Mama Inglis has the most mysterious fruits in her country. Their names are fancy with consonant clusters and they are known to sing, rhyme and rap. 'Woii! You're lying', said my friend. To prove her wrong, I took her to that aisle at the fruit market. 'Aiya! What kind of word is that?' she exclaimed. I explained that the market has a way of naming imported fruits from Mama Inglis. I couldn't continue with my explanation because the fruits jumped out their carts and started singing. The song was about to end, the last fruits did their number, they were rapping, 'YEAH AH, NO CONSONANT CLUSTERS BABY, AT THE END, OF THE WORD YO!'
Tip: When transliterating words borrowed from English, the consonant cluster at the end of a word is reduced to one consonant sound. According to the linguist who studied Tok Pisin and wrote its grammar, consonant clusters at the end of words drop the final consonant. Example. ailan 'island'.
Mihalic, F. (1971) The Jacaranda Dictionary and Grammar of Melanesian Pidgin. p. 8.
コメント