Bemé: Difference between revisions

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Bemé gradually developed from a [[Kabao]]-English [[w:Pidgin|pidgin language]] used to communicate between [[w:British Empire|British colonisers]] and the indigenous peoples. Before the British, the [[w:Portuguese Empire|Portuguese]] initially colonised Kabao island and established what would eventually become Cassim Po and its oldest ''colonias'' (boroughs); there is evidence that a separate Portuguese-Kabao pidgin was spoken at that time, though its features and vocabulary were probably absorbed into Bemé after the Portuguese left and the British took over. Bemé then coalesced into a fully fledged [[w:Creole language|creole language]] probably around the late 19th century, before being suddenly and rapidly spread across the Poccasin Archipelago by the British colonial administration who operated a meticulous program of transporting primarily slaves from Cassim Po (who could speak close enough to the masters' English to communicate with them, incentivising its use to other Poccasins) to work newly developed plantations across the archipelago, including [[Saint Columban]].

===''Kriyal''===

==''Tak'' vs ''kriyal''==

Bemé incorporates a [[w:Post-creole continuum|creole continuum]], but unlike other creole continua such as that of [[w:Jamaican Patois|Jamaican Patois]], Bemé speakers do not consider the continuum to have '''mesolectal''' levels, instead only distinguishing between acrolectal ''tak'' and basilectal ''kriyal''. ''Tak'' is often described as the official government Bemé, used on street signs, government buildings and in most Bemé literature, while ''kriyal'' is often described as the vernacular forms of Bemé spoken outside of the contexts of ''Tak''. For example, the vernacular Bemé of young people can be considered ''kriyal''; but the use of Bemé by older, illiterate speakers may also be considered ''kriyal''.

The distinction between /kr tr tʃr/, as well as between /gr dʒr/, has been historically neutralised, leading to a varying pronunciation:

* ⟨kr⟩ may be heard as /tɹ̥ kɹ̥ tʃɹ̥/;  

* The realisation may be aspirated [[w:Retroflex consonant|retroflex]] /ʈʰ/, and similarly [[w:Voiceless retroflex affricate|affricated]] to /ʈʂ ʈʂʰ/.

The pronunciation of ⟨gr⟩ is less variable; there still exists a distinction between /gr~dʒr/ and /dr/, though /dr/ is extremely rare and only exists in certain words, such as '''''gr'''ag'' "stop (v.)" and '''''dr'''ag'' "drag queen".

| colspan=2 | /n/ || colspan=2 | /ɲ/ || -

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===Vowels===

''im'', although derived from the gendered English word {{l|en|him}}, is ungendered and can be roughly translated to "he", "she", "it" or singular "they" depending on context. Older speakers may use {{l|beme|shi}} or {{l|beme|shya}}/{{l|beme|shiya}} (all from English {{l|en|she}}) in the same way as ''she'' is used in English, but this word is functionally obsolete in modern Bemé (at best archaic in [[#Patois|patois]]).

''Tuka'', ''ka'', ''tukeh'' and ''keh'' are all taken from the [[Yabo]] languages, all of which have pronouns along the lines of ''toka'' or ''tokeq''.

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! Present

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! Past

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! Future

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====Transitivity====

Similarly to [[w:Tok Pisin|Tok Pisin]], verbs are made transitive by the suffix ''-in''. The suffix is only not placed after a transitive verb when the verb is imperative.

====Tense, aspect and mood====

Bemé has two officially marked tenses: past and future, marked by the particles ''dan'' and ''wan'' respectively, as in ''mi dan itin bitel'' "I ate food" vs ''mi wan itin bitel'' "I will eat food".

The [[w:Imperative mood|imperative mood]] is expressed by placing ''eh'' after the verb, which cannot take the [[#Transitivity|transitive suffix]] ''-in'' or a [[#Personal pronouns|personal pronoun]].

====Negation====

Negation on verbs is done by putting ''na'' or ''neh'' before the verb. ''Tak eh Bemeh!'' states that ''na'' should be used for intransitive verbs, while ''neh'' should be used with transitive verbs, a pattern which is typical of most first-language speakers in Cassim Po. However, elsewhere, in ''kriyal'' varieties, ''na'' and ''neh'' are virtually interchangeable.

===Word derivation===

==Swadesh==

The following table shows the official [[w:Swadesh list|Swadesh list]] provided by ''Tak eh Bemeh!''.

: Jules: ''Neh mang, mi na itin pok.''

: Vincent: ''Yu bi yudim?''

: Jules: ''Pok bi deti edag. Mi na itin deti edag.''

: Vincent: ''Yeh, ba bekon tes gud. Pok chop tes gud.''

: Vincent: ''Wa dan eh dag? Dag itin im eh pyuk.''

: Jules: ''Mi na itin dag nebla.''

: Jules: ''Mi na la wan inyeh po kalin dag deti edag, ba erili na pokres edag; ba, dag ab peson. Peson wan long weh.''

: Vincent: ''Ah, so kas dat risun, ey pok dan ab gud peson, im grag eh bi deti edag.''

: Jules: ''Eh, wi la mos takin eh wan neys teting pok, yameh, im mos bi teng tey pro neys den dat Arnold ni Green Acres!''

==See also==

* [[Caine orthography]]