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[[TokiThe Pona]]'s '''{{wp|phonotactics}}''' of [[Toki Pona]], orthat is the rules for putting sounds together, are well defined. Unlike its [[phonology]], knowing the phonotactics is not needed to speak the language orally, since the main set of words already adheres to them. It is most useful for creating [[name]]s and {{tp|[[nimisinnimi sin]]}}. An asterisk marks a sequence that is not allowed phonotactically.
 
An *asterisk marks a sequence that is not allowed phonotactically.
 
==Rules==
In itsthe lesson "Proper Names" lesson, {{pu}} lists the phonotactic rules of Toki Pona in the following order.:<ref>{{cite pu|37}}</ref>
 
# '''(C)V({{tp|n}}) syllable structure''': "Each syllable consists of a consonant plus a vowel, plus an optional {{tp|n}}."
# '''Null onset is word-initial only''': "The first syllable of a word does not need to begin with a consonant." {{Indent|As a corollary, every syllable after the first <em>does</em> need to begin with a consonant, thus is CV({{tp|n}}). There are no adjacent vowels or {{wp|diphthong}}s. The sequence {{tp|ana}} is syllabified as {{tp|a&#x2027;na}} (2 morae), not {{tp|an&#x2027;a}} (3 morae).}}
# '''No {{tp|*ti}}''': "The syllables {{tp|*ti}} and {{tp|*tin}} become {{tp|si}} and {{tp|sin}}." {{Indent|This rule concerns [[#Palatalization|palatalization]].}}
#: As a corollary, every syllable after the first <em>does</em> need to begin with a consonant, thus is CV({{tp|n}}). There are no adjacent vowels or {{wp|diphthong}}s. The sequence {{tp|ana}} is syllabified as {{tp|a&#x2027;na}} (2 morae), not {{tp|an&#x2027;a}} (3 morae).
# '''No {{tp|*ti}}''': "The syllables {{tp|[*]ti}} and {{tp|[*]tin}} become {{tp|si}} and {{tp|sin}}."
#: This rule concerns [[#Palatalization|palatalization]].
# '''No {{tp|*wo}} or {{tp|*wu}}''': "The consonant {{tp|w}} cannot appear before {{tp|o}} or {{tp|u}}."
# '''No {{tp|*ji}}''': "The consonant {{tp|j}} cannot appear before {{tp|i}}." {{Indent|These two rules cover the same thing. {{tp|*wo}}, {{tp|*wu}}, and {{tp|*ji}} are disallowed because the semivowel in the onset, {{tp|w}} or {{tp|j}}, can be hard to distinguish from the vowel. The syllables would sound too close to {{tp|o}}, {{tp|u}}, and {{tp|i}}, respectively.}}
#: These two rules cover the same thing. {{tp|*wo}}, {{tp|*wu}}, and {{tp|*ji}} are disallowed because the semivowel in the onset, {{tp|w}} or {{tp|j}}, can be hard to distinguish from the vowel. The syllables would sound too close to {{tp|o}}, {{tp|u}}, and {{tp|i}}, respectively.
 
At least one other rule is often noted:
 
* '''No adjacent nasals.''' {{Indent|In sequences like {{tp|*anna}} and {{tp|*anma}}, the first syllable's coda {{tp|-n}} would {{wp|Assimilation (phonology)|assimilate}} to the second syllable's onset nasal: respectively {{tp|ana}} and {{tp|ama}}.}}
* '''No adjacent nasals.'''
*: In sequences like {{tp|*anna}} and {{tp|*anma}}, the first syllable's coda {{tp|-n}} would {{wp|Assimilation (phonology)|assimilate}} to the second syllable's onset nasal: respectively {{tp|ana}} and {{tp|ama}}.<ref group="lower-alpha">Assimilation of coda {{tp|-n}} is also responsible for words like {{tp|anpa}} sometimes being pronounced like {{IPA|[ampa]}}, and words like {{tp|enko}} (an obscure {{tp|nimisin}}) being pronounced like {{IPA|[eŋko]}}.<br />As a result, coda {{tp|-n}} is sometimes defined as {{IPA|[m ~ n ~ ŋ]}}, unlike onset {{tp|n-}} which is strictly {{IPA|[n]}}.</ref>
 
