What do these mean?

[Gość: Yorick]

These are real phrases from Tok Pisin, a pidgin spoken in New Guinea. Any
idea...?

mi go long taun
mi kam long taun
mi wokabaut long taun
mi stap long haus
mi rait long pepa
mi kam long nait
mi go antap long tri
mi sidaun ananit long tri

papa bilong mi
het bilong maunten
han bilong pik

'Long' is a general prepositon of motion; 'bilong' is, roughly, 'of'.

Good luck!

rgdz

[axxolotl]

> mi go long taun
I go to the town.

> mi kam long taun
I come (came?) from the town.

> mi wokabaut long taun
I walk around the town.

> mi stap long haus
I stop (stopped?) at the house (not sure about this one, maybe: I live in the
house?)

> mi rait long pepa
I write on paper.

> mi kam long nait
(don't know, something with night?

> mi go antap long tri
I go on top of the tree (I climb the tree?)

> mi sidaun ananit long tri
I sit underneath the tree (?)

> papa bilong mi
my father (?)

> het bilong maunten
top of the mountain (?)

> han bilong pik
(not sure, han is probably hand, and pik is probably pig, so what? hand of the
pig?)


This was fun, I want more :)

[Gość: Yorick]

I'm impressed!

I'm no expert on Tok Pisin :), but according to a popular on the evolution of
language (my hobby horse), where the quotes came from, your answers are correct:

I go to town, I come from town, I walk around in the town, I stayed at home, I
write on the paper, I came during the night, I climbed the tree, I sat
underneath the tree, my father, top of a mountain, front legs of a pig;;; I
suspect multiple interpretations are possible regarding the tense and articles.

Kolejne:
- moje ulubione:
mi sori
het bilong wara
- trudniejsze:
plantihan
taim we mi bin sik nogut tru

rgdz

[axxolotl]

Gość portalu: Yorick napisał(a):

> I'm impressed!
>
> I'm no expert on Tok Pisin

Me neither, but last semester I took sociolinguistics and my prof was, so we
got a taste of it :)

> Kolejne:
> - moje ulubione:

> mi sori
I'm sorry

> het bilong wara
(no clue, head or top of something)

> - trudniejsze:

> plantihan
(haven't heard this one, but logically, if planti is plenty/lots of and if han
is hand or arm, then...plantihan may be a big hand, or a long arm. Maybe.
Probably not though :) )

> taim we mi bin sik nogut tru

Taim obviously is time, mi is I, bin is been or rather was, sik, that's obvious
too, nogut is my favourite - bad, and tru is really. I'm not sure about
this "we" thing - when?

The time when I was really ill??

cheers

[Gość: Yorick]

> and my prof was
that explains a lot :)

> wara
it's a good phonetic rendering, though i'd say american english this time

centipede

the time I was very ill

and, hey! i wouldn've got it right myself!

OK, here's a nice one, smartass:

Mi kikim pukpuk pinis :)

And, what is 'wara'?

rgdz

[Gość: axxolotl]

> And, what is 'wara'?

> > wara
> it's a good phonetic rendering, though i'd say american english this time

Thanks for the clue. It must be 'water' then.

> OK, here's a nice one, smartass:

Smartass?? Me???? I take offence ;)

> Mi kikim pukpuk pinis :)

Are you trying to get me to fall for 'pinis'? Contrary to the popular (?)
belief, it's not a penis. It's something to do with 'finish', isn't it? It's
in the phrase "kilim i dai pinis" = kill (ok, so I've been cheating, I got my
notes out).

I'm kicking the dead crocodile?

that ain't nice :)

[Gość: Yorick]

Water. I kicked the crocodile.
And I do consider previous knowledge of Tok Pisin cheating. Especially of the
word 'pukpuk' :). But I think even without it, ordinary users of English stand
a good chance most of the time.

rgdz

[Gość: Azja]

sounds like Viet-Nam
Me love you long time

[Gość: Yorick]

The phrases do sound funny,

however, Tok Pisin, like other Creole languages, are not just simplified and
ungrammatical versions of English, but full-blown languages, with their own
complex grammars etc etc.
rgdz

[ja.robot]

Creole? Read any Linton Kwesi Johnson, Yorick? :)))

[Gość: Yorick]

The - what? Ok, checked it - a nice guy :).

NOWE

[Gość: Yorick]

Colgate i save strongim tit bilong yu.
[lukaut: planti switpela kaikai na loli i save bagarapim tit hariap]


i save - "be accustomed to", "have a habit of"
-pela - marks adjectives
kaikai - food, eat, bite, etc.
bagarapim - wreck
hariap - fast

And Axxolotl is banned!

[Gość: axxolotl]

> And Axxolotl is banned!

That's OK, I'm hammered today anyway so can't really think beyond the basics.
Know any fast cure for a hangover?

[Gość: Yorick]

> Know any fast cure for a hangover?
the hair of the dog

:))