Name	Bislama
Region
Speakers	6,200 (first language), 200,000 (additional language)
Familycolor	Creole
Fam1	Creole language
Fam2	English Creole
Fam3	Pacific
Nation
Iso1	bi
Iso2	bis
Iso3	bis
Lingua	52-ABB-ce}}

Bislama is a creole language, one of the official languages of Vanuatu. It is the first language of many of the "Urban ni-Vanuatu" (those who live in Port Vila and Luganville), and the second language of much of the rest of the country's residents. "Yumi, Yumi, Yumi", the Vanuatu national anthem, is in Bislama.

More than 95% of Bislama words are of English origin; the remainder combines a few dozen words from French, as well as some vocabulary inherited from various languages of Vanuatu, essentially limited to flora and fauna terminology. While the influence of these vernacular languages is low on the vocabulary side, it is very high in the morphosyntax. Bislama can be basically described as a language with an English vocabulary and an Oceanic grammar.

History

During the period known as Blackbirding, in the 1870s and 1880s, hundreds of thousands of Pacific islanders (many of them from the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) archipelago) were enslaved and forced to work on plantations, mainly in Queensland, Australia and Fiji. With several languages being spoken in these plantations, a ''pidgin'' was formed, combining English vocabulary with grammatical structures typical of languages in the region. This early plantation pidgin is the origin not only of Bislama, but also of Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea and Pijin of the Solomon Islands, though not of Torres Strait Creole north of Australia.

This pidgin started spreading over the Vanuatu archipelago at the turn of the 20th century, as the survivors of Blackbirding began to come back to their native islands: knowledge of this pidgin would facilitate communication not only with European traders and settlers, but also between native populations of remote islands within the archipelago. This is how Bislama was born, progressively evolving separately from other related pidgins from the Pacific.

Because Vanuatu is one of the most language-dense countries in the world (one count puts it at 113 languages for a land area of just 12,200 km²), Bislama usefully serves as a lingua franca for communication between ni-Vanuatu, as well as with and even between foreigners. Besides Bislama, most ni-Vanuatu also know their local language, the local language of their father and that of their mother, and their spouse, and formal schools are taught in English or in French.

Over the past century or so, Bislama has evolved to what is currently spoken and written. Only recently (1995, with second edition in 2004) has the first dictionary of Bislama been published, and this has helped to create a uniform spelling of Bislama.

Name

The name of Bislama (also referred to, especially in French, as "Bichelamar") comes via the early 19th century word "Beach-la-Mar" from pseudo-French "biche de mer" or "bêche de mer" sea cucumber, which itself comes from an alteration of the Portuguese "bicho do mar". In the early 1840s, sea cucumbers were also harvested and dried at the same time that sandalwood was gathered. The names ''biche-la-mar'' and 'Sandalwood English' came to be associated with the kind of pidgin that came to be used by the local laborers between themselves, as well as their English-speaking overseers.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote in an account of his travels through the Pacific in 1888 and 1889, “the natives themselves have often scraped up a little English,... or an efficient pidgin, what is called to the westward 'Beach-la-Mar'.”'. In Jack London's story "Yah! Yah! Yah!", one of his "South Sea Tales", there is repeated a reference to “a bastard lingo called "bech-de-mer”, and much of the story's dialogue is conducted in it.

Today, the word "bislama" itself is seldom used by younger speakers of Bislama to refer to sea slugs, as a new re-borrowing from pseudo-French "bêche de mer", which has taken the form "besdemea", has become more popular.

Grammar

Two frequent words in Bislama are "long" and "blong", which take the place of many prepositions in English or French.

"Long"

''Long'' as 'next to', 'by', 'beside' etc... Stoa long haos: The store next to the house.

''long'' as 'at' or 'to' Mi bin stap long ples ia bifo: I have been to this place before. Mi stap long stoa: I am at the store.

''long'' as 'in' Jea long haos: The chair in the house.

''Long'' holds many other related meanings, and is sometimes used in improvisation.

