Editing Tok Pisin

{{Short description|English creole spoken in Papua New Guinea}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Tok Pisin
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|tpi|tok pisin|}}{{sfn|Smith|2008}}
| states           = [[Papua New Guinea]]
| speakers         = {{sigfig|125,740|2}}
| date             = 2004–2016
| ref              = e25
| speakers2        = [[Second language|L2]] speakers: 4,000,000<ref name=e25/>
| familycolor      = Creole
| fam1             = [[English-based creole languages|English Creole]]
| fam2             = Pacific
| fam3             = [[Melanesian Pidgin (disambiguation)|Melanesian Pidgin]]
| script           = [[Latin script]] ([[Tok Pisin alphabet]])<br/>[[Pidgin Braille]]
| nation           = {{flag|Papua New Guinea}}
| iso2             = tpi
| iso3             = tpi
| lingua           = 52-ABB-cc
| notice           = IPA
| glotto           = tokp1240
| glottorefname    = Tok Pisin
| altname          = (New Guinea) Pidgin
| nativename       = {{lang|tpi|Tok Pisin}}
}}
[[File:WIKITONGUES- Priscilla speaking Tok Pisin.webm|thumb|A Tok Pisin speaker, recorded in [[Taiwan]]]]

'''Tok Pisin''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|t|ɒ|k|_|ˈ|p|ɪ|s|ɪ|n|}} {{respell|TOK|_|PISS|in}},<ref name="pronounce1">Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh</ref><ref name="pronounce2">{{Cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tok_pisin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180924145535/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/tok_pisin |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 24, 2018 |title=Tok Pisin {{!}} Definition of Tok Pisin in English by Oxford Dictionaries |website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English |access-date=2018-09-24}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|t|ɔː|k|,_|-|z|ɪ|n}} {{respell|tawk|,_-|zin}};<ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of ''Tok Pisin''|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Tok+Pisin |access-date=2022-11-16 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref> {{IPA|tpi|tok pisin|lang}}{{sfn|Smith|2008}}), often referred to by English speakers as '''New Guinea Pidgin''' or simply [[Pidgin]], is an [[English-based creole languages|English]] [[creole language]] spoken throughout [[Papua New Guinea]]. It is an official [[Languages of Papua New Guinea|language of Papua New Guinea]] and the most widely used language in the country. In parts of the southern provinces of [[Western Province (Papua New Guinea)|Western]], [[Gulf Province|Gulf]], [[Central Province (Papua New Guinea)|Central]], [[Oro Province|Oro]], and [[Milne Bay Province|Milne Bay]], the use of Tok Pisin has a shorter history and is less universal, especially among older people. 

Between five and six million people use Tok Pisin to some degree, though not all speak it fluently. Many now learn it as a first language, in particular the children of parents or grandparents who originally spoke different languages (for example, a mother from [[Madang]] and a father from [[Rabaul]]). Urban families in particular, and those of [[Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary|police]] and [[Papua New Guinea Defence Force|defence force]] members, often communicate among themselves in Tok Pisin, either never gaining fluency in a local language ({{lang|tpi|tok ples}}) or learning a local language as a second (or third) language after Tok Pisin (and possibly [[English language|English]]). Over the decades, Tok Pisin has increasingly overtaken [[Hiri Motu]] as the dominant [[lingua franca]] among town-dwellers.{{sfn|Mühlhäusler|Dutton|Romaine|2003|pp=1-5}} Perhaps one million people now use Tok Pisin as a primary language. Tok Pisin is slowly "crowding out" other [[languages of Papua New Guinea]].<ref>{{cite news |author1=A.V. |title=Papua New Guinea's incredible linguistic diversity |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2017/07/economist-explains-14 |access-date=20 July 2017 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |date=24 July 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Mühlhäusler|Dutton|Romaine|2003|pp=1-5}}

==Name==
[[File:F. Mihatlic SVD The Jacaranda Dictionary and Grammar of Melanesian Pidgin.jpg|right|thumb|upright|A 1971 reference book on Tok Pisin (referring to the language as ''Melanesian Pidgin'')]]
[[File:Tok-Pisin New-Guinea-Pidgin Pidgin-English Melanesian-Pidgin Papua-New-Guinea-Hotel-Room-Door-Sign (DSC 3096).jpg|thumb|Hotel room door signs in Papua New Guinea]]
{{lang|tpi|Tok}} originates from English ''talk'', but has a wider application, also meaning 'word, speech, language'. {{lang|tpi|Pisin}} derives from the English word ''[[pidgin]]''; the latter, in turn, may originate in the word ''business'', which is descriptive of the typical development and use of pidgins as inter-ethnic trade languages.

While Tok Pisin's name in the language is {{lang|tpi|Tok Pisin}}, it is also called "New Guinea Pidgin"{{sfn|Nupela Testamen bilong Bikpela Jisas Kraist|1969}} in English. Papua New Guinean [[English language|anglophones]] often call Tok Pisin "Pidgin" when speaking English.{{notetag|The published court reports of Papua New Guinea refer to Tok Pisin as "Pidgin": see for example ''Schubert v The State'' [1979] PNGLR 66.}} This usage of "Pidgin" differs from the term ''[[pidgin]] (language)'' as used in linguistics. ''Tok Pisin'' is not a pidgin in the latter sense, since it has become a first language for many people (rather than simply a ''[[lingua franca]]'' to facilitate communication with speakers of other languages). As such, it is considered a [[Creole language|creole]] in linguistic terminology.{{notetag|See the [http://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/tokp1240 ''Glottolog'' entry for Tok Pisin] (itself evidence that the linguistic community considers it a language in its own right, and prefers to name it ''Tok Pisin''), as well as numerous references therein.}}

==Classification==
The Tok Pisin language is a result of Pacific Islanders intermixing, when people speaking numerous different languages were sent to work on plantations in Queensland and various islands (see [[South Sea Islander]] and [[blackbirding]]). The labourers began to develop a pidgin, drawing vocabulary primarily from English, but also from [[German language|German]], [[Malay language|Malay]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], and their own [[Austronesian languages]] (perhaps especially [[Kuanua language|Kuanua]], that of the [[Tolai people|Tolai]] people of [[East New Britain]]).

