Lesson # 2 – Haitian Creole Conversation

Toussaint L’Ouverture

What You Will Learn?

In this lesson, you will:

1. start to learn basic greetings2. learn the vowels, consonants and blend in Haitian Creole3. Learn about digraphs and trigraphs

Greetings in Haitian Creole bonjou

good Morninggood day

bòn apremidigood

afternoon

bonswabòn nuit

midi (noon)

How Nasal and Non-Nasal wowels work in Haitian Creole?

• There are two types of vowels in Haitian Creole: Nasal and non-nasal• What is a nasal vowel ?

An En/un/ skunk

enfimyè (nurse)en/fi/myè

Nasal wowels

On Oun

Moun (people) Longvi (binoculars)

Non-Nasal wowels

• What is a non-nasal vowel?

•A E È I O Ò OuA sounds like A in Apple

Avyon (airplane)a/vyon

Ivè (winter )i/vè Fou (stove)

How Accent Marks work?

• Haitian Creole only uses one accent mark (the grave mark)

`It can appear on top of the letters:

À È Ò

You will rarely find it on the letter “A” and is always followed by the letter “n” (àn)

È Ò

À bekàn (bicycle) anpàn (brake down)

È Èg (eagle) Jakèt (jacket)

Ò Pòm(apple) Klòch (bell)

How to pronounce Haitian Creole vowels?How to avoid common mistakes (____)?

An through OunAn sounds like /un/ in skunk, but it does not sound like an in panAnn sound like /un/ in funEn sounds like /EN/ in sent, but it does not sound like en in enterÈn sounds like just like saying the letter N in EnglishIn sounds like /EEN/ in seen, but not like in like in inside On sounds like /ON/ in Won’t, but it does not sound like on in onto Enn sounds like /EN/ in enterOun sounds like /OON/ in moon

How to pronounce Haitian Creole vowels?

• E sounds like /E/ • I sounds like /EE/ in FEET• O sounds like /O/ in Oil (sound brief and firm sound i.e. in English

OH but in Haitian Creole O!• OU sounds like /OO/ in Zoo• È sounds like /E/ in get • Ò sounds like /O/ in Or• Ui is unique and sound like the English work You + We

it sounds like Yoowee but quick as yoowee!

How to pronounce Haitian Creole vowels?

AY through ANM AY sounds like /EYE/ in eyeball, but does not sound like ay in dayAM sounds like /AM/ in I am EEM sounds like /EEM/ in seemIm sounds like /eem/ in seem, OY sounds like /OY/ in soyANM sounds like /UM/ in hum

How to pronounce Haitian Creole vowels?ONN ÒNThese sounds do not exist in English and can be confusing

ONN (pronounce as ONN)ÒN (pronounce as ÒN) think of the word horn in English horn

ann enn onnAnn the n prolong the sound Ann sounds like /un/ in funOnn sound like /on/ in won

Learn the consonants in Haitian Creole

A consonant is any letter that is not a vowelB Ch D F etc. The sound almost the same as in EnglishB sound like /b/ in boy The only exception are /J/ and /R/J does not sound the same in English. It sounds like ‘j’ (joumou, Jaden)Ja je ji jo jou jen R (comes from your throat) Rat in Haitian Creole is the same in English (rat) (sound comes from lips)Ra Re Ri Ren

Learn the consonants blend in Haitian Creole

Haitian Creole consonant blend follow the same rules as in English

Pl = is the same as in English (play)

Consonants blend in Haitian Creole• Digraphs and Trigraphs

A digraph is a complete fusion of two consonants, but you only hearone sound For example, phone you only hear /f/ sound. p and h do not soundseparately, but fuse into one sound

There are two Haitian Creole digraphs (ch and dj) Ch sounds like /sh/ in shoe How do you pronounce chamo? The following sound like: CHA CHE CHI CHO CHEN

Consonants blend in Haitian Creole

• The digraph (DJ) sound like /j/ in juice The word djondjon (mushroom)

Trigraphs follows the same rule (yacht) yatt in Haitian Creole

The trigrah (TCH) sounds the same in English. It sounds like /tch/ like in matchTcheke

These sounds are not too common in Haitian Creole

Let’s practice blend consonants in Haitian CreoleExamples Examples

bl Blan (white) Bliye (forget)

br Bra (arm) Briye (bright)

dl dlo (water) dlobouch (saliva)

dj djèt (jet) djòlè (boaster)

dr dra (sheet) drese (straighten)

fl Flach (flashlight) flite (spray)

fr frape (to strike) frèt (cold )

gl glas (ice, mirror) glise ( slippery )

gr gra (fat ) grann (grandmother)

kl klas (class) kle (key)

kr kras (dirt) kri (shout, raw )

ks Masks (mask) vekse (offend)

pl plat (plate) pli ( pleat, wrinkling)

pr Pratik ( practical ) prete ( lend )

tch Match ( match, contest) patch (patch, mend )

tr Traka ( worry ) trete (treaty, cured)

vl vle (want, desire) vlope ( wrap)

vr vrè (credible, true) vrèman (really)

gz egzante ( avoid ) Egzije (demand)

• Deland Innocent• dinnocent1a2@gmail.com