The Kwéyòl Alphabet

The Kwéyòl Alphabet 

The Creole Alphabet has a total of 32 distinct sounds, each of these sounds is represented by a system comprising of 24 letters. Accents are also used over the vowels o and e only, The letters Q and X are never used in Trinidadian French Creole, while the letter R appears in some words of English origin.

In writing Creole, some sounds are represented using a combination of letters called Diphthongs; examples of diphthongs in English include (ai, aw and oy) The combination of letters allows for 32 sounds to be written using 24 letters; the letters C and U are always written in combination with other letters (CH,OU) The letter K is written to represent the sounds of the letter C and Q. As for the letter X, its sound is written using the combination of the letters K and S.

The 7 Oral Vowels

Trinidadian orthography	Examples	Meaning of given example	Nearest English equivalent
a	abaza	Butternut Squash	apple
é	édé	To help	flay
è	lè	when	fest
i	Itali	Italy	universe
o	obidjoul	perfection	sole
ò	òdèv	Hors-oeuvre	score
ou	ouvè	To open, opened	you

The 3 Nasal Vowels

Trinidadian orthography	Example	Meaning of given example	Nearest English equivalent
an	tan	time	taner
en	enmen	To love	enter
on	tonton	uncle	bon appétit

Consonants

There are 17 consonant symbols that are easy to learn for anyone who speaks English as a native language.

Trinidadian orthography	Example	Meaning of given example	Nearest English equivalent
b	babawen	goat-fish	bit
d	doudou	darling	devil
f	fafa	flattery	fire
g	gaga	senile	girl
h	hòtòtò	a huge amount	hamper
k	kankan	gossip	kelp
l	labé	priest	lump
m	maman	mother	mat
n	nago	a dark skinned person	nap
p	papa	father	pat
r	radyo	radio	rat
s	sésé	sister	sat
t	tab	table	tad
v	vann	To sell	vapour
w	wadenn	guinea-pig	week
y	yodin	iodine	yell
z	zafi	fairy	zapper

There are 5 more consonant symbols that are a little more difficult for English speakers to learn.

Trinidadian Orthography	Example	Meaning of given example	Nearest English equivalent
ch	chaplé	rosary	chief
dj	djèp	wasp	job
j	jako	parrot	jumper
tj	tjilo	kilo	champion
ng	lanng	tongue	finger