poka

poka
Pronunciation	/ˈpo.ka/
Usage	2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%)
Book and era	nimi pu
Part of speech	Content word
Codepoint	󱥒 U+F1952

poka is a core content word, used as a spatial word, relating to something physically on the side.

Etymology

The word poka is derived from Serbo-Croatian bȍk ("side, flank") and its genitive form bȍka.

Semantic space

The semantic space of poka includes the sides and vicinity of something. In relation to the human body, it usually refers to the hips.

When used as a spatial word, poka includes things that are physically beside or surrounding (but not enclosing) something, and is extended to refer to anything nearby. This sense is an antonym to weka, which describes the far-removed.

pu

In the "Official Toki Pona Dictionary" section, the book Toki Pona: The Language of Good defines poka as:

NOUN  hip, side; next to, nearby, vicinity

ku

For Toki Pona Dictionary, respondents in ma pona pi toki pona translated these English words as poka:

side⁵81–100% of respondents, hip⁴61–80% of respondents, beside³41–60% of respondents, aside³41–60% of respondents, closely²21–40% of respondents, left (not right)²21–40% of respondents, sidebar²21–40% of respondents, alongside²21–40% of respondents

sitelen pona

The sitelen pona glyph for poka (󱥒) is derived from a truncated rectangle with a location dot placed besides it. It resembles the glyph for poki (pokipoki), although poki is typically drawn taller. Compare the glyphs for other spatial words—anpa, insa, monsi, sinpin, as well as the secular version of sewi.

sitelen sitelen

The sitelen sitelen glyph for poka (pokapoka) was originally designed to be usable as a container, reflecting the now outdated pre-pu usage of poka as a preposition. (See § Historical usage.)

Historical usage

The subject of this section is historical information that is presented for completeness, and might not reflect current usage.

In pre-pu Toki Pona, poka was used as a preposition meaning "with" or "in the accompaniment of". Before its 2015 update, jan Pije's course taught it as synonymous with lon poka (pi):

Unlike anpa and the rest, poka can also be used directly as a preposition. These two sentences below have the same meaning, but you go about them in a different way:

mi moku poka jan pona mi. -- I ate beside my friend.

mi moku lon poka pi jan pona mi. -- I ate at side of my friend.

This usage is now almost completely unused and considered archaic.

Further reading

• "poka" on lipu Linku
• "poka" on lipu Wikipesija
• "poka" on English Wiktionary