This English-based pidgin evolved into Tok Pisin in [[German New Guinea]] (where the German-based creole [[Unserdeutsch language|Unserdeutsch]] was also spoken). It became a widely used lingua franca and language of interaction between rulers and ruled, and among the ruled themselves who did not share a common vernacular. Tok Pisin and the closely related [[Bislama]] in [[Vanuatu]] and [[Pijin]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], which developed in parallel, have traditionally been treated as varieties of a single Melanesian Pidgin English or "Neo-Melanesian" language. The flourishing of the mainly English-based Tok Pisin in German New Guinea (despite the language of the metropolitan power being German) contrasts with [[Hiri Motu]], the lingua franca of [[Territory of Papua|Papua]], which was derived not from English but from [[Motu language|Motu]], the vernacular of the indigenous people of the [[Port Moresby]] area.

==Official status==
Along with [[English language|English]] and [[Hiri Motu]], Tok Pisin is one of Papua New Guinea's three official languages. It is frequently the language of debate in the [[National Parliament of Papua New Guinea|national parliament]]. Most government documents are produced in English, but public information campaigns are often partially or entirely in Tok Pisin. While English is the main language in the education system, some schools use Tok Pisin in the first three years of elementary education to promote early literacy.

==Regional variations==
There are considerable variations in vocabulary and grammar in various parts of Papua New Guinea, with distinct dialects in the [[New Guinea Highlands]], the north coast of Papua New Guinea, and islands outside of New Guinea. For example, Pidgin speakers from [[Finschhafen]] speak rather quickly and often have difficulty making themselves understood elsewhere. The variant spoken on [[Bougainville Island|Bougainville]] and [[Buka, Papua New Guinea|Buka]] is moderately distinct from that of [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] and [[East New Britain]] but is much closer to that than it is to the [[Pijin]] spoken in the rest of the Solomon Islands. 

There are 4 [[Sociolect|sociolects]] of Tok Pisin:
# {{lang|tpi|Tok Bus}} (meaning "talk of the remote areas") or {{lang|tpi|Tok Kanaka}} (meaning "talk of the people of the remote areas")
# {{lang|tpi|Tok Bilong Asples}} (meaning "language of the villages"), the traditional rural Tok Pisin
# {{lang|tpi|Tok Skul}} (meaning "talk of the schools") or {{lang|tpi|Tok Bilong Taun}} (meaning "talk of the Towns"), the urban Tok Pisin
# {{lang|tpi|Tok Masta}} (meaning "language of the colonizers", unsystematically simplified English with some Tok Pisin words<ref name="Lee">{{cite book |last1=Mühlhäusler |first1=Peter |last2=Monaghan |first2=Paul |title=Pidgin phrasebook |date=1999 |publisher=Lonely Planet Publications |location=Hawthorn, Vic., Australia |isbn=0864425872 |page=99 |edition=2nd |language=en}}</ref>{{sfn|Mühlhäusler|Dutton|Romaine|2003|pp=1-5}}

==Alphabet==
Tok Pisin's alphabet has 21 [[Letter (alphabet)|letters]], five of which are [[vowel]]s, and four [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]]s.{{sfn|Mundhenk|1990|page=372}} The letters are (vowels in bold):
:'''a''', b, d, '''e''', f, g, h, '''i''', k, l, m, n, '''o''', p, r, s, t, '''u''', v, w, y

Three of the digraphs ({{angbr|ai}}, {{angbr|au}}, and {{angbr|oi}}) denote [[diphthong]]s, while the fourth, {{angbr|ng}}, is used for both {{IPA|/ŋ/}} and {{IPA|/ŋɡ/}}.

==Phonology==
Tok Pisin has a smaller number of [[phoneme|phonemes]] than its [[lexifier]] language, [[English_phonology#Phonemes|English]].{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=195}} It has around 24 core phonemes:{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=195}} 5 [[vowel]]s and around 19 [[consonant]]s. This varies with the local [[Substrata (linguistics)|substrate]] languages and the speaker's level of education. More educated speakers, and/or those where the substrate language(s) have larger phoneme inventories, may have as many as 10 distinct vowels.

Nasal plus plosive offsets lose the plosive element in Tok Pisin; e.g., English ''hand'' becomes Tok Pisin {{lang|tpi|han}}. Furthermore, [[Final devoicing|voiced plosives become voiceless at the ends of words]], so that English ''pig'' is rendered as {{lang|tpi|pik}} in Tok Pisin.