==Palatalization=Coda nasal===
The '''coda nasal''' or '''moraic nasal''' is an {{w|archiphoneme}} of syllable-final {{tp|-n}}, sometimes transcribed as '''{{IPA|/N/}}''' and realized as {{IPA|[<nowiki />{{w|Bilabial nasal|m}} ~ {{w|Alveolar nasal|n}} ~ {{w|Palatal nasal|ɲ}} ~ {{w|Velar nasal|ŋ}}<nowiki />]}} depending on context. It can {{w|Assimilation (phonology)|assimilate}} to the {{w|place of articulation}} of the following consonant.
{{tp|*ti}} is disallowed because of {{wp|Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization}}, a common sound shift that has occurred in many languages. An English example is the suffix "-tion", as in "motion". The {{IPA|/ti/}} has been palatalized to {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, so it sounds like "-sion" as in "mission". For the same reason, {{tp|*ti}} is changed to {{tp|si}}.
 
For example, {{tp|[[anpa]]}} may be pronounced as {{IPA|[ˈa<mark>mp</mark>a]}}; {{tp|[[linja]]}} may be pronounced as {{IPA|['li<mark>ɲj</mark>a]}};<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/828474497865744444/1160900495838294136|name={{tok|jan Juwan}}|username=juwan.|message-type=Informal poll|channel={{tok|sona-kulupu}}|server={{tp|ma pona pi toki pona}}|quote=how do you pronounce 'linja'? (multiple answers are fine)"|access-date=12 October 2023}}
Because {{IPA|/k/}} can also be palatalized<ref group="lower-alpha">This is why the letter C, originally {{IPA|/k/}}, now has soft and hard sounds.</ref>, many languages merge {{IPA|[ki ti si]}}. There are no {{tp|ki&ndash;si}} minimal pairs in the 120 {{tp|[[nimi pu]]}}, and among all [[ijo Linku#Word usage surveys|commonly used words]], only {{tp|kin}} can be mistaken for {{tp|sin}}.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align: center;"
! Option
! Votes
|-
! {{IPA|[ˈlin.ja]}}
| 42
|-
! {{IPA|[ˈli.nja]}}
| 3
|-
! {{IPA|[ˈliɲ.ja]}}
| 24
|-
! {{IPA|[ˈli.ɲa]}}
| 20
|-
! Other
| 4
|}
</ref> and {{tp|ma [[Sonko]]}} (a [[place name]] for {{w|China}}) may be pronounced as {{IPA|[ma ˈso<mark>ŋk</mark>o]}}.
 
Other speakers try to carefully pronounce the coda nasal as its written value {{IPA|[n]}}, just like {{tp|n-}} at the start of a syllable. This is not always consistent between all words, or all instances of pronouncing them, and assimilation is more common in rapid speech.
=={{tp|wuwojiti}}==
 
<div style="float:right;margin:0 0 1em 1em;">
===Palatalization===
{|class="wikitable"
The syllable {{tp|*ti}} is disallowed because of '''{{w|Palatalization (sound change)|palatalization}}''', a common sound change that has occurred in many languages. An English example is the suffix "-tion", as in "motion". The previous phonemes {{IPA|/ti/}} have been palatalized to {{IPA|/{{w|Voiceless postalveolar fricative|ʃ}}/}}, so it sounds like "-sion" as in "mission". For the same reason, Toki Pona {{tp|*ti}} is changed to {{tp|si}}.
!Disallowed<br />syllable
 
!colspan="2"|Alternatives
As the phoneme {{IPA|/k/}} can also be palatalized, many languages merge {{IPA|[ki ti si]}}. There are no minimal pairs between {{tp|ki}} and {{tp|si}} in the 120 {{tp|[[nimi pu]]}} and among all [[ijo Linku#Word usage surveys|commonly used words]], except for the word {{tp|kin}} which could be mistaken for {{tp|sin}}.
 
