DEV VIRAHSAWMY

This short introduction to GRAMMAR may help teachers and learners of English and Mauritian (Mauritian Creole) in the Extended Programme classes in secondary schools which cater for children who after 6-7 years at school remain non-literate and non-numerate.

The two main aims of this short introduction are 1. to show how close the two creole languages, Mauritian and English, are from a syntactic point of view and 2. to ensure that all our children do quickly become literate in Mauritian and English.

What does literacy mean? It simply means that a person can write, in any language, a few sentences which 1. are grammatically correct, 2.  which are well connected and 3. which express ideas clearly.

I believe that 3 years of Extended Programme should result in basic literacy and numeracy, if bilingual literacy is put at the heart of the course.

 

FRAZ

NOM EK VERB

Dan enn fraz ena enn nom ek enn verb.

Ekzanp: Dev travay.

Dev se enn nom.

Travay se enn verb.

PRONOM

Pronom se enn mo ki ranplas enn nom kan ou lekter ou interlokiter kone deza ki nom la reprezante. Par exanp, ou kapav dir, “Mo ena enn kamarad. Li enn artis.”

Mo/I, to/you, li/he or she, nou/we, zot/you or they (depending on context), bannla/they

PRONOM SIZE:

Mo travay. To travay. Li travay. Nou travay. Zot travay. Bannla travay.

(Note ki form verb pa sanze.)

pronom obze: mwa, twa, li, nou, zot, bannla

Ekz: Li anbet mwa. Li anbet twa. Li anbet li. Li anbet nou. Li anbet zot. Li anbet bannla.

(Note: ‘Zot’ fer referans plizier dimoun ki prezan e ‘bannla’ fer referans bann ki pa la.)

pronom reflexif: Se bann mo ki fini ar ‘mem’ kouma momem, tomem, limem, noumem, zotmem, bannlamem.

Ekz: Li finn bles limem. (He/She has hurt himself/herself.)

Nou fer noumem ditor. (We do ourselves harm.)

Bannlamem fer maler bannlamem/Bannlamem fer zot maler. (They themselves cause their own misfortune.)

Pronom reflexif+

Kapav servi pronom reflexif+ pou apiy lor enn zafer.

Ekz: Noumem nou responsab nou maler. (We, ourselves are to blame.)

SENTENCE

Noun and verb

In a sentence there is a noun and a verb.

Example: Dev works.

Dev is a noun.

Works is a verb.

PRONOUN

Pronouns are the words you substitute for other nouns when your reader or listener already knows which nouns you’re referring to.

Ex. “I have a cousin. He’s an artist.”

English pronouns: I, you, he/she, we, you, they.

Mauritian pronouns: mo, to, li, nou, zot,bannla

pronouns as subject:

Mo travay./ I work. To travay./You work. Li travay./He or she works. Nou travay./We work. Zot travay./You work. Bannla travay./They work.

(Note that the 3^rd person singular of the verb takes an <s>)

pronouns as object: mwa/me, twa/you, li/him or her, nou/us, zot/you, bannla/them.

Ex: He or she fools me. He or she fools you. He or she fools him or her. He or she fools us. He or she fools you/them.

Reflexive pronouns are words ending in –self or –selves. The nine English reflexive pronouns are myself, yourself, himself, herself, oneself, itself, ourselves, yourselves, and themselves.

Ex: I have hurt myself, (Mo finn bles momem.)

You have hurt yourself. (To finn bles tomem.)

She has hurt herself. (Li finn bles limem.)

They have hurt themselves. (Bannla finn bles zotmem.) Note that, depending on context, ‘bannla’ and ‘zot’ may be interchangeable.

reflexive pronoun for emphasis:

We ourselves are to blame. (Nou ki responsab nou maler.)

I have only myself to blame. (mo bizen aksepte ki momem ki antor.)

 

…

 

nom

Ena 2 kategori nom: Nom prop ek nom komen.

Nom prop se nom dimoun: Dev, Devi, Paul, Pauline, Rashid, Rashida ets.

Nom komen se nom bann kiksoz, bann obze kouma: lakaz, liv, kaye, plim, sak ets.

SENGILIE/PLIRYEL

1. Dan Morisien, enn nom li kapav sengilie (ena enn sel) ousa li kapav pliryel (ena boukou). Pou endik plieryel Morisien met mo ‘bann’ divan nom la.

Ekz.: bann zanimo; bann lisien; bann pie; bann zanana; bann pret ets.

