#bislama

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Round three: Rub'eyna'oj vs Aftarem

(poll at the end)

Rub'eyna'oj (Kaqchikel)

[ɾuɓejnaʔox]

Translation: cognition (lit. "your internal wisdom")

Kaqchikel or Caqchikel Maya is a Mayan language spoken by 411 000 people in Guatemala. It is a threatened language and one reason is that some parents choose to speak Spanish in the home so that their children can start school with Spanish as a first language, which means that the language doesn’t get passed down to the next generation in all families. This is a common reason languages become endangered. Kaqchikel uses many glottalised sounds, which means that some sounds are partly articulated with the vocal folds. This sounds a bit like a pop of air. English only has the glottal stop [ʔ], which is the sound of the little pause in the middle of uh-oh, when the vocal folds close entirely and cuts off air. Kaqchikel on the other hand, also has sounds like glottalised k or glottalised ts.

Motivation: This word did not exist in historical Kaqchikel but was created as an intentional neologism (among many others) in order to prevent the necessity of Spanish in Maya communities. "Your internal wisdom" is a beautiful way to think about cognition and thoughts in general.

Aftarem (Bislama)

Unable to find IPA

Translation: Pursue, seek

Bislama is an English-based creole with around 14 200 speakers. It is spoken in Vanuatu, where it’s the national language and used as a lingua franca to facilitate communication between speakers of the 110 living languages. Bislama emerged in the late 1800s due to the practice of “blackbirding”, aka deceiving or kidnapping Pacific Islanders and taking them to work as indentured labourers on plantations, mainly in Australia and Fiji. Due to everyone speaking different languages, a pidgin emerged that later became a creole. This language was taken to Vanuatu when labourers returned and spread because it could be used as a lingua franca. Most of the vocabulary is English-based with some French, but the grammar is typical of local languages.

Motivation: Literally “after him”. Plus it’s fun to say

[chaoscouncilcreaturecorner]

Water & Beach-Themed Names & Pronouns List

Names:

🤍 Masculine Names:

🐚Caspian - Origin: Caspian Sea

🐳Kai - Origin: Hawaiian - Meaning: "Sea"

��Ren - Origin: Diminutive of Rene or Japanese - Meaning: "Water lily; Lotus"

🐳Maxwell - Origin: Scottish - Meaning: "Great steam"

🐚Clyde - Origin: Scottish River Name

🐳Alon - Origin: Hebrew; Filipino Word - Meaning: "Oak tree; Wave"

🐚Solomon - Origin: Christianity; Hebrew - Meaning: "Underwater bridge; Peace"

🐳Earwyn - Origin: English - Meaning: "Friend of the sea"

🐚Salmon - Origin: Hebrew; English; French - Meaning: "Salmon; Peace"

🐳Mortimer - Origin: French - Meaning: "Dead sea; Stagnant sea"

🖤 Feminine Names:

🫧Cordelia - Origin: Latin; Celtic - Meaning: "Heart; Daughter of the sea"

🦑Mira - Origin: Latin, Slavic, Arabic, Sanskrit - Meaning: "Admirable; Peace; Female ruler; Ocean"

🫧Maya - Origin: Greek; Central American Indian empire name; Latinate Variation of May; Spanish, diminutive of Amalia; variation of Maia; Hebrew - Meaning: "Water"

🦑Talia - Origin: Hebrew; Australian Aboriginal - Meaning: "Gentle dew from heaven; By the water"

🫧Tallulah - Origin: Choctaw, Irish - Meaning: "Leaping water, Lady of abundance"

🦑Maren - Origin: Latin - Meaning: "Sea"

🫧Sabrina - Origin: Celtic, Latin name for the River Severn

🦑Marina - Origin: Latin - Meaning: "From the sea"

🫧Guinevere - Origin: Welsh - Meaning: "White shadow; White wave"

🦑Jennifer - Origin: Cornish variation of Welsh Guinevere - Meaning: "White shadow; White wave"