"Blong"

Originally from Eng. "belong", ''blong'' takes the place of 'of' or the genitive case in other languages. Just like Eng. ''of'', it is one of the most widely used and versatile words in the language, and can indicate possession, country of origin, defining characteristics, intention, and others. :Buk blong mi: The book that belongs to me, my book :Man blong Amerika: Man from America, American. :Hemi woman blong saiens. She is a woman of science, She is a scientist. :Man blong dring: Man of drinking i.e. a drinker

Verbs

Verbs in Bislama do not conjugate. Usually they consist of a stem word borrowed from English, French or indigenous languages and on many transitive verbs the ending -em, -im, or -um, depending on vowel harmony. There is a past tense and a future tense marker that usually goes at the beginning of the sentence or next to the verb. For example:

:''Mi wantem bia'' ~ I want beer. :''Mi bin wantem bia'' ~ I wanted beer (bin=past tense marker, from the English "been") :''Bambae/Bae mi wantem bia'' ~ I will want beer. (Bambae/Bae=future tense marker, from English "by and by")

Nouns

The plural is formed by putting "ol" before the word: bia=beer. Ol bia = "beers". "Ol" comes from the English "all". When used with numbers, the singular form is used. 2 bia, 3 bia, etc...

Pronouns

Bislama features dual, trial, and plural personal pronouns as well as an inclusive and exclusive we (inclusive meaning I + you, exclusive meaning I + he/she/it/they, not you). Following are the Bislama plural personal pronouns, in italics the English transliteration where useful to understand/remember, and the grammatical category.

Singular

mi : I, me

yu : you

hem : him, her

Dual

yumitu : (''you me two'') - us, inclusive (you and me)

mitufala : (''me two fella'') - us, exclusive (me and someone else)

yutufala : you two

tufala/tugeta : those two

Trial

yumitrifala : (''you me three fella'') - us three, inclusive (you two and me)

mitrifala : (''me three fella'') - us three exclusive (us three)

yutrifala : (''you three fella'') - you three exclusive (you three)

trifala/trigeta : those three

Plural

yumi : us inclusive (all of us)

mifala : us exclusive (that person and me)

yufala : all you

ol : many of them

olgeta : all of them

Pronouns do not decline.

Aspect markers

no : not

:''hem i no kakae yam'' = he doesn't eat (a, the) yam

nomo : no/any more (placed before the predicate)

:''hem i nomo kakae yam'' = he doesn't eat (a, the) yam any more

nomo : only / doesn't but

:''hem i kakae yam nomo'' = he only eats yam

neva : never

:''hem i neva kakae yam'' = he never eats yam

jes : shows an action that has just occurred

:''mifala i jes wekap'' = we just woke up

stat : start, commencement of a process

:''hem i stat kukum kumala'' = he/she has started to cook sweet potatoes

stap : ongoing or habitual action

:''hem i stap kukum kumala'' = he/she is now cooking sweet potatoes / he/she usually makes sweet potatoes

gogo : continual action

:''hem i kukum kumala gogo'' = he/she keeps on cooking sweet potatoes / he/she continually cooks sweet potatoes

bin : (been) - completed action

:''hem i bin go long Kanal'' = he has gone to Luganville (principal city in Santo)

finis : finished, past tense (when before object)

:''hem i finis kakae'' = he is finished eating

finis : already (when after object)

:''hem i kakae finis'' = he has already eaten

mas : must

:''hem i mas kakae'' = he must eat

traem : try

:''hem i traem singsing'' = he tries to sing

wantem : want

:''hem i wantem go long Kanal'' = he wants to go to Luganville

save : can, know; from French ''savoir''

:''mi save toktok langwis bislama'' = I can speak Bislama

sapos : (suppose) if

:''sapos yumitufala i faenem pig, yumitufala i kilim hem i ded'' = if we find a pig, we'll kill it

Internal variation

Dialects exist, based mainly on different pronunciations in different areas which stem from the different sounds of the native languages. The future tense marker can be heard to be said as: Bambae, Mbae, Nambae, or Bae. There are also preferences for using Bislama or native words that vary from place to place, and most people insert English, French, or local language words to fill out Bislama. So in the capital city it is common to hear 'computer'; in other places you might hear 'ordinateur'.

