Linku

Linku is an open-source dictionary project about Toki Pona and the collection of data and tools involving it.^[1] The name Linku was coined by kala Asi in 2021 and is derived from the words linluwi, meaning "internet", and ku, the second book by jan Sonja.^[2] It was originally a temporary name but ended up becoming permanent.

Tools

Linku provides the data set as a public JSON file, called jasima Linku.

lipu Linku, the main dictionary page
nimi.li, an interactive dictionary that extends the Linku data with addition words too obscure or unused to be considered for Linku yet.

Word usage surveys

The Linku team puts out annual word usage surveys, to update the database with the best information, and to allow users to filter the dictionary by their preferred usage cutoff point. kala Asi discussed surveying words in a segment for suno pi toki pona 2023.^[3]

Usage categories

Based on those surveys, Linku has assigned words to a few broad categories since 2022. These are a more granular, more frequently updated replacement for the book presence categories. In the following tables, a bold line represents the cutoff for the categories that are selected by default.

Numbers are rounded to the nearest percentage point (0.5% rounds to 1%).

2023
Category	Users `n` = 868
Core	[90%, 100%]
Widespread	[70%, 90%)
Common	[50%, 70%)
Uncommon	[20%, 50%)
Rare	[10%, 20%)
Obscure^[a]^[b]	[2%, 10%)

2022
Category	Users `n` = 345
Core	[90%, 100%]
Widespread	[70%, 90%)
Common	[50%, 70%)
Uncommon	[20%, 50%)
Rare	[10%, 20%)
Obscure	[1%, 10%)

Survey results

2023 survey results (868 responses)
2022 survey results (345 responses)
The 2022 survey changed the methodology. It asks "do you use this word". Previous years asked "do you consider this word real". Because of this, results from 2022 and after cannot be directly compared to 2021 and before.
2021 survey results (152 responses)
2020 survey results (86 responses)

Notes

↑ In the 2023 results post, the obscure category is split into a high end [5%, 10%) and low end [2%, 5%) purely for readability.
↑ New words below 2% usage are considered not notable for inclusion in the dictionary. Words below this threshold that are already included are planned to be moved into a separate sandbox resource. As of the publication of the 2023 results, this is yet to be done.

References

↑ "About Linku". lipu Linku. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
↑ kala Asi (19 August 2022). Linku li seme?. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. YouTube. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
↑ kala Asi (7 August 2023). wile sona nimi. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. YouTube. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

[4] In the 2023 results post, the obscure category is split into a high end [5%, 10%) and low end [2%, 5%) purely for readability.

[5] New words below 2% usage are considered not notable for inclusion in the dictionary. Words below this threshold that are already included are planned to be moved into a separate sandbox resource. As of the publication of the 2023 results, this is yet to be done.

[1] "About Linku". lipu Linku. Retrieved 16 October 2023.

[asi2022-2] Asi (19 August 2022). Linku li seme?. Archived from the original on 8 June 2023. YouTube. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

[3] Asi (7 August 2023). wile sona nimi. Archived from the original on 18 October 2023. YouTube. Retrieved 18 October 2023.

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[2]

[3]

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Toki Pona
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