Animals
This is a description of animal words in Toki Pona.
Core and widespread words Edit
akesi Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈa |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1901 |
akesi is a core word relating to herptiles, that is, reptiles and amphibians. Originally, it meant "non-cute animal", however, this sense was deprecated in Toki Pona Dictionary.[1]
kala Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈka |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1914 |
kala is a core word relating to fish and other marine creatures.
kijetesantakalu Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈki |
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Usage | 2023: Common4 (75% , Widespread6↗︎ )2022: Widespread (73%) |
Book and era | nimi ku suli (pre-pu) |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1980 |
kijetesantakalu is a common word and nimi ku suli relating to family Procyonidae.
jan Edit
Pronunciation | /jan//j/ sounds like English Y, as in "fjord" or "hallelujah". |
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Usage | 2023: Core (100% ↗︎ )2022: Core (99%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1911 |
jan is a core word relating to humans.
pipi Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈpi |
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Usage | 2023: Core (99% ↗︎ )2022: Core (98%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1951 |
pipi is a core word relating to bugs.
soweli Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈso |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Core (100% → )2022: Core (100%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1962 |
soweli is a core word relating to animals, specifically land animals and beasts.
waso Edit
Pronunciation | /ˈwa |
---|---|
Usage | 2023: Core (99% → )2022: Core (99%) |
Book and era | nimi pu |
Part of speech | Content word |
Codepoint | U+F1974 |
waso is a core word relating to flying and winged animals, including but not limited to birds. It also includes other animals, such as bats and pterodactyls.
Edge cases Edit
Since the semantic spaces of words often overlap and depend on the speaker, there are some edge cases for some animals.
- Armadillos are perceived as scaly over fuzzy, leading to some people describing them as akesi over soweli, especially when using its armor as defense against predators.
- Elephants and rhinoceroses are not particularly hairy and have thickened, scaley skin but tend to be described as soweli over akesi, a similar thing happens to hippopotamuses.
- Ostriches and emus are unable to use their wings as a primary means of movement and have adapted to living on the ground while moving around very fast, leading speakers to describing them as soweli over waso.
- Penguins are also unable to use their wings as a primary means of movement in air and they have instead adapted to swimming. They may be described as kala.
See also Edit
References Edit
- ↑ Lang, Sonja. (18 July 2021). Toki Pona Dictionary. Illustrated by Vacon Sartirani. Tawhid. ISBN 978-0978292362. p. 13.