Seychellois Creole

Seychellois Creole (/seɪˈʃɛlwɑː/), also known as kreol, is the French-based creole language spoken by the Seychelles Creole people of the Seychelles. It shares national language status with English and French (in contrast to Mauritian and Réunion Creole, which lack official status in Mauritius and France).

This article is about the language. For the people, see Seychellois Creole people.
Seychellois Creole
kreol, seselwa
Native toSeychelles
Native speakers
(73,000 cited 1998)[1]
Dialects
Latin
Official status
Official language in
 Seychelles
Regulated byLenstiti Kreol
Language codes
ISO 639-3crs
Glottologsese1246
Linguasphere51-AAC-cea (& -ceb)
Location of Seychelles where the creole is spoken
Sign in Seychellois Creole, La Digue. Ede pou kit La Digue prop silvouple, meaning "Please help to keep La Digue tidy."

Description

Since its independence in 1976, the government of the Seychelles has sought to develop the language, with its own orthography and codified grammar, establishing Lenstiti Kreol (the Creole Institute) for this purpose.

LanguageWord
Creole Noutoubezwentravayansanmpoukrenoulavenir
French (IPA) /nu‿z//a.vɔ̃//tus//bə.zwɛ̃//də//tʁa.va.je//ɑ̃.sɑ̃bl//puʁ//kʁe.e//nɔtʁ//av.niʁ/
French Nousavonstousbesoindetravaillerensemblepourcréernotreavenir
Translation Weallneedtoworktogethertocreateourfuture
Gloss Wehaveallneedtoworktogetherforcreateourfuture

In several Seychellois Creole words derived from French, the French definite article (le, la and les) has become part of the word; for example, 'future' is lavenir (French l'avenir). The possessive is the same as the pronoun, so that 'our future' is nou lavenir. Similarly in the plural, les Îles Éloignées Seychelles in French ('the Outer Seychelles Islands') has become Zil Elwanyen Sesel in Creole. Note the z in Zil, as, in French, les Îles is pronounced /le.z‿il/.

Samples

(Lord's Prayer)

Ou, nou papa ki dan lesyel,
Fer ou ganny rekonnet konman Bondye.
Ki ou renny i arive.
Ki ou lavolonte i ganny realize
Lo later parey i ete dan lesyel
Donn nou sak zour nou dipen ki nou bezwen.
Pardonn nou pour bann lofans
Ki noun fer anver ou,
Parey nou pardonn sa ki n ofans nou.
Pa les tantasyon domin nou,
Me tir nou dan lemal.

49 fables of La Fontaine were adapted to the dialect around 1900 by Rodolphine Young (1860–1932) but these remained unpublished until 1983.[2]

While Seychellois laws are written in English, the working language of the National Assembly is Creole and the verbatim record of its meetings provides an extensive corpus for its contemporary use in a formal setting.[3]

(See also Koste Seselwa, the national anthem.)

Notes
  1. Seychellois Creole at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Fables de La Fontaine traduites en créole seychellois, Hamburg, 1983; there is also a selection at Potomitan.info
  3. National Assembly - Hansard - Verbatim

References
  • Annegret Bollée. 1977a. Le créole français des Seychelles: Esquisse d’une grammaire, textes, vocabulaire. Tübingen: Niemeyer.
  • D'Offay, Danielle & Lionnet, Guy, Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Créole Seychellois - Français. Helmut Buske Verlag, Hamburg. 1982. ISBN 3-87118-569-8.
For a list of words relating to Seychellois Creole, see the Seychellois Creole language category of words in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Seychellois Creole test of Wikipedia at Wikimedia Incubator
Seychellois Creole test of Wiktionary at Wikimedia Incubator
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Seychellois Creole.
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