in circles of governmental or formal, but the results of the imitations were useless or only little results. On occasions that are formal, Haitians who were from class that are middle were made more rigid in how French language were used by them than upper class Haitians. During the periods of the colonial and the independence, the patterns of speech for the next century were set by Creole’s and French’s usage. French was mostly spoken by freedmen who were educated and people who have white skin during the period of colonial. 

French also became the language of refinement and culture, not only of commerce and government. Creole was given a status of official that evolved in a slow way by a movement in the beginning of 1950s. French was reaffirmed by the 1957 constitution to be the language that official, but in certain functions of public, the Creole’s usage was permitted. A law was passed in 1969, so Creole was being given status of legal that was limited; in institutions of educational that are accredited, the language could not be used, while in the courts, clubs, and legislature, the language could be used. However, Creole was permitted as the classroom’s instruction’s language by a decree in 1979. It was specified by 1983’s constitution that the language that official is French, while it was also declared by 1983’s constitution that the languages that national were French and Creole. Creole received status that is official from the Constitution of 1987 which was suppressed. Therefore, the usage of bilingualism in Haiti is stable, because the usage of the two languages is clear.

The term of bilingualism that is unstable is found in among many people who are immigrants or in cities like New York, because the bilingualism situation there does not contain diglossia. In accordance with functions, languages are not switched, since almost everyone is bilingual in that situation. For almost any functions, it is possible for either language to be used. It is said in 1971 by Fishman that unstability tend to happen in such communities and the disappearance of language of minority might happen, since the language of minority will someday be taken over by the language of majority.