Nineteen Eighty-Four: Difference between revisions

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'''''Nineteen Eighty-Four''''' or '''''1984''''' is a dystopian novel by {{w|George Orwell}}. In the book, a totalitarian surveillance superstate enforces '''{{w|Newspeak}}''', a simplified controlled language with a limited vocabulary, to suppress free and critical thinking.

Hasty comparisons to ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' are very common,<ref group="lower-alpha">In general, but also about Toki Pona specifically.</ref> to the point that {{a category|owe}} {{tp|[[nimi sin]]}}, '''{{tp|owe}}''' ("Orwellian"), has been coined to [[Joke words|joke]] about it. Whether Newspeak portrays government propaganda realistically in the first place is debatable. The {{w|Linguistic determinism|strong Sapir–Whorf hypothesis}} is generally discredited, and [[Toki Pona]] calls into question whether a language can be used to constrain expression.

Hasty comparisons to ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' are very common,<ref group="lower-alpha">In general, but also about Toki Pona specifically.</ref> to the point that {{a category|owe}} {{tp|[[nimi sin]]}}, '''{{tp|owe}}''' ("Orwellian"), has been coined to [[Joke words|joke]] about it. Whether Newspeak portrays government propaganda realistically in the first place is debatable. The {{w|Linguistic determinism|strong}} [[Sapir–Whorf hypothesis]] is generally discredited, and [[Toki Pona]] calls into question whether a language can be used to constrain expression.

==Differences between Toki Pona and Newspeak==

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* Toki Pona is learned by choice, not by force. It is meant for self-control, not controlling others. It is specialized and is not an [[international auxiliary language]] (IAL), so it is not meant to displace any other language.

* Newspeak would only be practical as the speaker's only language: through their other languages, a polyglot would know of concepts that Newspeak intends to destroy. Toki Pona is meant as a temporary reprieve from other languages. The community specifically does not support raising a child as a Toki Pona monolingual, considering this {{w|language deprivation}}~~<ref~~ ~~group="lower-alpha">The~~ ~~child~~ ~~would~~ not be able to use Toki Pona with most people~~, and~~ would miss the {{w|Critical period hypothesis|critical period to acquire language faculty}}~~.</ref>~~.

* Newspeak would only be practical as the speaker's only language: through their other languages, a polyglot would know of concepts that Newspeak intends to destroy. Toki Pona is meant as a temporary reprieve from other languages. The community specifically does not support raising a child as a Toki Pona monolingual, considering this {{w|language deprivation}}, if mainly because not being able to use Toki Pona with most people would cause the child to miss the {{w|Critical period hypothesis|critical period to acquire language faculty}}.

* While Toki Pona is designed to reflect a certain [[Philosophy|ideology]], it is possible to speak in ways that are incongruous with it. For example, the word {{tp|[[kijetesantakalu]]}} contradicts it, yet is in widespread use. While Newspeak would work to deprecate such a word, Toki Pona [[nimi ku suli|has officially endorsed learning about it]]. Toki Pona's ideology also has no political goal and is not authoritarian.

* Newspeak is a thought experiment with no speakers. It only has a limited description in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' and its appendix, "The Principles of Newspeak". Without making noncanonical additions, Newspeak cannot be realized to the extent that its fictional speakers use it. You might take Orwell's word that Newspeak would have the effects described in ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'', but this is unprovable speculation. Toki Pona is a full, [[Is Toki Pona a real language?|real]], [[Toki Pona: The Language of Good|well-defined]] language with a speaking community. This makes it possible to conduct actual, safe research on its effects.