Seychellois (SAY-shell-wah) is a
language spoken by perhaps 75,000 people in the
Seychelles, where it is the
mother tongue of
95% of the
inhabitants.
Seychellois is one of the
French Creoles and is also called
Seselwa and
Seychelles Creole.
In the Seychelles, French was the language of the original colonists.
England ruled from 1811 to 1976, during which time English was the language of administration while French remained the language of the educated elite. Throughout this period, Seychellois was never used in writing or in any official context. The first book in Seychellois appeared in 1974.
Since winning their independence from England, there has been a flood of publications in Seychellois, both private and government.