Mauritian Creole is a French-based creole language spoken mainly in Mauritius, where it is used as the lingua franca. In 2012 there were about 1 million speakers of Mauritian Creole in Mauritius. There are also about 204,000 speakers in Madagascar, 39,000 in South Africa, and smaller numbers in other countries, such as Australia, France and the UK.
Mauritian Creole tends to be spoken in homes and informal situations, while French is used in work places, and French and English are used in schools and formal situations.
As well as words of French origin, it also contains some vocabularly from English, and from African and Asian languages spoken on Mauritius.
After the French claimed Mauritius in the early 18th century, they bought slaves there from West Africa, East Africa and Madagascar who spoke a variety of languages. French became their lingua franca, however, there was little contact between the slave owners and the slaves, and the slaves had little or no formal education. As as result, the French used by the slaves changed significantly, and was influenced by other languages they spoke. Eventually it became Mauritian Creole.
Mauritian Creole is also known as Creolophone, Kreol, Kreol Mauricean, Kreol Morisyin, Kreole, Maurisyen, Mauritian, Mauritian Creole, Mauritius Creole French or Maurysen.
Download an alphabet chart for Mauritian Creole (Excel)
Information on Mauritian Creole pronunciation compiled by Wolfram Siegel and Michael Peter Füstumum
Tou bann imin ne lib ek egal dan dinite ek dan bann drwa. Zot ena larezon ek konsians ek zot bizin azir anver lezot dan enn lespri fraternel.
Translation corrected by Dominic Desribes
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Mauritian Creole | Phrases | Numbers
Information about Mauritian Creole
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritian_Creole
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Créole_mauricien
https://www.wikiwand.com/fr/Créole_mauricien
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/mfe
http://linguistics.siu.edu/jpclfiles/maur.html
http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Creoles.html
Lortograf Kreol Morisien
Gramer Kreol Morisien (PDF)
Betawi, Bislama, Cape Verdean Creole, Chavacano, Chinook Jargon, Dominican Creole French, Fanagalo, French Guianese Creole, Guadeloupean Creole, Guinea-Bissau Creole, Haitian Creole, Jamaican, Kituba, Manado Malay, Mauritian Creole, Nagamese, Ndyuka, Norfuk, Nubi, Palenquero, Papiamento, Pijin, Réunion Creole, Sango, Saramaccan, Seychelles Creole, Sierra Leonean Creole, Singlish, Sranan, Saint Lucian Creole, Tok Pisin, Torres-Strait Creole
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page last modified: 23.04.21
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