Phonological processes

There are very few general morphophonemic processes in Bislama. One of the characteristic features of pidgin and creole languages is the tendency to avoid derivational complexity in phonology and morphology. However, attention is drawn to variation in the form of the transitive suffix canonically represented as /-Vm/. The functions of this suffix will be dealt with on Bislama morpho-syntax, and I will concentrate here only on the forms of the suffix.

With verbs ending in consonants preceded by either a diphthong or by a non-high single vowel, the transitive suffix appears as /-em/, e.g. /tan-em/ ‘turn’, /bonem/ ‘burn’, /let-em/ ‘permit, let’, /boil-em/ ‘boil’, /fain-em/ ‘find’. Following a consonant-final root preceded by a high vowel, the vowel of the suffix harmonizes with the final vowel of the root, e.g. /kil-im/ ‘kill’, /pul-um/ ‘pull’. With vowel-final roots, the transitive suffix appears as /-m/ after front vowels, e.g. /ciki-m/ ‘be cheeky to’, /pe-m/ ‘pay’, as /-em/ after /o/, e.g. /boro-em/ ‘borrow’, as /-im/ after /u/, e.g. /blu-im/ ‘blow’ and as /-rem/ after /a/, e.g. /hama-rem/ ‘hammer’.