Le Vanuatu (anciennement Condominium franco-britannique des Nouvelles-Hébrides) est une république indépendante depuis 1980. Située dans le Pacifique Sud, c'est sans doute la nation qui possède la plus grande diversité linguistique au monde per capita, avec environ une centaine de langues mélanésiennes, la lingua franca appelée bislama, et le français et l'anglais, langues d'éducation. Le bislama est un créole lexifié à partir de l'anglais mais dont la grammaire est influencée par le substrat mélanésien. Longtemps langue orale, le bislama joue un rôle prépondérant dans les années 70 pour mener le pays à l'indépendance, ainsi que dans le domaine religieux avec la traduction des évangiles, puis de la bible. Depuis quelques années, le bislama occupe de plus en plus de place et se créolise, en particulier dans les zones urbaines en pleine expansion. Mon travail porte sur l'évolution du bislama écrit à partie de l'analyse d'un corpus qui couvre une période d'environ quarante ans afin d'observer si la langue écrite est en voie d'anglicisation (donc de décréolisation en se rapprochant de la langue source). Mon étude sera donc à la fois diachronique et synchronique et couvrira des documents écrits de la presse, religieux et politiques, ainsi que du matériel éducatif publié en bislama. Plus récemment, la langue écrite est également utilisée pour les SMS, forums de discussions sur sites internet et mails. Bien qu'inscrite dans la constitution comme unique langue nationale du Vanuatu, ainsi que langue officielle avec le français et l'anglais, le bislama n'a pas de place dans le système éducatif officiel ,où seules les deux langues européennes du gouvernement colonial sont utilisées comme langues d'instruction. Le Vanuatu réfléchit à une nouvelle politique linguistique éducative dont le pays va se doter très prochainement, projet qui fait la part belle au bilinguisme anglais/français. Mon travail examinera aussi les raisons de cet état de fait ainsi que les conséquences à la fois sur la langue elle-même et ses répercussions sur le statut du bislama écrit au Vanuatu. / Vanuatu, formerly the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides, became independent in 1980. Located in the South Pacific region, it is probably the nation with the highest proportion of languages per capita, with more than one hundred indigenous languages, the lingua franca named Bislama, and English and French, the languages of instruction. Bislama is a creole whose lexifier is English but with the grammar of the Melanesian substrate languages. For a long time used orally, it became the language of political fight towards independence in the 1970, along with the language of religion with the translation of the Gospels. Bislama has become more and more widely used in the last forty years, and is now a creole, particularly in the ever expanding urban areas.My study deals with a corpus of written Bislama over a period of roughly fort years so as to find out whether Bislama is decreolising, that is to say getting closer to its lexifier, namely English. My research is both diachronic and synchronic, based on written documents from all the genre: press, religion, political life, poetry, and also taking into account the newer forms of writing such as email or SMS. It also looks at educational material and posters. Event though Bislama is the only national language of the country, is is not given any place-or hardly any- in the official educational system of Vanuatu. Indeed, the two languages of instruction are still French and English. The Government of Vanuatu is thinking of a new Education Language Policy, with a few changes such as the introduction of indigenous languages in the very first years of education, for instance. However, the aim of the policy is to achieve English/French bilingualism by the end of High School, without giving Bislama any role apart from being an instrument to facilitate the learning of other subjects. My research also deals with this aspect of the situation, as well as its consequences on written Bislama in Vanuatu.

