

The Papua New Guinea Tok Pisin alphabet is different from the English one that we know.Īll the letters may be there but some are hardly if at all pronounced when speaking or spelling pidgin words. Usually, people speak the same thing but in different ways soften the best way to understand is the get the meaning, find out what they’re saying. It has been difficult to standardize Tok Pisin because of the different dialects in each province and the structure of their sentences. Person 2: Avinun, mi orait, na yu? (Afternoon, I’m alright and how are you?)

Person 1: Avinun tru, yu orait ah? (Good afternoon, how are you?) So, a regular greeting would go like this You can also say Gud nait tru (Very good night). * Similar structure as the morning greeting.

Means “Afternoon”/ “(Very) good afternoon.” Tru = True (In this sense it means “very” to emphasise the morning greeting.) You can also start greeting in the morning starting from 3am. Greetings in those time would be gut/gud nait (good night). In Tok Pisin, time after the sun set until it rises again is night. Person 2: Mi orait, na yu? (I’m good, and yourself?) Person 1: Halo, yu orait ah? (Hello, how are you?) The respondent can also add “…na yu?” (…and you?) or “ …mi orait, na yu orait?” (I’m good, and how are you?) at the end of his reply. The response is “Mi orait” = I am alright. Informally, you can also shorten it in saying “Orait ah?” Halo (Pronounced: Ha-low) = Means “Hello.” This is usually followed by “ Yu orait ah?” meaning “How are you?” I’ve broken it down so you know what you’re saying. Here are some greetings that you can use. So you arrive in Papua New Guinea or you meet someone from there somewhere and want to greet them in Tok Pisin.