🩶 Neutral/Androgynous Names:

🌊Haf - Origin: Welsh; Icelandic - Meaning: "Summer; Ocean"

🦈Current - Origin: Water current - Meaning: "The motion of the Ocean"

🌊Siren - Origin: Greek Mythology

🦈Tasi - Origin: Chamorro; Christianity - Meaning: "Ocean; Sea"

🌊Dipsi - Origin: Hindu; Bislama - Meaning: "Light; Ocean"

🦈Daria/Darius - Origin: Persian - Meaning: "Sea; Possessing Goodness"

🌊Pelagic - Origin: Greek - Meaning: "Of, Relating to, or living or occuring in the open sea; Oceanic"

🦈Mer - Origin: The Word Mermaid/Merman; Spanish - Meaning: "Ocean; Sea"

🌊Wave - Origin: English - Meaning: "Arched form of water or sound"

🦈Bahari - Origin: Swahili - Meaning: "Sailor; Ocean"

Pronouns:

Nature Themed:

Sea/Foam

Wave/Waves

Moon/Moon

Tide/Tidal

Cur/Current

Co/Coral

Bub/Bubble

Wa/Water

Oce/Ocean

Sea/Sea

La/Lake

Ri/River

Aqua/Aquatic

Coa/Coast

Tide/Pool

Sho/Shore

La/Lagoon

Dead/Zone

Deep/Blue

Hurri/Hurricane

Isla/Island

Nau/Nautical

Ocean/Floor

Sur/Surface

Under/Water

Tsu/Tsunami

Al/Algae

Bac/Bacteria

Kel/Kelp

Sea/Glass

Animal Themed:

Wha/Whale

Shar/Shark

Jell/Jellyfish

Fi/Fish

Sea/Horse

Tur/Turtle

Sea/Seal

Or/Orca

Sea/Dragon [Leafy Seadragon]

Dol/Dolphin

Clown/Fish

Blue/Tang

Ott/Otters

Sea/Lion

Octo/Octopus

Squi/Squid

Wal/Walrus

Lob/Lobster

Spon/Sponge

Be/Beluga

Angel/Fish

Mana/Manatee

Star/Fish

Eel/Eel

Sea/Urchin

Cuttle/Fish

Barra/Barracuda

Man/Manta

Ray/Ray

Croco/Crocodile

Mythology/Legend Themed:

Sea/Serpent

Ocean/Dragon

Si/Siren

Mer/Mermaid [Merman, Merfolk & Merbeing Also Work]

Sing/Singing

So/Song

Lu/Lure

Kra/Kraken

Levi/Leviathan

Loch/Ness

Ap/Apsara

Ka/Kappa

Ni/Nixies

Ca/Calypso

The/Thetis

Ne/Nereids

Oce/Oceanids

Na/Naga

Na/Naiad

Po/Poseidon

Tri/Trident

Tri/Triton

In/Indra

Nep/Neptune

Va/Varuna

Ce/Cetus

Ich/Ichtyo [Ichtyocentaurs]

Sea/Monster

Sel/Selkie

Ma/Makara

Beach & Pool Themed:

Flip/Flop

Mock/Mocktail

Mo/Mojito

Be/Beach

Sta/Stand

Swi/Swim

Ba/Ball

To/Towel

Sun/Sunscreen

Bo/Boat

Beach/Side

Pool/Noodle

Beach/Chair

Bu/Bucket

Palm/Tree

Tree/Tree

Sun/Sun

Sha/Shade

Sha/Shadow

Pool/Pool

San/Sand

Go/Goggles

Sur/Surf

Sun/Sunset

Re/Resort

Salt/Salt

Sand/Sandcastle

Ya/Yacht

Fi/Fishing

Fin/Fins

Emoji Themed:

