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French-based creole language of the Seychelles
Seychellois Creole
(
), 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
Reunion Creole
, which lack official status in Mauritius and France).
Description
[
edit
]
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.
Language
|
Word
|
Creole
|
Nou
|
|
tou
|
bezwen
|
|
travay
|
ansanm
|
pou
|
kre
|
nou
|
lavenir
|
French (
IPA
)
|
/nu?z/
|
/a.v??/
|
/tus/
|
/b?.zw??/
|
/d?/
|
/t?a.va.je/
|
/??.s??bl/
|
/pu?/
|
/k?e.e/
|
/n?t?/
|
/av.ni?/
|
French
|
Nous
|
avons
|
tous
|
besoin
|
de
|
travailler
|
ensemble
|
pour
|
creer
|
notre
|
avenir
|
Translation
|
We
|
|
all
|
need
|
to
|
work
|
together
|
to
|
create
|
our
|
future
|
Gloss
|
We
|
have
|
all
|
need
|
to
|
work
|
together
|
for
|
create
|
our
|
future
|
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 Iles Eloignees Seychelles
in French ('the Outer Seychelles Islands') has become
Zil Elwanyen Sesel
in Creole. Note the
z
in
Zil
, as, in French,
les Iles
is pronounced
/le.
z
?il/
.
Samples
[
edit
]
(
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49 fables of La Fontaine were adapted to the dialect around 1900 by Rodolphine Young (1860?1932) but these remained unpublished until 1983.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
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- Annegret Bollee
. 1977a. Le creole francais des Seychelles: Esquisse d’une grammaire, textes, vocabulaire. Tubingen: Niemeyer.
- D'Offay, Danielle & Lionnet, Guy,
Diksyonner Kreol - Franse / Dictionnaire Creole Seychellois - Francais
. Helmut Buske Verlag, Hamburg. 1982.
ISBN
3-87118-569-8
.
External links
[
edit
]
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