Pacific creole comparison

Bislama mo __ ia / ya hem from -fala woman

English language	English	|	Pijin	Tok Pisin	Torres Strait Creole
and	|	an	na	ane, 'ne, an, a
the / this	|	__ ia	dispela __	(the) dha - dhemtu - dhem / (this) dhis __ (ia) / (that) dhis __ dhe, dhas __ (dhe)
he / she / it / him / her	|	hem	em / en	em
for	|	fo	long	po
(adjective marker)	|	-fala	-pela	-Ø (-wan when not before the noun - em i big man ''he's a big man'' - man i bigwan ''the man's big'')
woman	|	woman / mere	meri	uman / oman (dialect difference)

Literature and samples

The longest written work in Bislama is the recently completed Bible.

{| bgcolor="#efeeee" |----- | Luke 2:6-7: |----- | Bislama: |----- | "Tufala i stap yet long Betlehem, nao i kam kasem stret taem blong Meri i bonem pikinini. Nao hem i bonem fasbon pikinin blong hem we hem i boe. Hem i kavremap gud long kaliko, nao i putum hem i slip long wan bokis we oltaim ol man ol i stap putum gras long hem, blong ol anamol ol i kakae. Tufala i mekem olsem, from we long hotel, i no gat ples blong tufala i stap." |}

Yumi, Yumi, Yumi

{| |- valign=top | Bislama words

CHORUS: Yumi, Yumi, yumi i glad long talem se Yumi, yumi, yumi ol man blong Vanuatu

God i givim ples ya long yumi, Yumi glat tumas long hem, Yumi strong mo yumi fri long hem, Yumi brata evriwan!

CHORUS

Plante fasin blong bifo i stap, Plante fasin blong tedei, Be yumi i olsem wan nomo, Hemia fasin blong yumi!

CHORUS

Yumi save plante wok i stap, Long ol aelan blong yumi, God i helpem yumi evriwan, Hem i papa blong yumi,

CHORUS | English translation

CHORUS: We (, We, We) are happy to proclaim We (, We, We) are the People of Vanuatu!

God has given us this land; This gives us great cause for rejoicing. We are strong, we are free in this land; We are all brothers.

CHORUS

We have many traditions And we are finding new ways. Now we shall be one Person, We shall be united for ever.

CHORUS

We know there is much work to be done On all our islands. God helps all of us, He is our father,

CHORUS |}

Further reading

Camden, Pastor Bill. 1979. Parallels in structure of lexicon and syntax between New Hebrides Bislama and the South Santo language as spoken at Tangoa. Pacific Linguistics, A-57:51-117.

Charpentier, Jean-Michel 1979. ''Le pidgin bislama(n) et le multilinguisme aux Nouvelles-Hébrides''. Langues et Civilisations à Tradition Orale 35. Paris: SELAF.

Crowley, Terry. 1990. ''Beach-la-Mar to Bislama: The emergence of a national language in Vanuatu''. Oxford Studies in Language Contact. Oxford: Clarendon Press. xxi + 422pp.

Crowley, Terry. 1995. ''An illustrated Bislama-English and English-Bislama dictionary''. Vila: Pacific Languages Unit and Vanuatu Extension Centre, University of the South Pacific. (Revised 2004.) vii + 478pp. * Builds on the work of Camden (1977) and other sources to provide a very comprehensive modern dictionary of modern Bislama, together with a comprehensive English index.

Crowley, Terry. 2004. ''Bislama Reference Grammar''. Oceanic Linguistics Special Publication No. 31. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Darrell T. Tryon and Jean-Michel Charpentier. 2004. ''Pacific Pidgins and Creoles: Origins, Growth and Development''. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. xix + 559 pp. Hardcover ISBN 3-11-016998-3.