🐢/🐢s

🐍/🐍s

🐙/🐙s

🦑/🦑s

🪼/🪼s

🦐/🦐s

🦞/🦞s

🦀/🦀s

���/🐡s

🐠/🐠s

🐟/🐟s

🐬/🐬s

🐳/🐳s

🐋/🐋s

🦈/🦈s

🦭/🦭s

🐊/🐊s

🌴/🌴s

🐚/🐚s

🪸/🪸s

🍹/🍹s

🦩/🦩s

🛟/🛟s

⚓/⚓s

🪝/🪝s

🏝️/🏝️s

🌅/🌅s

🏖️/🏖️s

⛱️/⛱️s

🩴/🩴s

🫧/🫧s

🌊/🌊s

🍧/🍧s

🧊/🧊s

🍨/🍨s

🍦/🍦s

🥤/🥤s

🍸/🍸s

🍹/🍹s

🦩/🦩s

🛟/🛟s

⚓/⚓s

🪝/🪝s

🏝️/🏝️s

🌅/🌅s

🪨/🪨s

🌙/🌙s

🌑/🌑s

🌒/🌒s

🌓/🌓s

🌔/🌔s

🌕/🌕s

🌖/🌖s

🌗/🌗s

🌘/🌘s

👡/👡s

🥽/🥽s

🏄/🏄s

🚣/🚣s

🤿/🤿s

🪸These weren't requested, just decided to post some things as well until we start to get requests!

🪼All of the dividers are from: saradika.tumblr.com! Thank you so much for these beautiful dividers! ^^

~ Created Mainly By: 🧨⛓️📻 {{ Wilbur/Alastor }}

[countriesgame]

Please reblog for a bigger sample size!

If you have any fun fact about Vanuatu, please tell us and I'll reblog it!

Be respectful in your comments. You can criticize a government without offending its people.

[fatehbaz]

The archipelago of uplifted coral that is my mother’s homeland surfaced during the earth’s ancient cycles of glaciation. The early people came in sakmans, carried by wind and seas, guided by stars and clouds and bioluminescence, the fragrance of flowers, the flight paths of birds. Settlers lived and fished and farmed in this part of Oceania for thousands of years, but the naming history issues forth at the moment of subjugation. Islas de los Ladrones -- the Islands of Thieves -- they were called by the first Europeans who came. Then Islas de las Velas, the Islands of the Lateen Sails. Then the Mariana Islands, in honor of Spain’s queen regent. Before it was Guam, Guåhan was known, under Japanese rule, as Omiya Jima, the Great Shrine Island. [...] Elsewhere, settlements recall the body of the creation god Puntan: Tiyan, his flat stomach. Hagåtña, his blood. Toto, his resting back. Mongmong, his beating heart. [...]

These small islands have grown crowded with denotations, I try to tell a friend, except it comes out as detonations. [...]

---

I am reading from a passage on CHamoru history and culture. Kåntan Chamorita is an ancestral form of call-and-response, a spontaneous sung dialogue. [...] Thumbing the texts, I brandish our histories: the brutality of Japanese rule; the architectural colonization that drove the CHamoru from los antiguos, their dwelling places in latte houses; the violation of natural resources brought about by American occupation.

She [mother] tsks, waves impatiently. Hekkua’. An expression that means at once “I don’t know” and “Forget it.”  [...]

In 1917, the U.S. Navy banned the CHamoru language in the Mariana Islands. A few years later, by order of U.S. naval captain Adelbert Althouse, all CHamoru dictionaries were burned. The language was said to represent a cognitive deficiency. The adoption of English would ensure, among other things, mental well-being.

The ban has since been lifted, but my mother hid her language for so long, it’s become hard to find.

What is the word for sky? I ask her.

She shakes her head. Nothing word for sky. Only heaven: långet. [...]

---

And so did we sail out. For more than ten years [...]. We moved into other countries where other languages had been suppressed and where other people had been made invisible. There were signs [...]. In New Zealand, where I went to kindergarten, Ma¯ori children were beaten for speaking te reo in schools. Bislama was prohibited in Vanuatu, but I only remember the quietness of the bay, the great banyan trees, the malaria pills. In New Caledonia, where I went to elementary school, the Kanak languages were banned from the education system from 1863 until 1984. Gendarmes in Nouméa stood on street corners with machine guns slung across their chests. [...]

