Slide One

Building a greater sense of national cultural identity and self-esteem among the
Dominican populace and to harness and employ skills and talents to further
develop arts and culture

Slide One

Building a greater sense of national cultural identity and self-esteem among the
Dominican populace and to harness and employ skills and talents to further
develop arts and culture

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Our Mission

To promote, develop and preserve Dominica’s culture and to encourage a greater awareness of the culture of the Caribbean and that of the wider world

Mr. Earlson Matthew
Chief Cultural Officer

Our Responsibilities

  • Preservation and promotion of Dominica’s cultural heritage and all its various expressions
  • Provision of support for Dominica’s cultural industries’ sector
  • Encouragement of cultural exchange with other countries
  • Assistance with poverty alleviation through arts and culture
  • Building of the institutional capacity of the Division of Culture
  • Management and maintenance of Dominica’s arts centers
Honorable Roselyn Paul
Minister

Kwéyòl is a language spoken which has its origins in French and West African languages. French is reflected in the lexicon (vocabulary) while the African is reflected in the syntax (grammar).

Kwéyòl was created by Africans who were brought to Caribbean to work on the plantations as slaves during the 17th and 18th centuries. In days gone by the language was called patois (patwa) but today it is more commonly called Kwéyòl, the internationally accepted term for the language.

Worldwide, there are at least eleven (11) million Creole speakers. Kwéyòl is spoken in Dominica, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia, French Guyana, Haiti, Louisiana, Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion. Kwéyòl is also spoken in St. Maarten, parts of Trinidad and Grenada.

The recently created Dominica Institute for the Arts is a project of the Division of Cultural and the National Cultural Council.

The Kwéyòl Alphabet

The alphabet for Antillean Creole (Kwéyòl) was developed in the late seventies. Though this emerging language has been in complete usage in the islands of the Creole Antilles or the Caribbean Basin for two hundred years it has been until recently mainly an oral language. It is understandable that various systems of transcription have emerged over the years.

However, the alphabet presented below emanated out of two Creole or ethnography workshops held in St. Lucia in January 1981 and September in 1982. This well integrated writing system has been developed through the coordinated efforts of individual researchers from the University of the West Indies (U.W.I.), The Université Antilles – Guyane groups from St. Lucia (MOKWÉYÓL), Dominica (K.E.K.) and the Groupé d’Etude et de Recherche en Espace, Creolophone (GEREC) from Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The alphabet has thirty-two (32) letters. The letters c,q,u,x have been dropped. C and U are used in combination as 'ch’ and ‘ou’. The French accents, acute and grave, have been adopted with certain conventions such as hyphens, apostrophes, capitalizations and features of punctuation.

Pronunciation

Letter as in English Kwéyòl English
An Another mitan middle
B Boy Bwè drink
Ch She Chivè hair
D Day douvan in front
Dj Django (John) Djéwi cure
É Say Mété to put
È Let Mèt master
F Fish Fwèt cold
G Goal Gadé look
H Hay Hach axe
I Feet Fwi fruit
J Jar jar
K Kettle Kwa cross
L Lesson letter
M Man Manjé to eat
N Now Népòt any
Ng Hanger Lanng tongue
O Ochro toloman arrowroot
Ò For Pòkò not yet
On Sonny Jipon skirt
Ou You Jou day
R Radio Branndi brandy
S Say Salézon relish
T Take Tet head
Tj Watch Tjè heart
V Very Vwèl sail
W Way Wat rat
Y yes yesterday
Z zoo zétwèl star

Kwéyòl Grammar

In Kwéyòl the Subject Pronouns are:

Sé is to be preceeded by the subject pronoun:Some Common Nouns[Back to top] Some Common Greetings[Back to top]

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Kwéyòl Pronoun English Pronoun
Mwen I/me/my
Ou you (singular)
I he/she/it
Nou we
you (plural)
Yo they
Kwéyòl English
mwensé I am
ousé you are
isé he/she/it is
nousé we are
zòsé you are
yosé they are
Kwéyòl English Kwéyòl English Kwéyòl English
nonm man tèt head janm leg
gason boy chivé hair tjilòt trousers
pwéson fish fon forehead chimiz shirt
koko coconut zyé eye soulyé shoes
lajan money zòwèy ear chèz chair
fanm woman nen nose liv book
tifi girl bouch mouth    
fig banana manton chin    
légliz church kou neck    
kay house lanmen hand    
Kwéyòl English
nonm man
gason boy
pwéson fish
koko coconut
lajan money
fanm woman
tifi girl
fig banana
légliz church
kay house
Kwéyòl English
tèt head
chivé hair
fon forehead
zyé eye
zòwèy ear
nen nose
bouch mouth
manton chin
kou neck
lanmen hand
Kwéyòl English
janm leg
tjilòt trousers
chimiz shirt
soulyé shoes
chèz chair
liv book
Kwéyòl English
Bon jou Good morning
Bon apwémidi Good evening
Bon swè Good night
Sa kafèt How are you?

Cultural Institutions and Groups

Arawak House of Culture

The refurbished Arawak House of Culture has been opened to the general public since 1994. It is located on Kennedy Avenue, opposite the new Financial Centre in Roseau...

Learn More

Dominica Festivals Committee

The Dominica Festivals Committee (DFC), a Division of the Discover Dominica Authority (DDA), has special responsibility to ...

Learn More

Kalinago Barana Autê

Kalinago Barana Autê, the Carib Cultural Village by the Sea, honors the diversity, history and heritage of the Kalinago people by presenting ...

Learn More

The Dominica Institute for the Arts

The Dominica Institute for the Arts is a premier arts training institution serving Dominica and the Eastern Caribbean...

Learn More

The Dominica Pan Association

The Pan Association was set up in the early 1980’s by the Cultural Division and is the umbrella body...

Learn More

The Dominica Writers' Guild

The Writers’ Guild was established by the Cultural Division to strengthen efforts geared at encouraging writers in Dominica ...

Learn More

The National Cultural Council

The National Cultural Council is a semi-autonomous cultural body set up by in 1981 to formulate cultural policies ...

Learn More

The Old Mill Cultural Centre

The Old Mill Cultural Centre was officially established in 1985 to provide facilities for the administration of the arts ...

Learn More

Books For Sale

Heritage Dominica—A Collection of Old Dominican Photographs Vol 1 $50.00 $20.00
Heritage Dominica—A Collection of Old Dominican Photographs Vol 2 $50.00 $20.00
National Dress of Dominica
By Aileen Burton
$40.00 $15.00

View All Books For Sale

CD's For Sale

Sound of Dominica Vol 1 $30.00 $12.00
Sound of Dominica Vol 2 $30.00 $12.00
Sound of Dominica Vol 5
(Mabel Cissie Caudeiron’s—Kairi Artistic Troupe)
$30.00 $12.00
Sound of Dominica Vol 6
(Lawonn—Ring Games of Dominica)
$30.00 $12.00

View All CDs For Sale

DVD's For Sale

DVD of Dominica's Traditional Dances

$60.00

$24.00 

DVD of The Bele Dance of Dominica

$30.00

$12.00

DVD of The National Wear of Dominica

$30.00

$12.00

View All DVDs For Sale

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