Europeans first became interested in Papua New Guinea in the early 1800's. At this time they were whaling and discovered that this island had things to offer. Sandalwood and bêche-de-mer, a snail believed to be an aphrodisiac, these were the main interests of the Europeans. Early contact languages developed, with the adoption of various words. Pikinini meaning child was adopted from pequeño from either Spanish or Portuguese, few but not many other worlds from English were picked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tok Pisin continued to stabilize into several main forms depending on geography, including Tok Pisin. In 1975, PNG was declared an independent country, and interestingly enough decided to maintain ties to Britain and keep the Queen as the symbolic head of state. Papua New Guinea, while I am sure it had it's share of problems, it seems that it's people were treated substantially better than other colonies at the hands of the Europeans. Europeans were unable to extract resources as easily because of the density of the jungle and also the extreme slopes. This has made establishing an infrastructure nearly impossible, which in part has allowed the majority of the population to continue it's traditional lifestyle of sustenance farming and hunting. Even today, some areas are accessible only by small plane or even foot. I feel this has done great in preserving and protecting the land and the people, while allowing their incredible cultures to prosper in the extremely productive and diverse ecosystems of PNG.

Perception of the development Tok Pisin from a Native Speaker.

Bilong Sounds Pronouns Birds Art Index

In the mid 1800's islanders were brought, argued quite plausibly, forced to work on plantations. Having been brought from many of the different islands and mainland areas, a common tongue was not shared. A lingua franca was formed between the workers and with the bosses from mix of the languages. When the labor contracts expired, the workers returned home bringing with them the pidgin language they had formed. The variations grew, some becoming dominant over others, continually increasing in vocabulary and grammatical sophistication as it was spoken more frequently by more people. When the Germans took control over the north of PNG, they attempted to stamp out what they felt was an inferior language, but to no avail.

After World War I, control of Papua New Guinea was transferred to Australia. There were changes made to political boundaries and protocol alterations, but nothing truly significant.