Semantic space

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Under the semantic space analysis of Toki Pona, content words have broad definitions that map onto a wide range of words in other languages.

Many existing dictionaries present a limited, discrete list of related translations within each Toki Pona word's semantic space, without giving a clearer sense of the size and shape of the underlying meaning. The semantic space explanation is meant to avoid misconceptions with these definition lists. lipamanka has created a dictionary that describes semantic spaces in full prose.

One element of most words' semantic spaces is the literal–figurative axis. The core of the semantic space will be a literal sense, with metaphorical extensions which may or may not be familiar to English speakers.