Tok Pisin:Sounds and Writing

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Tok Pisin
Tok Pisin
Family
Sub-family
Language of
Script
Creole English Creole PG.png Papua New Guinea Latin

The alphabet contains 23 letters, 5 of which are vowels ("Y" isn't). Tok Pisin has 3 digraphs: ai, au, oi. The letters Q, X, Z are not used, and their sounds are replaced by KW, KIS, and S respectively. C is used in such abbreviations and expressions as cm and vaitamin C (Vitamin C), therefore being indispensable in Tok Pisin orthography even though it is limited to just a few expressions. There are no diacritical marks in Tok Pisin.


Pronunciation in Tok Pisin is very similar to English, with a few exceptions.

  • h is silent at the beginning of words
  • long is often pronounced lo
  • bilong is often pronounced bilo

e.g. Yu go bek long haus? could become... Yu go bek laus? (meaning "Are you going back home?)


Vowels IPA Sampa Comments
A a [a] as a in "father"
E e [e] as e in "example"
I i [i] as i in "issue"
O o [o] as o in "code"
U u [u] as u in "clue"
Consonants IPA Sampa Comments
B b [b] as b in "baby"
D d [d] as d in "doctor"
F f [f] as f in "feet"
G g [g] as g in "ghost"
H h [h] as h in "help"
J j [ʤ] [dZ] as j in "jew"
K k [k] as k in "kill"
L l [l] as l in "law"
M m [m] as m in "month"
N n [n] as n in "name"
P p [p] as p in "palm"
R r [r] as Spanish r or dd in "ladder"
S s [s] as s in "sail"
T t [t] as t in "top"
V v [v] as v in "vibe"
W w [w] as w in "weigh"
Y y [j] [y] as y in "yes"
Dipthongs IPA Sampa Comments
ai [ai] as i in "time"
au [au] as ow in "cow"
oi [oi] as oy in "boy"
tpi.png Tok Pisin pages
Introduction · Lexicon · Numbers · Pronouns · Sounds and Writing · Vocab · Verbs
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