TerraverbaAn atlas of the world’s languages 简体中文 Open the atlas

Morisyen

Morisyen is an Indo-European language spoken in Mauritius, by about 600 thousand people.

See it on the globeOpen in the family tree

Morisyen · 20.3°S 57.6°E

Mauritian Creole or Morisien (formerly spelled Morisyen; native name: kreol morisien [kʁeol moʁisjɛ̃, - moʁiʃɛ̃]) 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.

From Wikipedia · Mauritian Creole · CC BY-SA 4.0

Written down

Tou imin vinn lor later lib ek egal an drwa ek an dignite. Zot ne avek fakilte rezone e avek enn konsians e zot bizin azir enn anver lot dan enn espri fraternite.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR in Unicode).

Words in Morisyen

MeaningWordRomanization
mothermama
fatherpapa
manzom
womanmadam
namenon
eyelizie
earzorey
nosenene
toothledan
tonguelalang
handlame
heartleker
headlatet
blooddisan
bonelezo
kneezenou
liverlefwa
waterdilo
firedife
sunsoley
moonlalinn
starzetwal
skylesiel
rainlapli
windlabriz
mountainmontagn
riverlarivier
sealamer
treepie
leaffey

Most similar languages

Vocabulary

Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.

Nearby languages

Elsewhere

Something wrong here? Tell us

Glottolog · mori1278 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · mfe