English approximations are in some cases very loose, and only intended to give a general idea of the pronunciation. See Haitian Creole phonology for a more thorough look at the sounds of Haitian Creole.
↑ अआThe contrast between /ɣ/ and /w/ is lost before rounded vowels; the two phonemes merge as /w/ in that environment. Some orthographies of Haitian Creole follow the etymology of the word, using ‹r› for /w/ before a rounded vowel where this comes from an original /ɣ/, e.g. gro/ɡwo/ "big" (cf. French gros/ɡʁo/). The official orthography follows the modern pronunciation of the word and uses ‹w› for /w/ in all cases, so that /ɡwo/ is spelled ‹gwo›.