Bemé: Difference between revisions

'''Bemé''' (/[[Help:IPA|bəˈmeɪ̯]]/ ''buh-MAY''; ''bemeh'', <small>pronounced</small> [[IPA for Bemé|[bemɛ]]]), also called '''Poccasin Creole''', '''Poccasin Pidgin''' and '''Poccasinese''', is an [[w:English-based creole languages|English creole]] and [[w:Pidgin|pidgin language]] spoken in the Poccasin Archipelago. It is widely spoken as a first language in Cassim Po and is by far the predominantly spoken language in many other urban areas in the Poccasins, though elsewhere in the archipelago it only holds pidgin language status, exclusively used to communicate between people of separate ethnicites; as such, it is not used at home in most of these areas.

Despite this varying status, Bemé is by far the most spoken language of the Poccasin Archipelago with around 15 million speakers as of 2025; native speakers with Bemé as their mother tongue, primarily inhabiting Cassim Po, number around 14,565. This high amount of speakers can be mostly attributed to two factors: extensive [[w:United Kingdom|British]] and later [[w:United States of America|American]] colonisation, as well as widespread teaching of the language. Bemé is an official language and designated [[w:Lingua franca|lingua franca]] of the [[Poccasin Federation]], ensuring its continuous widespread usage after independence.

This article describes the variety of Bemé that is spoken in the Poccasin Federation; other major varieties/dialects of Bemé include [[Bijun Creole]] (native to the Bijuns of Bijou Island) and [[Columbé]] (of the people of [[Saint Columban]]).

The name ''Bemé'' is derived from the [[Kabao]] phrase ''beme po kasin'', literally meaning "nation of the red mountain". It is also the origin of the English [[w:Exonym|exonym]] ''Poccasin'' and ''Poccasinese''.

The word ''kriyal''(sometimes spelt ''kriyel'' in [[Columbé|Columban]]) is also used by [[Columbé]] and [[Bijun Creole]] speakers to refer to their own varieties of Bemé.

* In the most [[w:Basilect|basilectal]](''Kriyal'') varieties, the stop may be simply [[w:Aspirated consonant|strongly aspirated]], leaving /tʰː kʰː tʃʰː/;

/t d/ both become /t̚/ ([[w:No audible release|no audible release]]) in word-final coda positions, so ''{{bm|dat|da'''t'''}}'' is pronounced {{bm-ipa|dat̚}} while ''{{bm|data|da'''t'''a}}'' is pronounced with audible release as {{bm-ipa|data}}. This allophonic variation without audible release has also been described as [[w:Dental consonant|dentalised]]; thus, words like ''{{bm|dat}}'' have also been transcribed as {{bm-ipa|dat̪̚}}.

Unlike in English, /ŋ/ can appear in onset positions, such as in '''''ng'''os'' "nose". The palatal nasal /ɲ/ usually occurs when differentiating between words that would be homophones in standard English, e.g. ''nap'' vs ''[[wikt:knap#Verb|knap]]'', which in Bemé became '''''n'''ap'' "rest (v.)" and '''''ny'''ap'' "punch (v.)".

/ɲ/ is the only consonant that cannot appear in a coda position; typically, this is circumvented by adding /ɛ/ or /a/ postpositionally, so ''{{bm|grin}}'' becomes ''{{bm|grinyeh}}''.

The placement of /n/ before /h/ only occurs in one word: ''{{bm|Anhara}}'', a girl's name of Sasubi origin ([[Sasubi]]: انخارا); the /n/ is pronounced as a [[w:Voiced bilabial nasal|bilabial nasal]] [m] in standard Bemé and [[Bijun]] but not pronounced whatsoever in [[Columbé]], instead giving /ahaɾa/ or /aːhaɾa/(the first /a/ may be lengthened to compensate for a lack of a /n/). In the original [[Sasubi]], the name is pronounced [[Help:IPA|[ɐŋxɐˈra]]].

There are only three diphthongs in Bemé: /ei̯ oi̯ ou̯/, written ⟨ey, oi, ow⟩ respectively. However, although these diphthongs may roughly match with similar English diphthongs /eɪ̯ oɪ̯ oʊ̯/, these diphthongs rarely match; diphthongs in general are rare in Bemé, but even with words derived from English words with diphthongs, the diphthongs are often replaced with monophthongs, e.g. ''sh'''e'''k'' [[IPA for Bemé|[ʃek]]], compared to English sh'''a'''ke /[[w:Help:IPA/English|ˈʃeɪ̯k]]/. In ''kriyal'' varieties diphthongs may be entirely replaced by monophthongs, so words like ''sk'''ey''''' [[IPA for Bemé|[skei̯]]] become [[IPA for Bemé|[skɛ]]].

"Paucal" pronouns refer to groups of people, as in ''wi kri'' would mean "some of us", ''yu kri'' means "some of you all", etc. Paucal pronouns are thought to have been borrowed from [[Dadaareg]], constructed by a combination of pronoun + ''kri'' (lit. "three"), as is typical for paucal pronouns in Dadaareg(''tanuk'', ''penuk'', ''lolonuk''). The third-person paucal pronoun, ''imim''/''emem'', is thought to have been derived via [[Ketaserang]] reduplication, a feature typical of Ketaserang for forming plural pronouns.

| ''it'' || ''itin'' || ''eh it'' || ''eh itin'' || ''la it'' || ''la itin''

| ''dan it'' || ''dan itin'' || ''eh dan it'' || ''eh dan itin'' || ''la dan it'' || ''la dan itin''

| ''wan it'' || ''wan itin'' || ''eh wan it'' || ''eh wan itin'' || ''la wan it'' || ''la wan itin''

The completive aspect is shown by the lemma ''dampini''(from English ''*done finish''), as in ''im wak '''dampini''''' "he worked", while the continuous aspect is shown with ''eh'' before the verb, as in ''im '''eh''' wak'' "he is working". ''Dampini'' also means "finished, completed" as an adjective, and is one of few postpositional adjectives in Bemé, as in ''ombewak '''dampini''''' "finished homework".

Bemé only has specific word derivation rules when deriving a word from an already existing word of a different class; for example, from a verb to a noun. In that case, the prefix ''e-''(possibly derived from English indefinite article ''a'') is added, as in ''shwim'' "to swim" > ''eshwim'' "pool".

: Jules: ''Neh mang, mi na yudim, mi jis na digin pok, lalo.''

: Vincent: ''Wa lek neh?''

: Vincent: ''Yeh, ba yu tink dag bi deti edag la?''<br>(''Beat''.)

[[Category:Bemé]] [[Category:Conlangs]] [[Category:Languages]] [[Category:Creole languages]]