The Constitution of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

mentions no official language. It only contains a statement in Article 49 that "The official language of the Assembly shall be English but any member may address the chair in French" implying that

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

are official languages of the National Assembly (parliament). It is only in the Parliament that the official language is English but any member of the National Assembly can still address the chair in French. English and French are generally accepted as the official languages of Mauritius and as the languages of government administration and the court business, while the lingua franca is Creole.Coexistence International at Brandeis University
Brandeis.edu. Retrieved on 2012-11-11. Mauritius 24

English is used as the prime medium of instruction in public schools while French is also a common language in education and the dominant language of media. According to the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, 72.7% of the Mauritians were French speakers in 2005.''La Francophonie dans le monde 2006–2007''
published by the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie
Nathan
,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, 2007. Mauritius shares this distinction of being both English- and French-speaking with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the ...

, Dominica, Rwanda, Seychelles and Vanuatu. Being both an English-speaking and French-speaking nation,

is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and

La Francophonie LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

. The majority language and lingua franca of the country is the French-based Mauritian Creole, spoken at home by 86.5% of the population. Bhojpuri is the second most spoken language in Mauritius, used by 5.3% but its usage is decreasing. Mauritian Creole, which is spoken by an estimated 90% of the population, is considered to be the native language of the country and is used most often in informal settings.English Usage in Mauritius
Chass.utoronto.ca. Retrieved on 2012-11-11. It was developed in the 18th century by slaves who used a pidgin language to communicate with each other as well as with their French masters, who did not understand the various African languages. The pidgin evolved with later generations to become a casual language.Facts and Figures
M2002.thecgf.com (1968-03-12). Retrieved on 2012-11-11. Mauritian Creole is a

French-based creole A French creole, or French-based creole language, is a creole for which French is the lexifier. Most often this lexifier is not modern French but rather a 17th- or 18th-century koiné of French from Paris, the French Atlantic harbors, and the ...

due to its close ties with French pronunciation and vocabulary. Other languages spoken in Mauritius mainly include Bhojpuri,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

and other Indic languages, like Hindi,

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode ...

and

Urdu Urdu (;"Urdu"
'' Chinese. Most Mauritians are at least bilingual, if not trilingual or quadrilingual.BRIEFING ON THE MAURITIAN INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION ACT
gov.mu (8 December 2008) The earliest builders brought by the French were of Indian origin, who were employed to build Port Louis, the capital.

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

is taught in mosques around Mauritius. Mauritian Sign Language is the language of the deaf community.

References

External links

Linguistic situation in Mauritius
{{DEFAULTSORT:Languages Of Mauritius

See also

References

External links