Names

Cartouches in Egyptian hieroglyphs. sitelen pona and sitelen sitelen use similar shapes to enclose names (and for the word nimi).

In Toki Pona, names, also called proper names, proper adjectives, or proper modifiers, are a special type of content word. Traditionally, a name can be any phonotactically valid sequence of sounds, and only occurs as a modifier of a content word. Examples of names include jan Sonja and ma Kanata (Canada).

Headnouns

The head word of a name is commonly called a headnoun, though it can include earlier modifiers before the name or possibly even act as a verb.

The philosophy of Toki Pona is describing your thoughts in simple terms. Therefore, the headnoun indicates the basic nature of the thing being named. In jan Sonja and ma Kanata, the headnouns are jan and ma, respectively. They tell us that Sonja is a jan ("person"), and that Kanata is a ma ("land"), which might be just enough information to realize it refers to Canada.

Headnouns often also distinguish between multiple beings with the same name. For example, in English, "Sydney" could refer to a city, a person, a chatbot, or something else entirely. In Toki Pona, these would be ma (tomo) Sini, jan Sini, and ilo Sini respectively.

Headnouns other than jan

The most common headnoun for the vast majority of speakers is the word jan, meaning "person". However, some speakers choose to use different ones for a variety of reasons. For example, someone who uses the headnoun waso could be:

• otherkin or therian
• a furry with an avian fursona
• someone whose surname is Finch
• wanting to disambiguate themself from someone else with the same Toki Pona name
• presenting with a bird avatar online
• currently paragliding (in some styles of speech)
• casually using a fancy headnoun for fun

Depending on context, speakers with unusual headnouns may be referred to simply by their headnoun.

Writing

Names are not specially marked in speech, potentially causing confusion when the name collides with an existing word (such as jan Luka). Many writing systems distinguish names in some way.

sitelen Lasina

In the Latin script (also called sitelen Lasina), names are the only standard words written with an initial capital letter. This reflects that names are typically capitalized in other Latin-script languages. However, some speakers prefer to not capitalize names or any words at all, although, this is considered nonstandard.

sitelen pona

Original text related to this article:

Toki Pona: The Language of Good § Proper Names

Names in sitelen pona are written with an acronym-like approach. A name is written as multiple words whose starting sounds match those of the name, wrapped inside a nimi-shaped box called a cartouche ([　][　]). The exact choice of words is up to the person being named, or, failing that, the writer. This can be used to convey extra meaning, for example, writing toki Inli (English language) as toki [ijo ni li ike]toki [ijo ni li ike] ("this thing is bad"). Some speakers use syllable- or mora-based approaches instead. nasin sitelen kalama is an attempt to formalize such names while increasing readability.

sitelen sitelen

sitelen sitelen, similar to sitelen pona, puts names in cartouches, but instead of using word glyphs, names are written using a separate set of syllable glyphs.

Tokiponization

This section needs work:

Include an overview of Sonja's recommendations for tokiponization.

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Tokiponization is the process of converting a name to be compatible with Toki Pona phonology and phonotactics. The exact method of doing so varies between people, but a common method is to follow the guidelines written by jan Sonja. Names don't have to be tokiponized if doing so would hinder understanding.

Standardization

The tokiponizations of place and language names given in pu are described as "suggestions". According to a tokipona.org subdomain recounting a 2022 Montreal meetup, place names are in free variation, and slightly different realizations are readily understood, with "no effort or need to choose one Tokiponization as the central or standard one."

Self-determination

Names ought to be determined by the person or group that they refer to. For example, if Canadian Tokiponists broadly agreed that Canada should be tokiponized differently, people should use that tokiponization. One can also break the rules for their name if one so desires.

If the referent has not determined their own name in Toki Pona, it is recommended to make an educated guess at what it would be where possible, such as by using endonyms and native pronunciation. For example, the most common tokiponization for Toronto is ma Towano, rather than ma Tolonto, matching the local pronunciation of the name ([tʰəˈɹɒnow]).

Against names

A fair few people believe that names either don't belong in Toki Pona or are overused. They may see them as a dependency to get around the principle of describing everything, or feel that a hypothetical native Toki Pona culture would only apply proper names to foreigners.

To some extent, even jan Sonja herself argues against the use of names in the first line of her guidelines:

It is always better to translate the "idea" of a foreign word before attempting to create a new phonetic transcription that may not be recognizable by everyone. (Example: Jean Chrétien, Prime Minister of Canada, becomes jan lawa pi ma Kanata, rather than jan Kesijen)

Breaking the rules

The subject of this section is an experimental or hypothetical style that is not understood by most speakers, or is used only in specific small communities. Learners should avoid using it.

As with all parts of Toki Pona, tinkerers love to exceed the boundaries of what's considered a name. Examples include:

• intentionally using disallowed sound groups
• using non-Toki Pona sounds in an otherwise tokiponized name
• using a nimi sin as a headnoun and/or in lieu of a name
• not using a headnoun at all, or leaving it up to the speaker
• in sitelen pona, using a custom "name glyph" that may or may not indicate pronunciation