My mother is telling us something exciting. She trips happily over the words, her face laughing. [...] My mother did not want me speaking like her. She wanted me to be better than that, which is to say better than her. [...]

Kao piniten hao? -- Have you been hurt?

Hunggan. Mayulang, yu’ -- Yes. I’m breaking.

My mother corrects me: mayulang only applies to a thing that’s broken, not a person. You can be hurt, she tells me, but not broken. [...]

---

The etymology of translation refers to the removal of a saint’s body to a new location, to bearing bones and words, both sacred, across. As if anything can be moved whole [...].

We never heard the end of my mother’s stories. [...] These days, she is happy to let most of her sentences go unfinished. [...]

She raises her eyebrows, juts her chin.

I tell her, You’re a book of lost endings.

Which one? she asks.

---

It’s too small here, I said. It’s boring, hot. It’s too small. [...] We spent two years sleeping on my auntie’s living room floor. Unrolling futons and lying under the weeping air conditioning unit and peeling paint. We ate Spam and rice with ketchup. [...]

Lately, I have been confusing the CHamoru word for flight, malagu, with the word for flee, falagu. [...]

I dream now of the islands and wake with my head barely above water, my mouth filling with salt. [...]

Mamaolek ha’? -- Are you doing okay?

Maolek. I’m doing okay.

---

Text by: Hannah Dela Cruz Abrams. “Moving the Saints: Passages from a deconstructed homeland.” Orion Magazine. Spring 2023. [Some paragraph breaks and contractions added by me.]

[charring58]

Sand drawing (or sandroing in Bislama)[1][2] is a ni-Vanuatu artistic and ritual tradition and practice, recognised by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.[3][4]

[ultimate-word-tournament]

I know I’m kinda late but were any Bislama words submitted?

No, that would have been really cool though, creoles are really fun (i just wish they had more resources to learn them)

[swldx]

RNZ Pacific 1310 22 Dec 2024

7390Khz 1259 22 DEC 2024 - RNZ PACIFIC (NEW ZEALAND) in ENGLISH from RANGITAIKI. SINPO = 45434. English, s/on w/bellbird int. until pips and news @1300z anchored by Vicki McKay. § A judge in Germany ordered the suspect in a deadly Christmas market ramming attack to be held in pre-trial detention following a late-night court appearance as authorities face growing accusations they could have done more to prevent it. Taleb Al Abdulmohsen is accused of ramming a car into a busy market in the city of Magdeburg, killing five people and injuring more than 200. The motive for the attack is unclear but the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi citizen who has lived in Germany for more than a decade and worked to help Saudis leave his home country. On social media, he has been a fervent critic of Islam and prosecutors suggested he may have become embittered with how Germany treats Saudi refugees. § Police are appealing for any information after a 19-year-old woman was reported missing by her family. Maia Johnston left a family address in Totara Park, Upper Hutt, at around 8.30pm on Saturday to go for a walk and has not been seen since. Police updated shortly before 8.30pm Sunday saying the search was still active. § Albania has announced a one-year ban on TikTok, the popular short video app, following the killing of a teenager in December that raised fears over the influence of social media on children. The ban, part of a broader plan to make schools safer, will come into effect early next year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said after meeting with parents' groups and teachers from across the country. "For one year, we'll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania," Rama said. TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours. Several European countries including France, Germany and Belgium have enforced restrictions on social media use for children. In one of the world's toughest regulations targeting Big Tech, Australia approved in November a complete social media ban for children under 16. § Sports. @1303z trailer for RNZ "Country Life (Summer Series)". @1305z Weather Forecast: fine spells with showers, rain and thunderstorms by evening with some heavy falls. @1306z "All Night Programme" anchored by Vicki McKay. @1345z special broadcast of emergency information to Vanuatu by their leadership about the past 72 hours after the earthquake (in Bislama? Island language with occasional English words) . Backyard gutter antenna w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), JRC NRD-535D. 100kW, beamAz 35°, bearing 240°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 12912KM from transmitter at Rangitaiki. Local time: 0659.

