Lexicon
While most of the words in Mauritian Creole share a common origin with French, they are not always used in the same way. For example, the French definite article "le/la" is often fused with the noun it modifies. Thus French "rat" is Mauritian "lera," French "temps" is Mauritian "letan." The same is true for some adjectives and prepositions, for example, "femme" and "riz" in French and "bolfam" (from "bonne femme") and "duri" (from "du riz") in Mauritian. Some words have changed their meanings altogether, like "gayn" (meaning "to have" in Mauritian), which is derived from "gagner" ("to win", or "to earn", in French).
There are also several loan words from the languages of the African slaves: Madagascans contributed such words as Mauritian "lapang," Malagasy "ampango" (rice stuck to the bottom of a pot); Mauritian "lafus," Malagasy "hafotsa" (a kind of tree); Mauritian "zahtak," Malagasy "antaka" (a kind of plant). Note that in these cases, as with some of the nouns from French, that the modern Mauritian word has fused with the French article "le/la/les." Words of East African origin include Mauritian "makutu," Makua "makhwatta" (running sore); Mauritian "matak," Swahili and Makonde "matako" (buttock).
Recents words are english, as map (plan or carte in french).
Read more about this topic: Mauritian Creole
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