===Consonants===

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Consonant phonemes{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=195}}
! colspan="2"|
! [[labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2"|[[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPAlink|m}}
| {{IPAlink|n}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ŋ}}
|
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive]]
! <small>[[voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|p}}
| {{IPAlink|t}}
|
| {{IPAlink|k}}
|
|-
! <small>[[voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|b}}
| {{IPAlink|d}}
|
| {{IPAlink|ɡ}}
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Affricate]]
|
|
|{{IPAlink|dʒ}}
|
|
|-
! rowspan="2"|[[Fricative]]
! <small>[[voiceless]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|f}}
| {{IPAlink|s}}
|
|
|{{IPAlink|h}}
|-
! <small>[[voiced]]</small>
| {{IPAlink|v}}
| 
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
| {{IPAlink|w}}
| {{IPAlink|l}}
|{{IPAlink|j}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPAlink|r}}
|
|
|
|}

*Voiced plosives are pronounced by many speakers (especially of [[Melanesian languages|Melanesian]] backgrounds) as [[Prenasalized consonant|prenasalized plosives]].
*{{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/d/}}, and {{IPA|/l/}} can be either dental or alveolar consonants, while {{IPA|/n/}} is only alveolar.
*In most Tok Pisin dialects, the phoneme {{IPA|/r/}} is pronounced as the [[alveolar tap|alveolar tap or flap]], {{IPA|[ɾ]}}. There can be variation between {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/l/}}.{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=200}}
*The labiodental fricatives {{IPA|/f v/}} may be marginal, with contrastive use present only in heavily Anglicized varieties.{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=195}} The use of {{IPA|/f/}} vs. {{IPA|/p/}} is variable.{{sfn|Smith|2008|pages=199-200}} There is also variation between {{IPA|/f/}} and {{IPA|/v/}} in some words, such as {{lang|tpi|faif}}/{{lang|tpi|faiv}} 'five'.{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=196}}
*Likewise, there may be marginal use of {{IPA|/ʃ ʒ/}}.{{sfn|Smith|2008|page=195}}

===Vowels===
Tok Pisin has five [[monophthong|pure vowels]]:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Vowel phonemes
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPAlink|i}}
| {{IPAlink|u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPAlink|e}}
| {{IPAlink|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="2" |{{IPAlink|a}}
|}

==Grammar==
The [[verb]] has a suffix, {{lang|tpi|-im}} (< Eng. ''him'') to indicate [[Transitive verb|transitivity]] ({{lang|tpi|luk}}, "look"; {{lang|tpi|lukim}}, "see"). But some verbs, such as {{lang|tpi|kaikai}} "eat", can be transitive without it. Tense is indicated by the separate words {{lang|tpi|bai}} (future) (< Eng. ''by and by'') and {{lang|tpi|bin}} (past) (< Eng. ''been''). The present progressive tense is indicated by the word {{lang|tpi|stap}}; e.g., {{lang|tpi|Hem kaikai stap}} "He is eating".

The [[noun]] does not indicate number, though pronouns do.

[[Adjective]]s usually take the suffix {{lang|tpi|-pela}} (now often pronounced {{lang|tpi|-pla}}, though more so for pronouns, and {{lang|tpi|-pela}} for adjectives; from "fellow") when modifying nouns; an exception is {{lang|tpi|liklik}} "little".{{notetag|{{lang|tpi|Liklik}} can also be used as an [[adverb]] meaning "slightly", as in {{lang|tpi|dispela bikpela liklik ston}}, "this slightly big stone".}} It is also found on numerals and determiners:
:Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|wanpela}} → Eng. "one"
:Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|tupela}} → Eng. "two"
:Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|dispela boi}} → Eng. "this bloke"

[[Pronoun]]s show [[Grammatical person|person]], [[Grammatical number|number]], and [[clusivity]]. The paradigm varies depending on the local languages; [[Dual grammatical number|dual number]] is common, while the [[Trial (grammatical number)|trial]] is less so. The largest Tok Pisin pronoun inventory is:{{sfn|Verhaar|1995|p=354}}

{| class="wikitable"
! !! Singular !! Dual !! Trial !! Plural
|- align="center"
! 1st exclusive
| {{lang|tpi|mi}}<br/>(I)<br/>< Eng. ''me'' || {{lang|tpi|mitupela}}<br/>(he/she and I)<br/>< Eng. *''me two fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|mitripela}}<br/>(both of them, and I)<br/>Eng. *''me three fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|mipela}}<br/>(all of them, and I)<br/>Eng. *''me fellow''
|- align="center"
! 1st inclusive
|&nbsp;– || {{lang|tpi|yumitupela}}<br/>(you and I)<br/>< Eng. *''you me two fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|yumitripela}}<br/>(both of you, and I)<br/>< Eng. *''you me three fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|yumipela or yumi}}<br/>(all of you, and I)<br/>< Eng. *''you me fellow'' or *''you me''
|- align="center"
! 2nd
| {{lang|tpi|yu}}<br/>(thou)<br/>< Eng. ''you'' || {{lang|tpi|yutupela}}<br/>(you two)<br/>< Eng. *''you two fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|yutripela}}<br/>(you three)<br/>< Eng. *''you three fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|yupela}}<br/>(you four or more)<br/>< Eng. *''you fellow''
|- align="center"
! 3rd
| {{lang|tpi|em}}<br/>(he/she/it)<br/>< Eng. ''him'' || {{lang|tpi|tupela}}<br/>(they two)<br/>< Eng. *''two fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|tripela}}<br/>(they three)<br/>< Eng. *''three fellow'' || {{lang|tpi|ol}}<br/>(they four or more)<br/>< Eng. ''all''
|}

[[Reduplication]] is very common in Tok Pisin. Sometimes it is used as a method of derivation; sometimes words just have it. Some words are distinguished only by reduplication: {{lang|tpi|sip}} "ship", {{lang|tpi|sipsip}} "sheep".

