Creole (Haitian) (/ˈheɪʃən ˈkriːoʊl/; Haitian Creole: kreyòl ayisyen,[7][8] Haitian Creole pronunciation: [kɣejɔl]; French: créole haïtien) is a French-based creole language spoken by 9.6–12 million people worldwide, and the only language of most Haitians.[9][10] It is a creole language based largely on 18th century French with influences from Portuguese, Spanish, English, Taíno, and West African languages.[11] Haitian Creole emerged from contact between French settlers and African slaves during the Atlantic slave trade in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (now Haiti). Haitians are the largest creole-speaking community in the world.[12] Haitian Creole should not be confused with Haitian French.
The usage and education in Haitian Creole—which is not mutually intelligible with French—has been contentious since at least the 19th century: where Haitians saw French as a sign of colonialism, Creole was maligned by francophone elites as a miseducated or poor person’s French.[13][14] Until the late 20th century, Haitian presidents spoke only French to their fellow citizens, and until the 2000s, all instruction at Haitian elementary schools was in French, a foreign language to most of the students.[9]