Internet message boards are a medium by which educated Papua New Guineans who are living outside of Papua New Guinea (PNG) maintain ties to one another and to their home country. One of the languages that they use on these message boards is Tok Pisin (TP), an English-based creole spoken in PNG that has changed rapidly in theapproximately 120 years since its creation as a pidgin.Romaine (1992) suggests that decreolization by means of new changes toward English is occurring in the TP language. Smith (2002) disagrees and claims that there is no evidence for decreolization. This study shows that there is evidence in favor of decreolization, in particular a Matrix Language (ML) turnover (Myers-Scotton 2002), in the TP used on seven Internet message boards. This conclusion is also derived through the study of 139 letters to the editor in the TP weekly newspaper Wantok written during 2003 and 2006.In looking for English `late system morphemes,' whose existence in bilingual complementizer phrases that have TP as the ML would indicate the beginning of a ML turnover (Myers-Scotton 2002), this study counts deletion of the TP particle i as a late system morpheme.Results show that on Internet message boards, the particle i only marks the predicate in 33% of the locations where it would occur in Standard TP. In Wantok letters to the editor, i occurs 95% of the time. Internet users are more likely to be influenced by English and have less access to Standard TP. Although TP is still valued by highly educated Papua New Guineans in the English domain of the Internet to discuss personal topics and show solidarity with one another, it is not their first choice of language, and the loss of the particle i shows evidence for a ML turnover having begun in the language. One conclusion that may be drawn from this study is that planning for the future of TP by the leaders of PNG is essential to maintain TP as a community language. / Department of English

The aim of this study is to compare Tok Pisin with English and, in doing so, try to determine whether it is a developing language, moving forwards in its own right, or whether it is a language in the process of disappearing. This possibility was discussed in 1985 by Don Laycock in the article "The Future of Tok Pisin", where he predicts that the language will decline in popularity and use and that "... in perhaps 50 years time, Tok Pisin will most likely be being studied by scholars among a small community of old men."

Tok Pisin is the most prevailing common language in Papua New Guinea. It was originally an English lexifier pidgin language and has developed as the virtual universal lingua franca in this multilingual country where over 850 indigenous languages are spoken today (Nekitel 1998). The term Tok Pisin covers a large number of varieties due to the various social and linguistic backgrounds of its speakers. Traditionally, the rural varieties which are spoken in Coastal and Island areas are regarded as mainstream Tok Pisin and previous studies have mainly focused on these varieties. However, since the social and linguistic situation in the country has continuously changed and the language contact between Tok Pisin and both substratum languages and the superstratum language, English, continues, the varieties which were regarded as “non-standard” seem to play an important role, especially in the context of language contact and language shift today. Therefore, with respect to the roles that “non-standard” varieties play and their features, many gaps still remain. Most studies have focused on standard varieties. In order to fill in the gaps, this study will address the issues of language contact and language shift in Tok Pisin, mainly focusing on two “nonstandard” varieties. One is Highlands Pidgin which is spoken mainly in the Highlands area of the country. Because of the increase of emigrant population from Highlands to other regions, it seems that Highlands Pidgin impacts on other regional varieties of Tok Pisin. First, the characteristics which have been considered to be Highlands features are reconsidered by reanalysing previous studies and examining the author’s primary data. Then the role that Highlands Pidgin plays in the current language situation in Papua New Guinea is discussed. The other “non-standard” variety considered here is the anglicised variety. It has been pointed out that Tok Pisin is currently undergoing “decreolisation”, that is, it is gradually losing its own features and assimilating to English. However, the degree of the anglicisation can very with situations, speakers and topics and, although earlier studies provide many important findings, few recent studies have been undertaken. Thus, the degree of anglicisation is examined according to each linguistic component including phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax based on primary data. As one of the parameters of anglicisation, code switching between Tok Pisin and English is also examined using the Matrix Language-Frame model proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993). Following the analysis of the two varieties, some sociolinguistic considerations are provided in order to capture the situation in which language contact and language shift take place. In conclusion, based on the author’s observations and analysis, this study proposes the argument that there is little reason to rule out the “non-standard” varieties and that Tok Pisin has been a language completely distinct from English, which supports Smith’s (2002) viewpoint. Also, it illustrates a description of current Tok Pisin which coexists with English. Whether the situation continues or not in the future is open to question; however, the structural features of Tok Pisin and its remarkable vitality which are revealed here can inform the study of language contact, language shift and language maintenance. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374814 / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009

Tok Pisin is the most prevailing common language in Papua New Guinea. It was originally an English lexifier pidgin language and has developed as the virtual universal lingua franca in this multilingual country where over 850 indigenous languages are spoken today (Nekitel 1998). The term Tok Pisin covers a large number of varieties due to the various social and linguistic backgrounds of its speakers. Traditionally, the rural varieties which are spoken in Coastal and Island areas are regarded as mainstream Tok Pisin and previous studies have mainly focused on these varieties. However, since the social and linguistic situation in the country has continuously changed and the language contact between Tok Pisin and both substratum languages and the superstratum language, English, continues, the varieties which were regarded as “non-standard” seem to play an important role, especially in the context of language contact and language shift today. Therefore, with respect to the roles that “non-standard” varieties play and their features, many gaps still remain. Most studies have focused on standard varieties. In order to fill in the gaps, this study will address the issues of language contact and language shift in Tok Pisin, mainly focusing on two “nonstandard” varieties. One is Highlands Pidgin which is spoken mainly in the Highlands area of the country. Because of the increase of emigrant population from Highlands to other regions, it seems that Highlands Pidgin impacts on other regional varieties of Tok Pisin. First, the characteristics which have been considered to be Highlands features are reconsidered by reanalysing previous studies and examining the author’s primary data. Then the role that Highlands Pidgin plays in the current language situation in Papua New Guinea is discussed. The other “non-standard” variety considered here is the anglicised variety. It has been pointed out that Tok Pisin is currently undergoing “decreolisation”, that is, it is gradually losing its own features and assimilating to English. However, the degree of the anglicisation can very with situations, speakers and topics and, although earlier studies provide many important findings, few recent studies have been undertaken. Thus, the degree of anglicisation is examined according to each linguistic component including phonology, morphology, lexicon and syntax based on primary data. As one of the parameters of anglicisation, code switching between Tok Pisin and English is also examined using the Matrix Language-Frame model proposed by Myers-Scotton (1993). Following the analysis of the two varieties, some sociolinguistic considerations are provided in order to capture the situation in which language contact and language shift take place. In conclusion, based on the author’s observations and analysis, this study proposes the argument that there is little reason to rule out the “non-standard” varieties and that Tok Pisin has been a language completely distinct from English, which supports Smith’s (2002) viewpoint. Also, it illustrates a description of current Tok Pisin which coexists with English. Whether the situation continues or not in the future is open to question; however, the structural features of Tok Pisin and its remarkable vitality which are revealed here can inform the study of language contact, language shift and language maintenance. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1374814 / Thesis (M.A.) - University of Adelaide, School of Humanities, 2009