7
Tok Pisin indext from MD13 from Litteral & Franklin 1969.
go 2 / to go (direction from the speaker)mani / money
mi / i, me
gat / to have
Mi go 3 / I am going also: mi sik
Mi gat mani / I have money
em 4 / he,she,it,him,her
lap / to laugh
man / man, male, husband
no / not
Third person subjects usually have i preceding the predicate
Em i go 5 / He goes, he went also: Em i sikEm i gat mani 6,7 / He has got money
Mi no lap / I didn't laugh, am not laughing
Man i no gat mani / The man doesn't have any money
Man i no lap
papa 8 / father
dok / dog
kisim / to get
Most verbs ending in -im are transitive (gat is an exception)
pik / pigPapa i gat dok 9 / Father has a dog
Dok i go / The dog is going
Man i kisim pig / The man is getting/got a/the pig
Mi no gat dok / I have no dog
pe 10 / pay (noun)
ran / to run, go fast
buk / book, boil (kýli)
wara / water, river
Man i kisim pe 11 / The man gets/got (his) pay
Dok i ran / Thee dog is running/ran
Mi no kisim wara / I'm not get£ting/didn't get the water
Em i no kisim buk / He didn't get the book
Pik i go 12
Mi gat buk
Papa i kisim dok.
Negatives with no 13
mi gat buk — mi no gat bukpapa i go — papa i no go
em i lap — em i no lap
haus 14 / house
faiv / five
kam / to come (direction to the speaker)
long / to, in, on, at, from, with, by, about
Papa i go long haus 15
Pik i kam long wara
Em i lap long mi
dinau 16 / a debt
yu / you (singular)
pinga / finger ath spelling pingga; singaut
gaden / garden
Papa i go long gaden 16 / Father is going/went into the garden
Pik i kam long mi / the pig is coming to me
Em i no gat dinau 17 more negs / He has no debts
bilong 19 / of (genitive)
stap / to be, remain, be present
ol / they them
ples / place, village
dok bilong yu / your dog
buk bilong me / my book
papa bilong en / his father
unstressed oblique em is usually pronounced en
Papa bilong mi i go 20 / My father is going/wentOl i stap long ples / They are in the village
Em i go long ples / He is going to the village
Man bilong en i stap long haus / Her husband is in the house
Em i kisim buk bilong me
Papa i lap long mi / Father laughed/is laughing at me
Mi stap long ples (23 more sentences) / I am in the village
mama 23 / mother
meri / woman/wife
lukim / to look at, see, sind
kaikai / food, to eat
Mama bilong mi i kisim kaikai 24 / My mother is getting the food
Mi lukim pik bilong yu / I see/found your pig
Meri bilong en i gat pik / His wife has a pig
Man bilong yu i gat haus / Your husband has a house
Papa bilong yu i stap long haus 25 / Your father is at the house
Dok bilong mi i gat buk bilong yu / My dog has your book
Dok i lukim kaikai bilong ol / The dog is looking at their food
Ol i go long ples bilong ol / They are going to their village
Em i kisim pe bilong ol / He is getting their pay
husat ? 26 / who, whom ?
pikinini / child
masta / white man (avoid)
waitman, waitskin / white man
mipela / we/us (not incl. the persons being addressed; "exclusive pronoun")
i is optional with mipela
Mipela go / Mipela i goHusat i kisim dok bilong mi? 27 / Who got my dog?
Waitskin i lukim husat? / Who does the white man see?
Em i lukim mipela / He is looking at us
painim 29 / to look for, hunt for
slip / to sleep
kaikaim / to bite
Em i kaikai abus / He is eating meat
Dok i kaikaim lek bilong mi 30 / The dog is biting my leg/foot
Husat i painim pig bilong yu? / Who is looking for your pig?
Papa bilong en i slip long haus / Her father is sleeping in the house
Mi no gat buk long haus bilong mi / I don't have any books in my house
Em i papa bilong mi / He is my father
Em papa bilong mi / That's my father
Em without i means "that"
Mi papa bilong en / I'm his/her fatherMipela (i) pikini bilong en / We are his/her children
Yu husat? / Who are you?
Husat i papa bilong yu? / Who is your father?
Em (i) husat / Who is he/Who's that?
pasim / to bandage, to stop
Em i pasim buk bilong yu / He's bandaging your boil
wanem 30 / which, what
wanem samting / what
samting / soething, thing
brata / sibling or relative of same sex
misis / white woman, married or single
yupela / you (plural)
i is optional after yupela before predicate
Yupela i kaikia wanem? / What are you eating?Brata bilong yu i stap? / Is your brother/sister here?
