Julie and I just finished our third class of beginners Tok Pisin, the trade language of Papua New Guinea. Julie has been working on this language since last May and does very well. Me... well, I need all the help I can get just to say "good morning".
This language is both easy and hard for speakers of English. Much of the language is rooted in English because PNG was part of Australia until the late 1900s. The hard part is that there are words that look and sound like English but mean something very different. Pronounciation is also very different.
I thought I'd post a passage from the Bible that you've heard and most likely memorized, both in Tok Pisin and then in a pretty literal translation.
The Lord's Prayer
Papa bilong mipela, yu stap long heven,
nem bilong yu i mas i stap holi.
Kingdom bilong yu i mas i kam.
Mipela i mas bihainim laik bilong yu long graun
olsem ol i save bihainim long heven.
Nau yu ken givim mipela kaikai inap long dispela de.
Na yu ken lusim ol rong bilong mipela,
olsem mipela i save lusim ol rong ol arapela i mekim long mipela.
Na yu no ken larim ol traim i kamap long mipela,
tasol yu ken tekewe mipela long ol samting nogut.
Kingdom na strong na biknem i bilong you tasol oltaim oltaim.
I tru.
Father who belongs to us, you are in heaven,
The name which is yours must be holy.
The kingdom that belongs to you must come.
We must follow with will that is yours on earth
like it is followed in heaven.
Now you give us food enough this day.
And you can forget all wrongs of ours,
as we forget all wrongs of others done to us.
And do not lead trials to come to us,
but you can remove us from things not good.
Kingdom and strength and glory belong to you forever and ever,
It’s true.
Were you able to sound out some of the Tok Pisin and match up words and phrases with the English? What do you prefer: Tok Pisin, the fairly literal translation, or the version in your Bible-of-choice?
No matter what language, however, God always hears and understands us.
This language is both easy and hard for speakers of English. Much of the language is rooted in English because PNG was part of Australia until the late 1900s. The hard part is that there are words that look and sound like English but mean something very different. Pronounciation is also very different.
I thought I'd post a passage from the Bible that you've heard and most likely memorized, both in Tok Pisin and then in a pretty literal translation.
The Lord's Prayer
Papa bilong mipela, yu stap long heven,
nem bilong yu i mas i stap holi.
Kingdom bilong yu i mas i kam.
Mipela i mas bihainim laik bilong yu long graun
olsem ol i save bihainim long heven.
Nau yu ken givim mipela kaikai inap long dispela de.
Na yu ken lusim ol rong bilong mipela,
olsem mipela i save lusim ol rong ol arapela i mekim long mipela.
Na yu no ken larim ol traim i kamap long mipela,
tasol yu ken tekewe mipela long ol samting nogut.
Kingdom na strong na biknem i bilong you tasol oltaim oltaim.
I tru.
Father who belongs to us, you are in heaven,
The name which is yours must be holy.
The kingdom that belongs to you must come.
We must follow with will that is yours on earth
like it is followed in heaven.
Now you give us food enough this day.
And you can forget all wrongs of ours,
as we forget all wrongs of others done to us.
And do not lead trials to come to us,
but you can remove us from things not good.
Kingdom and strength and glory belong to you forever and ever,
It’s true.
Were you able to sound out some of the Tok Pisin and match up words and phrases with the English? What do you prefer: Tok Pisin, the fairly literal translation, or the version in your Bible-of-choice?
No matter what language, however, God always hears and understands us.
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