Bislama

Spoken in

• Creole languages English based Bislama

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Bislama, also Bichelamar, Bêche - de-mer, or Beach -la- Mar, is one of the official languages ​​of the Republic of Vanuatu and also a lingua franca among the 108 different languages ​​( the languages ​​» AORE " and " IFO " are no longer spoken) which are spoken in Vanuatu; 90 % of the Ni- Vanuatu ( then Vanuatu's inhabitants call themselves) use Bislama as a second language, 10 % - mostly the young generation from the two towns of Port Vila and Santo - as a first language; Moreover, it is spoken by about 1,200 people in New Caledonia. It is one of the Pacific -based English creoles. Due to the history of Vanuatu, it has many loanwords from French and from Melanesian languages. The syntax is strongly influenced by Melanesian. Partly it is similar to the Pijin (Solomon Islands), Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea) and Torres Creole (Queensland, Australia).

History

The islands of Vanuatu today were several thousand years ago inhabited by Melanesians, the various oceanic languages ​​brought to the islands. Many villages had little contact with each other, so that a great diversity of languages ​​developed (Vanuatu has the largest voice density). Europeans came only in the mid-19th century. to the islands - mostly British and French, who discovered there sandalwood and cultivated. They recruited many Ni- Vanuatu to the sugar cane plantation labor in Queensland. During the Second World War, many Ni- Vanuatu had to work on American military bases. From this multilingual situation first an English pidgin, which has been passed down from generation to generation and today's creole Bislama was born. The name can be derived from Beach -la- Mar, which even from the French biche de mer: is ( engl. sea urchin). In the 19th century, sea cucumbers were harvested on the islands to a large degree and dried. The pidgin spoken by the workers at that time was associated with this activity, so that established the language name.

Situation

Vanuatu (besides about Haiti) one of the few states in which a creole language was elevated to an official language. One reason was that local politicians had a problem with the non- English or French-speaking population. The Parliament, radio broadcasts, newspapers mainly use Bislama. Only now is it starting in the primary schools of the country to teach Bislama.

Lexis

The vocabulary of Bislama comprises about 2,800 words, which come primarily from the English of the 19th century.

Examples:

Through the influence of oceanic languages ​​also often changed the meaning of the derived from the English words.

Examples:

A considerable number of lexis also comes from the French.

Examples:

Examples Melanesian influence:

• Nambawan - excellent
• Kakae - Food
• Pikinini - child

Due to the low vocabulary very flowery descriptions are often used.

Bible text passage Lk 2:6-7 EU:

( Chapter 2: The Birth of Jesus - While they were there, it is that the days were accomplished that she should give birth happened, and she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there is not room for she was in the hostel).