Kreol Morisien
Mauritian Creole
French-based creole
Mauritian Creole (Kreol Morisien) is the de facto national language of Mauritius, derived from 18th-century French during the colonial period with substrate influence from Malagasy, East African, and Indian languages. It has standardized orthography (Lortograf-larmoni 2011) using phonemic spelling rather than French historical spellings. About 1.3 million speakers.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Mauritian Creole
Water
dilo
/dilo/
Fire
dife
/dife/
Sun
soley
/solej/
Moon
lalinn
/lalin/
Mother
mama
/mama/
Father
papa
/papa/
Eat
manze
/mãze/
Drink
bwar
/bwaɾ/
Love
lamour
/lamuɾ/
Heart
leker
/lekeɾ/
Tree
pye
/pje/
House
lakaz
/lakaz/
Dog
lisien
/lisjɛ̃/
Cat
sat
/sat/
Hand
lame
/lame/
Eye
lizie
/lizje/
Hello
bonzour
/bõzuɾ/
Thank you
mersi
/meɾsi/
One
enn
/ɛn/
Good
bon
/bõ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related French-based creole languages
| Meaning | Mauritian Creole | Seychellois Creole | Réunion Creole | Guadeloupean Creole | Haitian Creole | Romansh | Papiamento |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | dilo /dilo/ | delo /delo/ | dlo /dlo/ | dlo /dlo/ | dlo /dlo/ | aua /awa/ | awa /awa/ |
| Fire | dife /dife/ | dife /dife/ | dofé /dofe/ | difé /dife/ | dife /dife/ | fieu /fjew/ | kandela /kandela/ |
| Sun | soley /solej/ | soley /solej/ | soley /solej/ | solèy /solɛj/ | solèy /sɔlɛj/ | sulegl /suleʎ/ | solo /solo/ |
| Moon | lalinn /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | lalinn /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | glina /ɡlina/ | luna /luna/ |
| Mother | mama /mama/ | manman /mãmã/ | manmon /mãmõ/ | manman /mãmã/ | manman /mɑ̃mɑ̃/ | mamma /mama/ | mama /mama/ |
| Father | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | bab /bap/ | tata /tata/ |
| Eat | manze /mãze/ | manze /mãze/ | manz /mãz/ | manjé /mãʒe/ | manje /mɑ̃ʒe/ | mangiar /mandʒar/ | kome /kome/ |
| Drink | bwar /bwaɾ/ | bwar /bwaʁ/ | bwar /bwaʁ/ | bwè /bwɛ/ | bwè /bwɛ/ | baiver /bajver/ | bebe /bebe/ |
| Love | lamour /lamuɾ/ | lanmour /lãmuʁ/ | lamour /lamuʁ/ | lanmou /lãmu/ | lanmou /lɑ̃mu/ | amur /amur/ | amor /amor/ |
| Heart | leker /lekeɾ/ | leker /lekeʁ/ | ker /kɛʁ/ | kè /kɛ/ | kè /kɛ/ | cor /kɔr/ | kurason /kurason/ |
| Tree | pye /pje/ | pye dibwa /pje dibwa/ | pyébwa /pjebwa/ | pyé bwa /pje bwa/ | pyebwa /pjebwa/ | planta /planta/ | palu /palu/ |
| House | lakaz /lakaz/ | lakaz /lakaz/ | kaz /kaz/ | kaz /kaz/ | kay /kaj/ | chasa /tʃaza/ | kas /kas/ |
| Dog | lisien /lisjɛ̃/ | lisyen /lisjɛ̃/ | lisien /lisjɛ̃/ | chyen /ʃjɛ̃/ | chen /ʃɛ̃/ | chaun /tʃawn/ | kacho /katʃo/ |
| Cat | sat /sat/ | sat /sat/ | shat /ʃat/ | chat /ʃat/ | chat /ʃat/ | giat /dʒat/ | pushi /puʃi/ |
| Hand | lame /lame/ | lanmen /lãmɛ̃/ | lamin /lamɛ̃/ | men /mɛ̃/ | men /mɛ̃/ | maun /mawn/ | man /man/ |
| Eye | lizie /lizje/ | lizye /lizje/ | zié /zje/ | zyé /zje/ | je /ʒe/ | egl /eʎ/ | wowo /wowo/ |
| Hello | bonzour /bõzuɾ/ | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ | bonjou /bõʒu/ | bonjou /bɔ̃ʒu/ | allegra /aleɡra/ | bon dia /bon dia/ |
| Thank you | mersi /meɾsi/ | mersi /mɛʁsi/ | mersi /mɛʁsi/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | grazia /ɡratsia/ | danki /daŋki/ |
| One | enn /ɛn/ | enn /ɛn/ | inn /in/ | yonn /jõn/ | youn /jun/ | in /in/ | un /un/ |
| Good | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bun /bun/ | bon /bon/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.