A Note on the Grammatical Functions and Patterns of Use of the Function Word Ol in Written Tok Pisin (New Guinea Pidgin)

The aim of this paper is to examine the chief aspects of the synchronic use of the multifunctional word ol (gloss: 3PL/PL) in its characteristic functions of a third-person plural pronoun and a plural marker in Tok Pisin1, recorded in a small group of texts which represent the contemporary written register of Tok Pisin. It is hoped that the undertaken examination of a number of characteristic contexts modified by this particle will shed some light on a prominent aspect of multifunctionality within the nominal morphology of Tok Pisin.