There are only two proper [[preposition]]s: 
* the [[Genitive case|genitive]] preposition {{lang|tpi|bilong}} (etym. < Eng. ''belong''), which is equivalent to "of", "from" and some uses of "for": e.g. {{lang|tpi|Ki bilong yu}} "your key"; {{lang|tpi|Ol bilong Godons}} "They are from Gordon's".
* the [[Oblique case|oblique]] preposition {{lang|tpi|long}} (etym. < Eng. ''along''), which is used for various other relations (such as [[Locative case|locative]] or [[Dative case|dative]]): e.g. {{lang|tpi|Mipela i bin go long blekmaket}}. "We went to the black market".

Some [[phrase]]s are used as prepositions, such as '{{lang|tpi|long namel (bilong)'}}, "in the middle of".

Several of these features derive from the common grammatical norms of [[Austronesian languages]],{{notetag|The language [[Tolai language|Tolai]] is {{citation needed span|often named|date=February 2018}} as having had an important influence on early Tok Pisin.}} usually in a simplified form. Other features, such as [[word order]], are closer to English.

Sentences with a 3rd-person subject often put the word {{lang|tpi|i}} immediately before the verb. This may or may not be written separate from the verb, occasionally written as a prefix. Although the word is thought to be derived from "he" or "is", it is not itself a pronoun or a verb but a grammatical marker used in particular constructions, e.g., {{lang|tpi|Kar i tambu long hia}} is "car forbidden here", i.e., "no parking".

===Tense and aspect===
Past tense: marked by {{lang|tpi|bin}} (< Eng. ''been''):
: Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|Na praim minista i '''bin''' tok olsem.}}
: English: "And the prime minister spoke thus."{{sfn|Romaine|1991|p=629}}

Continuative same tense is expressed through: verb + {{lang|tpi|i stap}}.
: Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|Em i slip '''i stap'''}}.
: English: "He/She is sleeping."{{sfn|Romaine|1991|p=631}}

Completive or perfective aspect expressed through the word {{lang|tpi|pinis}} (< Eng. ''finish''):
: Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|Em i lusim bot '''pinis'''.}}
: English: "He had got out of the boat."<ref>{{citation|title=Tok Pisin and its relevance to theoretical issues in creolistics and general linguistics| last= Mühlhäusler | first = Peter | date = 1984}} in {{harvnb|Wurm|Mühlhäusler|1985|p=462}}.</ref>

Transitive words are expressed through {{lang|tpi|-im}} (< Eng. ''him''):
: Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi|Yu pinis'''im''' stori nau.}}
: English: "Finish your story now!"<ref>{{citation|title=The scientific study of Tok Pisin: language planning and the Tok Pisin lexicon|last =Mühlhäusler | first = Peter | date = 1984}} in {{harvnb|Wurm|Mühlhäusler|1985|p=640}}.</ref>

Future is expressed through the word "{{lang|tpi|bai}}" (< Eng. ''by and by''):
: Tok Pisin: {{lang|tpi| Nil nabaut {{strong|bai}} i ros.}}
: English: "If you take just any nails that happen to be around, those will rust."{{sfn|Verhaar|1995|p=315}}

==Development of Tok Pisin==
Tok Pisin developed out of regional dialects of the local inhabitants' languages and English, brought into the country when English speakers arrived. Four phases in Tok Pisin's development were laid out by Loreto Todd.
# Casual contact between English speakers and local people developed a marginal pidgin.
# Pidgin English was used between the local people. The language expanded from the users' mother tongue.
# As the interracial contact increased, the vocabulary expanded according to the dominant language.
# In areas where English was the official language, a depidginization occurred (Todd, 1990).

Tok Pisin is also known as a "mixed" language. This means that it consists of characteristics of different languages. Tok Pisin obtained most of its vocabulary from English (i.e., English is its [[lexifier]]). The origin of the syntax is a matter of debate. Edward Wolfers claimed that the syntax is from the substratum languages—the languages of the local peoples.{{sfn|Wolfers|1971|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=wG08AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA413 413]}} [[Derek Bickerton]]'s analysis of creoles, on the other hand, claims that the syntax of creoles is imposed on the grammarless pidgin by its first native speakers: the children who grow up exposed to only a pidgin rather than a more developed language such as one of the local languages or English. In this analysis, the original syntax of creoles is in some sense the default grammar humans are born with.

Pidgins are less elaborated than non-Pidgin languages. Their typical characteristics found in Tok Pisin are:

