Bislama

Bislama
Bichelamar
Bislama
RegionVanuatu
Native speakers
10,000 (2011)[1]
200,000 L2 speakers[citation needed]
Latin, Avoiuli (local)
Official status
Official language in
Vanuatu
Language codes
ISO 639-1bi
ISO 639-2bis
ISO 639-3bis
Glottologbisl1239
Linguasphere52-ABB-ce
A Bislama speaker, recorded in Vanuatu

Bislama (English: /ˈbɪsləmɑː/ BISS-lə-mah;[2] Bislama: [biˈslama]; also known by its earlier French name, bichelamar[3] [biʃlamaʁ]) is an English-based creole language. It is the national language of Vanuatu, and one of the three official languages of the country, the other ones being English and French. Bislama is the first language of many of the "Urban ni-Vanuatu" (citizens who live in Port Vila and Luganville) and the second language of much of the rest of the country's residents. The lyrics of "Yumi, Yumi, Yumi", the country's national anthem, are composed in Bislama.

More than 95% of Bislama words are of English origin, whilst the remainder comprises a few dozen words from French as well as some specific vocabulary inherited from various languages of Vanuatu—although these are essentially limited to flora and fauna terminology.[4] While the influence of these vernacular languages is low on the vocabulary side, it is very high in the morphosyntax. As such, Bislama can be described simply as a language with an English vocabulary and an Oceanic grammar and phonology.[5]

  1. ^ Bislama at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Bauer, Laurie (2007). The Linguistics Student's Handbook. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
  3. ^ "Bislama". Ethnologue. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  4. ^ See Charpentier (1979).
  5. ^ See Camden (1979).