Common lexicalizations: Difference between revisions

An important part of ''[[toki pona]]'' philosophy is that the speaker must think about what something is at its core before they can talk about it. Fixed phrases for specific things, (also known as [[Lexicalization|lexicalizationslexicalization]])s, are frowned upon, as they sidestep that aspect, while also forcing other speakers to memorize such combinations and making it difficult to use them to refer to other things. Nonetheless, some lexicalizations do creep into common usage. This page aims to catalog them and provide ideas for alternatives (which doesn't mean you shouldn't try to think of your own).

| ''[[toki pona]]''<ref>Same goes for ''[[sitelen pona]]'' and such.</ref> || the language of good by Sonja Lang || toki ni, toki pi jan Sonja, toki lili, toki pi nimi lili

| ''tomo tawa''<ref>Funnily enough, ''pu'' uses this as part of a call ''not'' to lexicalize, proposing ''ilo tawa'' from the perspective of a driver and ''kiwen tawa'' from that of a nearly-hit pedestrian.</ref> || car || ilo tawa, poki tawa, soweli ilo

| ma pona || the Discord server ''[[ma pona pi toki pona]]'' || ma ni, ma pi suli nanpa wan, ma pi akesi Jan

| jan sin || newbie, especially in a ''toki pona'' context || jan pi kama sona, jan pi sona lili

| ''nimi sin''<ref>Often merged into ''[[nimisin]]'', itself a new word.</ref> || word created after (sometimes even before) ''pu''/''ku'' || nimi namako, nimi pi [pu/ku] ala, nimi nasa

| ''ken la || maybe || ni li ken''

| ''supa lape || bed || ilo lape, supa ko''