#A smaller vocabulary which leads to metaphors to supply lexical units:
#*Smaller vocabulary:
#*:{{lang|tpi|vot}} = "election" (n) and "vote" (v)
#*:{{lang|tpi|hevi}} = "heavy" (adj) and "weight" (n)
#*[[Metaphor]]s:
#*:{{lang|tpi|skru bilong han}} (screw of the arm) = "[[elbow]]"
#*:{{lang|tpi|skru bilong lek}} (screw of the leg) = "[[knee]]" (Just {{lang|tpi|skru}} almost always indicates the knee. In liturgical contexts, {{lang|tpi|brukim skru}} is "kneel.")
#*:{{lang|tpi|gras bilong het}} (grass of the head) = "hair" (Hall, 1966: 90f) (Most commonly just {{lang|tpi|gras}}—see note on {{lang|tpi|skru bilong lek}} above.)
#*[[Circumlocution]]:
#*:{{lang|tpi|nambawan pikinini bilong misis kwin}} (literally "first child of [[Elizabeth II|Mrs Queen]]") = [[King Charles III]], then known through his relation to the Queen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9654071/Prince-of-Wales-nambawan-pikinini-visits-Papua-New-Guinea.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/9654071/Prince-of-Wales-nambawan-pikinini-visits-Papua-New-Guinea.html |archive-date=2022-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Prince of Wales, 'nambawan pikinini', visits Papua New Guinea|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]]|date=4 November 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
#A reduced grammar: lack of [[copula (linguistics)|copula]], [[determiner (linguistics)|determiners]]; reduced set of [[prepositions]], and [[grammatical conjunction|conjunctions]]
#Less differentiated phonology: {{IPA|[p]}} and {{IPA|[f]}} are not distinguished in Tok Pisin (they are in free variation). The [[Sibilant consonant|sibilants]] {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, {{IPA|/ʒ/}}, {{IPA|/tʃ/}}, and {{IPA|/dʒ/}} are also not distinguished.
#:All of the English words ''fish'', ''peach'', ''feast'', ''piss'', and ''peace'' would have been realised in Tok Pisin as {{lang|tpi|pis}}. In fact, the Tok Pisin {{lang|tpi|pis}} means "fish" (and usually has a sound closer to [{{IPA-link|ɪ}}], almost like the English word ''piss''). English ''piss'' was reduplicated to keep it distinct: thus {{lang|tpi|pispis}} means "urine" or "to urinate".
#:Likewise, {{lang|tpi|sip}} in Tok Pisin could have represented English ''ship'', ''jib'', ''jeep'', ''sieve'', ''sheep'', or ''chief''. In fact, it means "ship".

=== Circumlocution ===
The use of circumlocutions to compensate for limited vocabulary is a familiar process in pidgin languages. Tok Pisin is no different: consider ''[[wikt:bel_i_no_laikim_kaikai|bel i no laikim kaikai]]'' "food intolerance" (literally "the belly does not like the food").  

However, Tok Pisin has become especially known for its supposed use of very lengthy [[Circumlocution|circumlocutions]]. Two commonly-cited examples relate to the [[piano]] and the [[helicopter]]. 

The following Tok Pisin "names" for the piano were recorded by early 20th-century writers:<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Mühlhäusler |first=Peter |title=Growth and structure of the lexicon of New Guinea Pidgin |publisher=[[Australian National University]] |year=1979 |isbn=0858831910 |location=Canberra}}</ref>{{Rp|pages=227-8}}

* ''big fellow box spose whiteman fight him he cry too much'' (1902)
* ''box belong cry'' ("screaming box") (1902)
* ''big fellow bokkes, suppose missis he fight him, he cry too much'' (1911)
* ''bigfela bokis yu fait-im i krai'' (1921)
* ''bikpela bokis bilong krai taim yu paitim na kikim em'' (1969)

Linguists observe that these circumlocutions are unstable ''ad hoc'' descriptions of an object, rather than set "words" or names. The situation is comparable to a Tok Pisin-English dictionary's definition of a Tok Pisin word with no English equivalent, such as ''milis'' being defined as "coconut milk made from shedding coconut meat in the water of a ripe nut"; nobody would suggest that this lengthy expression is the "English name" for this drink.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=225}}

Secondly, it is often claimed that ''mixmaster bilong [[Jesus Christ]]'' is the Tok Pisin word for "helicopter" (the [[Sunbeam Products|Sunbeam]] Mixmaster was an electric [[food processor]] popular in the United States and Australia). This [[Urban legend|factoid]] appeared as early as 1965<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Thomas |first=Lowell |author-link=Lowell Thomas |title=Adventures with the New Guinea Head-hunters |publisher=Doubleday |year=1965 |pages=291-2}}</ref> and still circulates online today. However, the phrase appears to be a fabrication by [[Expatriate|expatriates]] working in New Guinea.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=231}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mann |first=Milton |title=New Guinea |date=1972 |publisher=Kodansha International |isbn=978-0-87011-166-2 |editor-last= |editor-first= |edition= |series=This beautiful world |location=Tokyo |pages=11 |editor-last2= |editor-first2=}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Laycock |first=Donald C. |date=1970 |title=It was a peculiarly great year for pidgin |journal=Pacific Islands Monthly |volume=41 |issue=1 |pages=45-8}}</ref> Linguists point out that helicopters, introduced to New Guinea by oil search teams,<ref name=":1" /> would have been far more familiar to early Tok Pisin speakers than electric food processors.<ref name=":2" />