Some dialects:
Brata bilong yu i stap, a?
Brata bilong yu i stap, no?
Em i lukim wanmen samting? / What is he looking at?
Em wanem samting? / What is that?
katim / to cut
akis / axe
diwai / wood, tree
wokim / to make, build
mekim / to do
Papa bilong yu i wokim wanem(samting)? / What is your father making?
Papa bilong yu i mekim wanem? / What is your father doing?
Brata bilong me i katim diwai / My brother/sister is cutting a tree
Em i katim diwai long wanem samting? / What did he cut the tree with?
Em i katim diwai long akis / .. with an axe
bikpela brata / older brother/sister
dispela / this (adj and dem.pron)
faipela / five
Most monosyllabic adjs have -pela following the root
susa / sibling of opp. sex/relative of same agebikpela dok i stap long haus / A big dog is in the house
Bikpela susa bilong me i gat pikinini / My older brother/sister has got children
Nambawan susa bilong me / My older susa
Susa bilong mi i gat bikpela haus / My susa has a big house
Dispela man i kisim bikpela pe / This man gets big wages
biikpela / very big
yumi / you and I. Inclusive. No plural form -pela
kaukau / sweet potato
han / hand, foreleg, branch
muruk / cassowary
Muruk i kam long bus bilong yumi / The cassowary is coming to our forest
Husat i lukim dispela? / Who sees this/found this?
han bilong diwai/han diwai / branch of a tree
Pik i kaikai kaukau bilong yumi / The pig ate our sweet potatoes
we / where
mitupela / we two; dual inclusive pronoun, takes i
sindaun / to sit, dwell
saksak / sago, sago palm
Yu go we? / Where are you going?
Mitupela i go long haus bilong mi / We two are going to my house
Meri bilong em i go kisim saksak / His wife is going to get sago
Em i go sindaun long haus / He went and sat down in the house
olgeta / every, everyone, all
baim / to buy, pay, sell
wan, wanpela / one
numbers with -pela are used for counting objects; without for prices, time, arithmetic
Em i katim olgeta diwai / He cuts all the trees/woodMi baim wanpela buk long fifti toea / I bought a book for 50 toea
Em i baim olgeta long ten toea / He paid 10 toea for all of them
Fiftipela toea i stap long han bilong me / There is 50 toea in my hand
fifti toea / 50 toea (price)
fiftipela toea / 50 toea note
paun, siling / (older terms)
mi baim faipela pik / I am buying five pigs
hamas / how much, how many
planti / plenty, many
tu(pela) / 2
wokabaut / to walk
Hamas man i stap? / How many men are there?
Planti man i stap long ples / There are many men in the village
numbers with -pela can be definite personal pronouns
Tupela i go wokabaut / Two people are (going) walkingOl meri i wokabaut / The women are walking
ol shows definite plurality:
ol meri / the womenMipela baim em long wan kina fifti toea / We bought it for 1 kina 50m toea (K2.50)
Bekim tok long Tok Pisin / Answer in Tok Pisin
nogat / no
no gat / has not
i no gat kaikai / there's no food
i gat planti kaikai / there's a lot of food
pinis / marker of comleted action
Em i go pinis / He went, he's gone
Em i bin go / dialect variation
Yumitripela i lukim dispela ples pinis / We three have seen this village
foa, fopela / 4
na / and
o / or
o nogat? no nogat? / expects yes/no answer
Yupela i gat kaikai, o nogat? / Do you have food, or not?
Hamas dok i stap long haus, wanpela o tupela? / How many dogs are there in the house, one or two?
save / know, understand, can
kuk, kukim / cook
insait / inside (adv)
insait long haus / inside the house
bus / jungle, forest
Em i save planti samting / He knows a lot of things
Olgeta i save kukim kaukau / Everyone knows how to cook sweet portato
Papa bilong mi i stap insait long haus / My father is inside the house
Em i man bilong mi / He's my husband
Meri bilong mi i save kukim saksak / My wife knows how to cook sago
Pik bilong yu i go pinis / Your pig has gone
Dispela bus bilong husat?
balus / bird, aeroplane
rit, ritim / read
Papa bilong yu i save rit? Nogat. / Can your father read? No, he can't
Answers to questions with no assume agreement; so Yes = no, Nogat = yes
Pikinini bilong yu i no gat nem? Yes / Doesn't your child have a name? No.Yu no gat dok? Nogat. / Haven't you any dogs? Yes, we have.
Em i no lukim dispela balus? Yes. / Doesn't he see this plane? No, he doesn't
Yupela i no gat save long dispela samtimg? / Do you undestand this?
