Informal Tok Pisin Writing Styles Part 4: Verbs that act as adjectives

If you have read my other 3 posts on Informal Writing Styles, you would have learnt about

1. The omission of final sounds (mekim becomes (meki')

2. The repetition of words (husat...... husat.....

3. Single syllable sibilants (Noks bisi)

4. The addition of vowels between consonants (Turu steret)

Right, lets get straight into it. Verb categories in Tok Pisin are not clearly defined, I came across this verb category called 'Predicative Adjectives' in 'SYNTAX OF TOK PISIN' by

P .Mlihlhausler', page 361. That work is part of a linguistic series, I believe. I am calling it verbs or verb phrases that act as adjectives to simplify things.

Observe this Tok Pisin poem.

I no lait.

I no ren.

I no win.

I hot. I hot. I hot.

I dai. I dai. I dai.

Ples i hot.

Ples i dai.

Bai yumi go we nau?

The above poem is description of things using negated Tok Pisin verb phrases/predicates acting as stand alone adjectives.

This category of verbs are intransitive and do not take a direct object. There could be a subject (noun) at the start of the sentence.

Can you translate the above underlined phrases into English using one word English adjectives?

Observe the next Tok Pisin poem below.

I lait.

I ren.

I win.

I kol. I kol. I kol.

I laip. I laip. I laip.

Ples i kol.

Ples i laip.

Bai yumi laik go we ken?

This second poem is the description of things using positive Tok Pisin verb phrases/predicates acting as adjectives.

Can you translate the above underlined phrases into English using one word English adjectives?

We can also change the verbs above into nouns by changing the syntax of the sentences. Below is the same poem but all the verbs above are have now become nouns.

I no gat lait.

I no gat ren.

I no gat win.

I gat hot. I gat hot. I gat hot.

I gat dai. I gat dai. I gat dai.

Ples i gat hot. Ples i gat dai.

Can you translate the above sentences into English? Is the translation the same as the previous ones?

Which one is more poetic? The poem where verbs function as adjectives or where verbs function as nouns?

SUMMARY

As you can see.

1. Some Tok Pisin verbs can function as adjectives and nouns depending on the syntax or structure of words in the sentence. Having a name for verb categories does help.

2. Our English translations may vary depending on the Tok Pisin syntax we are dealing with. It is important to know whether we are dealing with verbs, adjectives or nouns.

3. An understanding of such syntax rules can inform the creation of poetic and playful styles in Tok Pisin literature.