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Table of Contents

  1. Introduction for English speakers
  2. o kama pona!
  3. ma ante
  4. musi mi
  5. ситэлэн килилиса

Introduction for English speakers

Welcome to my Toki Pona shrine!

Toki Pona (self-stylization: "toki pona") is an artificial minimalist language that only features around 130 words in total, with a simple grammar to go alongside it. It was invented several decades ago by Sonja Lang to help cope with her depression.

Toki Pona's high concept essentially is: a language that through its inherent limitations forces you to focus your thoughts on the very core essence of what you really want to express, without all the cumbersome fluff that comes with speaking naturally grown languages.

Words, for instance, do not have a specific, rigid meaning, but rather describe a whole stretch of associated concepts at the same time. Words can be used as verbs, nouns, adjectives or any other word type. With that small and ambiguous a vocabulary, contrary to what you might expect, thanks to toki pona's very clever and modular grammar rules, you can actually express just about anything if you so please, without having to rely on a natural language like English as a backup!

Over time, a strong online community of toki pona speakers and enthusiasts has grown, one that tends to be inclusive, young and very diverse. There are tons of projects out there in toki pona, including video channels, fan fiction, regular VRChat meetups, an entire online encyclopedia, and much more. The toki pona community is expansive and welcoming.

As a linguist, I of course loved the concept when I learned about it and promptly studied it. For over six years now, I have been writing and talking toki pona, and I consider myself part of its vibrant community.

This shrine is not only my declaration of love to this language, but also features my toki pona projects!

Banner: Come learn Toki Pona on Libre Town!

If you want to learn toki pona, I am currently working on a comprehensive course on how to learn the langage that you can access here in the future! Such a thing does take a while to complete though, so don't hold your breath.

··· o kama pona! ···

mi jan [_linja_ilo_jo_ante_nasin_ante]. lipu ni li tomo kon. lipu ni la, mi toki e pilin mi tawa toki+pona e pali mi pi toki+pona.

tenpo sike luka tu la, mi sona e toki+pona! musi mi mute li kepeken toki+pona.

kon nimi pi toki+pona li suli. nimi ale pi toki+pona li jo e kon mute. tan ona la, nasin pi toki+pona li pona mute tawa mi.

nasin sitelen mi li sitelen [_linja_ante_sijelo_insa_ni_ante], li sitelen+pona, li sitelen+sitelen, li sitelen [_kili_insa_li_insa_li_insa_sitelen_ante].

··· ma ante ···

sina wile la, o toki e jan ante kepeken ilo [_mije_ante_soweli_ona_toki_ona_nasin]: tomo toki [_soko_olin_soko_e_linja_insa]

mi kama sona e tomo toki+pona ante la, mi wile pana e nimi ilo ona tawa lipu ni.

··· musi mi ···

mi pini pali e musi mute kepeken toki+pona:

ken mi li suli la, mi wile pini pali e musi pi ilo nanpa.

ситэлэн килилиса

ми токи э токи Луси. тан она ла, ми кэн кэпэкэн ситэлэн Килилиса. сина вилэ кэпэкэн ситэлэн ни ла, о кэпэкэн ними ило ни.

ними ли ё э ситэлэн "й"/"j" ла, ми кэпэкэн ситэлэн она: "я" (ja), "е" (je), "ё" (jo), "ю" (ju). тан она ла, ними "jan" ли "ян" ли "йан" ала. ними пи совэли сэви ли "киетэсантакалу".