![]() ![]() Tok Pisin is the language that unifies this culturally diverse country and is the most widely spoken. Tok Pisin (Pidgin) is one of three national languages of Papua New Guinea (PNG).Īnd just for your information, these three languages are additional to the already existing 800 languages from the 21 different provinces in the country – Yes, that’s quite diverse. Will start off with the name of the language itself. There are other letters and spelling of words that may be used differently in writing then in speaking. Words beginning with “Z” are spelt with an “S” in Pidgin. “X” words are quite tricky but in Tok Pisin they are spelt with a group of letters that make up its sound. Words beginning with “U” are usually spelt with “A” or with a “Y” infront of the “U” in pidgin.įor example: University is Yunivesiti. “Q” words are spelt with “K” and “W,” “Y,” or “U,” again depending on their sounding in English.įor example: Queen is Kwin. “J” I changed to “S” o “Y” but in modern times, it is being used as it is.įor example: Joshua is Yesua. ( NOTE: All greens like celery are called “Kumu” in Tok Pisin.) Words starting with “Ch” are also replaced with an “S.”įor example: Cut is Kat (Pronounced the same). The same applies to “C” words in English which are replaced with “S” o “K” depending on their English sounding and use. Some of the letters that would be missing in the regular alphabet are V, C, J, Q, U, X, Z.Įnglish words that begin with the letter “ V” in English are usually spelt with “W” or “F” in pidgin depending on their sound and use in English.įor example: Vicks will be wiks. The Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin alphabet is different from the English one that we know.Īll the letters may be there but some are hardly if at all pronounced when speaking or spelling pidgin words. Usually, people speak the same thing but in different ways soften the best way to understand is the get the meaning, find out what they’re saying. It has been difficult to standardize Tok Pisin because of the different dialects in each province and the structure of their sentences. Person 2: Avinun, mi orait, na yu? (Afternoon, I’m alright and how are you?) Person 1: Avinun tru, yu orait ah? (Good afternoon, how are you?) So, a regular greeting would go like this You can also say Gud nait tru (Very good night). * Similar structure as the morning greeting. Means “Afternoon”/ “(Very) good afternoon.” Tru = True (In this sense it means “very” to emphasise the morning greeting.) You can also start greeting in the morning starting from 3am. Greetings in those time would be gut/gud nait (good night). ![]() In Tok Pisin, time after the sun set until it rises again is night. Person 2: Mi orait, na yu? (I’m good, and yourself?) Person 1: Halo, yu orait ah? (Hello, how are you?) The respondent can also add “…na yu?” (…and you?) or “ …mi orait, na yu orait?” (I’m good, and how are you?) at the end of his reply. The response is “Mi orait” = I am alright. Informally, you can also shorten it in saying “Orait ah?” Halo (Pronounced: Ha-low) = Means “Hello.” This is usually followed by “ Yu orait ah?” meaning “How are you?” I’ve broken it down so you know what you’re saying. Here are some greetings that you can use. How are you? yu orait.So you arrive in Papua New Guinea or you meet someone from there somewhere and want to greet them in Tok Pisin. Mosbi therefore isn’t mozbeye it is mozbee NOTE: mi is pronounced with an eee sound. Using slang or even short pidgin, gives you instant street cred :). There is also a slang “goodbye” – catch, as in “catch you later”. Bilong is shortened to blong, blo, or long – with the “b” being very short. You will notice a lot of slang prevalent, especially in Pot Mosbi, or Mosbi as it is commonly called. A few months ago I said to a guy driving his car with a flat tyre “ tyre em no gut wind” – the guys at work cracked up, they said I should have just said “tyre flat”…. To be honest though, I just guess when I am trying to talk in tok pisin and generally I think I’m doing ok. Here is a selection of words and phrases in tok pisin (pidgin english). I pinched this info from one of the information booklets that you get get on arrival here in PNG and added a bit of my own :).
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