What You Will Learn
In this lesson you will learn how nasal and non-nasal vowels work.
It is important to know the nasal and non-nasal vowels, because they will allow you to be more fluent and natural when you speak or read Creole.
In this lesson you will learn how nasal and non-nasal vowels work.
It is important to know the nasal and non-nasal vowels, because they will allow you to be more fluent and natural when you speak or read Creole.
The Two Types of Vowels in Haitian Creole
Haitian Creole has two types of vowels: nasal and non-nasal
There are a total of four nasal vowels and seven non-nasal vowels.
How Nasal Vowels Work
Air comes out of your nose when you pronounce a nasal vowel.
Go ahead and try pronounce the nasal vowels shown in the list below. You will notice that air does come out of your nose as you pronounce them correctly.
List of Nasal Vowels
To hear how these vowels sound like, please play the video
1. An - sounds like /un/ in dunk
2. En - sounds like /en/ in bent
3. On - sounds like /on/ in won't
4. Oun - sounds like /oon/ in moon
Ui is a half-vowel. It sounds like Yoowee
How Non-Nasal Vowels Work
Air does not come out of your nose when you pronounce a non-nasal vowel.
If you try to pronounce a non-nasal vowel correctly, you will notice that it doesn't cause air to come out of your nose.
List of Non-nasal Vowels
To hear how these vowels sound like, please play the video
1. A - sounds like /a/ apple
2. E - sounds like /i/ in It
3. È - sounds like /e/ in get
4. I - sounds like /ee/ in feet
5. O - sounds like the short /o/ in oil
6. Ò - sounds like /o/ in or
7. Ou - sounds like /oo/ in zoo