Mauritian creole, language, and identity: demolinguistic perspectives from the 2022 census of Mauritius

Mauritius is a multiethnic creole-speaking nation characterised by a history of colonisation and immigration. Several languages are used and recognised on the island. These play a crucial role in the way Mauritians define themselves. The link between identity and language is reflected at micro-level in daily practices and at macro-level in the census. The latest 2022 census, like the previous ones, assessed the linguistic diversity of the population. This paper examines the responses to two of the language questions: language(s) spoken by ancestors and language usually spoken. The findings highlight the increasing use and acceptance of Creole as an ancestral language and as a language of the home, the continued presence and prestige of the colonial languages English and French, and the symbolic function and decreasing usage of most ancestral Asian languages. Drawing on demolinguistic research and studies on the sociolinguistic situation of Mauritius, this paper underscores the dynamic interplay between Creole and the other languages on the one hand, and language and identity on the other. The paper concludes that the census provides valuable data for enhancing our understanding of the sociolinguistics of multilingual communities and also for informing local language planning and policy.