Perhaps one million people now use Tok Pisin as a primary language. This English-based pidgin evolved into Tok Pisin in German New Guinea (where the German-based creole Unserdeutsch was also spoken). Urban families in particular, and those of police and defence force members, often communicate among themselves in Tok Pisin, either never gaining fluency in a vernacular ("tok ples"), or learning a vernacular as a second (or third) language, after Tok Pisin (and possibly English). Between one and two million are exposed to it as a first language, in particular the children of parents or grandparents originally speaking different vernaculars (for example, a mother from Madang and a father from Rabaul). In parts of Western, Gulf, Central, Oro Province and Milne Bay Provinces, however, the use of Tok Pisin has a shorter history, and is less universal, especially among older people.īetween five and six million people use Tok Pisin to some degree, although by no means do all of these speak it well. It is an official language of Papua New Guinea and the most widely used language in that country. The translation of Tok Pidgin into English or other languages will remain somewhat problematic until such a resource is available. Tok Pisin (English pron.: /ˌtɔːk ˈpɪsɪn/ Tok Pisin ) is a creole spoken throughout Papua New Guinea. It is probably time for the PNG government to commission the creation of an OED equivalent as an official reference for both Papua New Guineans and those who wish to learn Tok Pisin. A pidgin / p d n /, or pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a language in common: typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from several languages.
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