Linguists widely recognize that sign languages are, of course, highly complex linguistic systems which meet all the criteria that English-speaking linguists use to define a ‘language’. However, ongoing fieldwork in the Kere community in Chimbu province, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and research with their sign language, Sinasina Sign Language (SSSL), suggests that ‘language’ as a gloss of the Tok Pisin word tok is not entirely accurate. In this paper, I explore culturally specific meanings of tok and Tok Ples (often glossed as ‘vernacular/local languages’) (Levisen et al. 2017). Drawing on community members’ knowledge that SSSL and other sign languages are neither tok nor Tok Ples, as expressed through interviews and collaboration with Kere people, it is clear that these terms exclusively apply to spoken languages. Despite its extreme diversity of spoken languages, there is still very little research with sign languages in Papua New Guinea. Because tok and Tok Ples refer to spoken languages, I also provide recommendations for researchers who use Tok Pisin as a shared language to ask more appropriate questions about sign languages. Addressing the cultural functions of Tok Ples and the term’s exclusive reference to spoken languages has potential implications for language documentation and sign language reporting, semantics, and linguistics more widely, as we reflect further on what ‘language’ means across cultures and languages (Goddard 2013; Levisen et al. 2017).

The differences in meaning between ‘language’ and tok have not yet been consistently addressed in existing literature, including the growing bodies of literature on tok stori and wantok (Kornacki 2019; Nanau 2011; Sanga et al. 2018; Schram 2015). For English-speaking linguists, ‘language’ is modality-neutral, and can refer to signing, speech, writing, and other modes of communication. While we recognize that ‘language’ has social functions, these are not the most salient characteristics of this word’s meaning. Therefore, SSSL is clearly a ‘language’. However, for Kere people, SSSL is not a Tok Ples and signing is not tok. Kere people find the use of these terms for sign languages confusing or strange. In the early years of my work with Kere people, I often tried to ask about signing and deaf people. Language experts denied awareness of any sign language, likely because I consistently used tok or Tok Ples to ask these types of questions, assuming that tok was truly equivalent to the English word ‘language’. Now that our work with SSSL has been ongoing for a few years, we still struggle to find the most appropriate terms for sign languages. Community members often offer aksen, but I have been reluctant to accept it, based on my assumption that aksen is a direct correlate of ‘action’ or ‘gesture’ and that sign languages are clearly ‘language’. I now recognize that tok and Tok Ples have specific meanings for Kere people that are not reflected in the English word ‘language’.

For Kere people, tok and Tok Ples are communication systems which provide social information for the interlocutors by identifying relationships between individuals. Tok Ples names are often identical to ethnonyms, which is not a coincidence (Laycock 2001; Muhlhausler 1996; Pickford 2005). Recognizing an individual’s Tok Ples gives you essential information about them: where they are from; what their clan is; if you have an existing social tie (Merlan & Rumsey 1991). This social function of recognizing relationships is perhaps one of the most salient features of the meaning of the word tok, but only spoken languages fill this role. Kere people do not have a name for SSSL and do not use signing as an indicator of identity. So, for community members, sign languages are not Tok Ples; only spoken languages can be tok.

Understanding this fundamental difference between tok and ‘language’ is essential to talking about sign languages in PNG, especially when using Tok Pisin as a shared language. When we define tok and Tok Ples in English, we must consider the social functions of these communication systems and explicitly state that these terms refer to the spoken languages that fill those functions. When we ask about sign languages, we should not use the term tok. While Kere people use aksen to refer to signing and sign language, this may not be a good alternative either. Like tok, aksen likely has other culturally specific meanings that need to be analyzed further. We linguists recognize that sign languages are languages and that they are important to our field. By recognizing that tok is not quite the same as ‘language’, we can ask better questions, furthering our understanding of culturally specific meanings of ‘language’ and better recognizing sign language diversity in PNG.