==={{tp|wuwojiti}}===
{{nimi|wuwojiti
| PoS = content word
}}
'''{{tp|wuwojiti}}''' is a {{w|mnemonic}} word for the disallowed syllables in [[Toki Pona]] phonotactics: {{tp|*wu}}, {{tp|*wo}}, {{tp|*ji}}, {{tp|*ti}}, and their equivalents with coda nasal. Some uncommon {{tp|[[nimi sin]]}} flout this rule, often as a joke. The word is also uncommonly extended as {{tp|wuwojitinmanna}} to showcase the "no adjacent nasals" rule.
 
The word {{tp|wuwojiti}} possibly originated as a name by {{w|Discord}} user {{tok|jan Wuwojiti}} in the {{tp|[[ma pona pi toki pona]]}} community.<ref>{{cite Discord|url=https://discord.com/channels/301377942062366741/301377942062366741/439929044528660480|name=Netscape|username=Netscape#5728|channel={{tok|toki-pona}}|server={{tp|ma pona pi toki pona}}|access-date=2023-12-11|quote={{tok|mi jan Wuwojiti}}}}</ref> Later, the name was used as a word or mnemonic.
 
The following table shows some accepted alternatives to the disallowed syllables.
 
{| class="wikitable"
! Disallowed syllable
! colspan="3" | Alternatives
|-
! {{tp|*wu(n)}}
| {{tp|u(n)}}<ref group="lower-roman" name="word-initially">Chiefly word-initially.</ref>
|{{tp|u(n)}} ^
|rowspan="2"|{{tp|waju(n)}}
| rowspan="2" | {{tp|wa(n)}}
|-
! {{tp|*wo(n)}}
| {{tp|o(n)}}<ref group="lower-roman" ^name="word-initially"/>
|{{tp|jo(n)}}
|-
! {{tp|*ji(n)}}
| {{tp|i(n)}}<ref group="lower-roman" ^name="word-initially"/>
|{{tp|jewi(n)}}
| {{tp|je(n)}}
|-
! {{tp|*ti(n)}}
| colspan="2" | {{tp|si(n)}}
| {{tp|te(n)}}
|}
 
<center>^ <small>Word-initially</small></center>
'''Notes:'''
</div>
<references group="lower-roman"/>
'''{{tp|wuwojiti}}''' is a mnemonic for the disallowed syllables in [[Toki Pona]] phonotactics: {{tp|*wu}}, {{tp|*wo}}, {{tp|*ji}}, {{tp|*ti}}, and their equivalents with coda {{tp|-n}}. Some less common {{tp|nimisin}} flout this rule, often as a joke.
 
{{tp|wuwojiti}} also inspired {{a category|wawajete}}, self-demonstrating content word, {{tp|[[wawajete]]}}, which relates to acts that appear to break rules despite not actually breaking them.
 
==Syllables==
The following chart shows all 92 {{w|syllable}}s under Toki Pona phonotactics. Despite that all of these syallbles are hypothetically possible, only 68 of these are used in the {{tp|[[nimi pu]]}}. Additionally, 4 marginal syllables are used in {{tp|[[nimi ku suli]]}} and 3 more in the {{tp|[[nimi ku lili]]}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/340307145373253642/910477232810647572/unknown.png|title=Every toki pona syllable|website=Discord|author={{tok|jan Talija}}|username=@nehemiagurl|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231113191511/https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/340307145373253642/910477232810647572/unknown.png|archive-date=2023-11-13}}</ref>
This is a chart of every syllable under Toki Pona phonotactics.
 
