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[[Toki Pona]] has several words, hereon the '''book words''', relating to works in the ''[[Official Toki Pona]]'' series:
*{{tp|[[pu]]}}, "(interacting with) {{pu|en}}"
*{{tp|[[ku]]}}, "(interacting with) {{ku|en}}"
These words are generally used to refer to the books themselves, the [[era]]s that their respective publications introduced, and the [[styles of speech]] that they include.
Even in Toki Pona, theThe book words are predominantly used in {{wikt|meta}} discussions about the language. Speakers also use these words in communications in other languages, effectively as short replacements for the book titles, even outside of [[Toki Ponglish]]. According to a study by {{tok|[[jan Kekan San]]}}, the words {{tp|pu}} and {{tp|ku}} are used in non-Toki Pona sentences over two thirds of the time.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=//discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/1250592437085274152/1250592437085274152|thread=Word frequency in Toki Pona|channel={{tok|toki-suli}}|server={{tp|ma pona pi toki pona}}|author={{tok|[[jan Kekan San]]}}|username=gregdan3|access-date=2024-06-14|quote=here's where it gets interesting: 69.4% of {{tp|pu}}'s uses are in non-tp sentences. 68.7% of {{tok|ku}}'s uses are in non-tp sentences. this is true even against their 80th and 126th place frequency rankings, 14k uses and 6k uses respectively in tp sentences. put another way, these words are used significantly more often in english than in toki pona! roughly speaking, for every 10 uses of these words, you'd see ~3 in toki pona and ~7 in anything besides toki pona.}}</ref>
In {{tp|[[sitelen sitelen]]}}, the book words do not have their own [[word glyph]]s and are written as [[syllable glyph]]s instead, somewhat like [[name]]s. Similarly, in {{tp|[[luka pona]]}}, they are fingerspelled.
===Extensions===
{{Nonstandard|Start section|experimental}}
A minority of speakers ascribe extended meanings to these words, generally either to make them more useful by expanding their [[semantic space]]s, or in conjunction with other [[#Criticism|criticism]].
For example, ''Toki Pona Dictionary'' attests uses of {{tp|pu}} for "official(ly)" and "constitution", and {{tp|pu ala}} for "slang", although these are all listed as below majority usage.<ref>{{cite ku|336}}</ref> An April 2024 proposal that began in {{tp|[[ma pona pi toki pona]]}}<ref>{{citationcite neededDiscord|url=//discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/375591429608570881/1225665178411204681|channel={{tok|sona-musi}}|server={{tp|ma pona pi toki pona}}|author={{tok|ijo Amali}}|username=c_rr_t|access-date=2024-04-06|reasonquote=Primary}}<blockquote>i've sourcebeen thinking about how specific the meanings of "{{tok|pu}}", "{{tok|ku}}", and "{{tok|su}}" are, and how weird it is that they refer to ''these three specific books'' since toki pona is meant to be a very general language<br />what if we were to have "{{tok|pu}}" mean "to interact with any toki pona course",<br />"{{tok|ku}}" mean "to interact with any toki pona dictionary"<br />and "{{tok|su}}" mean "to interact with a story, illustrarion [''{{w|sic}}''], piece of art, etc. written in toki pona"</blockquote></ref> coins similar meanings such as "accepted" and "{{w|[[descriptivist}}]]" for {{tp|ku}}, and "fictional" and "{{wikt|applied}}" for {{tp|su}}.<ref name="reasonable redefinition">{{cite web|url=//lukapona.blogspot.com/2024/04/su-ku-reasonable-redefinition-pu.html|title={{tok|pu}}, {{tok|ku}} & {{tok|su}} - A Reasonable Redefinition|author={{tok|jan Olipija}}|username=|date=|website={{tok|luka pona}}|publisher=Blogspot|access-date=2024-04-06|quote=}}</ref>
{{End section}}
==Criticism==
Despite the high usage ofWhile the word {{tp|pu}} sees near-universal usage as of the 2023 {{tok|[[Linku]]}} survey, some [[Tokiponists]] have criticized the book words.
OneIn an essay{{citation needed|date=2024-04-06|reason=whose? Is this, {{tok|jan Olipija}}'s blog?}} callscalled the words a sign of "an internal contradiction" between Toki Pona as "the language of the community" and Toki Pona as "inextricably linked to the works of {{tok|[[jan Sonja]]}}", and argues that they reveal {{w|Linguistic prescriptivism|[[prescriptivist}}]] tendencies.<ref name="reasonable redefinition" />
Conflicts with Toki Pona's [[philosophy]] and [[grammar]] have also been perceived, from arguments about [[Minimalism|word count allocation]],<ref name="reasonable redefinition" /> to the words effectively functioning as {{w|proper noun}}s and not standard names. However, the book words have also been defended on these fronts. Regarding the word {{tp|pu}} in 2017, {{tok|[[jan Misali]]}} asserted that Toki Pona is "the sort of language that would have the goal of having as few words as possible but then add an extra word [[Joke words|as a joke]]."<ref>{{sect|Source:jan Misali's thoughts on words#pu|Source:{{tok|jan Misali}}'s thoughts on words#pu}}</ref>
==References==
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