[pronunciationplanet]

In Bislama, "seks" (pronounced "seks") is a direct loanword from English and refers to sexual activity or intercourse, just as it does ...

[depictae]

10 Interesting Facts About Vanuatu

Discover 10 interesting facts about Vanuatu, known for its volcanic islands, rich cultural diversity, beautiful beaches, and vibrant marine life. #vanuatu #explore #oceania #depictaè

Basic Information About Vanuatu Country Full Name: Republic of Vanuatu Continent: Oceania Official Languages: Bislama, English, French Currency: Vanuatu Vatu (VUV) Capital: Port Vila Main Dish: Laplap (root vegetable pudding) Famous For: Volcanic islands, diverse culture, beautiful beaches, and vibrant marine life. Size: 12,189 square kilometers Population: Approximately 300,000 Name…

[linguistlist-blog]

Calls: General Linguistics / Te Reo (Jrnl)

Call for Papers: The linguistic landscape of Vanuatu is unique – the diversity of Indigenous languages is exceptional, and the colonial history that established Bislama, English and French as official languages added more layers of complexity. Vanuatu’s Independence in 1980 put the new country in a position to protect Indigenous languages and regulate language policy and research. Still, around half of Vanuatu’s Indigenous languages are virtually undocumented or severely under-documented. Docum http://dlvr.it/T6tQg4

[2024referendum]

FAQ | From wanem yumi mas go lo wan referandom?

From wanem nao bae pipol i mas go lo wan referandom? Ansa: From mama loa i talem se eni amenmen lo mama loa blo yumi we hemi afektem elektoral sistem o palemen sistem mo bae i kat jenis lo trifala lanwis ia bislama, inglis mo franis, bae pablik i mas go lo wan referandom, afta we palemen i pasem. VEO i talem olsem lo websaet blo olgeta: https://bit.ly/3I9mquf “According to the article 86 of…

[best-non-english-word-torunament]

Round one: Sikmun vs 爆炸, bào zhà

(poll at the end)

Sikmun (Bislama)

Unable to find IPA

Translation: Menstrual period

Bislama is an English-based creole with around 14 200 speakers. It is spoken in Vanuatu, where it’s the national language and used as a lingua franca to facilitate communication between speakers of the 110 living languages. Bislama emerged in the late 1800s due to the practice of “blackbirding”, aka deceiving or kidnapping Pacific Islanders and taking them to work as indentured labourers on plantations, mainly in Australia and Fiji. Due to everyone speaking different languages, a pidgin emerged that later became a creole. This language was taken to Vanuatu when labourers returned and spread because it could be used as a lingua franca. Most of the vocabulary is English-based with some French, but the grammar is typical of local languages.

Motivation: Sick moon???? That’s such a rad way of describing it, it sounds so cool…

(note: the original submission said sigmun, sikmun was the spelling I found in the Bislama spelling dictionary as well as in text examples)

爆炸, bào zhà (Mandarin Chinese)

[paʊ ʈʂa]

Translation: explosion

Chinese is a Sino-Tibetan macrolanguage (a dialect continuum consisting of different varieties that are distinct languages based the criterium of mutual intelligibility, but commonly referred to as a single language) with around 1 350 300 000 speakers that consists of 16 recognised languages, often referred to as dialects. Out of these, Mandarin Chinese is the largest, as 70% of Chinese speakers have it as their native language. The Beijing dialect of Mandarin forms the basis of Standard Chinese, which is the national language and taught in schools all over China.

Motivation 1: Super fun to say (BAO ZHA allows for some intense chest yells!!), lovely meaning, has become a joke among my friend group and our Chinese teacher thinks it's very funny

Motivation 2: Explode is an inherently funny word. Also me and my friends learned this word back in like Chinese ii (super early on, we were still learning basic grammar) and our Chinese teacher does not like it very much. Once they got in trouble for putting it in a presentation that was being graded for our ib myp certificate (international baccalaureate; bigshot honors program).

