Tiếng Hiri Motu

Hiri Motu (Police Motu) is a simplified contact variety of the Motu language of Papua New Guinea, originally developed as a trade lingua franca for the Hiri trading expeditions between the Motu people of Port Moresby and the Gulf Province peoples. The variety was further simplified and standardized by the Royal Papuan Constabulary (Police Motu) and Australian colonial administration in the 19th-early 20th centuries to serve as a regional lingua franca. Hiri Motu became one of three official languages of Papua New Guinea under the 1975 Independence Constitution, alongside English and Tok Pisin. However, since independence Hiri Motu has been steadily losing ground to Tok Pisin (tpi), which has emerged as the dominant pan-PNG lingua franca, particularly in younger generations. Linguistically, Hiri Motu uses simplified Motu phonology and grammar with Australian English-derived loanwords for modern technology.