Form nom dan Morisien pa sanze me ena plizier marker pliryel.

Ekz.: detrwa loto; enpe niaz, boukou kado …

noun

There are two categories of nouns: proper and common. Proper nouns refer to people: Dev, Devi, Paul, Pauline, Rashid, Rashida etc.

Common nouns refer to things, objects like: house, book, notebook, pen, bag etc.

SINGULAR/PLURAL

In English, a noun can be either singular or plural.

‘S’ is added to the word to show that there are many.

Examples: animal/animals; dog/dogs; tree/trees; pineapple/pineapples; priest/priests etc.

(NB The form in Mauritian nouns do not change but plural markers are used.)

PLURAL FORMS IN ENGLISH

In English the nouns change in form. If the singular noun ends in –s, –ss, –sh, –ch, –x, or –z, add -es to the end to make it plural: bus – buses; marsh – marshes; lunch – lunches; tax – taxes, class – classes …

If the noun ends with –f or –fe, the f or –fe are often changed to –ve before adding the –s to form the plural version: wife – wives; wolf – wolves … Exceptions: roof – roofs, belief – beliefs, chef – chefs, chief – chiefs.

If a singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a consonant, change the ending to – ies to make the noun plural: city – cities, puppy – puppies…

If the singular noun ends in –y and the letter before the –y is a vowel, simply add an –s to make it plural: ray – rays; boy – boys …

If the singular noun ends in –o, add –es to make it plural: potato – potatoes; tomato – tomatoes …

Plural noun exceptions: photo – photos; piano – pianos …

Some nouns don’t change at all when they’re pluralized: sheep – sheep, deer – deer…

Irregular nouns follow no specific rules, so it’s best to memorize these or look up the proper pluralization in the dictionary: child – children, goose – geese, man – men, woman – women,

tooth – teeth, foot – feet, mouse – mice, person – people …

 

…

verb

Enn verb li enn mo ki reprezant action fizik kouma ‘galoupe, marse, piose, ekrir’ ousa aktivite mantal kouma ‘panse, santi, reflesi, considere’.

An Morisien, enn verb so form pa sanze. An Angle enn verb kapav ena ant 3 ek 5 form.

Dev travay.

Dev pe travay.

Dev finn travay.

Dev ti travay.

Dev ti pe travay.

Dev ti finn travay.

Dev pou travay.

Dev ti pou travay.

‘travay’ so form pa finn sanze me ena bann mo ki servi koste ar verb pou dir enn zafer spesial lor verb la. Apel sa bann mo la (pe, ti, finn, pou) marker tan ek aspe.

MARKER TAN EK ASPE

Prezan: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla travay.

Pase: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla ti travay.

Fitir: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla pou travay.

Pase dan fitir: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla ti pou travay.

Aspe progresif

Prezan: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla pe travay.

Pase: Mo ets. ti pe travay.

Pase dan fitir: Si li pa ti malad, li ti pou pe travay sa ler la.

aspe perfektif:

Prezan: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla finn travay.

Pase: Mo, to, li, nou, zot, bannla ti finn travay.

Pase dan fitir: Si li pa ti malad, li ti pou finn travay. (konstriksion enprobab?)

verb

Verbs are words that represent actions that are external (run, jump, work) and internal (love, think, consider).

NB: A Mauritian verb has only ONE form. An English verb may have up to 5 forms.

Dev works.

Dev is working.

Dev has worked.

Dev worked.

Dev was working.

Dev had worked.

Dev will work.

Dev would work.

‘work’ has 4 forms (work,works,working, worked). English uses auxiliary verbs to indicate tense and aspect. The support verbs are ‘to be’ and ‘to have’.

tense and aspect

Present: I, you, we, you, they work. (he/she works)

Past: I, you, he/she, we, you, they worked.

Future: I, you, he/she, we, you, they will work.

Past in future: I, you, he/she, we, you, they would work.

progressive aspect

Present: I am working. He/She is working. You, we, they are working.

Past: I/ he/ she was working.  We/ you/ they were working.

Past in future: If he were not ill, he would be working at this time.

perfective aspect

Present: I, you, we, they have worked. He/she has worked.

Past: I, you, he/she, we, they had worked.

Pase dan fitir: If he were not ill, he would have worked.

artik

Anou reget ‘nom’.

Souvan ena mo ‘enn’ divan enn nom.

Ekzanp: enn lisien zape, enn baba plore…

‘enn’ li enn artik endefini.

