Radicals in sitelen pona
There are several recurring shapes across sitelen pona glyphs. These are commonly called radicals, after parts of Chinese characters that dictionaries use to sort words, although this comparison has been disputed.
| Description | Shape | Examples | |
|---|---|---|---|
| pu | Other | ||
| Arrow | ni | nasintan | |
| Arrowhead | li | elilisuli | |
| Box (closed) | lipu | sitelensonapakalapulen | ku lu nu ju u su |
| Box (open) | poki | anpainsamonsiopenpokasinpin | sewi |
| Circle (thing) | ijo | kuluputokipali | kokosila |
| Circle (head) | janjolapelawamamamanimelimijemolimuwawa | lanpan | |
| Cross | ala | en ma moli nanpa pimeja utala | kalamARR kapesi kapesi2 |
| Dot (location) | | anpainsalonmonsipokasinpin | mesosewikipisilanpan |
| Dot (disambiguator) | seliuta | ||
| Dot (o-mouth) | mu suwi | olala | |
| Dots (eyes) | akesi lukin pipi soweli waso | kala2 kijetesantakalu oko misa misa2 misa3 misa4 misa5 misa6 wasoweli jonke kikolo lokon matula opasan owe pipo poni silapa sisi sipije snoweli sowoli sutopatikuna waken | |
| Emitters | 🗧
|
kalamapanaselisinsonatoki | kokosilanamakomu2olin2isipinkulijokuntulinluwi2usawijonkeomekapopetatonayutu |
| Hammer | ilo | kepeken | |
| Hand (flat) | luka | kepekenmokupalipana | |
| Hand (pointing) | sina | miona | |
| Heart | pilin | olin | wilemelomemijomi |
| Mouth (closed) | pona | ike | epiku |
| Legs | awen | kamatawa | |
| Mouth (open) | uta | kalamamokuuta | |
| Punctuation stem | ! | aoseme | kinnwaje |
| Tally mark | | | wantumutenanpa | |
| Triangle | △ | jelokulelasolojepimejawalo | unu nalanja kapesi kapesi2 peta tona |
| Wavy line | linja | kontelo | jasimalinluwilinluwi2 |