Bijun Creole
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| Bijun Creole | |
|---|---|
| Bijun | |
| bijun, kriyal | |
 Flag of the Bijun Creoles. | |
| Pronunciation | [biʒʊn] |
| Created by | Jukethatbox |
| Date | 2025 |
| Setting | Adventures in the Poccasins |
| Native to | Poccasin Federation |
| Ethnicity | Bijuns |
Poccasin English
| |
Bijun Creole (/ˈbiːdʒʊn/ BEE-jun; Bijun Creole: bijun, kriyal), often simply called Bijun, is a kriyal variety(sometimes considered a sociolect) of Bemé that is native to the Bijoux Island Group,[a] the primary island chain on the outskirts of Kabao island, where the capital of Cassim Po is located. Bijun is spoken primarily by the Bijun people who are native to the Bijoux Islands, and has existed as a closely related but nevertheless distinct variety of the Bemé language almost as long as the standard Cassim Po variety.
Linguistically, Bijun is considered a kriyal variety of standard Bemé, meaning it is considered distinct from more "polite" or "prestigious" tak varieties; however, Bijun itself is generally still considered a distinct dialect/sociolect from the broader kriyal varieties, with its own distinct phonology and vocabulary. Bijun is also considered one of the three major varieties of Bemé, alongside Columbé and standard Bemé.
Phonology
Bijun vowels are considered probably the most distinct part of Bijun from standard Bemé; most notably, the merging of /i/ and /e/ into just /i/. All initial vowels are pre-glottalised in Bijun, which also leads to a prevalence of orthographic H-insertion, such as abo to habo to make up for this pronunciation, as well as a shift of /o/ to /u/ in word-final positions and again from /o/ to /ɔ/ in word-initial positions (though this is generally less common). Finally, the phonemic /u/, in contrast to its allophonic status as of /o/, is generally closer to the near-front near-back /ʊ/, especially in closed syllables such as in bijun [bi.ʒʊn]
Among consonants, the distinction in voicing among plosives is neutralised before other consonants; thus, the distinction between /kr/ and /gr/, two common affricates in standard Bemé, completely breaks down. Additionally however, coincidentally reminiscent of Haitian Creole, /kr/ labialises to /kw/ before back vowels /o u/, so krom "bread, food" is pronounced kwom, which may progress further to a reversal of the labialisation to leave just kom. Affricates /tʃ/ is pronounced /ts/ and /dʒ/ is pronounced /ʒ/ (possibly reflecting the original French pronunciation of the islands' name, [biʒu]). /l/ is always velarised.