Shimaore language
Encyclopedia
Maore Comorian, or Shimaore (French
Mahorais), is one of the two indigenous languages spoken in the French
-ruled Comorian
islands of Mayotte
; Shimaore being a dialect of the Comorian
(Swahili
) language, while KiBushi
is an unrelated Malayo-Polynesian language
originally from Madagascar
. Historically, Shimaore- and KiBushi-speaking villages on Mayotte have been clearly identified, but Shimaore tends to be the de facto indigenous lingua franca
in everyday life, because of the larger Shimaore-speaking population. Only Shimaore is represented on the local television news program by RFO
. The 2002 census references 80,140 speakers of Shimaore in Mayotte itself, to which one would have to add people living outside the island, mostly in metropolitan France. There are also 20,000 speakers of Comorian in Madagascar, some of which are Shimaore speakers.
The same 2002 census indicates that 37,840 persons responded as knowing how to read or write Shimaore. However this number has to be taken with caution, since until a few years ago Shimaore did not have a standard writing system.
From a sociolinguistic
perspective, French
tends to be regarded by many Shimaore speakers as the language of higher education and prestige, and there is a temptation by native Mahorans to provide an all-French education to their children. This puts a lot of pressure on Shimaore and the language may become endangered in the next future if nothing is done.
Although French remains the official language in Mayotte, Shimaore will probably be taught in Mahoran schools starting in the next few years, and a pilot project began in fall 2004. As in many parts of France where local languages are introduced in the school system, this has led to tensions between partisans of a French-centered education system and administrations, versus those promoting a more diversified approach. Shimaore's position in this regard is however different from other French regions (such as Brittany
), since the language is locally spoken by a majority of the population. The project in Mayotte has been inspired by similar projects involving Swahili
in eastern Africa countries.
Mayotte is a geographically small territory, but frequent exchanges between villages have not started until the last quarter of the twentieth century. As of 2004, linguistic differences between the east and west part of the island, and between the main city of Mamoudzou and the remote villages, are still noticeable, especially when it comes to phonological differences. One typical example is the word u-la (to eat), notably pronounced this way in the city due to the influence of a brand of yogurt bearing the same name, but pronounced u-dja in other parts of the island.
-based Latin
orthography. On 22 February 2006, the Conseil de la Culture, de l'Education et de l'Environnement de Mayotte introduced an official alphabet developed by Association ShiMé that utilizes the basic Latin alphabet without c, q, and x and adds three letters: ɓ, ɗ, and v̄.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
Mahorais), is one of the two indigenous languages spoken in the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
-ruled Comorian
Comoro Islands
The Comoros Islands form an archipelago of volcanic islands situated off the south-east coast of Africa, to the east of Mozambique and north-west of Madagascar. They are divided between the sovereign state of Comoros and the French overseas department of Mayotte...
islands of Mayotte
Mayotte
Mayotte is an overseas department and region of France consisting of a main island, Grande-Terre , a smaller island, Petite-Terre , and several islets around these two. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean, namely between northwestern Madagascar and...
; Shimaore being a dialect of the Comorian
Comorian language
Comorian is the most widely used language on the Comoros and Mayotte. It is a set of Swahili dialects but with a much stronger Arabic influence than standard Swahili...
(Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
) language, while KiBushi
Bushi language
Bushi, Shibushi, or Kibushi is a language spoken in Madagascar and the French-ruled Comorian islands of Mayotte. In 1995, it was spoken by 806,200 people .-Madagascar Bushi:...
is an unrelated Malayo-Polynesian language
Malayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
originally from Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
. Historically, Shimaore- and KiBushi-speaking villages on Mayotte have been clearly identified, but Shimaore tends to be the de facto indigenous lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
in everyday life, because of the larger Shimaore-speaking population. Only Shimaore is represented on the local television news program by RFO
RFO
RFO may refer to:* RF Online, a multiplayer online role-playing computer game* Radio Frequency Overlay, analogue Cable TV over a GPON optical network...
. The 2002 census references 80,140 speakers of Shimaore in Mayotte itself, to which one would have to add people living outside the island, mostly in metropolitan France. There are also 20,000 speakers of Comorian in Madagascar, some of which are Shimaore speakers.
The same 2002 census indicates that 37,840 persons responded as knowing how to read or write Shimaore. However this number has to be taken with caution, since until a few years ago Shimaore did not have a standard writing system.
From a sociolinguistic
Sociolinguistics
Sociolinguistics is the descriptive study of the effect of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, and context, on the way language is used, and the effects of language use on society...
perspective, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
tends to be regarded by many Shimaore speakers as the language of higher education and prestige, and there is a temptation by native Mahorans to provide an all-French education to their children. This puts a lot of pressure on Shimaore and the language may become endangered in the next future if nothing is done.
Although French remains the official language in Mayotte, Shimaore will probably be taught in Mahoran schools starting in the next few years, and a pilot project began in fall 2004. As in many parts of France where local languages are introduced in the school system, this has led to tensions between partisans of a French-centered education system and administrations, versus those promoting a more diversified approach. Shimaore's position in this regard is however different from other French regions (such as Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
), since the language is locally spoken by a majority of the population. The project in Mayotte has been inspired by similar projects involving Swahili
Swahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
in eastern Africa countries.
Mayotte is a geographically small territory, but frequent exchanges between villages have not started until the last quarter of the twentieth century. As of 2004, linguistic differences between the east and west part of the island, and between the main city of Mamoudzou and the remote villages, are still noticeable, especially when it comes to phonological differences. One typical example is the word u-la (to eat), notably pronounced this way in the city due to the influence of a brand of yogurt bearing the same name, but pronounced u-dja in other parts of the island.
Orthography
Shimaore was traditionally written with an informal FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
-based Latin
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
orthography. On 22 February 2006, the Conseil de la Culture, de l'Education et de l'Environnement de Mayotte introduced an official alphabet developed by Association ShiMé that utilizes the basic Latin alphabet without c, q, and x and adds three letters: ɓ, ɗ, and v̄.
| Letter Letter (alphabet) A letter is a grapheme in an alphabetic system of writing, such as the Greek alphabet and its descendants. Letters compose phonemes and each phoneme represents a phone in the spoken form of the language.... |
A a | B b | Ɓ ɓImplosive Implosive consonant Implosive consonants are stops with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in addition to expelling air from the lungs. Therefore, unlike the purely glottalic ejective consonants, implosives can... |
D d | Ɗ ɗImplosive Implosive consonant Implosive consonants are stops with a mixed glottalic ingressive and pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. That is, the airstream is controlled by moving the glottis downward in addition to expelling air from the lungs. Therefore, unlike the purely glottalic ejective consonants, implosives can... |
E e | F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m | N n | O o | P p | R r | S s | T t | U u | V v | V̅ v̄ | W w | Y y | Z z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPA Value International Phonetic Alphabet The International Phonetic Alphabet "The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic... |
/a/ | /b/ | ɓ | /d/ | ɗ | /e/ | /f/ | /ɡ/ | /h/ | /i/ | ʒ | /k/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ | /o/ | /p/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /v/ | β | /w/ | j | /z/ |
External links
- Ylangue
- SHIME
- Mayotte at Ethnologue
- Johansen Alnet's Thesis
- Comorian languageComorian languageComorian is the most widely used language on the Comoros and Mayotte. It is a set of Swahili dialects but with a much stronger Arabic influence than standard Swahili...