Datapoint Tok Pisin/Occurrence of nominal plural markers

Values

Variable plural marking of human or inanimate nouns

Example 22-19:
Mi lukim ol dok i ranim pik bilong mi.
Mi
1sg
luk-im
see-tr
ol
pl
dok
dog
i
pm
ran-im
run-tr
pik
pig
bilong
poss
mi.
1sg
I saw the dogs that chased my pig.

Source: Dutton and Thomas 1985: 140

Example 22-44:
Displa pik em i bin sae kaikaim ol man.
Displa
this
pik
pig
em
3sg
i
pm
bin
pst
sae
hab
kaikai-m
bite-tr
ol
pl
man
man
This pig used to bite people.

Source: nd: Keravat5\Gibson\enb\m18\islan

Example 22-45:
Askim ol lapun.
Askim
ask
ol
pl
lapun.
old.person
Ask older people.

Source: Verhaar 1995: 347

Example 22-46:
Em i stap nau ma(ma) bl' em wokim spia nao em i kam nau ma bl' em wokim ol bet.
Em
3sg
i
pm
stap
stay
nau
now
ma(ma)
mother
bl'
poss
em
3sg
wokim
make
spia
spear
nao
now
em
3sg
i
pm
kam
come
nau
now
ma
mother
bl'
poss
em
3sg
wokim
make
ol
pl
bet.
bed
He stayed and his mother made arrows, he came and his mother made beds.

Source: Smith 2002: 66

Confidence:
Very certain