Bemé: Difference between revisions

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'''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 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. Bemé is an official language and designated [[w:Lingua franca|lingua franca]] of the [[Poccasin Federation]], and is considered one of two international trade languages of the country alongside [[Poccasin English|English]].

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 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]].

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]]).

This program only ended in 1914, and by then the linguistic demographics of the Poccasin Archipelago had been so drastically changed that Bemé had effectively become the most spoken language in the Poccasins, though the language would go on to diverge into regional [[#Tak vs kriyal|''kriyal'']] varieties until the independence of the Poccasin Federation in 1961, which established the Bemé based on the speech of Cassim Po (''Kasimpo mang'') as the standard variety of Bemé to be used in all official matters written in the [[Caine orthography]] (developed in 1962), including in education, news, government notices, street and road signs, dictionaries, telephone boxes and most literature. This dichotomy between official ''tak'' and unstandardised, regional ''kriyal'' still exists today in the Poccasin Federation and is a major part of Poccasin daily life.

This article describes the standard variety of Bemé used 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]]).

==Etymology==

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'', as well as the name for the city of Cassim Po, so named by the Portuguese.

@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 '''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 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. Bemé is an official language and designated [[w:Lingua franca|lingua franca]] of the [[Poccasin Federation]], and is considered one of two international trade languages of the country alongside [[Poccasin English|English]].
-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 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]].
-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]]).
+This program only ended in 1914, and by then the linguistic demographics of the Poccasin Archipelago had been so drastically changed that Bemé had effectively become the most spoken language in the Poccasins, though the language would go on to diverge into regional [[#Tak vs kriyal|''kriyal'']] varieties until the independence of the Poccasin Federation in 1961, which established the Bemé based on the speech of Cassim Po (''Kasimpo mang'') as the standard variety of Bemé to be used in all official matters written in the [[Caine orthography]] (developed in 1962), including in education, news, government notices, street and road signs, dictionaries, telephone boxes and most literature. This dichotomy between official ''tak'' and unstandardised, regional ''kriyal'' still exists today in the Poccasin Federation and is a major part of Poccasin daily life.
+This article describes the standard variety of Bemé used 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]]).
 ==Etymology==
 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'', as well as the name for the city of Cassim Po, so named by the Portuguese.