Natural semantic metalanguage
Natural semantic metalanguage (NSM) is a theory in linguistics. It claims that languages can be simplified into a core, universal set of semantic primes, connected with grammatical frames that have equivalents in all languages.[1] While not quite as minimal, Toki Pona speech can be compared to NSM explications.
Semantic primes
The following table lists English[1] and core Toki Pona exponents of semantic primes.
Category | English | Toki Pona |
---|---|---|
Substantives | I | mi |
you | sina | |
someone | jan | |
people | ||
(some)thing | ijo | |
body | sijelo | |
Relational substantives | kind | See Kinds. |
part | See Parts. | |
Determiners | this | ni |
the same | sama | |
other/else | ante | |
Quantifiers | one | wan |
two | tu | |
some | See Some. | |
all | ale | |
much/many | mute | |
little/few | (mute) lili | |
Evaluators | good | pona |
bad | ike | |
Descriptors | big | suli |
small | (suli) lili | |
Mental predicates | think | See Thoughts. |
know | sona | |
want | wile | |
feel | pilin | |
see | lukin | |
hear | kute | |
Speech | say | toki |
words | nimi | |
true | lon | |
Actions, events, movement | do | See Actions. |
happen | ||
true | lon | |
Location, existence, specification: | be (somewhere) | |
there is | ||
be (someone/something) | Any noun used after li (jan, ijo, etc.) | |
Possession | (is) mine | (jo) mi |
Life and death | live | See Life. |
die | moli | |
Time | when/time | tenpo |
now | See Here and now. | |
before | See Before and after. | |
after | ||
a long time | tenpo suli | |
a short time | tenpo lili | |
for some time | See Some. | |
moment | tenpo | |
Space | where/place | ma |
here | See Here and now. | |
above | lon sewi | |
below | lon anpa | |
far | (lon) weka | |
near | lon poka | |
side | poka | |
inside | insa | |
touch | pilin | |
Logical concepts | not | ala |
maybe | ken la / lon ken | |
can | ken | |
because | tan (ni:) | |
if | la / lon ni: | |
Intensifier, augmentor | very | mute/suli/a |
more | See Comparisons. | |
Similarity | like/as/way | sama/nasin |
Semantic molecules
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "What is NSM". Griffith University. Retrieved 17 April 2024.