The Language

Seychelles has three official languages - Creole, French and English.  Creole is a French-based language that developed in many of France’s overseas territories such as The Indian Ocean islands of Seychelles, Mauritius and Reunion, Tahiti, Martinique and even Louisiana in the Caribbean Sea. Regional differences developed both in accents and vocabulary. Seychelles’ Creole has both Arabic and Swahili influences. However, they are similar enough for Creole spoken by a Seychellois to be understood by a Mauritian or even a Cajun from Louisiana.
Much of the spelling and pronunciation of Creole is phonetic. When reading it, you will probably find it easier to understand if you speak the words out loud.

 Learn Basic Creole

The Language’s History

 The term creole comes from Portuguese Crioulo, via Spanish Criollo and French Créole. The Portuguese word crioulo is derived from the verb Criar (to raise), with a suffix of debated origin. The term was coined in the 16th century, during the great expansion in European maritime power and trade and the establishment of European colonies in Americas, in Africa, and along the coast of South and Southeast Asia up to the Philippines, China and Japan, and in Oceania.

The word "Creole" was originally applied to people born in the colonies, to distinguish them from the upper-class European-born immigrants. Originally, therefore, "Creole language" meant the speech of those Creole peoples.

Mauritian and Seychelles Creole are together classified as Isle de France Creole. Isle de France Creole originated in Mauritius in the eighteenth century, when Mauritius was known as Isle de France and the Seychelles were administered as a dependency of Mauritius". "Isle de France Creole is a French-based Creole with at least 85 percent of the vocabularies of both of these languages of French origin and the remainder from various African, Asian and European Sources"

Since the middle of the 20th century, however, linguists have promulgated the idea that creole languages are in no way inferior to other languages, and that those earlier labels are as inappropriate as saying that French is a "degenerate Latin" or a "Spanish dialect". Linguists now use the term "creole language" for any language that is formed from multiple languages by the same mechanism, without geographic restrictions or ethnic implications.

By definition, a creole is the result of a nontrivial mixture of two or more languages, usually with radical morphological changes and a syntax which is not obviously borrowed from either of the parent tongues. The parent tongues may themselves be creoles or pidgins that have disappeared before they could be documented.