How to Use Accent Marks in Haitian Creole

Haitian Creole Has One Accent Mark in Standard Orthography

Standard Haitian Creole orthography uses only the grave accent mark. It looks like a small line that slants to the left: (`).

This lesson will show you how to pronounce letters with the grave accent mark.

You will also learn how to type the grave accent mark on a physical keyboard or a touchscreen.

In standard Haitian Creole spelling, the grave accent mark appears on the letters a, e, and o.

When the grave accent mark is placed above those letters, they look like this: à, è, ò.

Continue reading below to see how to pronounce them.

The accented letter à is very rare in standard Haitian Creole spelling.

In standard spelling, à is usually seen in the combination àn. (See the first example below.)

1. Àn - sounds roughly like the vowel in the English name Ann.

2. È - sounds roughly like the e in Get.

3. Ò - sounds roughly like the vowel sound in order or aught.

On many phones and tablets, long-press the letters a, e, or o, and then choose the one with the grave accent.

On many touchscreen keyboards, long-pressing the letters a, e, or o gives you the option to add the grave accent mark.

Note: On many Mac computers, you can also press and hold a letter key to bring up accented options.

On Windows, another option is to enable the on-screen touch keyboard and select accented letters there.

On many Windows PCs, you can press and hold Alt and then type the numbers on the numeric keypad. (See the image below.)

If your keyboard does not have a numeric keypad, using the touch keyboard or an international keyboard layout may be easier.

Haitian Creole accent marks keyboard shortcuts.

As mentioned earlier, the letter à is very rare in standard Haitian Creole spelling.

So, focus on learning how to pronounce è and ò first.