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Mauritius' quantified Creole: an atypical language

Written on : 30 October 2019
By : Melchior Burin des Roziers
Mauritius' quantified Creole: an atypical language

Mauritius is a melting pot of diverse ethnicities and origins. With a succession of colonisations over nearly five centuries between 1500 and 1968, the year of its independence, Mauritius was greatly influenced by various languages and cultures. As a result, the 1.3 million inhabitants of this paradise atoll do not have an official language today. 

While French is the language most commonly spoken and understood by all Mauritians,  English is the administrative language of the country in which the curriculum is conducted.  Another language is also part of the island's culture: Mauritian Creole, widely used in the family, among friends, or at the market. About 85% of Mauritians speak it.

Decrypting numbers

Developed by the island's first inhabitants and slaves to avoid being understood by their masters, Mauritian Creole was strongly inspired by the French and shaped to a lesser extent by English, Malagasy, Hindi, and Bhojpuri.  Throughout the island's multi-colonial past and the massive arrival of slaves and workers, this language has evolved into the Mauritian Creole of today.  Although it has no official role on the island, it is widely used in everyday life and is the language of the arts. 

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Numbers and letters

Numbers and letters

One of the great characteristics of Mauritian Creole is the use of certain numbers to designate objects, actions, or people. 

For example, the number 2 means monkey, 4 means death.  The number 11 refers to the action of walking (like the two legs), 2-4 to eat (not 24!), 28 to leave, and 31 to be well dressed.  This has French origins as it is inspired by the famous expression: se mettre sur son 31).

As regards the body: 14 means the head, 15 the breasts, or 36 the male sex. 

To designate people: 6 designates a homosexual (in pejorative terms), 13 means "macroc" (bootlicker), 17 a young girl or girlfriend, although 35 is mostly used in this case when the girl is not very young, 33 qualifies children, 34 a fickle and sly woman.
Finally, 1 is also used for Muslims, 22 for Tamils/Hindus (in a pejorative sense) and 32 for Chinese. 

Some expressions in Mauritian Creole

In Mauritian Creole, numbers have a wide range of meanings and it is not uncommon to find phrases or expressions that mix numbers and letters, a rather atypical mixture that may confuse many. Here are some typical expressions in Mauritian Creole:  
 
>So 14 li vinn 28: He has gone mad / He has lost his mind
 
>7 Champ de Mars tower mo pa per: Nothing scares me 
 
>Champ de Mars in Port-Louis: a meeting place for horse races
 
>¾ fos, ¼ lie: A big lie (the story is three quarters false, the rest is a lie)
 
>Guet so 40! : Look at his backside!
 
>Li fine prezent moi so 35: he introduced me to his girlfriend
 
>Kouma to pé alle là-bas: How are you going?
>AP 11: I'm going on foot
 
>Counting to 10 is very similar to French
Enn, dé, trwa, kat, sent, sis, set, wit, nef, dis.
>As far as the tens are concerned (the same applies):
Ven, trant, karant, senkant, swasant, swasanndis, katroven, katrovendis, san.
 
Finally, it can be said that Mauritian Creole is a source of many other amusements. For example, do you know the sirandane? It is a form of guessing game that is traditionally played in Mauritius (as well as in neighbouring islands) and which deals with everyday life. Sirandanes are full of humour, naivety, poetry and sometimes even wisdom. To cast a sirandane, one must first pronounce a ritual formula: 
 
- Sirandane ? 
- Sampek!
 

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