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
|
| dʒ
|
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
|
| tʃ
|
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)
|
| oː
|
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]
|
|
- ^ Baker, Philip (1972) Kreol. A description of Mauritian creole, Hurst
- ^ Lalit Dictionary
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 di and ti are sometimes also realised as /dzi/ and /tsi/ respectively.
- ^ The /ɾ/ sound is not native and is usually employed in words imported from other languages.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 In some accents, si make a /sj/ sound instead of /ʃ/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 In some accents, zi make a /zj/ sound instead of /ʒ/.
- ↑ 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.
- ^ in /ɛ̃/ is sometimes spelt en but pronunciation remains unchanged.