Kapav osi ena enn mo apre enn nom kouma dan ‘lisien la pe zape; baba la pe plore …’

‘la’ li enn artik defini.

DETERMINAN PRENSIPAL

Determinan Demonstratif

Sa … la: sa pie la; sa garson la, sa bann pie la; sa bann garson la …

Determinan Posesif

mo, to/ou, so, nou, zot, bannla zot

Ekz. mo lakaz; to lakaz/ou lakaz; so lakaz; nou lakaz; zot lakaz; bannla zot lakaz …

Kantifikater

tou, sak, laplipar, boukou, detrwa, enpe, tigit, nenport, okenn …

Ekz. tou bann fler finn mor; sak fler ena so valer; laplipar fler finn sape; boukou fler finn mor; detrwa finn reziste; enpe fler finn sape; tigit fler finn sape; nenport ki fler ena valer; okenn fler pa finn sape …

Sif

Kardinal: 1, 2, 3, …/ enn, de, trwa …

Ordinal: premie, segon, trwaziem …/ 1^er, 2^em, 3^em

Ekz: 1 plim, 2 plim, 3 plim …

premie zwer, deziem zwer, trwaziem zwer …

Determinan Enterogatif

ki, kisannla, pou kisannla, lakel, kot/kotsa

Ekz: Ki to pe dir?

Kisannla ti dir sa?

Pou kisannla sa liv la?

Lakel to kontan?

Kot to pe ale?

article

Let’s look at nouns. As in Mauritian, there is a definite and an indefinite article in English. Examples: a dog barks / the dog barks; a baby cries / the baby cries; ‘a’ is the indefinite article; ‘the’ is the definite article. In English ‘a’ is used when the noun begins with a consonant and ‘an’ is used before a noun which begins with a vowel. Examples: a bag, a dog, a girl; an ass, an eye, an island, an object …

MAIN DETERMINERS

Demonstrative Determiners

this/that; these/those: this tree/that tree/these trees/those trees

Possessive Determiners

my, your, his, her, its, our, their

Ex. my house; your house; his/her house; its house; our house; their house …

Quantifiers

all, every, most, many, much, some, few, little, any, no …

Ex. all flowers have died; each flower has its own beauty; most flowers have survived; many flowers have died; some flowers have survived; few flowers have survived; little rain fell; any flower will do; no flower is permanent …

Numbers

Cardinal: 1, 2, 3, 4 …/ one, two, three …

Ordinal: first, second, third …/ 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd …

Ex.:1 pen, 2 pens, 3 pens ….

first player, second player, third player …

Interrogative Determiners

what, who, whose, which, where

Ex. What are you saying?

Who said that?

Whose book is this?

Which one do you prefer?

Where are you going?

AZEKTIF

Enn azektif kalifie enn nom, donn nou lenformasion lor nom la.

Ekz: enn bon toutou; enn zoli fler;

Ena ajektif ki plase avan nom ek azektif ki plase apre nom.

Ekz: enn gran lakaz; enn lakaz prop

Note ki dan Morisien, pa ena kopil, enn verb oxilier ki servi pou konekte enn nom ar enn azektif. Akoz sa enn azekti kapav fonksionn kouma enn verb.

Fler la zoli.

Bann zanfan la ere.

Lesiel ble.

Later ron.

ADJECTIVE

An adjective qualifies a noun; it gives us information on it.

Ex: a good dog; a beautiful flower;

Adjectives are always placed before nouns in English.

Ex: a big house; a clean house

Note that in Mauritian there is no copula. As a result, there is no auxiliary to connect a noun with an adjective and the adjective predicates without an auxiliary verb.

The flower (is) beautiful.

The children (are) happy.

Sky (is) blue.

Earth (is) round.

adverb

Enn adverb kapav donn plis lenformasion lor enn verb, lor enn azektif, lor enn lot adverb e lor enn fraz net.

Ekzanp: Li galoup vit.

Pie la bien kosto.

Li kondir tro vit.

Ar laraz, zot tire.

FONKSION ADVERB:

Li endik kan enn zafer arive (adverb kan): zordi, dime, gramaten, yer, boner, tar ets.

Li endik manier enn zafer pe deroule (adverb manier): dousman, for, vit, lantman ets.

Li endik landrwa (adverb landrwa): isi, laba, deor, lao, anba, andan ets.

Li endik entansite (adverb entansite): extra, mari, ase, enpe, tro, net, ets.

Li endik frekans (adverb frekans): souvan, rarman, zame, parfwa ets.

