Appendix:Mauritian Creole pronunciation

The phonemes of Mauritian Creole are very similar to that of Standard French. However, French /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ have respectively depalatalized to /s/ and /z/ in Mauritian, and the front vowels /y/ and /ø/ have respectively been unrounded to /i/ and /e/.[1] [2]

Consonants
IPA Examples English approximation
b bagaz bird
d defo den
diber,[3] gajak jam
f fer fair
ɡ gete good
h horni hut
k kontan skill
l let little
m miray man
n nimero, bann name
ɲ segner roughly like canyon
ŋ long feeling
p partaz speed
ʁ reklam roughly like loch (Scottish English) but voiced, like "gh" in Scottish Gaelic
ɾ maharani[4] rapture (r may be trilled)
s sez see
ʃ shopping, rasion[5] shine
t tolere still
chombo, tini[3] choose
v via view
z zero zoo
ʒ rezion,[6] bej[7] measure
Semivowels
j yer, interier, stasion[5], vizion[6], montagn, lay yes
w wi, trwa, piaw will
Vowels
Oral vowels
IPA Examples English approximation
a adilt, desann applicant
e editer, kriye hey
ɛ problem, bej, lantenn left
ə maja, tann, minimum again
i li, finn bee
ø volimine[7] closely like bird
o soz go (Scottish English)
u ou, tou too
ʌ brushing bus
y ju[7] no English equivalent; similar to bee but with rounded lips
Long vowels and diphthongs
ɑː bar far (British English)
ɛː frer, alert hair (British English)
iːə mezir roughly like near (British English)
for, ortograf more (British English)
uːə zour closely like moor (British English)
Nasal vowels
ã kanpagn No English equivalent; nasalized [a]
ɑ̃ sante No English equivalent; nasalized [ɑ]
ɛ̃ sink, lendi[8] No English equivalent; nasalized [ɛ]
ɔ̃ non No English equivalent; nasalized [o]

Notes edit

  1. ^ Baker, Philip (1972) Kreol. A description of Mauritian creole, Hurst
  2. ^ Lalit Dictionary
  3. 3.0 3.1 di and ti are sometimes also realised as /dzi/ and /tsi/ respectively.
  4. ^ The /ɾ/ sound is not native and is usually employed in words imported from other languages.
  5. 5.0 5.1 In some accents, si make a /sj/ sound instead of /ʃ/.
  6. 6.0 6.1 In some accents, zi make a /zj/ sound instead of /ʒ/.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 Even if these sounds have generally depatalised or been unrounded, they are still present in some accents. /ø/ and /y/ occur rarely, usually from the use of French words in their unchanged pronunciations.
  8. ^ in /ɛ̃/ is sometimes spelt en but pronunciation remains unchanged.