==Vocabulary==<!-- This section is linked from [[List of British words not widely used in the United States]] -->
Many words in the Tok Pisin language are derived from [[English language|English]] (with [[Australian English|Australian]] influences), indigenous [[Melanesia]]n languages, and [[German language|German]] (part of the country was under German rule until 1919). Some examples:
*{{lang|tpi|as}} = "bottom", "cause", "beginning" (from ''ass''/''arse''). {{lang|tpi|As ples bilong em}} = "his birthplace". {{lang|tpi|As bilong diwai}} = "the stump of a tree".
*{{lang|tpi|bagarap(im)}} = "broken", "to break down" (from ''bugger up''). The word is commonly used, with no vulgar undertone, in Tok Pisin and even in Papua New Guinea English.
**{{lang|tpi|bagarap olgeta}} = "completely broken"
*{{lang|tpi|balus}} = "bird" or more specifically a pigeon or dove (an Austronesian loan word); by extension "aeroplane"
*{{lang|tpi|belhat}} = "angry" ({{lit|belly hot}})
*{{lang|tpi|belo}} = "bell", as in {{lang|tpi|belo bilong lotu}} = "church bell". By extension "lunch" or "midday break" (from the bell rung to summon diners to the table). A fanciful derivation has been suggested from the "bellows" of horns used by businesses to indicate the beginning of the lunch hour, but this seems less likely than the straightforward derivation.
*{{lang|tpi|bensin}} = "petrol/gasoline" (from German {{lang|de|Benzin}})
*{{lang|tpi|bilong wanem?}} = "why?"
*{{lang|tpi|braun}} = "brown"
*{{lang|tpi|buai}} = "betelnut"
*{{lang|tpi|bubu}} = "grandparent", any elderly relation; also "grandchild". Possibly from [[Hiri Motu]], where it is a familiar form of "tubu", as in "tubuna" or "tubugu".
*{{lang|tpi|diwai}} = "tree", "wood", "plant", "stick", etc.
*{{lang|tpi|gat bel}} = "pregnant" ({{lit|has belly}}; {{lang|tpi|pasin bilong givim bel}} = "fertility")
*{{lang|tpi|gras}} = "hair" (from ''grass'')
*{{lang|tpi|gude}} = "hello" (from ''[[:en:wikt:g'day|g'day]]'')
*{{lang|tpi|gut}} = "good"
*{{lang|tpi|(h)amamas}} = "happy"
*{{lang|tpi|hap}} = a piece of, as in {{lang|tpi|hap diwai}} = a piece of wood (from ''half'')
**{{lang|tpi|hapsait}} = "the other side" (from ''half side'')
**{{lang|tpi|hap ret}} = "purple" (from ''half red'')
*{{lang|tpi|haus}} = "house" or "building" (from German {{lang|de|Haus}} and/or English ''house'')
**{{lang|tpi|hausboi/hausmeri}} = "a male/female domestic servant"; {{lang|tpi|haus boi}} can also mean "servants quarters"
**{{lang|tpi|haus kaikai}} = restaurant ("house [of] food")
**{{lang|tpi|haus moni}} = "bank" ("house [of] money")
**{{lang|tpi|haus sik}} = "hospital" ("house [of] sick")
**{{lang|tpi|haus dok sik}} = "animal hospital" ("house [of] dog sick")
**{{lang|tpi|haus karai}} = "place of mourning" ("house [of] cry")
**{{lang|tpi|sit haus}} (vulgar) = "toilet" ("shit house"), also:
***{{lang|tpi|liklik haus}} = "toilet"
***{{lang|tpi|smol haus}} = "toilet/bathroom" ("small house")
**{{lang|tpi|[[Haus Tambaran|haus tambaran]]}} = "traditional Sepik-region house with artifacts of ancestors or for honoring ancestors; {{lang|tpi|tambaran}} means "ancestor spirit" or "ghost"
*{{lang|tpi|hevi}} = "heavy", "problem". {{lang|tpi|Em i gat bigpela hevi}} = "he has a big problem".
*{{lang|tpi|hukim pis}} = "catch fish" (from ''hook'')
*{{lang|tpi|kaikai}} = "food", "eat", "to bite" (Austronesian loan word)
**{{lang|tpi|kaikai bilong moningtaim}} = "breakfast"
**{{lang|tpi|kaikai bilong nait}} = "dinner/supper"
*{{lang|tpi|kakaruk}} = "chicken" (probably onomatapoetic, from the crowing of the rooster)
*{{lang|tpi|kamap}} = "arrive", "become" (from ''come up'')
