An English-based pidgin, spoken by c.34 million people in Papua New Guinea, mainly as a second language, and heavily influenced by local Papuan languages. It is now spoken by over 100 000 as a mother-tongue, and has thus become a creole.
| Tok Pisin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Spoken in: | Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total speakers: | 3–4 million; | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official status | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official language of: | Papua New Guinea | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regulated by: | no official regulation | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language codes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ISO 639-1: | none | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ISO 639-2: | tpi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ISO/FDIS 639-3: |
tpi Given that Papua New Guinean anglophones almost invariably refer to Tok Pisin as Pidgin when speaking English, it may be considered something of an affectation to call it Tok Pisin, much like referring to German and French as Deutsch and français in English. although it was originally a pidgin, Tok Pisin is now considered a distinct language in its own right due to there being speakers of it for whom it is a first language and not merely a lingua franca to facilitate communication with speakers of other languages. ClassificationTok Pisin's origins lie in the intermixing of Pacific Islanders who spoke numerous different languages as they were sent to work on plantations in Queensland and various islands (see South Sea Islander and Blackbirding). Official statusTok Pisin is used to some extent in the media and for government issues, though English is still preferred in these contexts. Consonants
Reduplication is very common in Tok Pisin. Development of Tok PisinTok Pisin is a language that developed out of regional dialects of the languages of the local inhabitants and English, brought into the country when English speakers arrived. In areas where English was official language a depidginasation occurred (Todd, 1990) 
2. There is also not a phonology difference of /s/ in Tok Pisin, whereas in English there are: /s, ƒ,tƒ, d’/: For Example: “pis“ in Tok Pisin could mean in English: “beads, beach, fish, peach, piss, feast or peace“. “sip“ in Tok Pisin could mean in English: “ship, jib, jeep, sieve, chief“ Tenses of Tok Pisin:Past Tense: Marked by “bin“: Tok Pisin: “Na praim minista i bin tok olsem“. (ibid.: 631) Completive or perfective aspect expressed through the word “pinis“ (from English: finish): Tok Pisin: “Em i lusim bot pinis“. Transitive words are expressed through “-im“ (from English: him): Tok Pisin: “Yu pinisim stori nau. Future is expressed through the word “bai“ (from English by): Tok Pisin: “Em bai ol i go long rum“ English: “They will go to their rooms now. The Preposition “long“ in Tok Pisin stands for “at, in, on, to, with, until“ in English and “bilong“ in Tok Pisin stands for “of, from, for“ in English: Tok Pisin: “Mipela i go long blekmaket“. VocabularyTok Pisin can sound very colourful in its use of words, which are derived from English (with Australian influences), indigenous Melanesian languages and German (part of the country was under German rule until 1914). The Lord's Prayer in Tok PisinPapa bilong mipela Yu stap long heven. |
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