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]]. | 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 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 | 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. 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 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]]). | 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]]). | ||