Note: Kouma azektif, adverb osi fonksionn kouma verb.

Mo mama pa la.

Lisien la andan.

adverbial:

Enn adverbial se enn group mo ki fonksionn kouma:

adverb kan: boner gramaten

adverb manier: kouma enn toke

adverb landrwa: dan enn vie lakaz

adverb entansite:kouma voras

adverb frekans: sak Vandredi

adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies (describes) a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even a whole sentence. Adverbs often end in –ly, but some (such as fast) look exactly the same as their adjective counterparts.

Ex: He/She runs quickly.

The tree is very strong.

He drives too fast.

Angrily, they walked away.

Functions of adverbs:

They indicate time: today, tomorrow, yesterday etc.

Manner: softly, hard, quickly, slowly etc.

Place: here, there, outside, up, down, inside etc.

Intensity: very, super, quite, some, too much, completely etc.

Frequency: often, rarely, never, sometimes etc.

Note that adverbs also predicate without an auxiliary verb.

My mother is not here.

The dog is inside.

adverbials:

An adverbial is a group of words which function as adverbs of:

time: early in the morning

manner: like a half-wit

place: in an old house

intensity: like a glutton

frequency: every Friday

prepozision

Enn prepozision se enn mo ki konekte nom, pronom, group mo ar lezot mo dan enn fraz. Ala detrwa prepozision: dan, kot, lor, pou, ar, depi, ziska, divan, deryer, akote ets.

Ekz. Li tom dan trou.

Li res kot mwa.

To kapav kont lor mwa.

Mo’nn aste sa pou mo toutou.

Mo’nn marye ar li.

Mo travay depi Lendi ziska Samdi.

Divan mo lakaz ena enn pie mang.

Deryer mo lakaz, mo plant legim.

Akote mo lakaz ena enn laboutik.

prepositions

A preposition is a word or group of words used to link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. Some examples of prepositions are: into, at, on, for, to, from, by and with etc.

Ex. He falls into a hole.

He lives at my place.

You can rely on me.

I’ve bought this for my dog.

I’m married to her.

I work from Monday to Saturday.

In front of my house there is a mango tree.

At the back of my house, I grow vegetables.

Next to my house there is a shop.

konzonksion

Konzonsion kordinasion

Se enn mo ki konekte 2 mo ousa 2 fraz.

Li ek mwa nou frer ek ser.

Mo kontan limonad me mo prefer alouda.

Mo kontan ni limonad ni alouda,

To kapav bwar swa limonad swa alouda me pa toulede.

Konzonksion sibordinasion

Mem li malad li al travay.

Li absan parski li malad.

conjunction

Cordination conjunction

A conjunction connects 2 words or 2 sentences

He and I are brother and sister.

I like lemonade but I prefer alouda.

I like neither lemonade nor alouda.

You can drink either lemonade or alouda but not both.

Subordination conjunction

He goes to work although he is ill.

He’s absent because he is ill.

enterzeksion

Se bann expresion ki nou servi pou exprim emotion kouma sirpriz, plezir, douler, lakoler ets.

Ekz. Ayo! Baap! Tae! Tansion! Taler to kone!

interjection

These are words and expressions used to express emotions of surprise, joy, sorrow, anger etc.

Ex. Wow! Great! Pity! Hell!

ANNEX

ENN TI lekzanp literesi bazik.

1. Mo apel Robert. Mo res Grangob. Mo mama apel Marlene. Li travay kot Madam Aline ki ena enn ti laboutik. Mo papa apel Bernard. Li ranz meb. Mo ena 13 an. Mo dan grad 9. Aster, mo konn lir ek ekrir. Si mo pas lekzame form 3, mo pou al aprann enn metie. Mo anvi vinn menizie kouma mo papa.

Mo kontan al lapes ar mo bann kamarad. Aster rar gagn pwason. Mo kontan zwe football. Mo zwe gorli. Dan nou vilaz pa ena laplenn. Nou zwe lor lari. Kan lapolis pase, bizen boure.

Pou Noel, mo finn dimann enn lagitar. Pa kone si pou gagne. Mo kontan zwe lamizik. Bann kamarad ek mwa nou kontan tap sega, danse. Gaetan zwe lagitar. Zanzan bat ravann. Mwa mo zwe armonika.

Dimans, mo mama, papa ek mo tiser Gilberte, nou al lames dan legliz Sen Misel.

 

(Si ou enn zelev Extended Programme, sey tradir sa ti tex la an Angle.)