How to say hello in Vanuatu Language

If you need translations for useful travel words such as Hello.

Vanuatu: Important phrases - TripAdvisor

Due to the long tradition of inter-island and inter-village trade, many ni-Vanutau speaks many different nationalities. More than 113 different tongues and many other idioms can be found throughout the group, and when the Europeans came, a lingua franca was born. Its name is Bislama, a derivation of the Bech-der-mer (sea cucumber) merchants who invented a type of Pacific -wide English language.

Started as a simple version of the phonetic English, with colloquial expressions in French, German and French. Like with all tongues, it soon took on a way of its own, took on new words and developed further. Today, although similar to Salomon and New Guinea it is unmistakable.

Bislama, although phonetic English with a wide emphasis, is grammatical easier. Results are descriptive and can be much longer than if narrated in English. It is relatively simple to hear Bislama pronounced when the narrator is sluggish and pronounces the phrase. However in the same way a Welch bartender can have quite no trouble at all in undersanding your English being spoken, and Australians or Americans can have great difficulty understanding the bartender, purely because of a thick emphasis.

This is used in relation to each of the nouns that are related to another one. In order to differentiate the difference in these groups, their relation to height or environment is used or a descriptive instead of a unique name is given. Example: pygin alongsolwota = birds that belong to salt water, e.g. terns, pelicans, ducks etc.

Whose greatfala boki yu boki yu boki yu boki yat gatt w wet mo haemi yat boki yu, sipos yu boki yu boki yu kilim smol, hemi singaot gud. You will find a large number of Bislama related textbooks and lightweight lexicons in many souvenir stores and bookshops around Vila.

Helpful words in Bislama

This is a compilation of useful sentences in Bislama, a Mandarin language in Vanuatu. To listen to one of the (non-English) words that are the link (blue). Click on the German version to see these words in many other tongues. Use the Phrase Finder if you want to see these words in any desired language combinations.

Abbreviation key: afrm = formally, afr = informally, sg = uniquely (said to a person), pl = plural (said to more than one person).