Mauritian Creole or Morisien (formerly spelled Morisyen; ) is a French-based creole language spoken in Mauritius. English words are included in the standardized version of the language. In addition, the enslaved people and indentured servants from cultures in Africa and Asia left a diverse legacy of language in the country. The words spoken by these groups are also incorporated into contemporary Morisien.
Mauritian Creole is the lingua franca of the Republic of Mauritius, which gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1968. Both English and French are used as alternatives to Mauritian Creole. English is spoken primarily for administration and educational purposes and French is used by the media and as a second language.
Mauritians tend to speak Mauritian Creole at home, French in the workplace and ancestral Asian languages at cultural and religious events. French and English are taught in schools where Mauritian Creole and ancestral Asian languages are proposed as options. Though Mauritians are of numerous ethnic origins (including Indian, African, European, and Chinese) Mauritian Creole has gradually replaced the ancestral languages of most of the population to become the primary home language of the country. Today, around 1.3 million people speak the language.
Classification
Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole language that may be related to the Seychellois, Rodriguan, and Chagossian Creoles. Linguists disagree over the relationship, if any, of Mauritian Creole to other creole language examples in other parts of the world. Robert Chaudenson and Henri Wittmann hypothesize that Mauritian Creole is closely related to Réunion Creole. However, Philip Baker and Chris Corne have argued that Réunionnais influence on Mauritian was minimal and that the two languages are no more similar to each other than they are to other French-based creoles.
History
The Portuguese were the first Europeans to visit Mauritius, but they did not settle there. Only a small portion of Mauritian vocabulary derives from the Portuguese element in European maritime jargon (e.g., the Mediterranean Lingua Franca) or from enslaved Africans or Asians who came from areas in which Portuguese was used as a trade language (e.g., Angola and Mozambique). Similarly, the Dutch had a colony on Mauritius from 1638 to 1710, but ultimately evacuated to Réunion. A few runaway slaves remained, leaving no discernible impact on the Mauritian language.
The French ultimately claimed Mauritius and first settled it from 1715 to 1721, building a plantation economy based on slave labour. People from West and Southeast Africa came to form 85% of the population by 1777, which led to linguistic fragmentation.Auguste Toussaint, Histoire de l'île Maurice, Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1971. The size of the native French settler population on the island remained small and the enslaved population lacked formal education. The common language that developed was based on French, but a dialect that differed greatly from the language spoken by the slave owners. Mechanistically, this was similar to the process of creolization in other parts of the world. The pidgin language used for daily communication by people from varying linguistic backgrounds eventually became the native language of children born in these communities. Eventually, this evolved into a creole language, with the complexity and completeness required for young children to use it as their mother tongue. Historical documents from as early as 1773 note the "creole language" that the slaves spoke.
The British took over Mauritius during the Napoleonic era, but few native English speakers ever settled there. Mauritian Creole had already been firmly entrenched and continued to be the language used after British occupation began.
The abolition of slavery in the 1830s made many Africans leave the plantations. Indentured workers from India were brought to replace the freed slaves. The widely variable linguistic background of these immigrants mirrored that of the African slaves before them; therefore, no native language was dominant enough to become the basis for a shared language. Though Indians soon became the majority population on the island, their own linguistic fragmentation, as well as their alienation from the English- and French-speaking plantation owners, led them to take up Mauritian Creole as their lingua franca.
The native English and French population have long enjoyed greater social status, in addition to dominating government, business, education, and the media; however, Mauritian Creole's popularity in most informal domains has persisted, with around 85% of the population speaking this language.
Phonology The phonology of Mauritian Creole is very similar to that of Standard French. However, French and have respectively depalatalised to and in Mauritian, and the front vowels and have respectively been unrounded to and .
