Phonotactics

Bislama phonotactics can be described in general as being somewhat simplified with respect to the consonant-cluster possibilities that we find in English. Word-final clusters which undergo sporadic reduction word-finally in English are systematically simplified in Bislama, e.g. /distrik/ ‘district’, /han/ ‘hand, arm’. Other final clusters which do not undergo simplification in English are also regularly reduced in Bislama, e.g. /stam/ ‘stamp’, /stiŋ/ ‘stink’. Some word-final clusters involving a consonant followed by a sibilant are optionally separated by an epenthetic front vowel, e.g. /bokis ~ boks/ ‘box’, /sikis ~ siks/ ‘six’, /canis ~ cans/ ‘chance’. Other consonant sequences are also sporadically affected by vowel epenthesis, e.g. /melek/ ‘milk’, /lasitern ~ lasiterin/ ‘in-ground water reservoir (< French la citerne)’, /film ~ filem/ ‘film’.

Initial and medial consonant clusters are much less likely to undergo reduction, though changes are nonetheless encountered. Three-member intervocalic clusters may be simplified by deleting one of the consonants, e.g. /letrik/ ‘electricity (< electric)’, while initial two-member clusters may be simplified by the optional insertion of an epenthetic vowel, e.g. /bulu ~ blu/ ‘blue’. Sometimes, consonant cluster simplification may not involve a reduction in the number of consonants involved but involve instead assimilation of one consonant to another, e.g. /fraim-pan/ ‘frying pan’.

Despite the general tendency for the simplification of consonant clusters in Bislama, a substantial number of relatively complex consonant sequences are retained, e.g. /faktri/ ‘factory’, /distrik/ ‘district’. Many of the kinds of consonant clusters that are retained directly reflect permissible sequences in English. Thus, just as we encounter three-member word-initial sequences of /str-/ in English but no instances of /stl-/, so too do we find words in Bislama such as /strap/ ‘belt (< strap)’ but no instances of Bislama words beginning with /stl-/.

It should be pointed out that statements about phonotactic changes between English and Bislama do not invariably involve either retention of original clusters or the simplification of original clusters. There is plentiful evidence also for the development of new clusters in Bislama from English-derived forms where there were no clusters to begin with. We therefore find instances of vowel loss between English and Bislama which result in consonant clusters such as /wokbaut/ ‘walk (about)’. In some cases, we find competing forms involving the presence or absence of a vowel between consonants, e.g. /sidaun ~ staun/ ‘sit (down)’, /sigaret ~ skaret/ ‘cigarette’, /basikel ~ baskel/ ‘bike (< bicycle)’, /finisim ~ finsim/ ‘finish’.

Apart from these observations about consonant clusters, Bislama phonotactics is for the most part covered by the same kinds of observations that hold for English. There are, of course, subcomponents of the lexicon which do not derive from English for which other kinds of phonotactic statements can be made. In particular, those words which have local vernacular sources are based by and large on syllable structures of the type CV(C), which allows for word-initial single consonants, word-final single consonants or vowels, and two-member medial clusters, in words such as /nakatambol/ ‘dragon plum’.