Friday, July 13, 2012

Sorry for the repeat -- I have a Q about the 't' sound in words like 'timoun' and 'piti'. It sounds a little "cute" to me in recordings, perhaps the proper word is "palatalized"? It reminds me of the way "tse tse fly" is pronounced. Is this normal?

Hi :)

Yes it is normal when "t" is placed in front "i", "in", "im" and "y", as in:
soutyen (brassiers)
kretyen (Christian)
soti (to go out)
senti (waist)
tetin (baby's feeding bottle's nipple)
viktim (victim)
etc...

But you'll find that it doesn't happen when "t" is placed before the other vowels a, à, an, e, è, en, o, ò, on, ou as in:
reta (tardiness)
soutàn (cassok)
pantan (startled)
rete (to stay)
vètè (earthworm)
maten (morning)
manto (coat)
(at fault)
manton (chin)
Haitian Creole ↔ English Reference, Look up Haitian Creole and English Words

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