Torres Strait Creole

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Torres Strait Creole (also Torres Strait Pidgin, Torres Strait Broken, Cape York Creole, Lockhart Creole) is a creole language spoken on several Torres Strait Islands (Queensland, Australia). It has approximately 25 000 mother-tongue and bi/tri-lingual speakers and several second-language speakers. It is widely used as a language of trade and commerce. It has around five dialects: Papuan, Western-Central, TI, Eastern, and Cape York. It's main characteristics show that it is a Pacific Pidgin, however the future in X [i] go VERB alligns it with Atlantic Creoles.

Personal Pronouns:

Singular: 1st sub. ai, non-sub. mi; 2nd sub. yu, non-sub. yu; 3rd defining sub. em, non-sub. em; 3rd non-defining sub. i, non-sub. em

Dual: 1st mitu; 1-2 yumi; 2nd yutu; 3rd dhemtu (variant non-sub. -emtu)

Plural: 1st mipla (dialect variant wi); 1-2 yumpla (rhetorical variant yumi); 2nd yupla; 3rd defining dhempla (variant non-sub. -empla); 3rd non-dedfining sub. ol, non-sub. dhempla/-empla

Verb tense/aspect/mood

lugaut 'take care, beware'

remote future bambai X (i) go lugaut

near future X (i) go lugaut

present X (i) lugaut

recent past X (i) zasnau (bin) lugaut

past X (i) bin lugaut

completive past X (i) pinis/oredi lugaut

habitual past X (i) yustu bin lugaut

advice X (i) sud lugaut

obligation X (i) mas/aptu lugaut

dependent obligation X (i) blo lugaut

continuative X (i) matha go

multiplicative X (i) go go go goooo

simplicative X (i) dhasol go, X (i) matha dhasol go

ordinaritive X (i) dhasol go, X (i) kasa (dhasol) go


Related languages are Pijin of the Solomon Islands, Tok Pisin of Papua New Guinea, and Bislama of Vanuatu.

Language code ISO 639-2: cpe.

In other languages