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Population 1,098,111 (1993 Mauritian govt. figure). Includes Rodrigues;
4 islands.
National or official language: English.
Pospulation
1,141,111 (1998 UN). Ethnically 685,170 or 69% of the population from India. Includes Rodrigues; 4 islands.
Literacy rate 90% to 94%. Also includes Hakka Chinese 35,000, Mandarin Chinese, Yue Chinese, Gujarati, Marathi, Eastern Panjabi, Telugu.
Information mainly from P. Baker 1972; ----- and R. Ramnak 1985; R. Barz and J. Siegel 1988; T. Eriksen 1990. Hindu, Christian, Muslim, secular. Blind population 250. Deaf institutions: 2. Data accuracy estimate: B. The number of languages listed for Mauritius is 6. Of those, all are living languages. Diversity index 0.60.
Spoken living languages
Bhojpuri
[BHJ] 330,000 in Mauritius (1993 Johnstone). Urban and rural areas.
Dialects : Mauritian Bhojpuri
Classification : Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Western Hindi, Hindustani.
Ethnically 685,170 (1986) or 69%
of the population is from India, but some speak Urdu, Tamil, or Morisyen.
Also India, Nepal, Kenya, Uganda, Yemen, USA, South Africa, New Zealand,
Singapore, Germany. , Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Western
Hindi, Hindustani.
Mauritian Bhojpuri : Although often called
'Hindi', the language is Bhojpuri. Often used in government and politics.
Hindu. Bible 1818-1987. NT 1811-1992. Bible portions 1806-1962.
More information.
English
[ENG] 3,000 in Mauritius (1993 Johnstone);
470,000,000 in all countries (1995 WA).
Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
Used in secondary school, courts, for road signs. Official
language. Bible 1535-1989. NT 1525-1985. Bible portions 1530-1987.
More information
French
[FRN] 37,000.
Classification: Indo-European, Italic, Romance, Italo-Western, Western, Gallo-Iberian, Gallo-Romance, Gallo-Rhaetian, Oïl, French.
More information.
Morisyen
Alternate Names : Mauritius Creole, French, Kreole,
Kreol, Mauritian
Dialects : Rodriges Creole
Classification : Creole, French based
[MFE] 600,000 first language speakers in Mauritius
(1989); 4,000 in Madagascar (1993 Johnstone). 200,000 second language
speakers (1975 Katzner).
Native language of the vast majority of the
population (1988 D. Bickerton). , French based.
Closer to French creoles of Caribbean than to Reunion Creole (Philip
Baker). Nearly identical to Rodrigues.
Lower prestige than French or
English. Trade language. Bible portions 1885-1900. Work in progress.
More information
Tamil
Classification: Dravidian, Southern, Tamil-Kannada, Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Tamil
[TCV] 22,000 in Mauritius (1993 Johnstone). .
.
[TCV] 22,000 in Mauritius (1993 Johnstone);
62,000,000 or more in all countries. Also in India, Sri Lanka, South
Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji. , Southern, Tamil-Kannada,
Tamil-Kodagu, Tamil-Malayalam, Tamil.
Often used in government and
politics. Hindu. Bible 1727-1995. NT 1715-1988. Bible portions
1714-1956.
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Urdu
Classification: Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Western Hindi, Hindustani
[URD] 64,000 in Mauritius (1993 Johnstone);
54,000,000 or more in all countries. Also in Pakistan, India, Bahrain,
Oman, Qatar, Fiji, Afghanistan, South Africa, Germany. , Indo-Iranian,
Indo-Aryan, Central zone, Western Hindi, Hindustani.
Often used in
government and politics. Muslim. Bible 1843-1958. NT 1758-1993. Bible
portions 1805-1894.
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