Haiti flag NATION

How to pronounce
Haiti

Say it

HAY·tee

Native [a.iti] → American /ˈheɪ.ti/

Sound by sound

2 little beats. BIG = the stressed part.

  1. HAY the ‘ay’ in day — say this beat loudest
  2. tee the ‘ee’ in see

Talking about Haiti

The words that trip people up — what to call the team, the people, and the language.

One person
a Haitian
The people / the team
Haitians (the team: <em>Les Grenadiers</em>)
As an adjective
Haitian
The language
Haitian Creole (and French)

Both French and Haitian Creole are official languages, and almost everyone speaks Creole day-to-day. In French the country is Haïti (ah-ee-TEE); in Creole it is Ayiti, spelled with no “h”.

Like a local vs like an American

In the original [a.iti]
On US broadcasts HAY·tee

Don’t say…

  • HAHY-tee
  • hah-EE-tee
  • HAY-shuh
  • HAY·tee — stress on HAY

Where the name comes from

Haiti comes from Ayiti, the Indigenous Taíno name for the whole island, usually translated “land of high mountains”. When the country won its independence in 1804 — the first free Black republic, born of a successful slave revolt — its leaders revived the original Taíno name rather than the colonial one.

Capital
Port-au-Prince
Confederation
CONCACAF
World Cup appearances
2 (first in 1974)

Hear it for real

YouGlish — real US broadcast clips Forvo — native speakers

Say it out loud — and check it.

SayWaader listens to your pronunciation and tells you exactly what to fix, syllable by syllable.

Practice in the app

FAQ

How do you pronounce Haiti?

Haiti is pronounced HAY·tee in American English — 2 beats, with the stress on HAY.

Where does the name Haiti come from?

Haiti comes from <em>Ayiti</em>, the Indigenous Taíno name for the whole island, usually translated “land of high mountains”. When the country won its independence in 1804 — the first free Black republic, born of a successful slave revolt — its leaders revived the original Taíno name rather than the colonial one.

Why is Haiti spelled with two dots in “Haïti”?

That’s the French spelling. The two dots (a diaeresis, on the “ï”) tell you the “a” and “i” are said as two separate vowels — ah-ee — not blended into one. English drops the dots but keeps the idea: HAY-tee.