What is Toki Pona?
Last updated: Friday January 21st, 2022
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If you aren't around a specific corner of the internet, you probably have the same question as the title of this blog: What is Toki Pona?
Well, Toki Pona is what is called a "conlang," or a "constructed language." It was created in the early 2000s by Sonja Lang, a Canadian linguist.
The core principle of Toki Pona is that of simplicity. There are only fourteen letters, and a total of just over 120 words. At this point, one may wonder how it is possible to communicate. Obviously, it is through speaking and writing. However, the language is designed to help speakers concentrate on the basic meaning of a word, and to promote positive thinking and discussion. This can be seen in the name of the language. In the language itself, "Toki Pona" means "the language of good."
Note: Once I delve into the vocabulary, I will not be using capital letters. This is because the language only uses capital letters for proper names. I will still be using capital letters for English sentences, but not for toki pona words or sentences.
The Letters
As previously stated, toki pona only has fourteen letters. These are (in English alphabetical order): a, e, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, s, t, u, and w. This is unusually simple for English speakers, but the language makes it work.
While the consonants are pronounced generally as in English, the vowels are pronounced as such:
a - ah as in "saw"
e - eh as in "wet"
i - ee as in "see"
o - oh as in "sow"
u - oo as in "rue"
A benefit of this system is that the sounds made by these letters are easily pronounceable for speakers of most languages, and thus very few people need to learn how to speak a new sound.
Words and Writing
There are just over 120 words in the entirety of toki pona. There are two (technically three, if you count the Latin script) ways to write this language: sitelen pona, and sitelen sitelen.
Sitelen pona is a system in which each word has its own symbol. This is possible due to the small number of words. It is known by just over 60% of the toki pona community, and is used by over 40%.
The sitelen sitelen system is non-linear, and is on purpose meant to cause writers and readers to slow down. It is inspired by graffiti art, as well having some inspiration from Egyptian hieroglyphics, Maya script, and Chinese characters. It is much less used than the sitelen pona system, as only just over 10% of the community uses it.
A Task For You: Translating Your Name
Translating your name to toki pona is a relatively easy task. You must only use the 14 letters in the language. While this does not affect the vowels to a significant extent, it does effect the consonants.
For instance, a name like "Cole" would be converted to toki pona as "Kol", and that person would be known as "jan Kol," jan roughly meaning "person."
I challenge you to translate your name to toki pona as an exercise to yourself.
Further resources
- Wikipedia page for toki pona
- Spreadsheet containing a list of words, as well as their source language and definition
- Official toki pona website
- Free course on learning toki pona
- sona pi toki pona, a 12-part YouTube series from jan Misali on learning the language. They are currently working on updating the series, so I would suggest checking out his channel for that.
- ma pona pi toki pona, a Discord server for speakers, learners, and those who are just plain interested about toki pona.
In addition, I would also suggest searching "toki pona" on Wikibooks. I have not yet reviewed the resources there, so I do not want to include them, but I feel as if they are useful.
I think I might learn it for fun.
I guess my name would be DaNetsaTulet lol
As for me, I believe my first name would be translated as "Tu", or "Antu," depending on whether you used my full name or nickname.
I think I’m stupid.
what a madlad he did itMiecraft forever
As for f, I am unsure exactly how to go around that. You'd have to take a look there.