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Bislama

NameBislama
RegionVanuatu
Speakers6,200 (first language),
200,000 (additional language)
FamilycolorCreole
Fam1Creole language
Fam2English Creole
Fam3Pacific
ScriptLatin
NationVanuatu
Iso1bi
Iso2bis
Iso3bis
Lingua52-ABB-ce

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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.


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