Nineteen Eighty-Four: Difference between revisions

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|blurb='''''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''''' 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, to the point that {{a category|owe}} {{tp|[[nimi sin]]}}, '''{{tp|[[owe]]}}''', has been coined to [[Joke words|joke]] about it.

}}

[[File:Nineteen Eighty-Four cover Soviet 1984.jpg|~~200px~~|thumb|Book cover of a Soviet edition]]

[[File:Nineteen Eighty-Four cover Soviet 1984.jpg|186x186px|thumb|Book cover of a Soviet edition]]

'''''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.

'''''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 ''1984'' 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==

[[File:Big Brother graffiti in France.JPG|thumb|~~180px~~|alt=Graffiti depicting Big Brother|"Big Brother is watching you"… but Sonja isn't.]]

[[File:Big Brother graffiti in France.JPG|thumb|150px|alt=Graffiti depicting Big Brother|"Big Brother is watching you"… but Sonja isn't.]]

* 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); 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 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}}, 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}}.

* Newspeak would only be practical as the speaker's only language; through their other languages, a polyglot would know concepts that Newspeak wants 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}}, 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 known speakers. It only has a limited description in ''1984'' 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 may 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, so it is possible to conduct actual, safe research on its effects.

* Newspeak is a thought experiment with no known speakers. It only has a limited description in ''1984'' 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 may take Orwell's word that Newspeak would have the effects described in ''1984'', but this is 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, so it is possible to conduct actual, safe research on its effects.

===Vocabulary===

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

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

* Words "that could be dispensed with" are removed from Newspeak. [[Minimalism|Toki Pona has many redundant words]], including [[antonym]]s: {{tp|ike}} ("bad") instead of {{tp|pona ala}} ("ungood"). [[:Category: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" [[semantic space]]s. Most Toki Pona [[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 [[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.

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===Expression===

* It is trivial, and perfectly allowed, to construct Toki Pona phrases that contradict Ingsoc ~~orthodoxy~~. {{tp|nasin pi lawa ma li ken ike.}} "A government's ways can be bad." {{tp|sona ala li wawa ala.}} "Ignorance is not strength."

* It is trivial, and perfectly allowed, to construct Toki Pona phrases that contradict Ingsoc. {{tp|nasin pi lawa ma li ken ike.}} "A government's ways can be bad." {{tp|sona ala li wawa ala.}} "Ignorance is not strength."

* Toki Pona encourages critical thinking because of its limitations. [[mi ken ala toki pona e ijo la mi sona ala e ijo|To discuss something well, you must understand it well]] and figure out an informative way to describe it. This provides new insights and makes it clear when there is an opportunity to learn more about the world.

* By giving practice with [[circumlocution]], Toki Pona can improve your faculty with other languages, rather than erode it. This makes it easier to define terms, and to give descriptions in place of unknown, forgotten terms.