This article is an adaptation of a seminal study on the syntactic structures of French creoles, originally published by Marguerite Saint-Jacques-Fauquenoy in 1970. The original text, entitled “The Verb ‘to be’ in French Creoles,” presented a detailed analysis of the various manifestations and functions of the verb “to be” in several varieties of French creoles. This revised version retains the analytical richness of the source article while offering a more accessible approach and a fluid narrative structure. The original argument has been preserved but reorganized into a more contemporary format, allowing readers to better grasp the linguistic subtleties of French creoles. This adaptation aims to highlight Saint-Jacques-Fauquenoy’s significant findings on the particular grammatical mechanisms developed by creole languages to express the functions traditionally assumed by the verb “to be” in standard French.
The verb “to be” in French-based creoles presents syntactic and semantic peculiarities that warrant in-depth analysis. This study focuses primarily on Guyanese Creole, while also drawing relevant comparisons with other creole varieties, including Haitian, Martinican, Guadeloupean, Dominican, and Mauritian, based on the work of various researchers including Goodman, Valdman, d’Ans, Jourdain, Taylor, and Baissac.
In French, the verb “être” (to be) fulfills three distinct functions: it can signify existence, serve as a temporal auxiliary, or function as a copula. In French creoles, the first function, that of existence, is absent. As Baissac (1880) observed for Mauritian Creole, the concept of existence without an attribute exceeds the abstract capacities of these languages. This gap is filled by the use of synonymous verbs such as “gagner” (to win) or “avoir” (to have) in Guyanese Creole, “tenir” (to hold) in Martinican Creole, or “yeka” in Mauritian Creole.
Regarding its function as an auxiliary verb, some researchers have suggested a link between the aspectual particle “té” and an inflectional form of the verb “être” (to be). However, synchronic analysis reveals that this particle functions differently from the French auxiliary. In Guyanese, for example, the verbal system is structured around six aspectual particles, including “té,” which, alone or in combination with other particles, expresses various temporal and aspectual nuances. This particle replaces both the French auxiliaries “être” and “avoir,” suggesting a distinct grammatical reality.
The copular function of the verb “to be” in French creoles manifests itself in a particular way. In Guyanese Creole, when the predicate is an adjective or an adverb, the predicative statement is realized by simple juxtaposition of the terms, without a formal copula. The predication is marked by a pause and a specific intonation pattern, a phenomenon that Göbl-Galdi calls “copula accent.” When the predicate is a noun or a pronoun, the morpheme “sa” may appear between the subject and the predicate. This morpheme is not always essential, but becomes necessary to resolve certain structural ambiguities.
In the other creoles studied, particularly Antillean varieties and Haitian Creole, similar constructions involving the morphemes “sé”, “yé”, and “eté” are observed. These elements appear in different syntactic contexts: affirmative statements with a non-verbal predicate, statements with a predicate introduced by a grammatical presentative, interrogative statements, and constructions with emphatic inversion. The analysis reveals that these morphemes, rather than truly representing the verb “to be”, function as copular pronouns or specific grammatical markers.
In conclusion, French creoles have developed alternative strategies for expressing the functions traditionally assumed by the verb “to be” in French. Existence is expressed through synonymous verbs, the auxiliary verb is replaced by aspectual particles, and the copular function is ensured either by a prosodically marked zero copula or by copular pronouns when the message risks being ambiguous. This particular grammatical organization testifies to the linguistic creativity of creole languages in their development of an efficient system with a minimum of signifiers.
Jocelyn Godson HÉRARD, Copywriter H-Translation
