Melanesian Pidgin

Melanesian Pidgin or Neo-Melanesian language comprises four related English-derived languages of Melanesia:

• Bislama, of Vanuatu
• Solomon Islands Pidgin
• Tok Pisin, of Papua New Guinea
• Torres Strait Creole, of the Torres Strait Islands and parts of Cape York

Torres Strait Creole is the least closely related of the four, and is sometimes treated as a separate from the other three.

These languages are based on a mixture of a substrate of Eastern Oceanic languages, and substrate of German (from the era of German New Guinea) and/or English (due to "blackbirding", where Melanesians were indentured to work on plantations in Queensland, Australia). Worldwide nautical jargon/pidgins have also contributed to the languages.