Haiti Languages

Description
The two official languages of Haiti are French and Haitian Creole.

French 
 * principal written and administratively authorized language
 * spoken by 42% of Haitians
 * spoken by all educated Haitians
 * the medium of instruction in most schools
 * used in the business sector
 * used in ceremonial events such as weddings, graduations and church Masses

Haitian Creole
 * recently undergone a standardization
 * spoken by virtually the entire population of Haiti
 * one of the French-based creole languages
 * Its vocabulary is 90% derived from French, but its grammar resembles that of some West African languages
 * has influences from Taino, Spanish, and Portuguese
 * related to the other French creoles, but most closely to the Antillean Creole and Louisiana Creole variants

Difference between Haitian Creole and French
 * Haitian Creole and French have similar pronunciations and share many lexical items
 * over 90% of the Haitian Creole vocabulary is of French origin
 * many cognate terms actually have different meanings
 * the grammars of Haitian Creole and French are very different (in Haitian Creole, verbs are not conjugated as they are in French)
 * both Haitian Creole and French have also experienced semantic change; words that had a single meaning in the 17th century have changed or have been replaced in both languages