Tok Pisin is the most prevailing common language in Papua New Guinea. It was originally an English lexifier pidgin language and has developed as the virtual universal lingua franca in this multilingual country where over 850 indigenous languages are spoken today (Nekitel 1998). The term Tok Pisin covers a large number of varieties due to the various social and linguistic backgrounds of its speakers. Traditionally, the rural varieties which are spoken in Coastal and Island areas are regarded as mainstream Tok Pisin and previous studies have mainly focused on these varieties. However, since the social and linguistic situation in the country has continuously changed and the language contact between Tok Pisin and both substratum languages and the superstratum language, English, continues, the varieties which were regarded as “non-standard” seem to play an important role, especially in the context of language contact and language shift today. Therefore, with respect to the roles that “non-standard” varieties play and their features, many gaps still remain. Most studies have focused on standard varieties. In order to fill in the gaps, this study will address the issues of language contact and language shift in Tok Pisin, mainly focusing on two “nonstandard” varieties. One is Highlands Pidgin which is spoken mainly in the Highlands area of the country. Because of the increase of emigrant population from Highlands to other regions, it seems that Highlands Pidgin impacts on other regional varieties of Tok Pisin. First, the characteristics which have been considered to be Highlands features are reconsidered by reanalysing previous studies and examining the author’s primary data. Then the role that Highlands Pidgin plays in the current language situation in Papua New Guinea is discussed. The other “non-standard” variety considered here is the anglicised variety. It has been pointed out that Tok Pisin is currently undergoing “decreolisation”, that is, it is gradually losing its own features and assimilating to English. However, the degree of the anglicisation can very with situations, speakers and topics and, although earlier studies provide many important findings, few recent studies have been undertaken. Thus, the degree of anglicisation is examined according to each linguistic component including phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax based on primary data. As one of the parameters of anglicisation, code switching between Tok Pisin and English is also examined using the Matrix Language-Frame model proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993). Following the analysis of the two varieties, some sociolinguistic considerations are provided in order to capture the situation in which language contact and language shift take place. In conclusion, based on the author’s observations and analysis, this study proposes the argument that there is little reason to rule out the “non-standard” varieties and that Tok Pisin has been a language completely distinct from English, which supports Smith’s (2002) viewpoint. Also, it illustrates a description of current Tok Pisin which coexists with English. Whether the situation continues or not in the future is open to question; however, the structural features of Tok Pisin and its remarkable vitality which are revealed here can inform the study of language contact, language shift and language maintenance. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374814 / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

Tok Pisin is the most prevailing common language in Papua New Guinea. It was originally an English lexifier pidgin language and has developed as the virtual universal lingua franca in this multilingual country where over 850 indigenous languages are spoken today (Nekitel 1998). The term Tok Pisin covers a large number of varieties due to the various social and linguistic backgrounds of its speakers. Traditionally, the rural varieties which are spoken in Coastal and Island areas are regarded as mainstream Tok Pisin and previous studies have mainly focused on these varieties. However, since the social and linguistic situation in the country has continuously changed and the language contact between Tok Pisin and both substratum languages and the superstratum language, English, continues, the varieties which were regarded as “non-standard” seem to play an important role, especially in the context of language contact and language shift today. Therefore, with respect to the roles that “non-standard” varieties play and their features, many gaps still remain. Most studies have focused on standard varieties. In order to fill in the gaps, this study will address the issues of language contact and language shift in Tok Pisin, mainly focusing on two “nonstandard” varieties. One is Highlands Pidgin which is spoken mainly in the Highlands area of the country. Because of the increase of emigrant population from Highlands to other regions, it seems that Highlands Pidgin impacts on other regional varieties of Tok Pisin. First, the characteristics which have been considered to be Highlands features are reconsidered by reanalysing previous studies and examining the author’s primary data. Then the role that Highlands Pidgin plays in the current language situation in Papua New Guinea is discussed. The other “non-standard” variety considered here is the anglicised variety. It has been pointed out that Tok Pisin is currently undergoing “decreolisation”, that is, it is gradually losing its own features and assimilating to English. However, the degree of the anglicisation can very with situations, speakers and topics and, although earlier studies provide many important findings, few recent studies have been undertaken. Thus, the degree of anglicisation is examined according to each linguistic component including phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax based on primary data. As one of the parameters of anglicisation, code switching between Tok Pisin and English is also examined using the Matrix Language-Frame model proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993). Following the analysis of the two varieties, some sociolinguistic considerations are provided in order to capture the situation in which language contact and language shift take place. In conclusion, based on the author’s observations and analysis, this study proposes the argument that there is little reason to rule out the “non-standard” varieties and that Tok Pisin has been a language completely distinct from English, which supports Smith’s (2002) viewpoint. Also, it illustrates a description of current Tok Pisin which coexists with English. Whether the situation continues or not in the future is open to question; however, the structural features of Tok Pisin and its remarkable vitality which are revealed here can inform the study of language contact, language shift and language maintenance. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374814 / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009