Tok Pisin

Seminar paper

for the Hauptseminar

"English in the Pacific and Indian Ocean"

at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen

Department of English

WS 2007/2008

Nina Schulte-Schmale and Maike Naujoks

Angewandte Fremdsprachen und Wirtschaft

7. Semester

---

Table of Contents

1. Introduction

1

2. General Background Information

2

2.1 Name and Area

2

2.2 Development of Tok Pisin

3

2.3 Current Situation

4

3. External History

of Tok Pisin

4

4. Linguistic Features of Tok Pisin

6

4.1 Phonology

6

4.2 Morphology

8

4.3 Syntax

10

4.4 The Lexicon of Tok Pisin

13

5. Analysis of a Sample Text

14

6. Education

18

7. Media

19

7.1 Papua New Guinea′s Press

19

7.2 Electronic Media

20

7.3 Radio and Television

21

8. Conclusion

21

List of References

23

---

1

1. Introduction

For many years the study of Pidgin and Creole languages was widely regarded as

marginal or frivolous, but recently, there has been growing interest in the study of

these languages all over the world. They have not merely been studied for their own

sake, but for the relevance to such concerns as language contact and change,

historical linguistics, language learning, first and second language acquisition or

language universals (cf. Smith 2002: 3). With this, the area of the Pacific and Indian

Ocean has become increasingly significant for linguists. There are many reasons why

the position of Tok Pisin, one of the two national languages of the independent

nation of Papua New Guinea (with Hiri Motu as the other and alongside English as

the official language), stands in the continued focus of scholarly attention. In a

variety of ways, the position of Tok Pisin is like that of many other pidgin and creole

languages elsewhere and it has a number of advantages as a source of data, as it is

one of the best documented contact languages, however, "Tok Pisin is somewhat

unusual among the Pidgins of the world in its gradual development over several

generations as a second language before any extensive creolization took place."

(Smith 2002: 6). In spite of the work already carried out, there are still a few gaps in

the current knowledge of some aspects of Tok Pisin and much of the literature is

concerned only with the historical development of the language and the description

of its linguistic properties, but it is not always clear how representative the features

described are (cf. Smith 2002: 22).

The purpose of this paper is to closer examine the language concerning its

history, linguistic features and current situation. We will start with some general

background information about Tok Pisin and the region where it is spoken, the

development of Tok Pisin into a creole language, the current situation and the

external history. Then continue with the linguistic features of Tok Pisin with regard

to the specific phonology, morphology, syntax and lexicon, and illustrate them on a

text sample. And finally we will take a closer look at the educational system of

Papua New Guinea, as well as its media, concerning the use of Tok Pisin. In

particular, the relationship between Tok Pisin and its main lexifier language English

is of primary importance and is explored in further detail in almost every section.

---

2

2. General Background Information

2.1 Name and Area

Tok Pisin is an English-based pidgin and it is widely spoken in the South Pacific

Ocean in Papua New Guinea in the region of Melanesia. New Guinea is the second

largest island in the world and is located 100 miles north of Australia. The

Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua occupy the western part of the island,

while the independent nation Papua New Guinea is located in the eastern part of the

island. 64 percent of the Pacific Island population live in Papua New Guinea and thus

it has the highest population of the Pacific Island nations (cf. Romaine 1992: 1).

Tok Pisin is the official name of the language since 1981. Some academics

refer to this variety as "Melanesian Pidgin English", "New Guinea Pidgin" or "Neo-

Melanesian" but it is generally known under the term "Tok Pisin" or simply

"Pidgin". There exist three different types of Tok Pisin which are spoken in the

region of Melanesia, more precisely in Vanatu, Papua New Guinea, and on the

Solomon Islands. All these pidgins are closely related and have by now gained the

status of a Creole.

Tok Pisin is predominately spoken in those provinces of Papua New Guinea

which once belonged to German New Guinea. In many cases the language has by

now replaced the native Pidgin Hiri Motu which used to be spoken in the former

Australian sector of the country. There exist different types of classification of Tok

Pisin. Thus, referring to geographical aspects one distinguishes between Tok Pisin of

the costal region, of the Bismarck Archipelago, and of the highlands. This

classification is due to the three phases of the colonization of the country. A further

subdivision of Tok Pisin is based on a distinction between the four existing main

sociolects of the language. Thus, one differentiates between Bush Pidgin, which is

the bush pidgin of the remote regions, Rural Pidgin, Urban Pidgin and Tok Masta

which constitutes the language of the white colonizers. This kind of subdivision

reflects the differences in contact with the Western culture and the English language.

