[Mihalic] "Vaialens"
Martha Macintyre
marthaam at unimelb.edu.au
Wed Dec 16 08:11:08 EST 2009
I am baffled by the hostility to the incorporation of new words into Tok
Pisin. This is the main way that all languages change. And as for
alternative spelling - most of Tok Pisin's lexicon is comprised of
alternative spellings of English words - it's just that some have been
around longer than others. Besides, if they have been incorporated it makes
sense to keep TP spelling system (such as it is)for new words.
Martha
On 16/12/09 7:46 AM, "David Week (personal)" <davidweek at cal.berkeley.edu>
wrote:
> Encountered on a recent trip to PNG, on an NGO-produced poster about family
> violence: "vaialens".
>
> This reminds me of a friend's constant complaint:
>
> Tok Pisin: it's a language, not an alternative spelling system.
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