Nogat,mipela gat save long dispela samting / Yes, we understand this .
Papa bilong yu i stap long bus, o nogat? / Your father's in the jungle, isn't he?
Yes, papa bilong mi i stap long bus / Yes, my father's in the jungle.
Em i no lukim em pinis? / Hasn't she seen him?
Nogat, em i lukim em pinis / Yes she has
Em i raiim dispela buk pinis / He has read this book
Yu save wokim balus, no nogat? / Do you know how to build anplane?
Question words in sentences without verbs usually occur either first or last.
Wanem i nem bilong dispela samting? / What's the name of this thing?Nem bilong dispela samting i wanem? / What's the name of this thing?
kolim / say, tell (name)
Kolim nem bilong yu / Say/tell your name
laplap / shirt, cloth
wasim / to wash
mekim / to cause, do
tok / talk, speaech / to talk
Em i wasim laplap pinis na i go long lotu bilong em / He has washed his clothes and is going to his church
When two nouns occur together in a modifying phrase, the second is the modifier, as in Tok Pisin, haus sik, pikinini meri, pik man
Em i save Tok Pisin o nogat? / Does he understand Tok Pisin?Tupela i meikim wanem samting? / What are they (two) doing?
Em i wasim han na em i go / He is washing his hands and going
Yu fopela i gat kaikai, o nogat? Nogat. / Have you four got any food? No.
Long ples bilong yu ol man i no save wasim laplap? Yes. / Don't the men wash the clothes in your village? No. (Note save = to do habitually)
Mama bilong yu i mekim samting? Nogat / Is your mother doing anything? No.
Em i no go kisim dispela? Yes. / Isn't she going to get this? No.
sik / sick(ness)
dokta / doctor
doktaboi / medical assistant
givim / give
haus sik / hospital
Em i kaikai pinis dispela samting
Dokta i sindaun insait long haus sik
Kolim nem bilong yu / Tell me your name
Givim dispela kaikai long doktaboi / Give this food to the medical assistant
Doktaboi i stap we? Em i stap long haus sik / Where is the med. ass.? He's at the hospital
Papa bilong yu i sik?Yes, em i sik tumas / Is your father ill? Yes, he's very ill.
Em i dokta / He's a doctor
bambai, bai / later/afterwards/marker for future (regional difference )
liklik / little
klostu / near/almost
rot / road, path
Bambai mipela i go long ples bilong mi / Later we will go to my village
Haus bilong mi i liklik / My house is small
Displela bikpela diwai i stap klostu long rot / This big tree is near the road
Kaukau bilong ol i klostu pinis / Their sweet potatoes are almost finished
giaman / lie / to lie, deceive
toktok / speech, gossip / to speak
sut / to shoot / injection
banara / bow
Em i meri bilong toktok / She is a gossip
Pikinini bilong yu i giaman long mi / Your child is lying to me
Papa bilong yu i no save sut long banara / Your father doesn't know how to shoot with a bow
Go kisim sut long doktaboi / Go and get an injection from the medical assistant
kisim ...i kam / bring
kisim ... i go / take
Kisim dok i kam / Bring the dog
Kisim banara i go / Take the bow
long / to, in order to
Em i go long kisim sut / He went to get an injection
Em i go long bus long sut long banara / He went to the jungle to shoot with a bow
Kisim pikinini i go long kisim sut / Take the child to get an injection
Em i pinisim haus / He finished the house
Pikinini bilong yu i sutim pinis pik bilong me / Your child has shot my pig
slip, slipim / sleep, lay down
Slipim diwai klostu long haus / Put the wood down near the house
gianamim / to deceive, lie to
Em i gianamim mi / He is lying to me
Em i gianam long mi / He is lying to me
paitim / to hit, beat
ken / may, to be able
i is optional between ken and following verb
brukim / break, tear, fold
nogut / no goo, bad / don't / lest
Planti man i stap long ples balus / There are a lot of men on the airstrip
Em i gat wanpela pikinini man na tupela pikini meri / She has one son and two daughters
Dispela tok giaman i nogut / This lying talk is no good
Em i save tok ples bilong mipela / He speaks our local language
Yu no ken go long ples bilong em / You can't go to his village
Dok bilong me i brukim lek bilong en / My dog broke his leg
Nogut yu paitim pikinini bilong mi / Don't you hit my child
Bambai yu ken go long haus sik / Later you can go to the hospital
laik / want to
i is optional between laik and following verb
Mi laik go / mi laik i go / I want to go
harim / hear / understand
harim tok / obey
sikis, sikispela, siks / 6