To which language should you translate to localize in Mauritius?
What we know from our community
Creole is spoken throughout the inhabited islands that constitute the Republic of Mauritius: Mauritius itself, but also Rodrigues and Agalega. Although it coexists with other languages, i.e., predominantly French and English (the country was a French colony first and then a British colony), Creole is the ONLY language that everyone speaks and understands. It is widely used in the media, advertising and, of course, day-to-day interactions.
Along with Creole, French and English, other languages are spoken by individual communities on the islands: Indian languages (including Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telegu, Marathi and Bhojpuri – bank notes are, in fact, written in English, Tamil and Hindi and contain Roman, Devanagari, Tamil and Gujarati numerals), Chinese languages (Mandarin, Hakka and Cantonese) as well as Arab. This heterophonic environment, slowly accumulated through years of forced and unforced migration, constitute the pride and true wealth of Mauritians.Most words in Mauritian Creole are based on French. However, they have yielded different pronunciations, grammar and meaning over time. The word banane, for instance, is an iconic false friend in French. Firstly, it is spelled /banane/ (and not /banan/ – every letter in Mauritian Creole is pronounced) and, secondly, it has nothing to do with the fruit! Banane means “year”.
Mauritian Creole
Tou dimounn koz Kreol lor lansanb bann zil Repiblik Moris kot ena abitan, ki li Moris, Rodrig ouswa Agalega. Si Kreol existe akote bann lezot lang, setadir prinsipalman Franse ek Angle (pei-la ti dabor enn koloni franse ek answit enn koloni britanik), limem SEL lang ki tou dimounn koze e konpran. Servi Kreol dan bann media, dan bann reklam ek, evidaman, dan lavi toulezour.
Avek Kreol, Franse ek Angle, ena bann lezot lang ki servi dan bann kominote dan Moris: ena bann lang indien (notaman Hindi, Ourdou, Tamil, Telegou, Marathi ek Bhojpouri – nou bann biye labank finn ekrir an Angle, Tamil ek Hindi, avek bann sif romin, devanagari, tamil ek goujrati), bann lang sinwa (Mandarin, Hakka e Kantone) ek ousi Arab. Sa lanvironnman eterofonik la finn konstrir avek letan, atraver bann migrasion forse ek ousi lib bann dimounn. Zordi, li fer fierte tou bann Morisien e konstitie pli gran larises pei-la.
Preski tou bann mo dan Kreol Morisien sorti depi Franse me zot finn evolie pou gagn zot prop prononsiasion, reg gramer ek sinifikasion. Par exanp, si nou aret nou lor mo “banane” e konpar li avek mo franse ki ekrir parey la. Premierman, nou pa pronons zot parey: nou dir /banane/ (nou pa dir /banan/ – bizin pronons sak let dan Kreol). Deziemman, li pa ena okenn relasion avek enn fri!
Hugues, Professional translator
LANGUAGE INSIGHT
Official language
English and French
Actual languages
French Creole (86.5%; 1.09 mln), Bhojpuri (5.3%; 66k), French (4.1%; 51k), Hindi (1.2%; 15k), Tamil (0.8%; 10k), other (2.1%; 26k)
What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Mauritius
(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)
33/150 localize by translating into English
6/150 localize by translating into both English and French
4/150 localize by translating into French
1/150 localizes by translating into English, French and Portuguese
1/150 localizes by translating into English, French, Bhojpuri, Mauritian Creole and Mauritian Sign Language