Haitian Creole voice overs: what you need to know

Haitian Creole is a French-based language variety spoken primarily in Haiti. There are more than 10 million native Haitian Creole speakers.

Haitian is one of the official languages of Haiti and the most common first language of the country — 95% of locals are native speakers of this language variety.

This French-based creole is quite popular outside Haiti’s borders too. Because of a vast Haitian community, this creole is the third most spoken language in Florida (after English and Spanish). It’s also spoken in Haitian communities across other Caribbean countries, as well as Canada and France.

Language History

Haitian Creole emerged around the 17th-18th centuries in Haitian plantations. In general terms, Creole is a result of mixing several languages. In this particular case, Haitian was formed from French and African languages.

Up until the early 19th century, Haiti was a French colony. The somewhat equal number of French colonialists and African slaves in Haiti sped up the process of this unique Creole formation.

Haitian Creole became one of the official languages of Haiti only in 1987. Up until then, the French language dominated all aspects of life: education, politics, and media. While French is still widely used in Haiti, all official matters of the country are conducted in Haitian Creole.

Close Relations

Since Haitian Creole developed from French and West African languages, it does have quite a few similarities with these languages. However, it’s mostly similar to French.

It’s estimated that around 90% of Haitian Creole vocabulary comes from French. However, the two languages are not mutually intelligible — although some words and phrases could be understood by both language speakers. French prepositions are also quite common in Haitian Creole.

In addition to French, Haitian Creole vocabulary has loanwords of Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Niger-Congo (Fon, Éwé, Wolof) origins.

Accents and Voice Over Tips

Haitian Creole has three main dialects: Northern, Central, and Southern. The standard variety of Haitian Creole is based on the central dialect — a variety that’s spoken in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince.

Naturally, there are smaller regional spoken varieties of the language across the country. However, the standard dialect is mostly used and understood across the country.

When recording a Haitian Creole voice over, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

First — Haitian Creole has the same word order (subject-verb-object) as English and French, making the language easier to learn for foreigners.

Second — the pronunciation of words greatly varies in different regions. The spoken language in the capital city, for example, is closer to French.

On the other hand, Haitian Creole spoken in rural areas retains more of its unique sound. Therefore, it’s very important to know which dialect should be used. However, the standard Haitian Creole will most likely be the right choice.

POST YOUR VOICE OVER PROJECT TODAY!