Radicals in sitelen pona

In sitelen pona, a radical is a recurring graphical component across multiple glyphs.

The radical-based analysis was invented^{[citation needed…]}This claim needs references to reliable sources:
where? by whom?
(Jan 2024) after the initial set of glyphs was published in Toki Pona: The Language of Good. Some of these elements were clearly intended, such as the emitters initially representing pana-like concepts, the triangle shape representing colors, and the incorporation of luka (the hand radical) representing manual actions. Other proposed radicals may be coincidental or questionably meaningful, such as acknowledgments of shared glyph "etymologies". For example, markers of non-declarative sentences have been analyzed as having a punctuation stem radical, but perhaps it is more direct to say that these glyphs are each based on Latin punctuation.

The term is taken from radicals of Chinese characters, which dictionaries use to sort words. This comparison has been disputed. While there have been attempts to sort sitelen pona glyphs by common features, there is no such standard sorting order, and glyphs are most often sorted alphabetically by the words' sitelen Lasina spellings. Radicals are more often used for shape-based input methods, comparable to Cangjie. In addition, not every sitelen pona glyph is considered to contain a radical, and some have multiple that are considered with equal or unclear priority.

History

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In 2020, radicals were used as the basis of the Wakalito input method.

Table of radicals

Description	Shape	Examples
		pu glyphs	Other
Arrow	nini	nini nasinnasin tantan
Arrowhead	lili	lili ee lililili sulisuli
Box (closed)	lipulipu	lipulipu sitelensitelen sonasona pakalapakala pupu lenlen	kuku juju lulu nunu susu uu
Box (open)	pokipoki	pokipoki anpaanpa insainsa monsimonsi openopen pokapoka sinpinsinpin	sewisewi
Circle (thing)	ijoijo	ijoijo kulupukulupu tokitoki palipali	kokosilakokosila
Circle (head)		janjan jojo lapelape lawalawa mamamama manimani melimeli mijemijemolimoli mumu wawawawa	lanpanlanpan
Cross	alaala	alaala enen mama molimoli nanpananpa pimejapimeja utalautala	kapesikapesi kapesi2kapesi2
Dot (location)	󱦜󱦜	anpaanpa insainsa lonlon monsimonsi pokapoka sinpinsinpin	mesomesosewisewi kipisikipisi lanpanlanpan
Dot (disambiguator)		seliseli utauta
Dot (o-mouth)		mumu suwisuwi	olalaolala
Dots (eyes)		akesiakesi lukinlukin pipipipi sowelisoweli wasowaso	kala2kala2 kijetesantakalukijetesantakalu okooko misamisa misa2misa2 misa3misa3 misa4misa4 misa5misa5 misa6misa6 wasoweliwasoweli jonkejonke kikolokikolo lokonlokon matulamatula opasanopasan oweowe pipopipo poniponi silapasilapa sisisisi sipijesipije snowelisnoweli sowolisowoli sutopatikunasutopatikuna wakenwaken
Emitters	󱤹‍🗧 󱤹‍🗧	kalamakalamapanapanaseliselisinsinsonasonatokitoki	mu2mu2 olin2olin2 isipinisipin kulijokulijo kuntukuntu linluwi2linluwi2 usawiusawi jonkejonke omekapoomekapo petapeta tonatona yutuyutu
Hammer	iloilo	iloilo kepekenkepeken
Hand (flat)	lukaluka	lukaluka kepekenkepeken mokumoku palipali panapana
Hand (pointing)	sinasina	mimi sinasina onaona
Heart	pilinpilin	pilinpilin olinolin	wilewile melomemelome mijomimijomi
Mouth (closed)	ponapona	ponaponaikeike	epikuepiku
Mouth (open)	utauta	kalamakalama mokumoku utauta	utauta
Legs	tawatawa	kamakama tawatawa awenawen
Punctuation stem	!!	aa oo semeseme	kinkin nn wawa jeje
Tally mark	||	wanwan tutu mutemute nanpananpa
Triangle	△△	jelojelo kulekule lasolaso lojeloje pimejapimeja walowalo	kapesikapesi kapesi2kapesi2 petapeta tonatona
Wavy line	linjalinja	linjalinja konkon telotelo	jasimajasima linluwilinluwi linluwi2linluwi2