All these classifications mentioned above, constitute pidgin languages. However, one

needs to take into consideration that there also exist varieties of Tok Pisin which

have been creolized over the years mainly in large settlements, for example in

mission stations. In the case of Malabang for example, a village on the island of

---

3

Manus, creolization took place. Plantation workers who derived from different parts

of New Guinea married women from Manus, belonging to different linguistic groups,

and founded a new community, thus resulting in a new generation of native speakers

of Tok Pisin (cf. Mühlhäusler et al. 2003: 4).

2.2 Development of Tok Pisin into a Creole Language

In order to understand the changes which are taking place in Papua New Guinea and

thus lead to the fact that the language develops more and more into a native language

of the younger generation of Papua New Guinea firstly an overview of the

connection between Pidgins and Creoles will be given.

A Pidgin can be defined as a language which is developed in order to meet

communication needs between groups of people which have no language in

common. Usually, it is not the native language of its speakers but it is rather used in a

restricted range of situations and contexts, for example in terms of trading contacts.

At that moment when the Pidgin becomes the first or native language for a new

generation of speakers, one refers to it as a Creole. The difference between a Pidgin

and a Creole becomes apparent in the fact that a Creole is not restricted to a specific

use and has therefore a large range of informational functions. Above that, Creoles

are much more complex in terms of linguistic features such as phonology,

morphology or syntax. By now, Creoles are predominantly well established in

various areas, especially in the Pacific, Caribbean as well as in parts of West Africa

(cf. Smith 2002: 3).

In the case of Tok Pisin it needs to be taken into consideration that this kind

of Pidgin has developed and stabilized over several generations. Although, we

frequently refer to Tok Pisin as a Pidgin we need to keep in mind that the language is

more and more spoken by an increasing number of young people as a first language,

thus as a Creole. However, the distinction between Tok Pisin as a Pidgin or as a

Creole is somewhat confusing and controversial. Studies have shown that during the

process of creolization the new generation of Tok Pisin speakers simply accelerated

certain tendencies which already became apparent and developed in the expanded

Pidgin (cf. Smith 2002: 714).

---

4

2.3 Current Situation

Today, Tok Pisin, as the most important language of Melanesia, is used in a wide

range of private and public functions in Papua New Guinea. It is spoken by up to 3-4

million people as a second language and by about 120,000 people as a native

language in a highly multilingual society. Tok Pisin has not always been regarded as

a respectable and highly valued language. Academics used to refer to it as a "strange

universal language" or as a language "incredibly primitive with amazing simplicity".

However, the opinion on Tok Pisin has taken a positive turn and the enhanced

status of the language becomes obvious in terms of how politicians of Papua New

Guinea as well as modern linguists view the language. Important politicians of the

country have finally started to value the advantages of Tok Pisin as a universal lingua

franca spoken in a multilingual country where up to 860 different languages are in

use for about 4-5 million inhabitants. Above that, also accepted modern linguists

have finally recognized the language. Therefore, a general acceptance is

demonstrated by the fact that more and more serious literature about Tok Pisin is by

now available. Some examples are the Handbook of Tok Pisin by Wurm &

Mühlhäusler as well as Verhaar′s 1990 collection (cf. Mühlhäusler et al. 2003: 1).

Above that, the importance and general acceptance of Tok Pisin also became

apparent in Prince Charles′ speech to the new parliament in Tok Pisin, which

constituted a significant milestone in the development of Tok Pisin (cf. Smith 2002:

713). Today, Tok Pisin is the national language which is expanding more and more

and is used in a wide range of domains. English is used in terms of education as well

as in governmental and administrative cases.

3. External History

of Tok Pisin

The late 18th and early 19th century marked the first extended contacts between

traders and native islanders. After the first discovering passages of for example

James Cook beachcombers, traders companies of missionaries and colonial

administrators started to explore the region. From the second half of the 18th century

on, new trading routes from Britain to the South Pacific were established and trade

intensified. At that time, a total of 1556 sailors, mostly British, was aboard these

---