Kreol Réyoné
Réunion Creole
French-based creole
Réunion Creole (Kreol Réyoné, Kréol La Rényon) is the French-based creole of Réunion island in the Indian Ocean (~600K L1 speakers), an overseas department of France. Together with Mauritian (mfe) and Seychellois (crs) creoles it forms the Indian Ocean French-creole triad (the Mascarene-creole sub-cluster). Substrate influence comes from East African Bantu, Malagasy and Indian Tamil from indentured laborers. Three competing orthographies are in use (the SudEL graphical, Lékritir 77 and Tangol). Used widely in oral domains, music (maloya, séga), and increasingly in literature, but French dominates schooling and administration.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Réunion Creole
Water
dlo
/dlo/
Fire
dofé
/dofe/
Sun
soley
/solej/
Moon
lalinn
/lalin/
Mother
manmon
/mãmõ/
Father
papa
/papa/
Eat
manz
/mãz/
Drink
bwar
/bwaʁ/
Love
lamour
/lamuʁ/
Heart
ker
/kɛʁ/
Tree
pyébwa
/pjebwa/
House
kaz
/kaz/
Dog
lisien
/lisjɛ̃/
Cat
shat
/ʃat/
Hand
lamin
/lamɛ̃/
Eye
zié
/zje/
Hello
bonzour
/bõzuʁ/
Thank you
mersi
/mɛʁsi/
One
inn
/in/
Good
bon
/bõ/
Sources
- Cellier — Comparons nos langues
- Ethnologue 27: Réunion Creole
- Chaudenson (1974) Le lexique du parler créole de la Réunion
Words compared
Compared with related French-based creole languages
| Meaning | Réunion Creole | Seychellois Creole | Guadeloupean Creole | Mauritian Creole | Haitian Creole | French | French (African) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | dlo /dlo/ | delo /delo/ | dlo /dlo/ | dilo /dilo/ | dlo /dlo/ | eau /o/ | eau /o/ |
| Fire | dofé /dofe/ | dife /dife/ | difé /dife/ | dife /dife/ | dife /dife/ | feu /fø/ | feu /fø/ |
| Sun | soley /solej/ | soley /solej/ | solèy /solɛj/ | soley /solej/ | solèy /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ | soleil /sɔlɛj/ |
| Moon | lalinn /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | lalinn /lalin/ | lalin /lalin/ | lune /lyn/ | lune /lyn/ |
| Mother | manmon /mãmõ/ | manman /mãmã/ | manman /mãmã/ | mama /mama/ | manman /mɑ̃mɑ̃/ | mère /mɛʁ/ | mère /mɛʁ/ |
| Father | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ | père /pɛʁ/ | père /pɛʁ/ |
| Eat | manz /mãz/ | manze /mãze/ | manjé /mãʒe/ | manze /mãze/ | manje /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ | manger /mɑ̃ʒe/ |
| Drink | bwar /bwaʁ/ | bwar /bwaʁ/ | bwè /bwɛ/ | bwar /bwaɾ/ | bwè /bwɛ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ | boire /bwaʁ/ |
| Love | lamour /lamuʁ/ | lanmour /lãmuʁ/ | lanmou /lãmu/ | lamour /lamuɾ/ | lanmou /lɑ̃mu/ | amour /amuʁ/ | amour /amuʁ/ |
| Heart | ker /kɛʁ/ | leker /lekeʁ/ | kè /kɛ/ | leker /lekeɾ/ | kè /kɛ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ | cœur /kœʁ/ |
| Tree | pyébwa /pjebwa/ | pye dibwa /pje dibwa/ | pyé bwa /pje bwa/ | pye /pje/ | pyebwa /pjebwa/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ | arbre /aʁbʁ/ |
| House | kaz /kaz/ | lakaz /lakaz/ | kaz /kaz/ | lakaz /lakaz/ | kay /kaj/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ | maison /mɛzɔ̃/ |
| Dog | lisien /lisjɛ̃/ | lisyen /lisjɛ̃/ | chyen /ʃjɛ̃/ | lisien /lisjɛ̃/ | chen /ʃɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ | chien /ʃjɛ̃/ |
| Cat | shat /ʃat/ | sat /sat/ | chat /ʃat/ | sat /sat/ | chat /ʃat/ | chat /ʃa/ | chat /ʃa/ |
| Hand | lamin /lamɛ̃/ | lanmen /lãmɛ̃/ | men /mɛ̃/ | lame /lame/ | men /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ | main /mɛ̃/ |
| Eye | zié /zje/ | lizye /lizje/ | zyé /zje/ | lizie /lizje/ | je /ʒe/ | œil /œj/ | œil /œj/ |
| Hello | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ | bonjou /bõʒu/ | bonzour /bõzuɾ/ | bonjou /bɔ̃ʒu/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ | bonjour /bɔ̃ʒuʁ/ |
| Thank you | mersi /mɛʁsi/ | mersi /mɛʁsi/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | mersi /meɾsi/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ | merci /mɛʁsi/ |
| One | inn /in/ | enn /ɛn/ | yonn /jõn/ | enn /ɛn/ | youn /jun/ | un /œ̃/ | un /œ̃/ |
| Good | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ | bon /bɔ̃/ |
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