{| class="wikitable" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none; text-align: center;"
!
!{{tp|&empty;}}
! colspan="5" | Null coda
!rowspan="10" style="padding:0.4em 0.2em;text-orientation:sideways;transform:rotate(0.5turn);width:1.6em;writing-mode:vertical-rl;"|Null coda
! colspan="5" | Coda nasal
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|a}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|e}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|i}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|o}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|u}}
!rowspan="10" style="padding:0.4em 0.2em;text-orientation:sideways;transform:rotate(0.5turn);width:1.6em;writing-mode:vertical-rl;"|Coda {{tp|-n}}<ref group="lower-alpha">Syllables with coda {{tp|-n}} are 2 {{wp|Mora (linguistics)|morae}}.</ref>
|style="width:2em;"|{{tp|an}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|en}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|in}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|on}}||style="width:2em;"|{{tp|un}}
|-
! &empty;
!{{tp|j}}
|{{tp|ja}}||{{tp|je}}|| style="backgroundwidth:#ececec2em;" |&ndash;||{{tp|jo}}|| {{tp|jua}}
|{{tp|jan}}||{{tp|jen}}|| style="backgroundwidth:#ececec2em;" |&ndash;||{{tp|jon}}|| {{tp|june}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|i}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|o}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|u}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|an}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|en}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|in}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|on}}
| style="width:2em;" | {{tp|un}}
|-
! {{tp|kj}}
| {{tp|ja}}
|{{tp|ka}}||{{tp|ke}}||{{tp|ki}}||{{tp|ko}}||{{tp|ku}}
| {{tp|je}}
|{{tp|kan}}||{{tp|ken}}||{{tp|kin}}||{{tp|kon}}||{{tp|kun}}
| {{N/A}}
| {{tp|jo}}
| {{tp|ju}}
| {{tp|jan}}
| {{tp|jen}}
| {{N/A}}
| {{tp|jon}}
| {{tp|jun}}
|-
! {{tp|lk}}
| {{tp|ka}}
|{{tp|la}}||{{tp|le}}||{{tp|li}}||{{tp|lo}}||{{tp|lu}}
| {{tp|ke}}
|{{tp|lan}}||{{tp|len}}||{{tp|lin}}||{{tp|lon}}||{{tp|lun}}
| {{tp|ki}}
| {{tp|ko}}
| {{tp|ku}}
| {{tp|kan}}
| {{tp|ken}}
| {{tp|kin}}
| {{tp|kon}}
| {{tp|kun}}
|-
! {{tp|ml}}
| {{tp|la}}
|{{tp|ma}}||{{tp|me}}||{{tp|mi}}||{{tp|mo}}||{{tp|mu}}
| {{tp|le}}
|{{tp|man}}||{{tp|men}}||{{tp|min}}||{{tp|mon}}||{{tp|mun}}
| {{tp|li}}
| {{tp|lo}}
| {{tp|lu}}
| {{tp|lan}}
| {{tp|len}}
| {{tp|lin}}
| {{tp|lon}}
| {{tp|lun}}
|-
! {{tp|nm}}
| {{tp|ma}}
|{{tp|na}}||{{tp|ne}}||{{tp|ni}}||{{tp|no}}||{{tp|nu}}
| {{tp|me}}
|{{tp|nan}}||{{tp|nen}}||{{tp|nin}}||{{tp|non}}||{{tp|nun}}
| {{tp|mi}}
| {{tp|mo}}
| {{tp|mu}}
| {{tp|man}}
| {{tp|men}}
| {{tp|min}}
| {{tp|mon}}
| {{tp|mun}}
|-
! {{tp|pn}}
| {{tp|na}}
|{{tp|pa}}||{{tp|pe}}||{{tp|pi}}||{{tp|po}}||{{tp|pu}}
| {{tp|ne}}
|{{tp|pan}}||{{tp|pen}}||{{tp|pin}}||{{tp|pon}}||{{tp|pun}}
| {{tp|ni}}
| {{tp|no}}
| {{tp|nu}}
| {{tp|nan}}
| {{tp|nen}}
| {{tp|nin}}
| {{tp|non}}
| {{tp|nun}}
|-
! {{tp|sp}}
| {{tp|pa}}
|{{tp|sa}}||{{tp|se}}||{{tp|si}}||{{tp|so}}||{{tp|su}}
| {{tp|pe}}
|{{tp|san}}||{{tp|sen}}||{{tp|sin}}||{{tp|son}}||{{tp|sun}}
| {{tp|pi}}
| {{tp|po}}
| {{tp|pu}}
| {{tp|pan}}
| {{tp|pen}}
| {{tp|pin}}
| {{tp|pon}}
| {{tp|pun}}
|-
! {{tp|ts}}
| {{tp|sa}}
|{{tp|ta}}||{{tp|te}}||style="background:#ececec;"|&ndash;||{{tp|to}}||{{tp|tu}}
| {{tp|se}}
|{{tp|tan}}||{{tp|ten}}||style="background:#ececec;"|&ndash;||{{tp|ton}}||{{tp|tun}}
| {{tp|si}}
| {{tp|so}}
| {{tp|su}}
| {{tp|san}}
| {{tp|sen}}
| {{tp|sin}}
| {{tp|son}}
| {{tp|sun}}
|-
! {{tp|wt}}
| {{tp|ta}}
|{{tp|wa}}||{{tp|we}}||{{tp|wi}}||colspan="2" style="background:#ececec;"|&ndash;
| {{tp|te}}
|{{tp|wan}}||{{tp|wen}}||{{tp|win}}||colspan="2" style="background:#ececec;"|&ndash;
| {{N/A}}
| {{tp|to}}
| {{tp|tu}}
| {{tp|tan}}
| {{tp|ten}}
| {{N/A}}
| {{tp|ton}}
| {{tp|tun}}
|-
! {{tp|w}}
| {{tp|wa}}
| {{tp|we}}
| {{tp|wi}}
| colspan="2" {{N/A}}
| {{tp|wan}}
| {{tp|wen}}
| {{tp|win}}
| colspan="2" {{N/A}}
|}
 
