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{{Wikipedia}}
A '''preposition''' is a type of [[content word]] used to express spatial or temporal relations or to mark various {{w|semantic role}}s.<ref>{{cite web|author=jan Juli|title=nasin toki pona: how to use prepositions|url=https://github.com/kilipan/nasin-toki#how-to-use-prepositions|website=GitHub|date=2022-09-23|access-date=2023-11-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=jan Kekan San|title=Prepositions and Context|url=https://mun.la/sona/preps.html|website=mun.la|access-dare=2023-11-16}}</ref> The phrase formed by a preposition together and the {{w|complement}} that follows it is called a '''prepositional phrase'''. In [[Toki Pona]], the words that can act as prepositions are {{tp|[[kepeken]]}}, {{tp|[[lon]]}}, {{tp|[[sama]]}}, {{tp|[[tan]]}}, and {{tp|[[tawa]]}}.
 
==Function==
Prepositions can be difficult to grasp for multiple reasons: these words have specific meanings depending on whether they are being used as prepositions or as [[transitive verb]]s. In terms of grammar, it is often ambiguous whether a word is being used as a preposition or as a simple [[modifier]].
A prepositional phrase gives context to the predicate or subject of the sentence. They describe the location, cause, purpose, quality, or means of the action, actor, or acted-upon. [[Toki Pona]]'s prepositions are {{tp|[[kepeken]]}}, {{tp|[[lon]]}}, {{tp|[[sama]]}}, {{tp|[[tan]]}}, and {{tp|[[tawa]]}}. A prepositional phrase need not follow another verb: it can be a predicate on its own.
 
{{Example
|mi sitelen e ni <mark>kepeken toki lili</mark>.<ref>{{cite web|author=jan pali pi lipu kule|title=tan suli lipu li seme?|website=lipu kule|url=https://lipukule.org/post/2021/01/24/tan-suli-lipu-li-seme/|urldate=2024-01-16|date=2021-01-24}}</ref>
|I wrote this <mark>by means of few words.</mark>
|mi sitelen e ni <mark>kepeken toki lili </mark>.
}}
 
{{Example
|kala li weka <mark>tan poka ma</mark> li <mark>lon noka telo</mark>.<ref>{{cite web|author=Joshua Edward|title=waso suli|website=lipu sitelen mi|date=2021-04-04|url=https://rumineleon.wordpress.com/lipu-sitelen-mi-pi-toki-pona/|urldate=2024-01-16}}</ref>
|The fish went away <mark>from the shore</mark> and is <mark>in the bottom of the water.</mark>
|kala li weka <mark>tan poka ma </mark> li <mark>lon noka telo </mark>.
}}
 
Like [[preverb]]s, prepositions are most often [[modifier|modified]] by a limited group of [[semiparticles]].▼
 
{{Example
|jan nasin li wile pona e lawa ona <mark>lon ala</mark> poka jan.<ref>{{cite web|title=pilin utala|website=lipu sitelen mi pi toki pona|author=Joshua Edward|url=https://rumineleon.wordpress.com/lipu-sitelen-mi-pi-toki-pona/|urldate=2024-01-16}}</ref>
|A sage wanted to repair their head away from ({{lit|not next to}}) people.
|jan nasin li wile pona e lawa ona <mark>lon ala </mark> poka jan.
}}
 
{{Example
|mu sina li ike li <mark>sama ala</mark> mu pi mi ale.<ref>{{cite web|author=ijo tan anpa nanpa|title=mu namako|date=2023|website=utala pona|url=http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/toki-lili.html#mu-namako|urldate=2024-01-16}}</ref>
|Your moo is bad and <mark>unlike</mark> our moo.
|mu sina li ike li <mark>sama ala </mark> mu pi mi ale.
}}
 
All of [[Toki Pona]]'s prepositions are also [[content words]]. This can lead to ambiguities, where a sentence means two different things depending on whether the word is interpreted as a preposition or a content word.
 
{{Example
|mi pana e tomo <mark>tawa</mark> sina.<ref>{{cite web|author=Nikita Ayzikovsky|website=Toki Pona Forums|url=http://forums.tokipona.org/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=32#p68|urldate=2024-01-16|date=2002-05-28|title=every day words}}</ref>
|I give you a house. ({{tp|tawa}} is a preposition.) <br>I brought your car. ({{tp|tawa}} is a content word.)
|onami lipana e tomo <mark>tawa telo</mark> e wasosina.▼
}}
 
==Prepositions vs. transitive verbs==
{{Needs work||sectionPotentially move to [[kepeken e]]?}}
[[File:tawae.png|300px|thumb|Difference between the phrases {{tp|mi tawa tomo}} and {{tp|mi tawa e tomo}}.]]
 
