Datapoint Haitian Creole/Distance contrasts in demonstratives

Sila comes from the French celui-là and represents a regional variant from the lateral zones of Haiti, especially Northern Haiti.

Isit la is used to refer to something that cannot be seen, but is not unique. Forms with isit/sit/isi (comprising plural forms (chat isi a yo; chat isi yo)) have been located in different villages in the North and South of Haiti as is shown in the Atlas linguistique d’Haïti (Fattier 1998). There are also combinations of the kind chat bò isit la (> bord + ici; 'side' + 'here').

Values

No distance contrast

Example 49-94:
Mwen vle mango sa a, mwen pa vle fig sa a.
Mwen
1sg
vle
want
mango
mango
sa
dem
a,
sg
mwen
1sg
pa
neg
vle
want
fig
banana
sa
dem
a.
sg
I want this mango, not this banana.
French: Je veux cette mangue, pas cette banane.
Example 49-95:
chat sila a, chat sila yo
chat
cat
sila
dem
a,
sg
chat
cat
sila
dem
yo
pl
this cat, these cats
French: ce chat, ces chats

Source: Fattier 1998: vol. 2, p. 845

Example 49-96:
ane isit la; peyi isit la; chat isi ya
ane
year
isit
here
la;
def
peyi
country
isit
here
la;
def
chat
cat
isi
here
ya
def
this year; this country; this cat
French: cette année; ce pays; ce chat

Source: Fattier 2000: 42-45

Confidence:
Very certain