The consonant /t/ and /d/ undergoes palatalisation when it occurs before the vowel /i/. This process causes the /t/ and /d/ to sound more like /tɕ/ and /dʑ/. The word tifi (meaning girl) would be more pronounced as tɕifi, rather than tifi. +ConsonantsLabialAlveolarPost-alveolarPalatalVelarUvularPlosiveVoicelesstVoiceddAffricateVoiceless()Voiced()NasalVoicedFricativeVoiceless()Voiced()Approximant +VowelsFrontBackCloseUnroundedRounded()/ːClose-midUnroundedRounded()/ːOpen-midUnroundedOpenUnrounded FrontBackClose-midRoundedõOpen-midUnroundedɛ̃OpenRoundedɑ̃
IPAExampleminn (noodles)net (completely)enn (one)lakaz (house)sarye (to carry)kot (where)ːlord (tidiness)tou (all)ːkourpa (snail)ɑ̃nanye (nothing)ɛ̃linz (clothes)õziromon (pumpkin)
Orthography
The language has several published dictionaries, both monolingual and bilingual, written by authors such as Philip Baker (1987) and Arnaud Carpooran (2005, 2009, 2011). The number of publications is increasing steadily; however, the orthographies used in them are significantly different.
The Mauritian government began supporting an orthographic reform in 2011, with a system that generally follows French but eliminates silent letters and reduces the number of different ways in which the same sound can be written. It was codified in the Lortograf Kreol Morisien (2011) and used in the Gramer Kreol Morisien (2012) as well. The language became standard upon the publication of the second edition of the Diksioner Morisien.
Sample vocabulary Numbers Examples shown are in Mauritian Creole and French only.
Number Mauritian Creole French Number Mauritian Creole French0ZeroZéro20VinVingt1EnnUn/Une21Vint-e-ennVingt et un2DeDeux22VenndeVingt-deux3TrwaTrois23VenntrwaVingt-trois4KatQuatre24VennkatVingt-quatre5SinkCinq25VennsinkVingt-cinq6SisSix26VennsisVingt-six7SetSept27VennsetVingt-sept8WitHuit28VintwitVingt-huit9NefNeuf29VintnefVingt-neuf10DisDix30TrantTrente11OnzOnze40KarantQuarante12DouzDouze50SinkantCinquante13TrezTreize60SwasantSoixante14KatorzQuatorze70Swasann-dis/SeptantSoixante-dix/Septante15KinzQuinze80Katrovin/OktantQuatre-vingts/Octante16SezSeize90Katrovin-dis/NonantQuatre-vingt-dix/Nonante17DisetDix-sept100SanCent18DizwitDix-huit1000MilMille19DiznefDix-neuf1000000Enn milionUn million
Pronouns Examples shown are in English, Mauritian Creole and French.
English Mauritian Creole FrenchI, MyMoJe, Mon/Ma/MesYou, Your (informal)ToTu, Ton/Ta/TesHe/She/It, His/Her/ItsLi, SoIl/Elle, Son/Sa/SesWe, OurNouNous, Nôtre/NosYou, Your (pl)Zot (autres)Vous, Vôtre/VosYou, Your (formal)OuVous, Vôtre/VosThey, TheirZot (autres) Bann-laIls/Elles, Son/Sa/Ses/LeurMe (obj)MwaMoiYou (obj)TwaToiHim/Her/It (obj)LiLe/La/LuiUs (obj)NouNousYou (pl, obj)Zot (autres)VousYou (formal, obj)OuVousThem (obj)Zot (autres) Bann-laEux
*pl means plural *obj means object
Interrogative pronouns +EnglishMauritian CreoleFrenchWhoKisann-laQuiWhatKwa/KiQuoiWhenKanQuandWhereKot/Kote/Ki koteOùWhyKiferPourquoiWhichKi/Lekel (which one)Quelle
Directions English Mauritian Creole FrenchIn front (of)Devan, DrwatDevantBeforeAvanAvantBehindDeryerDerrièreOver thereLabaLà-basRightDrwatDroiteLeftGosGauche(To the) rightAdrwatÀ droite(To the) leftAgosÀ gaucheAboveLao/LorSur (là-haut)BelowAnbaSous (en-bas)Next toAkoteÀ côtéOutsideDeorDehorsInsideAndanDedans
