Alphabet

 

There are 22 letters:

 

a b d e f g h i j k l m n o p r s t u v w y

 

The Pijin-to-English part of the dictionary is arranged alphabetically according to the above order.

 

The following from "Wei Fo Raetem Olketa Wod Long Pijin" is used for spelling Pijin words.

Pijin Orthography principles
The following goals have guided this Pijin orthography.
1. Consistency – the system should be, as much as is possible, internally consistent
2. Familiarity – the system should be able to be learned with relative easy by those familiar with another writing system.
3. Standardisation with other pidgin orthographies – the system should be similar to the other varieties of Melanesian Pidgin, Tok Pisin and Bislama.
4. Readability – the system should promote ease of reading, both for new readers, and experienced.
5. Writeability – the system should be straightforward to write.
6. Acceptability – the system should be accepted by a majority of users.
7. Linguistic soundness – the system should express the linguistic realities of the phonology of the language.

 

The following principles for Pijin’s orthography were approved by the MEHRD Language Policy Task Force in 2007. They are followed in this spelling guide and should be followed as new words are identified or adopted in Pijin.

  1. Source word sounds are retained as much as possible. Where non-occurring English vowel sounds are adapted, they are approximated as closely as possible. The English consonants that do not occur in Pijin are adapted as follows: c->k, ch->s, q->k, sh->s, th->d, x->ks, z->s.
  2. Where alternate spellings are possible preference is given to the spelling with a history of usage. For instance, this principle follows historical patterns for words ending in p/b, t/d, k/g.
  3. All English punctuation symbols are adopted.
  4. Questions and exclamations have both an opening and closing punctuation mark. E.g. !Maekrangge! ?Wanem nao yu duim?
  5. Phonological words are written as single words, e.g. hemiwanfalayumismolwan.
  6. Verbs with directional markers are written as single words, e.g. godaonfulapkamaotlukaotemkambaek.
  7. Words apparently made up of two words in which the meaning is more than the meaning of the two parts are written as one word, e.g. ilfisfogudnogudtokpiksa.
  8. Words containing the morphemes, enievrinara are written as one word, e.g. enisamtingevrikaennarasamtingevritaemeniwan.
  9. Words containing voiced stops (b, d, g) are not written with a nasal (m, n, ng) if that nasal does not occur in the source word (whether English or Melanesian). That is, b, mb, d, nd, g, ngg, are used to reflect the source word. E.g. wido ‘widow’, andanit ‘underneath’, handred ‘hundred’, komburu ‘north-east wind/storm’.
  10. Write only u for a w semivowel following a consonant unless the w is the beginning of a new morpheme and or new syllable, e.g. suim ‘swim’, kuiktaem ‘quick’, compared to diswan ‘this one’.
  11. In words made of two English syllables, follow historical patterns of pronunciation when a vowel is systematically inserted to create three syllables. E.g. famili not famlilelebet not lelbetmelewan not melwanivining not ivningdeferen not defren. Note that evri has not historically followed that pattern.
  12. Words with a wide spread historical pattern of pronouncing a word final vowel where none exists in the source word, are written with that final vowel, e.g. waka ‘work’, daeva ‘dive’, tane ‘turn’.
  13. Full word reduplications are not written with a hyphen, e.g. luklukkaikaitingting.
  14. Partial word reduplications are written with a hyphen, e.g. ka-kamla-lafa-askem.
  15. The transitive suffix (-em-im-um-m-rem) is written as follows:
      -em following roots ending in a consonant when the vowel before that consonant is aeoaeao,
      -im following a root ending in a consonant when the vowel before that consonant is i or u, or the root final consonant is s. E.g. wasimblesimkipim.
      -um following a root containing pu-fu-hu-. E.g. putumhukumfulum. Note, this rule overrides the previous one with these roots.
      -m follows a root ending in a vowel. E.g. falomdraevam, pleim.
      -rem follows a root ending in a where the English source word ends with r or re. Note though that alternate forms are also possible, e.g. ansarem ~ ansam.
  16. Open syllables are written with single vowels only. E.g. mi not miitri not trii.
  17. Words derived from English words ending in –tion, are written with the ending –sin, e.g. faondesinnesinaksin.
  18. Words frequently spoken in a contracted form are written in their full original forms, e.g. blong not blolong not loolketa not oketa/ota/otsave not sa/sa’e.
  19. In words ending with –ns or –ks, retain these clusters. In Lee’s work, research in the early 1980s showed that there was a preference for an i to be inserted, thus –nis or –kis (e.g. danis ‘dance’). However, more recent testing (2007) indicates a preference to keep the clusters, e.g. mansdanssiksneksaks.
  20. Words commencing with the palatal approximant semivowel are written with y. The letter y is only written at the start of words.