*{{lang|tpi|kisim}} = "get", "take" (from ''get them'')
*{{lang|tpi|lotu}} = "church", "worship" from Fijian, but sometimes {{lang|tpi|sios}} is used for "church"
*{{lang|tpi|magani}} = "wallaby"
**{{lang|tpi|bikpela magani}} = "kangaroo" ("big wallaby")
*{{lang|tpi|mangi/manki}} = "small boy"; by extension, "young man" (probably from the English jocular/affectionate usage ''monkey'', applied to mischievous children, although a derivation from the German {{lang|de|Männchen}}, meaning "little man", has also been suggested)
*{{lang|tpi|manmeri}} = "people" (from {{lang|tpi|man}} "man" and {{lang|tpi|meri}} "woman")
*{{lang|tpi|maski}} = "it doesn't matter", "don't worry about it" (probably from German {{lang|de|macht nichts}} = "it doesn't matter")
*{{lang|tpi|maus gras}} = "moustache" ("mouth grass")
*{{lang|tpi|meri}} = "woman" (from the English name ''Mary''); also "female", e.g., {{lang|tpi|bulmakau meri}} ({{lit|bull-cow female}}) = cow.
*{{lang|tpi|olgeta}} = "all" (from ''all together'')
*{{lang|tpi|olsem wanem}} = "what?", "what's going on?" (literally "like what"?); sometimes used as an informal greeting, similar to ''what's up?'' in English
*{{lang|tpi|[[palopa]]}} - homosexual man, or transsexual woman
*{{lang|tpi|pisin}} = "bird" (from ''pigeon''). (The homophony of this word with the name of the language has led to a limited association between the two; [[Mian language|Mian]] speakers, for example, refer to Tok Pisin as {{lang|mpt|wan weng}}, literally "bird language".)
*{{lang|tpi|pasim}} = "close", "lock" (from ''fasten'')
**{{lang|tpi|pasim maus}} = "shut up", "be quiet", i.e. {{lang|tpi|yu pasim maus}}, literally "you close mouth" = "shut up!"
*{{lang|tpi|paul}} = "wrong", "confused", i.e. {{lang|tpi|em i paul}} = "he is confused" (from English ''foul'')
*{{lang|tpi|pikinini}} = "child", ultimately from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]-influenced [[Lingua franca#Historical sense|Lingua franca]]; cf. English ''[[pickaninny]]''
*{{lang|tpi|raskol}} = "thief, criminal" (from ''rascal'')
*{{lang|tpi|raus, rausim}} ({{lang|tpi|rausim}} is the transitive form) = "get out, throw out, remove" (from German {{lang|de|raus}} meaning "out")
*{{lang|tpi|rokrok}} = "frog" (probably onomatopoeic)
*{{lang|tpi|sapos}} = "if" (from ''suppose'')
*{{lang|tpi|save}} = "know", "to do habitually" (ultimately from [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]-influenced [[Lingua franca#Historical sense|Lingua franca]], cf. English ''savvy'')
*{{lang|tpi|sit}} = "remnant" (from ''shit'')
*{{lang|tpi|solwara}} = "ocean" (from ''salt water'')
*{{lang|tpi|sop}} = "soap"; also
**{{lang|tpi|sop bilong tut}} = "toothpaste"
**{{lang|tpi|sop bilong gras}} = "shampoo"
*{{lang|tpi|stap}} = "stay", "be (somewhere)", "live" (from ''stop'')
*{{lang|tpi|susa}} = "sister", nowadays very commonly supplanted by {{lang|tpi|sista}}. Some Tok Pisin speakers use {{lang|tpi|susa}} for a sibling of the opposite gender, while a sibling of the same gender as the speaker is a {{lang|tpi|b(a)rata}}.
*{{lang|tpi|susu}} = "milk, breasts" (from Malay {{lang|ms|[[:wikt:susu#Malay|susu]]}})
*{{lang|tpi|tambu}} = "forbidden", but also "in-laws" (mother-in-law, brother-in-law, etc.) and other relatives whom one is forbidden to speak to, or mention the name of, in some PNG customs (from ''tabu'' or ''tambu'' in [[Taboo#Etymology|various Austronesian languages]], the origin of Eng. ''taboo'')
*{{lang|tpi|tasol}} = "only, just"; "but" (from ''that's all'')
*{{lang|tpi|Tok Inglis}} = "English language"
*{{lang|tpi|wanpela}} = "one", "a" ([[indefinite article]]).

