What You Will Learn
You will learn how to pronounce the basic Haitian Creole vowels.
You will also learn how to pronounce distinctive vowel combinations such as ay, anm, enn, and others.
How to Pronounce the Basic Haitian Creole Vowels
- Many Haitian Creole vowels have close English approximations, but some sounds do not match English exactly.
The illustration below shows how to pronounce the basic Haitian Creole vowel sounds.
Focus on the green letters, because they will help you pronounce the vowels correctly.
How to Pronounce Nasal Vowels Written with “n”
- Some Haitian Creole vowel sounds are nasal, which means air passes partly through the nose when you pronounce them.
- Please watch the video to hear how these sounds are pronounced.
Several common Haitian Creole vowel sounds are written with the letter n, such as an, en, on, and oun.
When these spellings represent nasal vowels, the n is usually not pronounced as a separate English-style n. Instead, it helps mark the nasal vowel sound.
Try to notice the difference between nasal vowel sounds such as an, en, on, and oun, and non-nasal combinations where the n is pronounced more clearly.
How to Pronounce Other Common Vowel Combinations
- Pay close attention to the sounds ay and anm. They are common in Haitian Creole.
A Few Things to Keep in Mind
1. The accented letter à is not shown as a separate basic vowel in the first list because it is very rare in standard Haitian Creole spelling.
2. In standard spelling, à is most often seen in the combination àn. The accent helps show that the a is pronounced as an oral vowel before n, rather than as the nasal vowel an.
3. The sound àn is rare in Haitian Creole. It sounds roughly like the English name Ann or Anne.
Because this sound is uncommon, you may not see it often, even when reading many pages of Haitian Creole text.