Bislama

Tanna Volcano,Vanuatu

The Republic of Vanuatu• 80 islands, 65 inhabited• Population (July 2009):

218,519– 25% urban population

• National language:Bislama

• Official languages:Bislama, English, French

• 113 indigenouslanguages

Historical Background• Account of Settler Groups

– 1843 - first permanent sandalwood stationestablished in south islands

– 1867 - first European acquisition of land forcotton plantations on Tanna

– 1880s - most plantations owned by nativeFrench speakers

• Characterization of contact setting– Has roots as a Trade Pidgin, with

sandalwood and sea slug shore stations– Plantation Creole in the late 1800s

Chronology of LanguageContact

• 1200s - minimal Polynesian contact• Late 1500s through early 1800s -

European contact, resulted in short-livedtrade pidgin

• 1827 - temporary sandalwood stationsestablished

• 1843 - Melanesian "English" appears inVanuatu

• 1849 - rival shore stations established onother islands

Chronology of LanguageContact

• 1863 - native Melanesians brought toQueensland to work in plantation settings

• 1867 - first European acquisition of landfor cotton plantations on Tanna

• 1880s - most plantations owned by nativeFrench speakers

• 1906 - government established onVanuatu, language begins evolvingindependent of Pijin in the SolomonIslands and Tok Pisin in Papua NewGuinea

Sociolinguistic Variation• "Town Bislama" spoken in urban areas• "Island Bislama" spoken in rural areas

– depends on indigenous local languages• Varying epenthetic vowels - some

Bislama speakers produce an epentheticvowel (identical to the next followingvowel) within consonant clusters– depends on indigenous local languages

• Primarily spoken by men until the 1970s– lost domain specificity in the 1990s

• Covert prestige among younger speakers

Classification of Bislama

• English-based creole– Remains an expanded pidgin in rural

settings

Phonology

• Reduced as compared toEnglish or French

• Knowledge of English, French• Wide range of phonemic

variation because of locallanguages

Plosive p b t d c k gNasal m nFricative f v s hApproximant j wLat Approx l

Velar GlottalBilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal

Front Back

High i u

Mid e o

Low

Phonetic Variation

• Voiced / voiceless stops– dok, tok ʻdogʼ, tok ʻtalkʼ– draem, traem ʻdry (something)ʼ, traem ʻtryʼ

• /f/ and /v/ contrast– Vanuatu, Fanuatu ʻVanuatuʼ

• Nasal-stop clusters– stampa, stamba ʻstumpʼ, namba ʻnumberʼ– pima, mbima ʻchiliʼ

Phonetic Variation

• Voiceless bilablial stops / fricatives– pik, fik ʻpigʼ, faea, paea ʻfireʼ

• Deletion of the consonant h– biaen, bihaen ʻbehindʼ– harem, arem ʻhearʼ– ae, hae ʻeyeʼ (insertion)

• Lengthening of stressed vowels– apol ʻappleʼ can be pronounced as:

• [áːpɨl] (Tanna), as opposed to [ápol]

Lexicon• Lexical make-up:

– 0.25%: other sources• pikinini ʻchild (from Portuguese: pequenho)ʼ

– 3.75%: local languages• nawita ʻoctopusʼ

– 6-12%: French• pamplimus ʻgrapefruit (from pamplemousse)ʼ

– +90%: English

Lexicon• Borrowed words have obvious

roots, but meanings can bemodified– mama ʻbiological mother, motherʼs

sistersʼ• Creative compounding

– mama loa ʻconstitution (mother law)ʼ– blufis ʻparrotfish (blue fish)ʼ– hanbom ʻgrenade (hand/arm bomb)ʼ

Morphology• Pronouns

• Postpositions affixed onto verbs

Singular Dual Trial Pural

1 mi Inclusive yumitu(fala) yumitrifala yumi

Exclusive mitufala mitrifala mifala

2 yu yutufala yutrifala yufala

3 hem tufala trifala ol(geta)

Hem I solemdaon meresin blong hem.

‘She swallowed her medicine.’

Yumi stap miksimap Bislama wetem Inglis oltaem nomo.

‘We are always mixing Bislama and English.’

