Chapter 8. Language contact in writing
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Hannah Davidson
Abstract
Building on Bosquet-Ballah’s (2015) work, this small-scale study takes both a quantitative and qualitative approach to the linguistic landscape of Mauritius to investigate whether place affects the languages present. Sample areas in Port Louis, the capital, Ebene, a newly-developed business area, and Flic-en-Flac, a tourist village were analysed. English signage was high in all areas (80% of all signs), French was less visible in Ebene (30.61%) and most present in Flic-en-Flac (57.45%). Creole signage was consistently low in all areas (7–8%). Creole played a metaphorical role in Flic-en-Flac to signal Mauritian authenticity to tourists, but in Port Louis it had a situational function to reach locals. This study provides an insight into the Mauritian multilingual situation, examining the functions of different languages in public spaces.
Abstract
Building on Bosquet-Ballah’s (2015) work, this small-scale study takes both a quantitative and qualitative approach to the linguistic landscape of Mauritius to investigate whether place affects the languages present. Sample areas in Port Louis, the capital, Ebene, a newly-developed business area, and Flic-en-Flac, a tourist village were analysed. English signage was high in all areas (80% of all signs), French was less visible in Ebene (30.61%) and most present in Flic-en-Flac (57.45%). Creole signage was consistently low in all areas (7–8%). Creole played a metaphorical role in Flic-en-Flac to signal Mauritian authenticity to tourists, but in Port Louis it had a situational function to reach locals. This study provides an insight into the Mauritian multilingual situation, examining the functions of different languages in public spaces.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
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Part 1. Descriptive and historical perspectives
- Chapter 1. Cognates of French articles in contemporary Reunion Creole 18
- Chapter 2. Evidence of topic-prominence in Mauritian Creole 49
- Chapter 3. Mauritian root modals are raising verbs 96
- Chapter 4. Gaps, resumptive pronouns and the complementizer ki in Mauritian Creole relative clauses 119
- Chapter 5. Indo-Aryan influence in Mauritian Creole 135
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Part 2. Sociolinguistic perspectives
- Chapter 6. Attitudes of Mauritian school teachers towards Kreol in education 186
- Chapter 7. Towards the construction of technical vocabulary in Kreol Morisien 207
- Chapter 8. Language contact in writing 229
- Chapter 9. Overview of the economic, anthropological, sociocultural and sociolinguistic situation in Reunion 260
- Chapter 10. (Re)defining the classification of Mauritian French varieties through a phonemic/phonetic approach 279
- Index 325
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
-
Part 1. Descriptive and historical perspectives
- Chapter 1. Cognates of French articles in contemporary Reunion Creole 18
- Chapter 2. Evidence of topic-prominence in Mauritian Creole 49
- Chapter 3. Mauritian root modals are raising verbs 96
- Chapter 4. Gaps, resumptive pronouns and the complementizer ki in Mauritian Creole relative clauses 119
- Chapter 5. Indo-Aryan influence in Mauritian Creole 135
-
Part 2. Sociolinguistic perspectives
- Chapter 6. Attitudes of Mauritian school teachers towards Kreol in education 186
- Chapter 7. Towards the construction of technical vocabulary in Kreol Morisien 207
- Chapter 8. Language contact in writing 229
- Chapter 9. Overview of the economic, anthropological, sociocultural and sociolinguistic situation in Reunion 260
- Chapter 10. (Re)defining the classification of Mauritian French varieties through a phonemic/phonetic approach 279
- Index 325
