Dazurian Creole
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| Dazurian Creole | |
|---|---|
| kréyôl dazuryen | |
| Pronunciation | [krejɔl dazyrjə̃] |
| Created by | Jukethatbox |
| Date | 2026 |
| Native to | Saint-Cyran-d'Azur |
| Ethnicity | Dazurians |
| Native speakers | ~50 (2026) L2 speakers: 210 |
Creole
| |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Dazurian Creole (kréyôl dazuryen, [krejɔl dazyrjə̃]; French: créole de Saint-Cyran-d'Azur [kʁeɔl də sɛ̃ siʁɑ̃ d ͜ azyʁ]), also called Dazurien Creole, Dazur Creole or Saint-Cyran-d'Azur Creole, is an endangered French-based creole language spoken on the island of Saint-Cyran-d'Azur in the Poccasin Federation. It is spoken by only around 50 native speakers, though there have been efforts to revive the language, with a sizeable population of 210 L2 speakers as of 2026.
Dazurian Creole emerged from the French colonisation of the island of Saint-Cyran-d'Azur, known to the native Kabao people of the area as Twlanipw (eventually lending its name to the town of Toulanipe), in 1745. The island was seized by Britain in 1810 during the Revolutionary Wars, but was returned to France in the Treaty of Paris of 1814. However, financially destitute, France would eventually sell the island back to the British in 1820; the island would remain part of British territory until the independence of the Poccasin Federation in 1961, where it would remain in the new Federation. However, in this period, the growth of the English-based creole language Bemé both during and after British rule would gradually displace Dazurian Creole as the most widely spoken language on the island; the creole language was designated as endangered in 1988, though linguists estimate that its serious decline probably began at the beginning of the 20th century.
Today, Dazurian Creole is designated as a cultural heritage language by the Poccasin Federation, and is still used in cultural events such as in bolôpé, a coming-of-age ceremony at age 20, as well as in the Papkouron religion, that worships a mythological French "father" (granpapa or granpap'); adherents use Dazurian Creole as a liturgical language to this day.
Phonology
Consonants
| Bilabial | Labiodental | Alveolar | Postalveolar | Velar | Palatal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stop | p /p/ b /b/ | t /t/ d /d/ | k /k/ g /g/ | |||
| Nasal | m /m/ | (ɱ) | n /n/ | (ŋ) | gn /ɲ/ | |
| Fricative | f /f/ | s /s/ z /z/ | ch /ʃ/ j /ʒ/ | |||
| Trill | r /r/ | |||||
| Approximant | ou /w/ | l /l/ | y /j/ |
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i /i/ u /y/ | ou /u/ | |
| Close-mid | é /e/ | o /o/ | |
| Open-mid | ê /ɛ/ | e, ë /ə/ | ô /ɔ/ |
| Open | a /a/ | ||
Nasal vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | oun /ũ/ | ||
| Mid | ên /ɛ̃/ | en /ə̃/ | on /õ/ |
| Open | an /ɑ̃/ |
Use in Papkouron
Although Dazurian Creole is losing out in favour of Bemé in everyday use, the language is still regularly used in the context of the religion (sometimes considered a cargo cult) Papkouron. In the religion, adherents believe in a Christ-like saviour called the Granpap Kouron (Dazurian Creole: Granpap' Kourôn [grɑ̃pap kurɔn], lit. "Grandfather Crown"), reflecting the now-absent French colonial administration that ruled the island prior to 1820. The religion probably stemmed from collective trauma under British colonial rule, which then conversely lended the French colonial period a nostalgic air; with no Dazurians who lived through the French colonial period left to say otherwise, this colonial nostalgic fever came to a head and formed the Papkouron religion that worshipped what anthropologists seem to believe was a headless Jesus statue, left behind in the remnants of a French Catholic church.
Papkouron adherents consider Dazurian Creole a sacred language. Various otherwise fairly common words in Dazurian Creole also have specific meanings in Papkouron:
| Dazurian Creole word | French term(s) of origin | Papkouron meaning |
|---|---|---|
| fis "child" | fils "son" | layman/laywoman |
| granfis "grandchild, elder sibling" | grand + fils | re-analysed as "great son"; refers to a low-ranking priest |
| papa "father" | papa "dad" | an ordained Papkouron priest. |
| pap' "dad" | honorific term for a papa or granfis. | |
| granpap' or granpapa "grandfather" | grand + papa | shorthand for Granpap' Kourôn |
| priyê, préyê "house-warming gift" | prière "prayer" | an offering to the Granpap'. An offering given to a papa as a proxy, although frowned upon, is allowed and is instead called a demipriyê or demipréyê. |
| konbêr "prayer" | converser "to converse" | a prayer to the Granpap'; literally, a conversation with God |
| chanté "song" | chanter "to sing" | a religious chant, or mantra; the most basic and common is Pa-kou-ra or Pô-kou-rô, which functions as the equivalent of "Amen". |
| Sênsiran "Saint-Cyran-d'Azur" | Saint-Cyran-d'Azur | name for the guardian deity of the island of Saint-Cyran-d'Azur. Also considered a more "proper" name for the island than the more common Dazur seen in more colloquial Dazurian Creole and Bemé. |
| bolôpé | - | a coming-of-age ceremony at age 20 originating in Kabao culture. Can also still be seen on the island of Kabao itself, though it is called bulopeh in Bemé and bwlope in Kabao. Most bolôpé on Saint-Cyran-d'Azur are performed by Papkouron officials. |
| igliz "Papkouron temple, Catholic church" | église "church" | a Papkouron temple, run by a special papa called a bôpapa (lit. "godfather") |
| bôpapa "godfather" | beau + papa | a papa that is the head of a Papkouron temple. |
| sêmtyêr / andoua môr | cemetière / endroit + mort | a cemetary run by a Papkouron igliz. Due to pre-existing taboos in Dazurian culture to explicitly mention anything related to the dead, these places are often referred to as andoua môr (lit. place of the dead) |