===Possible words===
==Notes==
The number of phonotactically allowed words, up to <var>n</var> syllables, is given by the following equation, where <var>σ</var> is the syllable count:
<references group="lower-alpha" />
 
: <math>92\cdot\sum_{\sigma=1}^{n}72^{\left(\sigma-1\right)}</math>
 
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:right;"
!Syllables
!Range
!Count
!rowspan="2"|Running total
|-
!1
|style="text-align:start;"|{{tp|a&ndash;win}}
|92
|-
!2
|style="text-align:start;"|{{tp|aja&ndash;winwin}}
|6&nbsp;624
|6&nbsp;716
|-
!3
|style="text-align:start;"|{{tp|ajaja&ndash;winwinwin}}
|476&nbsp;928
|483&nbsp;644
|-
!<var>n</var>
|{{N/A}}
|<math>92\cdot72^{\left(n-1\right)}</math>
|<math>92\cdot\sum_{\sigma=1}^{n}72^{\left(\sigma-1\right)}</math>
|}
 
==Morae==
The moraic analysis is an alternative phonological analysis in which the basic unit of timing is the {{w|mora}} as opposed to syllables. A mora in Toki Pona, similar to {{w|Latin phonology|Latin}} or {{w|On (Japanese prosody)|Japanese}}, may either be a:
 
* single vowel (V)
* consonant–vowel pair (CV)
* coda {{tp|n}} (N)
 
==See also==
* [[Phonotactic matches]]
 
==References==
{{Wikipedia}}
<references/>
{{General}}
{{Words}}
[[Category:Phonology]]
Retrieved from "https://sona.pona.la/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/2463...16486"