Note: This was submitted as Mandarin Chinese by at least one of the four submitters of this one word (thank you for sparing me the detective work). The two best motivations were put on the post

[drlinguo]

Zweite Folge des Podcasts zu „Register“

In dieser Folge geht es um Kreolsprachen.

„Kreolsprachen sind ein Wunder der Linguistik. Innerhalb weniger Generationen entstehen diese Sprachen dort, wo Menschen ohne gemeinsame Sprache miteinander kommunizieren müssen. Das Projekt A02 "Speaker's choices in a creole context: Bislama and Morisien" untersucht zwei Kreolsprachen aus Melanesien und Mauritius. Wir sprechen mit Manfred Krifka und Tonjes Veenstra.“

[angrybell]

According to some reports, he was killed when a tank crew saw men with AKs in a building. The tank fired into the building and then the infantry entered to see what was left. The tank was from Company L, 195th Shizphon Battalion operating as part of the Bislama Brigade.

Edit 1135 PDT: There are a couple of different versions as to what happened going around. One version is a mortar round hit the building. Another says there was a firefight and an IDF marksman/sniper got him. Basically all the versions agree on a couple of things: there was an encounter between IDF and Sinwar’s group, Sinwar got killed as a result, and the people who were there did not know they had been killing until after they were able to see the person up close. I’m leaving tank version at the top for now, if an official correction happens I will change it.

There are reports Sinwar is now Sinwas.

DNA is apparently being done by Israeli pathologists.

Photo of the alleged Sinwar before the fold.

[loadsofplaces]

Vanuatu

General Information Vanuatu is a country in the Pacific Ocean, consisting of dozens of islands. They have been inhabited for at least 3.000 years, having received several waves of migration of mostly Melanesian and some Polynesian peoples. First European explorers arrived in the 17th century, and from 1906 to its independence in 1980 Vanuatu, then called New Hebrides, was under partial British and French control. 99,2% of the 315.700 inhabitants are Melanesian, with over 100 Melanesian languages and dialects spoken. The official languages are Bislama (an English-based Melanesian pidgin), English and French. About 70% of inhabitants are Protestants, around 12% Roman Catholic. The capital is Port-Vila.

The Origin of Bungee Jumping Vanuatu was likely the first place to practice a form of Bungee Jumping - during Vanuatu’s land diving ritual, boys and young men dive from circa 20 to 30 meter high wooden towers while vines are attached to their ankles.

A tribe that worships Prince Philip Since British Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip visited Vanuatu in 1974, a tribe on Tanna island has been convinced that Prince Philip is the son of their ancestral mountain god.

~ Anastasia

Economy Vanuatu's economy is primarily agricultural; 80% of the population is engaged in agricultural activities that range from subsistence farming to smallholder farming of coconuts and other cash crops. Copra is by far the most important cash crop (making up more than 35% of Vanuatu's exports), followed by timber, beef, and cocoa. Kava root extract exports also have become important.

~ Damian

Sources: https://www.britannica.com/place/Vanuatu/History https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/oceania/articles/vanuatu-facts/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Vanuatu

[swldx]

Radio Vanuatu 1107 25 Oct 2024

7260Khz 1103 25 OCT 2024 - RADIO VANUATU (VANUATU) in BISLAMA from EMPTEN LAGOON. SINPO = 15222. ?Language? trace of female announcer and musical interlude. (// http://sdrbris.proxy.kiwisdr.com:8073/ ). 100' (30m) of Kev-Flex wire feeding "Magic Wand" antenna hanging in backyard tree w/MFJ-1020C active antenna (used as a preamplifier/preselector), JRC NRD-535D, 2.5kW, Onmi, bearing 262°. Received at Plymouth, MN, United States, 12006KM from transmitter at Empten Lagoon. Local time: 0603.