Epenthesis

In addition, as consonant clusters do not occur in most of the languages of the Solomon Islands, speakers will tend to insert epenthetic vowels in Pijin words in order to avoid such clusters. The choice of the vowel is directed by rules of vowel harmony.

In town, and under the influence of English, this epenthetic vowel, more typical of rural Pijin, tends to disappear from the speech of many speakers, young ones especially.