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Creole

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PRONUNCIATION GUIDE
Creole is written phonetically. Each letter is pronounced, and each word is spelled as it is pronounced. Creole has only been recognized as the official language of Haiti in the last few years. Therefore, there are many different ways in which the Haitians write and spell Creole words. There is an official standard that has been set, and this standard will be maintained in this publication. The following is a pronunciation guide using this standard; most of the sounds are French.

ch-share chache-to look for
o-claw fo-strong
e-aim ede-to aid, help
ou-you ou-you
e-leg mesi-thank you
r-(not rolled) respire-to breathe
g-go gen-to have
I-see isit-here
s-(always s) prese-in a hurry
j-(avoid the d sound) jou-day
y-yes pye-foot
o-toe zo-bone

There are nasal sounds in Creole just as there are nasal sounds in French, which are pronounced partially through the nose, but without the "n" itself pronounced (a rare exception to the general pronunciation rule of pronouncing every letter). Some English equivalents which come close to the nasal sounds are as follows:

an-alms dan-tooth
en-chopin pen-bread
on-don't bon-good

A. When a nasal sound is followed by another "n", or "m," the nasal sound is pronounced, then the "n" or "m" is pronounced separately.
B. If an accent is placed over the vowel, there is no nasal sound.
C. In never indicates a nasal sound.
The letter c is only used in the ch combination.
The letter k is used for the hard sound.
The letter s is used for the soft sound.

Last Updated on Friday, 02 July 2010 04:16