British Indian Ocean Territory Languages

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British Indian Ocean Territory

Languages

Description

The only inhabitants of the British Indian Ocean Territory are British and United States military personnel, and associated contractors, who together number around 3,000 people according to 2018 figures. The official language is English. The forced removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Archipelago happened between 1968 and 1973. The Chagossians, then numbering about 2,000 people, were removed by the UK government to Mauritius and Seychelles in order to build the military base.

The Chagossians speak Chagossian Creole, a French-based creole language whose vocabulary also includes words originating in various African and Asian languages and is part of the Bourbonnais Creole family. Chagossian Creole is still spoken by some of their descendants in Mauritius and the Seychelles.

Word List(s)

Mauritian Creole

• Useful phrases in Mauritian Creole (Omniglot)

French

• French Genealogical Word List
• French Word List
• Useful French phrases (Omniglot)

Alphabet and Pronunciation

Mauritian Creole

• Mauritian Creole phonology (Wikipedia)
• Mauritian Creole Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

French

• French Language Consonants and Vowels (Wikipedia)
• French Language Alphabet (Wikipedia)
• French Alphabet and Pronunciation (Omniglot)

Language Aids and Dictionaries

Mauritian Creole

• Learn Mauritian Creole in 15 mins (YouTube)
• Baker, Philip, and Vinesh Y Hookoomsing. Dictionary of Mauritian Creole = Diksyoner kreol morisyen = Dictionnaire du crʹeole mauricien. Paris: L'Harmattan, 1987. Available at: WorldCat.
• Lee, Jacques K. Mauritius : its Creole language : the ultimate Creole phrase book : English-Creole dictionary. London, England: Nautilus Pub. Co., 2003. Available at: WorldCat.

French

• French Language
• French Handwriting
• English to French Dictionary (Glosbe)
• Learn French (duolingo)
• Learn French (Babbel)

Additional Resources

• What Are the Bourbonnais Creole Languages? (AlphaOmega)
• British Indian Ocean Territory (Britannica)
• British Indian Ocean Territory (Wikitravel)