New Perspectives on Endangered Languages. Bridging gaps ...

This takes us to further functions of code-switching with Tok Pisin,
and with English. 8
A further major function of Tok Pisin is that of a language of
authority, also known as 'DIRECTIVE' function. Consider the following
interaction. The mother was getting more and more annoyed with a five-
year-old girl trying to pull bits off the string bag the mother was knitting.
She starts telling her off in Manambu (7), and then switches to a mixture of
English and Tok Pisin (8): this makes the threat real and immediate. the girl
runs away. English forms are in bold face.
(7) a kur-tukwa da-n ada
then do-PROH go.down-SEQ sit:IMPV
‘Don't do (it), sit down’
(8) naughty yu stupid idiot
naughty you stupid idiot
bai mi pait-im yu nogut tru
FUT I hit-TRANSITIVISER you bad/strong really
'Naughty, stupid idiot, I will hit you really strongly'
8 The status of frequently used Tok Pisin and English forms as loans or as code-switches is
not easy to ascertain (as is often the case with such distinction: see discussion in Aikhenvald
and Dixon 2006: 333-4 and references there). For the purposes of this paper, we treat all
Tok Pisin and English inserts as code-switches. The problem of potential influence of
Manambu on the Tok Pisin of the area (in the spirit of Ramallo's 2007 discussion of contactinduced
change in varieties of Spanish spoken in the areas of Spain whose inhabitants were
not originally Spanish-speaking) is a matter for future study.
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