Morphology• Reduplication

– Plurality

– Intensity

– Variety– Continuous / habitual actions– Random actions

Mi no laekem ol set we i gat kala-kala olsem ia.ʻI donʼt like shirts with lots of different colors like that.ʼ

Sapos yu go long New York, bae yu luk trak i fasfas long evrikona.ʻIf you go to New York, you will see cars all clogged at everyintersection.ʼ

Syntax• Blong

– Possession

– Characteristic

– Part of a whole

ki blong trakʻcar keyʼ

handel blong baketʻhandle of a bucketʼ

man blong singsingʻsingerʼ

Syntax• Long

– Location

– Goal

– Source– Time or duration– Comparison

– Instrument

Mi wok long Vila.‘I work in Vila.’

Bae mi talem wan stori long yu.‘I will tell you a story.’

Mi longfala long Noel.‘I am taller than Noel.’

Syntax• Wh in-situ questions

Olgeta oli planem wanem long garen blong yu?ʻWhat did they plant in your garden?ʼ

Bae yu teken wanem kos long USP?Bae yu tekem wijwan kos long USP?ʻWhich course will you take at USP?ʼ

Bae kava I redi wataem?Bae kava I redi wanem taem?ʻWhen will the kava be ready?ʼ

Syntax• Negation

– Double negation (no, nomo, neva)

Olgeta oli no bin stap singsing.ʻThey had not been singing.ʼMi neva toktok olsem ia.ʻI never speak like that.ʼ

Kensen i no haremsave nating voesblong mi taem mi toktok long telefon.ʻKensen didnʼt recognize my voice at allwhen I spoke on the phone.ʼ

Speech SampleMi nem blo mi Samuel.

My name is Samuel.Mi blong Tana lo Vanuatu.

Iʼm from Tanna in Vanuatu.Aelan blo mi ol turis oli stap kam plande lem blo luk volkeno mo stapharem i stap faerap oltaem.

Many tourists come to my island to see the volcano and hear it constantly erupting.Oli sta kam luk ol kastom danis.

They come to watch traditional dancing.Mo tu oli stap kam traem ol aelan kakae long vilej.

In addition, they come and try local food in the village.Mo i bin gat wan kaofis we i stap   oli sta kam luk, swim wetem. And there used to be a dugong which was there that they came to see, (and)

to swim with.Be hem i ded finis.

But it has died.

Oli stap talem se mi no gat homOli stap tok nogud long miOli stap talem se mi rabis nomoOli stap talem se mi brokbrok tumasMi win yet

Inglisman hem i no laekem miFranisman hem i no laekem miHafkas hem i no laekem miManples hem i no laekem miMi win yet

Inglis yumi tijimFranis yumi tijimLanwis yumi lanemMi win yet

Franisman, Inglisman, Hafkas, ManplesYufala i no flasPos mo yuniti i kamtru long miBlong yumi save kam wan plesYufala i no save ronewe long miMi sori tumasMi win yet

They say I've got no homeI get abusedThey say I'm worthlessThey say I'm all broken apartBut I'm still the winner

The English don't like meThe French don't like meMixed bloods don't like meMelanesians don't like meBut I'm still the winner

We teach EnglishWe teach FrenchWe learn our languageBut I'm still the winner

You English, you French, you mixed bloods, youMelanesiansWho do you think you are?Peace and unity come with meTo bring us togetherYou can't escape from meI'm really sorryBut I'm still the winner

Mi Bislama / I am Bislama

Bibliography• --. (2009). Background Note: Vanuatu. Retrieved from

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2815.htm• --. (2009). Language Varieties: Descriptions (Bislama). Retrieved from

http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/sounds/bislsound.html• Churchill, W. (1911). Beach-la-mar: the jargon or trade speech of the

western Pacific. Washington DC: Carnegie Institute of Washington.• Crowley, T. (1990). Beach-la-Mar to Bislama: the emergence of a

national language in Vanuatu. New York: Oxford University Press.• Crowley, T. (2004). Bislama reference grammar. Honolulu: University of

Hawaiʼi Press.• Meyerhoff, M. (2000). Constraints on null subjects in Bislama

(Vanuatu): social and linguistic factors. Canberra: Australian NationalUniversity.

• Tryon, D. (1987). Bislama: an introduction to the national language ofVanuatu. Canberra: Australian National University.