Haitian Creole is based on a language in the Indo-European family.
French ( le français [ lə fʁɑ̃sɛ ] or la langue française [ la lɑ̃ɡ fʁɑ̃sɛz ] ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family . Haitian Creole ( [ ˈheɪʃən_ˈkriːoʊl ] [ kreyòl ayisyen , links = no ] , [ kɣejɔl ] ; créole haïtien ) is a French-based creole language spoken by 9.6 -- 12million people worldwide , and the only language of most Haitians . 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 ) .