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 (Oceania) 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|[[Special:MyLanguage/nimi sin|nimi sin]]}}, '''{{tp|owe}}''' ("Orwellian"), has been coined to [[Special:MyLanguage/Joke words|joke]] about it. Whether Newspeak portrays government propaganda realistically in the first place is debatable. The {{w|Linguistic determinism|strong}} [[Special:MyLanguage/Sapir–Whorf hypothesis|Sapir–Whorf hypothesis]] is generally discredited, and [[Special:MyLanguage/Toki Pona|Toki Pona]] calls into question whether a language can be used to constrain expression.

'''''Nineteen Eighty-Four''''' or '''''1984''''' is a dystopian novel by {{w|George Orwell}}. In the book, a totalitarian surveillance superstate (Oceania) 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><ref>{{cite roundtable |page=26–27}}</ref> to the point that {{a category|owe}} {{tp|[[Special:MyLanguage/nimi sin|nimi sin]]}}, '''{{tp|owe}}''' ("Orwellian"), has been coined to [[Special:MyLanguage/Joke words|joke]] about it. Whether Newspeak portrays government propaganda realistically in the first place is debatable. The {{w|Linguistic determinism|strong}} [[Special:MyLanguage/Sapir–Whorf hypothesis|Sapir–Whorf hypothesis]] is generally discredited, and [[Special:MyLanguage/Toki Pona|Toki Pona]] calls into question whether a language can be used to constrain expression.

==Differences between Toki Pona and Newspeak==

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* Newspeak has a continually diminishing vocabulary. Toki Pona's vocabulary has expanded since the publication of the book {{pu|en}}. [[Special:MyLanguage/nimi sin|Words made and revived by the community]] have entered widespread use. 17 such words, the {{tp|[[Special:MyLanguage/nimi ku suli|nimi ku suli]]}}, are officially endorsed in the {{ku|en}}.

* Newspeak has a continually diminishing vocabulary. Toki Pona's vocabulary has expanded since (and even <em>with</em><ref>{{cite web|url=//amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R2Q6HW5A6Q94IQ|title=Customer Review|author=Clifford, John E.|username=|date=August 21, 2014|website=Amazon|publisher=|access-date=2024-04-06|quote=}}</ref>) the publication of the book {{pu|en}}. [[Special:MyLanguage/nimi sin|Words made and revived by the community]] have entered widespread use. 17 such words, the {{tp|[[Special:MyLanguage/nimi ku suli|nimi ku suli]]}}, are officially endorsed in the {{ku|en}}.

* Words "that could be dispensed with" are removed from Newspeak. [[Special:MyLanguage/Minimalism|Toki Pona has many redundant words]], including [[Special:MyLanguage/antonym|antonym]]s: {{tp|ike}} ("bad") instead of {{tp|pona ala}} ("ungood"). [[Special:MyLanguage/Styles of Toki Pona|Styles of Toki Pona]] that experiment with removing words are generally not motivated by minimizing redundancy.

* Newspeak words have "rigid", "exact and often very subtle" [[Special:MyLanguage/semantic space|semantic space]]s. Most Toki Pona [[Special:MyLanguage/content word|content word]]s are extremely broad in meaning, covering physical and abstract concepts, and so are able to express various shades of meaning depending on [[Special:MyLanguage/context|context]]. The goal is to express as much of universal human experience as possible in a low amount of words. With enough practice and effort, you can say anything in Toki Pona.