Line 29 ⟶ 64:
}}
 
{{Example
==Modifiers==
|tan ma tomo Pape la jan sewi Jawe li tawa e jan tawa ma mute.
▲Like [[preverb]]s, prepositions are most often [[modifier|modified]] by a limited group of [[semiparticles]].
|from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.<ref>[https://archive.ph/yuYp1/]Religious Texts translated by Sonja Lang</ref>
|tan ma tomo [palisa anpa pakala esun] la jan sewi [jo ale wile e] li tawa e jan tawa ma mute.
}}
 
==Expanded syntax==
{{Start section|Nonstandard}}
Generally, prepositional phrases can come after the direct object, stand directly after the verb if there is no direct object, or be a predicate all their own.<ref>{{cite web|author=jan Kekan San|title=Prepositions and Context|url=https://mun.la/sona/preps.html|website=mun.la|access-dare=2023-11-16}}</ref> Occasionally they appear before a direct object,
 
{{Example
|jan Puta li pana <mark>tawa mi</mark> e mi. ona li pana <mark>tawa mi</mark> e jan Sitata.<ref>Hermann Hesse (tr. jan Kala), ''jan Sitata'' (2022), https://wikisource.org/wiki/Jan_Sitata/lipu_nanpa_wan/jan_Kotama</ref>
|ona li tawa [[ala]] telo.
|He has given me Siddhartha, myself.<ref>Hermann Hesse, ''Siddhartha'' (1922) https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2499</ref>
|They don't go to the water.
|jan [P U T A] li pana <mark>tawa mi </mark> e mi · ona li pana <mark>tawa mi </mark> e jan [S I T A T A]
|ona li tawa [[ala|ala ]]<nowiki />telo
}}
 
==Ambiguity==
Because prepositions are not marked with any [[particle]] in standard Toki Pona, they are a bit ambiguous. For example, in {{tp|ona li tawa telo}}, {{tp|tawa telo}} can be taken as a prepositional phrase ("toward water"), or a noun phrase ("the going of water"; "fluid motion") if {{tp|telo}} is taken as a modifier.
 
as a modifier,
==Word order==
{{Needs work|Explain the reasoning behind this style|section}}
Some speakers limit prepositions to occurring at the end of a sentence.
 
{{Example
==Transitive prepositional phrases==▼
|waso <mark>lon telo</mark> li pilin musi.
Some speakers allow an entire prepositional phrase to be used as a [[transitive verb]] followed by {{tp|[[e]]}}.
|The ducklings <mark>in the pond</mark> are having fun.
|waso <mark>lon telo </mark> li pilin musi
}}
 
 
or in a pi phrase.
 
This can be thought of in the same way as a normal transitive verb. In the sentence {{tp|<var>A</var> li <var>prep</var> <var>B</var> e <var>C</var>}}, the subject <var>A</var> causes the direct object <var>C</var> to become <var>C</var> <var>prep</var> <var>B</var>.
{{Example
|mi toki tawa ilo <mark>pi lon poka mi</mark>.<ref>{{cite web|author=jan Kepe|title=Nasi|date=2023|website=utala pona|url=http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/lipu-suli/nasi.html}}</ref>
▲|ona li <mark>tawa telo</mark> e waso.
|I spoke to the tool that was next to me.
|It <mark>moves</mark> birds <mark>to the liquid</mark>.<br />They <mark>sent</mark> a bird <mark>to the water</mark>.
|onami litoki tawa ilo <mark>tawapi(lon telopoka mi) </mark>e waso
}}
{{End section}}
 
▲==Transitive prepositional phrases==
{{Start section|Nonstandard}}
Some speakers allow an entire prepositional phrase to be used as a [[transitive]] verb. The prepositional phrase then applies to the [[direct object]] introduced by {{tp|[[e]]}}, instead of the [[subject]].<ref>{{cite web |url=//mun.la/sona/trans-preps |title=Transitive Prepositional Phrases |author={{tok|[[jan Kekan San]]}} |date= |website={{tok|mun.la}} |access-date=2024-05-20}}</ref> See [[kepeken e]] for more information.
 
{{Example
|kasi li <mark>lon ma ale</mark> e kon pona.
Line 59 ⟶ 108:
|kasi li <mark>lon ma ale </mark>e kon pona
}}
 
{{Example
|mi <mark>tawa tomo pali nanpa luka tu tu pi kulupu Nokasi</mark> e sina.<ref>jan Kepe, ''Nasi'' (utala pona: 2023) http://utala.pona.la/toki-en-lipu/lipu-suli/nasi.html.</ref>
|I will take you to Nokasi Corp. office number nine.
|mi <mark>tawa tomo pali nanpa luka tu tu pi kulupu [N O K A S I] </mark> e sina.
}}
{{End section}}
 
==Table of prepositions==
Line 73 ⟶ 129:
|using
|to use
|style{{partial|align="background:#ececec;"left| (''controversial'') see {{tp|[[kepeken e]]}}''}}
|to make <span style="opacity:0.5;"><var>B</var></span> use <span style="opacity:0.5;"><var>A</var></span>
|-
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|from
|to be/come from
|{{partial|align=left|(''rare'') to blameattribute to}}
|to make <span style="opacity:0.5;"><var>B</var></span> be/come from <span style="opacity:0.5;"><var>A</var></span>
|-
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