John here
Piotr wrote
> I won't take part in the competition, but those who will may find
some help here:
> http://www.june29.com//HLP/lang/pidgin.html
I had heard that Mahalic's English-Pigin Dictionary was somewhere on
the net too. To make it fair I'll keep out of this competition too!
I do like the pigin for a "lift" ie. "elevator" or "ascenceur"
"haus bilong husat ibai kaikaim olgeta manmeri"
ie. "the house that eats people"
Perhaps that can give us a clue
Piotr added
> Let me add that -im is the ending of transitive verbs and that
'bilong + N' is the analytic genitive in Tok Pisin. Tok Pisin has a
really wonderful pronoun system. It distinguishes inclusive and
exclusive pronouns (yumi = we including you; mipela = we without you)
and dual, trial etc. numbers (mitupela = we two, but I don't mean
you;
yumitripela = you and me plus a third party). Artificial language
makers might find some inspiration here.
There are some other wonderful features of pigin. That ubiquitous
word "bilong" from the English belong, comes by way of Tolai - an
Oceanic or Eastern Austronesian language. It has a function similar
to "yang" in Bahasa Malaya or Bahasa Indonesia, in being a
determinant of relationship with a subject.
For instance
"banis bilong susu"
Literally is "fence for the milk"
but refers to the white habit of wearing brasieres!
Regards
John