References

External links

Bislama Translator & Spelling Dictionary for Microsoft Word English - Bislama online translator and MS Word dictionary

Vanuatu Daily Post - news in English and Bislama

A bibliography of Bislama, from an Australian National University website

Peace Corp Bislama tutorial

Portions of the Book of Common Prayer in Bislama ''Preabuk long Bislama''

Category:English-based pidgins and creoles Category:Languages of Vanuatu Category:Languages of New Caledonia

bi:Bislama br:Bislama bg:Бислама ca:Bislama cs:Bislamština cy:Bislama de:Bislama dsb:Bislamšćina el:Μπισλάμα es:Bislama eo:Bislama lingvo eu:Bislama fa:زبان بیسلاما fr:Bichelamar gl:Bislama ko:비슬라마 hsb:Bislamšćina hr:Bislama jezik it:Lingua bislama ht:Bichlamar lv:Bislama lt:Bislama ms:Bahasa Bislama nl:Bislama ja:ビスラマ語 no:Bislama pms:Lenga bislama tpi:Bislama pl:Język bislama pt:Língua bislamá ru:Бислама sm:Gagana Bislama simple:Bislama sr:Бислама (језик) sh:Bislama jezik fi:Bislama sv:Bislama ta:பிசுலாமா மொழி th:ภาษาบิสลามา uk:Біслама vi:Bislama zh:比斯拉马语

Vanessa Diandra Sally Ann Kiristiana Quai, better known as Vanessa Quai, born July 13, 1988 in Port Vila, is a ni-Vanuatu singer.

She recorded her first album, ''To Aitape With Love'' (recorded at Vanuata Production, produced at Pacific Gold Studio), as a child singer, aged 9, in 1998. In 1999, she was one of 3000 competitors at the South Pacific International Song contest held in Gold Coast, Queensland, and was the only child competitor. She won third prize in the Gospel/Inspirational Category. Later that same year, she took first prize at the Nile International Children Song Contest, in Cairo. 1999 was the year she "hit the international music scene", according to the ''Vanuatu Weekly Hebdomadaire''.

Quai's second, third and fourth albums -''Beautiful Pacific Islands'', ''The Untouched Paradise'' and ''Pacifika''- were released between 2000 and 2003. In 2004, her album ''Promise'' was a cooperation with Papua New Guinean group Soul Harmony, and was described as bearing a strong "R&B; flavour".

In 2002, her song "Freedom" topped the radio charts in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, and ranked second on the charts in Papua New Guinea. In 2004, she won first prize at the International Teenagers Singing Competition, in Bucharest, with a jury presided over by Lane Davies.

Pacific Islands Radio describes her music as being primarily gospel songs, but also "rang[ing] from traditional to modern music". The ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' describes her music as gospel music, "mixed with slow ballads, R‘n’B, hip hop and South Pacific flavour", and notes that she sings in "many languages", including Tok Pisin and Motu. Quai's mother is Fijian, and she also sings in Fijian. During a concert in the Solomon Islands in January 2009, her music was described as "a blend of island, reggae, dance and hip-hop beats".

Quai has been described by Pacific Islands Radio as "a very popular artist in the whole Pacific region". In 2004, the ''Papua New Guinea Post-Courier'' described her as "Vanuatu’s No.1 music artist, and one of the South Pacific’s best female singing sensations". The ''Solomon Times'' in 2007 described her as "very popular" in the Solomon Islands. The ''Solomon Star'' in 2008 described her as "a household name in the Pacific" and possibly "the most successful female artist in the region". Her music is reportedly popular in French Polynesia, and in 2008 she became the first Melanesian singer to tour Tahiti.

In April 2009, ''The Guardian'' described Quai as one of Vanuatu's "living cultural icons".

External links

"Spreading the Gospel", Esther Haro, ''Post-Courier'', January 23, 2004 (article about Quai in a Papua New Guinean newspaper)

References

Category:1988 births Category:Living people Category:Vanuatuan female singers Category:Vanuatuan gospel singers Category:Vanutauan people of Fijian descent Category:People from Shefa

es:Vanessa Quai fi:Vanessa Quai