Bislama

Meanings

1. A creole language spoken on the South Pacific island-nation of Vanuatu, derived from Indo-European (mainly from English) and Oceanic languages.

Etymology

Borrowed from Bislama Bislama, from French bêche-de-mer (“sea cucumber”). In the mid-nineteenth century, sea cucumbers were harvested and dried at the same time that sandalwood was gathered. The name came to be associated with the kind of pidgin speech that was used by the local laborers between themselves, as well as their English-speaking overseers.