Zistwar Ti-Prens
I first read Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s Le Petit Prince in the original French in year eleven at school (1983). There are now over 160 translations of this beautiful story, and in 2006 it was translated into Mauritian Creole (Morisien/Morisyen) – Zistwar Ti-Prens. I read about its publication (ironically in Germany) in the paper the day I left Mauritius last October, and at last have my very own copy, sent by philatepat, along with the gift of another book for children, in Mauritian Creole, about the time of slavery in Mauritius. (Mike’s paternal grandmother’s side of the family, at least, are descended from slaves – evident in the family name Lagrec.)
My French is okay but my Creole (except for the obvious – mot mauvais) is non existent. We hope that Mike will speak mainly Creole to the baby and I will speak English.
The language situation in Mauritius, briefly, is this: When the British took possession of Mauritius in 1810 (under French rule 1715-1810), they agreed to respect the culture, language, legal system and religion of the incumbent French, and for many years afterwards French remained the dominant means of communication. English eventually replaced French as spoken in government and the courts (and is today the country’s official language) but it never escaped the confines of its ‘official’ status. French remains dominant in the media, and Mauritian Creole, based on French, is the most widely spoken language. However, some Mauritians look down on Mauritian Creole which I think is a GREAT shame. I met with the Director of the National Library of Mauritius when I was there last October. He is a linguist and, thankfully, does not buy into that snobbery.
Mauritian Creole is a rich language and I look forward to learning it alongside my baby. What a pleasurable way to do it.
Resources on Mauritian Creole
The Mauritian creole and the concept of creolization
Entry in Ethnologue.org
Teaching your child multiple languages sounds great. I never managed more than creative swearing.
While in Singapore I heard that many people speak “Singlish” – a shortened form of English. This is looked down on by the government and there are even add campaigns trying to persuade people to speak English correctly.
It’s very sad really, as Singlish is a natural progression of a local language. My feeling is that Singlish will flourish, regardless of governments, as languages have a life of their own :)
For this reason I hope Mauritian Creole doesn’t die out!
I’m glad your swearing was (and remains?) at least creative! (Russian? Russlish?)
Mauritius-born people I have discussed this with here, who emigrated in the 1960s, now regret that they didn’t teach their children Creole (or French) but are finding that their grandchildren want to learn it. I suppose it is a generational thing (in Australia) and feeling comfortable about one’s place in Australian society – a separate (but nevertheless interesting) issue to that outlined in my post. What does really pip Mike off is the local Mauritian radio program we listen to here on Saturdays (3ZZZ 92.3FM, 12.00pm – 2.00pm) is conducted in French…
I can’t imagine that Mauritian Creole would die out as it is spoken by the majority of Mauritians. However, reading wikipedia about Singlish makes me wonder whether it will fare as you hope.
Hello
As a Mauritian living in Mauritius, I can kind of confirm what you are saying: “However, some Mauritians look down on Mauritian Creole”. It’s sadly true but hopefully the situation will change with time.
The problem is that many people see creole not as a proper language but as a “slang” of french. However, many decent languages like say English began as a “slang” of another langauges – at some point in history, English was considered inferior to latin, people even talked French in England but look at English now!!!
I’m planning if I have some time to start a Mauritian creole wiki dictionary. Time will say if it works …
Thanks for dropping by Pascal. I hope you do start the wiki – I will keep my eye out for it. I noticed replies to your blog posts are in a mixture of Creole and English – hard for me to read but cool nevertheless!
Creole is not slang. The Director of the National Library of Mauritius told me that Creole has all the characteristics which qualify it as a language. I hope he can get that message out more.
Enjoyed your post, Helene, and the comments on your flickr site. Needless to say, I strongly support your plan to teach your baby as many languages as possible. I already sing to Natasha in French, and I have a story book for her in French and Lao. Cunning linguists tell me the ‘trick’ is to speak to babies in one language at a time, not to mix them both in the same sentence. Bonne chance! And let’s meet soon for lunch.
Hi Helen – like you I read Le Petit Prince in Year 11 French, and now find joy in my 11-year-old’s recent discovery of the English language version for a school project. I managed to secure a beautiful hard copy French edition in Canada, which thrilled me no end. I’m envious of your bilingual endeavours with your soon-to-be sprog, as my endeavours with my two never really got past alot of swearing and slang, albeit in French and Cantonese. At least they know mummy is mad when a few incomprensible expletives come flying out of the kitchen…
Singing in French Angela – I’m impressed! Mike will have to do that. I guess I can play all our Mauritian music CDs – but then I wouldn’t know what I’d be teaching the child!
Swearing in French and Cantonese Georgie – impressed too! Naturally I can swear a little in Creole, but Mike doesn’t really like it when I demonstrate that limited extent of my Creole in front of Mauritians!
Studies show that children up to the age of six or so, can learn several languages at once and don’t mix them up…wish adults could do the same. Several years ago, I read about a doctor who said he could determine the language spoken by the parents of babies at three months, as the palate is already being configured to form the sounds they’re trying to imitate (the babies, not the parents). I think it’s wonderful that Mike will be speaking his language to baby!
Creole or Cajun is also spoken in Louisiana with the same French/African slave/English combo. That’s where my little Casper is from, but he only speaks Woof!