Most of the lexicon in Haitian Creole is derived from French. Here are some patterns involving the pronunciation of the words borrowed into Haitian Creole.
Phonetic spelling
The standard orthography of Haitian Creole is phonetic, more so than French.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| activité | aktivite | activity |
| alcool | alkòl | alcohol |
| Océanie | Oseyani | Oceania |
Unrounding of front rounded vowels
/y/, /ø/, /œ̃/ and /œ/ are unrounded to /i/, /e/, /ɛ̃/ and /ɛ/, respectively. /ə/ also becomes /e/ because it sounds similar to /ø/.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| États-Unis | Etazini | United States |
| cheveux | cheve | hair |
| seul | sèl | alone, only |
Loss of r in the coda
When r is in the coda position (i.e. end) of a syllable, it is dropped.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| merci | mèsi | thank you |
| recherche | rechèch | research |
| noir | nwa | black |
Simplification of consonant clusters
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| question | kesyon | question |
| croix | kwa | cross n. |
Tendency for verbs to end in e
There is a tendency for verbs to end in e. This might be because they are derived from the vous form of the present tense, or because the largest group of verb infinitives in French end in /e/.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| mettre (mettez) | mete | put |
| vouloir (voulez) | vle | want |
| entendre (entendez) | tande | hear |
Tendency for verbs to drop their first syllables
There is a tendency for verbs to drop their first syllables.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| entendre | tande | hear |
| attendre | tann | wait |
| écouter | koute | listen to |
Confusion between close-mid, open-mid and nasal vowels
/e/, /ɛ/ and /ɛ̃/ are sometimes substituted for one another. Likewise with /o/, /ɔ/ and /õ/.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| docteur | doktè | doctor |
| fermer | fèmen | close |
| connaît | konnen | know |
Merger of /a/ and /ɑ/
All instances of /ɑ/ in French are pronounced /a/.
| French | Haitian Creole | English |
|---|---|---|
| mâcher | mache | chew |
| pas | pa | not |