Tamil loanwords CreoleTamilMeaning Kali kaḷḷi Cactus Notchi Nocci Vitex Mourkou Muṟukku Snake-shaped sweet Vetiver Veṭṭivēr Chrysopogon zizanioides At Aṭṭā Annona reticulata (custard apple) Pipangay Pīrkkaṅkāy Luffa Mouroum Muruṅkai Moringa Patol Puṭōl Trichosanthes cucumerina Avrayka Avaraikkāy Lablab purpureus Kotaranga Kottavaraṅkāy Guar Kotomili Kottamalli Coriander Kari-poule Karuvēppilai Murraya koenigii Betel Veṟṟilai Betel Pak Pākku Areca nut Poutou Puṭṭu a rice dish called puṭṭu Ounde Urundai A sphere-shaped confection Ayo! Ayyo! Alas! (exclamation)Kaandiகரண்டி KarandiA kind of spoon or ladleMangமாம்பழம் Maam PalamMango
Altered French words Most words in Mauritian Creole can be found in French, but some have altered meaning or is considered literary in French whilst in Mauritian Creole, it is still common or somewhat used. +EnglishMauritian CreoleOriginal French WordFrenchExample SentenceExample Sentence in EnglishTo useServiServir (to serve)UtiliserTo pe servi enn kreyonYou are using a pencilTo get/haveGagn(e)Gagner (to win)Obtenir/AvoirLi pe gagn fre!She is getting cold/She is cold!To like/loveKontanContent (happy)AimerMo kontan twaI love/like youTo be able toKapav/Ka/KavCapabilité (capability)PouvoirZot pa kapav marseThey can't walkTo see/findTrouv(e)Trouver (to find)VoirKi to trouve ladan?What do you see inside of it?To look/watch/seeGet(e)Guetter (to watch carefully)SurveillerMo pe get televizionI'm watching TVTo fight/argueLagerLa guerre (the war)Se disputer/Se battreZot pou kontign lager la?Are you still gonna keep on fighting?To stealKokinCoquin (naughty/rascal)VolerLi'nn kokin mo portab!He stole my phone! +EnglishMauritian CreoleOriginal French WordFrenchExample SentenceExample Sentence in EnglishPersonDimounnDe monde (people, used in phrases)PersonneEnn dimounn pe asiz lor sa stati-laA person is sitting on that statueTreePiePied (foot)ArbreSa pie-la pou tonb lor lakaz-laThis tree is going to fall on the houseInsectBebetBébête (fool/idiot)InsecteEna enn ta bebet pe mars-marse isiThere are a bunch of insects walking around hereShoesSoulyeSoulier (shoes with rigid soles)ChaussureBizin souy labou depi to soulye!You need to clean the mud off your shoes!Overcoat/JacketPaltoPaletot (overcoat/jacket)Veste/ManteauMet to palto avan ki fer fre!Put on your jacket before it gets cold!GossipPalabPalabre (palaver)PotinsTo kontan koz palab twa...You love to gossip...
English vocabulary Some vocabulary from the English language has also been incorporated into Mauritian Creole as well. +EnglishMauritian CreoleOriginal French WordExample SentenceExample Sentence in FrenchTo checkChek(e)Verifier/ValiderChek si to kard ankor ar twaCheck if your card is still with youBus stopBistopArrêt de busMo pa kone kot bistop eteI don't know where the bus stop isChallengeChalenjDéfiSa ti enn gro chalenj pou mwaThis was a big challenge for meJacketJaketVesteKot li'nn aste so jaket?Where did he buy his jacket from?
Lexicon Most words come from French but are not always used in the same way. For example, the French article le, la, les is often fused with the noun in Mauritian: French rat is Mauritian lera and French temps is Mauritian letan. The same is true for some adjectives and prepositions: French femme ("woman") and riz ("rice") are bonnfam (from bonne femme) and diri (from du riz) in Mauritian. Some words have changed their meanings: Mauritian gagn ("to get, obtain") is derived from French gagner ("to win, earn").
Other words come from either Portuguese or Spanish. The word ziromon meaning pumpkin is from Portuguese jerimum, originally from Tupi jirumun. The word lakaz meaning house is originally from Portuguese casa.