Americans and speakers of languages who do not make use of diacritical marks, or accent marks, as they are commonly known, always find use of accent marks tedious and nerve-wracking. But they serve a specific purpose. This is probably why no one ever knows how to pronounce words correctly in English simply by looking at them written on paper. For example, one must often submit a résumé when applying or showing interest in a new job. Unfortunately the two accent marks are often left off in English. So how is it possible to distinguish résumé from resume (without knowing the context), which have two different meanings? Here’s where diacritics/accent marks are important. No different in Creole.
Louisiana Creole makes use of the same accent marks as standard French, with the exception of one, which I am probably the only to use. You’ll discover this new accent in a second.
One last note, accents are only placed over or under vowels.
1. L’Accent Aigu, The Acute Accent (á, é, í)
1A. á /ah!/ – this accent isn’t traditionally used on French or Creole verbs. But I think it should be, because it accurately describes the stress on a certain syllable. For example, in Louisiana, given names, like Rosa, Emelda, Hilda, Eta, Rita, Mami, Papi, etc all have stress on the very last syllable. But how would one know that the stress is on the final syllable just by looking at the word written? Impossible. So here’s where the acute comes in handy.
Examples: Ritá /ree TAH!/, Émeldá /ay mel DAH!/, Hildá /eel DAH!/, Étá /ay TAH!/, Ritá /ree TAH!/.
1B. é /ay/ – in standard French and some Creoles, this is the only acute used. This accent is not used to emphasize stress.
Examples: Pélé /paylay/ (to call), Gardé (gah day) (to look, keep), Réné (Raynay)
1C. í /ee!/ – the rule for the acute over the I is the same as the acute over the A. It is not traditionally used in French nor in Creoles. I think it is appropriate.
Examples: Papí /pah PEE!/ (grandfather), Mamí /mah MEE!/ (grandmother), Gabí /gah BEE!/ (nickname for Gabriel).
2. L’Accent Grave, The Grave Accent (è, ò, ì)
2A. è /eh/ – This sound is equivalent to the short ‘e’ in English. As in pet, met, let. It is used both in Creoles and French.
Examples: Pè /peh/ (little, as in, “ti pè” (a little)), Bèf /behf/ (Beef, Bull), Nèf /nehf/ (nine), Nèvè /neh veh/ (Nephew)
2B. ò /aw/ – The grave is not used in French over the ‘o’, but is commonly used in Creoles. It represents the softening of the traditional ‘o’ (long ‘o’).
Examples: Zòt /zawt/ (Y’all/You (plural)/They), Lòt /lawt/ (the other).
2C. ì /ih/ – The grave over the ‘i’ represents the short ‘i’ sound in American English. [same sound in pen, picture, hit, shin]
Examples: Karolìn /kah roh len/, Babine /bah ben/
3. Le C Cédille, The Hooked C (ç)
In Creole, we often replace the ç with a simple ’s’, partially out of lazyness and partially for making the pronunciation of a word simpler. The ç and the regular ’s’ in both English, French and Creole, are identical. However there are certain words in French and Creole where the ç is used in place of an s.
Examples: François (French) /fraи swah/, Franswa (Creole) /fraи swah/; Français (French) /franи say/, Fransè (Creole) /fraи seh/; Ça (French) /sah/, Sa (Creole) /sah/, Ronçonnet /raи son nay/ (last name), Façade /fah sahd/, Maçon /mah sawи/ (Mason), Leçon /leh sawи/ (Lesson), reçu /ruh sew/ (receipt, received).
4. Le Circonflexe, The Circumflex (â, ê, î, ô, û)
The circumflex is used actually to show the disappearance of a consonant or vowel immediately following the vowel over which the circumflex lies.
Examples in French: Chesne = Chêne (Oak, Oaktree, Lastname), Appast = Appât (Bait), Hismel = Hîmel (Last name), Fenestre = Fenêtre (Window), Prestre = Prêtre (Priest), Feste = Fête (feast, party, birthday), Couster = Coûter (verb to cost), Due = dû (due), Vue – Vû (Given).
Examples in Creole:
In Creole, the circonflexe is most often omitted and replaced with an accent grave.
French Creole English Equivalent
Chêne Chèn /shan/ Oak, Oaktree
Fenêtre Fenèt /fuh net/ Window
Prêtre Prèt /preht/ Priest
5. Le Tréma, The Umlaut (ï)
The tréma /tray mah/ is used in Creole and French to separate the sounds of two vowels attached to one another.
Examples: Maïs /mah ee/ (corn), Zaïre /ee zah ee/ (Country, given name), Noël /noh ehl/, Ladoïska /lah doh ees kah/