==Example text==
Article 1 of the ''[[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]'' in Tok Pisin:
:{{lang|tpi|Yumi olgeta mama karim umi long stap fri na wankain long wei yumi lukim i gutpela na strepela tru. Yumi olgeta igat ting ting bilong wanem samting i rait na rong na mipela olgeta i mas mekim gutpela pasin long ol narapela long tingting bilong brata susa.}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Language.aspx?LangID=pdg|title=TOKSAVE LONG OL RAITS BILONG OL MANMERI LONG OLGETA HAP BILONG DISPELA GIRAUN AS BILONG TOKTOK|website=ohchr.org}}</ref>

Article 1 of the ''Universal Declaration of Human Rights'' in English:
:''All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights|title=Universal Declaration of Human Rights|newspaper=United Nations}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{NoteFoot}}

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book
 |last1 = Dutton |first1 = Thomas Edward
 |last2 = Thomas |first2 = Dicks
 |title = A New Course in Tok Pisin (New Guinea Pidgin)
 |publisher = [[Australian National University]]
 |location = [[Canberra]]
 |year = 1985
 |isbn = 978-0-85883-341-8
 |oclc = 15812820}}
*{{cite book
 |last = Mihalic |first = Francis
 |title = The Jacaranda Dictionary and Grammar of Melanesian Pidgin
 |publisher = Jacaranda Press
 |location = [[Milton, Queensland]]
 |year = 1971
 |isbn = 978-0-7016-8112-8
 |oclc = 213236}}
*{{cite book
 |first1 = Peter |last1 = Mühlhäusler
 |first2 = Thomas Edward |last2 = Dutton
 |first3 = Suzanne |last3 = Romaine
 |title = Tok Pisin Texts from the Beginning to the Present
 |series = Varieties of English Around the World
 |location = Philadelphia, PA
 |publisher = John Benjamins
 |year = 2003
 |doi = 10.1075/veaw.t9
 |isbn = 978-90-272-4718-6}}
*{{cite conference <!-- Citation bot no -->
 |last = Mundhenk |first = Norm
 |chapter = Linguistic decisions in the Tok Pisin Bible
 |series = Studies in Language Companion Series
 |volume = 20
 |page = 345
 |year = 1990
 |title = Melanesian Pidgin and Tok Pisin
 |conference = Melanesian Pidgin and Tok Pisin: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Pidgins and Creoles in Melanesia
 |doi = 10.1075/slcs.20.16mun
 |isbn = 978-90-272-3023-2}}
*{{cite book
 |last = Murphy |first = John Joseph
 |title = The Book of Pidgin English
 |edition = 6th
 |publisher = Robert Brown
 |location = [[Bathurst, New South Wales]]
 |year = 1985
 |isbn = 978-0-404-14160-8
 |oclc = 5354671}}
*{{cite book
 |ref = {{sfnref|Nupela Testamen bilong Bikpela Jisas Kraist|1969}}
 |title = Nupela Testamen bilong Bikpela Jisas Kraist
 |publisher = The Bible Society of Papua New Guinea
 |language = tpi
 |year = 1980
 |isbn = 978-0-647-03671-6
 |oclc = 12329661}}
*{{ Cite book
 | last = Romaine | first = Suzanne
 | chapter= The Pacific
 | editor-last = Cheshire | editor-first= Jenny 
 | title = English Around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives
 | place =Cambridge
 | publisher =Cambridge University Press
 | pages = 619–636
 | doi = 10.1017/CBO9780511611889.042
 | year = 1991| isbn = 978-0-521-39565-6
 }}
*{{cite book
 |last = Smith |first = Geoff P.
 |title = Growing Up With Tok Pisin: Contact, Creolization, and Change in Papua New Guinea's National Language
 |publisher = Battlebridge Publications
 |location = London
 |year = 2002
 |isbn = 978-1-903292-06-8
 |oclc = 49834526}}
*{{cite book
 |last = Smith |first = Geoff P.
 |chapter = Tok Pisin in Papua New Guinea: phonology
 |title = Varieties of English 3: The Pacific and Australasia
 |editor-last1 = Burridge |editor-first1 = Kate
 |editor-last2 = Kortmann |editor-first2 = Bernd
 |publisher = Mouton de Gruyter
 |location = Berlin, Germany
 |pages = 188–209
 |year = 2008
 |isbn = 978-3-11-019637-5}}
*{{cite book
 |last=Verhaar |first=John W.M.
 |date=1995
 |title=Toward a Reference Grammar of Tok Pisin: An Experiment in Corpus Linguistics
 |journal=Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications
 |series=Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications, no. 26
 |publisher=[[University of Hawaiʻi]] Press
 |location=Honolulu
 |jstor=20006762 
 |isbn=9780824816728}}
*{{cite book
 |last = Volker |first = C.A.
 |year = 2008
 |title = Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin English Dictionary
 |location = South Melbourne
 |publisher = Oxford University Press
 |isbn = 978-0-19-555112-9}}
*{{cite conference| chapter= A report on Neo-Melanesian|title = Pidginization and Creolization of Languages | date= 1971 | pages=413–422 | conference= Proceedings of a conference held at the University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica, April 1968 | publisher= Cambridge University Press| last= Wolfers| first= Edward| editor= Dell H. Hymes| editor-link= Dell Hymes | isbn = 9780521078337}}
*{{cite book
 |editor-last1 = Wurm |editor-first1 = S. A.
 |editor-last2 = Mühlhäusler |editor-first2 = P.
 |title = Handbook of Tok Pisin (New Guinea Pidgin)
 | place = Australian National University 
 |publisher = [[Pacific Linguistics]]
 |series = Languages For Intercultural Communication In The Pacific Area Project of The Australian Academy of The Humanities, no. 1
 |year = 1985
 | hdl = 1885/145234 | hdl-access= free 
 |isbn = 978-0-85883-321-0
 |oclc = 12883165}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
*''[[Throwim Way Leg]]'' by [[Tim Flannery]]

==External links==
{{Wikibooks}}
{{interwiki|code=tpi}}
*[http://www.tok-pisin.com/ Tok Pisin Translation, Resources, and Discussion] Offers Tok Pisin translator, vocabulary, and discussion groups.
*[https://www.tokpisin.info Tok Pisin (New Guinea Pidgin) English Bilingual Dictionary]
*[[voy:Tok Pisin phrasebook|Tok Pisin phrasebook]] on [[voy:Main Page|Wikivoyage]]
*[http://THSlone.tripod.com/MPEB.html#tokpisin A bibliography of Tok Pisin dictionaries, phrase books and study guides]
*[http://www.mihalicdictionary.org/ Revising the Mihalic Project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160905125639/http://www.mihalicdictionary.org/ |date=2016-09-05}}, a collaborative internet project to revise and update Fr. Frank Mihalic's ''Grammar and Dictionary of Neo-Melanesian''. An illustrated online dictionary of Tok Pisin.
*[http://hawaii.edu/satocenter/langnet/definitions/tokpisin.html Tok Pisin background, vocabulary, sounds, and grammar], by Jeff Siegel
*[https://www.abc.net.au/news/tok-pisin Radio Australia Tok Pisin service]
*[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCau_6QfTRE_VFd0lZVgjZmA Tok Pisin Radio on Youtube]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120126125709/http://www.bible.is/toc?version=TPIPNG&language=Tok+Pisin Buk Baibel long Tok Pisin (The Bible in Tok Pisin)]
*[http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp/PNG/tok_pisin_hc.html Eukarist] Anglican liturgy of Holy Communion in Tok Pisin
*[http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED401761.pdf ''Tokpisin Grammar Workbook for English Speakers. A Practical Approach to Learning the Sentence Structure of Melanesian Pidgin (or Tokpisin).'']
*[http://roberteklund.info/PNG-TokPisin.htm Robert Eklund's Tok Pisin Page] – with recorded dialogs, children's ditties and a hymn ([http://www.ida.liu.se/~g-robek/PNG-TokPisin.htm alternative address])
*[https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_tpi_swadesh-1 Tok Pisin Swadesh List] by [[Rosetta Project]]
*Audio and video recordings of a Tok Pisin event. [https://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10125/36676 Traditional "house cry"/"kisim sori na kam" ceremony for big man Paul Ine]. Archived with [[Kaipuleohone]]

{{Languages of Papua New Guinea}}
{{Mid-pacific English-based pidgins and creoles}}
{{Oceania topic|Languages of}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:English-based pidgins and creoles]]
[[Category:Languages of Papua New Guinea]]
[[Category:Subject–verb–object languages]]